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lindsical's review against another edition
3.0
Overall the stories were fun and an easy read. I enjoyed the last story of Mulan since it's not often written about.
cyborgcinderella's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED these stories. I'm such a huge fan of fairy tale retellings and WOW these were some of the most creative and well done retellings I've read!
This collection includes a retelling of Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Mulan and man they were all so different and so creative!
One of my favorite thing about these stories was how they changed the familial relationships. In Before Midnight, instead of the stepmother being evil and awful, she's actually just a heartbroken woman who ends up developing a really loving relationship with her stepdaughter. It was so refreshing to see a story where the stepmother wasn't actually evil. I wish there were more stories with decent step parents.
In Golden, the evil witch is actually just a misunderstood sorceress who takes Rapunzel as her own child. I don't want to reveal too much about her reasoning behind it because of spoilers but she treats Rapunzel wonderfully and I adored seeing their dynamic.
And in Wild Orchid, Mulan's father at first doesn't have a relationship with his daughter, but that changes once he returns home from war. They become really close and I loved seeing such a strong relationship between a father and daughter. I also loved how Mulan's relationship with her stepmother played out; I'm glad they developed a strong bond.
I also just loved the romance in each of these books. They were sometimes unexpected and sometimes predictable but they were so beautiful and I loved them.
Overall these were such lovely stories and I want to read more from this author!
This collection includes a retelling of Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Mulan and man they were all so different and so creative!
One of my favorite thing about these stories was how they changed the familial relationships. In Before Midnight, instead of the stepmother being evil and awful, she's actually just a heartbroken woman who ends up developing a really loving relationship with her stepdaughter. It was so refreshing to see a story where the stepmother wasn't actually evil. I wish there were more stories with decent step parents.
In Golden, the evil witch is actually just a misunderstood sorceress who takes Rapunzel as her own child. I don't want to reveal too much about her reasoning behind it because of spoilers but she treats Rapunzel wonderfully and I adored seeing their dynamic.
And in Wild Orchid, Mulan's father at first doesn't have a relationship with his daughter, but that changes once he returns home from war. They become really close and I loved seeing such a strong relationship between a father and daughter. I also loved how Mulan's relationship with her stepmother played out; I'm glad they developed a strong bond.
I also just loved the romance in each of these books. They were sometimes unexpected and sometimes predictable but they were so beautiful and I loved them.
Overall these were such lovely stories and I want to read more from this author!
samantha_randolph's review against another edition
3.0
Quick review: very sweet, slightly shallow in depth, but an overall nice read for all fairy tale lovers.
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
These were really excellent retellings of some really great fairy tales! So sweet, loved them, must find more to read!
vlynnk89's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the retelling of Cinderella and even Rapunzel. The Mulan story just wasn't as interesting to me. Dokey's writing is simply but captivating. A nice retelling of age old princess tales.
bilbo_maggins96's review against another edition
4.0
Once Upon a Time...
Once was a fantastic collection of fairytales wonderfully retold with such beautiful creativity! I was blown away and found myself in love with Dokey's worlds and characters. These stories, though written in recent times, had the feel of those old and famous fairytales that we know and love. I enjoyed almost every moment and I'm very happy to add this collection to my collection. This is a book I can definitely see myself reading again and again in the future.
***SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT***
4.5 stars.
There were only a couple things I didn't like about the stories.
In Before Midnight I was a little disappointed that prince Pascal and Raoul were twins. I knew almost from the moment Cendrillon's father brought Raoul home that he was gonna end up being a long lost prince or something, and then when prince Pascal appeared I knew they were going to end up being brothers. I was, however, surprised by the boys being twins. It just kind of rubbed me the wrong way, and I thought it was a little clichè. I was thinking Pascal would be older by a bit or something, and that he and Raoul would look similar, but being twins? I don't know, I was a little disappointed by it, but it wasn't a huge deal.
As for Golden, the only thing I didn't like about it was that when Melisande revealed that she had another daughter, Rapunzel blew it kind of out of proportion. I understand it's hard when a family member hides something from you, but I thought Rapunzel handled it badly and made it more of a big deal than it was. I also thought it a little weird that this "act of unkindness" that Melisande committed was just buying a ribbon. She explained it well, but at the sane time I didn't think it warranted the punishment that Rue received. I understand that Dokey probably didn't want her to do something horrible that would change the way Rapunzel would feel about her, but I really thought the buying of the ribbon was too gentle of a "crime". Perhaps if she had stolen it that would have made more sense.
I loved the fact that Rapunzel was bald though. That really took the cake for me. I was so exited when I read that she didn't have hair. Not only was it an incredible and unique twist to the story, but it gives girls who don't have hair, for whatever reason (cancer, alopecia areata, or other hair loss related illness), a way to relate to the strong and confident Rapunzel.
I don't have much to say about Wild Orchid, it was probably my favorite. I loved the story and was so saddened by Li Po's death. I wanted to cry!
Overall the stories were amazing and beautifully written!! I loved them!!
Once was a fantastic collection of fairytales wonderfully retold with such beautiful creativity! I was blown away and found myself in love with Dokey's worlds and characters. These stories, though written in recent times, had the feel of those old and famous fairytales that we know and love. I enjoyed almost every moment and I'm very happy to add this collection to my collection. This is a book I can definitely see myself reading again and again in the future.
***SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT***
4.5 stars.
There were only a couple things I didn't like about the stories.
In Before Midnight I was a little disappointed that prince Pascal and Raoul were twins. I knew almost from the moment Cendrillon's father brought Raoul home that he was gonna end up being a long lost prince or something, and then when prince Pascal appeared I knew they were going to end up being brothers. I was, however, surprised by the boys being twins. It just kind of rubbed me the wrong way, and I thought it was a little clichè. I was thinking Pascal would be older by a bit or something, and that he and Raoul would look similar, but being twins? I don't know, I was a little disappointed by it, but it wasn't a huge deal.
As for Golden, the only thing I didn't like about it was that when Melisande revealed that she had another daughter, Rapunzel blew it kind of out of proportion. I understand it's hard when a family member hides something from you, but I thought Rapunzel handled it badly and made it more of a big deal than it was. I also thought it a little weird that this "act of unkindness" that Melisande committed was just buying a ribbon. She explained it well, but at the sane time I didn't think it warranted the punishment that Rue received. I understand that Dokey probably didn't want her to do something horrible that would change the way Rapunzel would feel about her, but I really thought the buying of the ribbon was too gentle of a "crime". Perhaps if she had stolen it that would have made more sense.
I loved the fact that Rapunzel was bald though. That really took the cake for me. I was so exited when I read that she didn't have hair. Not only was it an incredible and unique twist to the story, but it gives girls who don't have hair, for whatever reason (cancer, alopecia areata, or other hair loss related illness), a way to relate to the strong and confident Rapunzel.
I don't have much to say about Wild Orchid, it was probably my favorite. I loved the story and was so saddened by Li Po's death. I wanted to cry!
Overall the stories were amazing and beautifully written!! I loved them!!
elizabethn7's review against another edition
5.0
These are the best books ever! They were always surprising me with twists in the plots. Can't wait to get the other books by this author.
amber_waves_of_grain's review against another edition
5.0
Normally, I'm not one for a "Princess Story" but these were wonderfull
lilyleia78's review
5.0
Creative re-imagined fairy tales
Very well done. The differences were things that I have never seen done while staying true to their roots. Each one was lovely and unique.
Very well done. The differences were things that I have never seen done while staying true to their roots. Each one was lovely and unique.
readinglush9's review
4.0
The retellings in this book are great reminders of the original tales, though less gruesome. They are light-hearted and a good pick-me-up when you're sad.