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callmecat's review against another edition
3.0
Can't remember this well, except for the fiesty princess.
kaboomcju's review against another edition
2.0
Lickiss has a cute idea behind this, but it just falls flat. Her attempt at goofy humor doesn't work and really isn't funny. This is probably due to the fact that she throws multiple fairy tales together and then makes a story out of it. She tries to make Princess Vevila a tough "I-hate-being-a-princess," but she still lets everyone push her around and she still gets married at the end. Meh.
jlynnelseauthor's review against another edition
1.0
"Not just another frog-meets-girl story."
This book is a hodgepodge (and by hodgepodge, I mean a freaking "mess") of different fairy tales all twisted into one. There is really no magic to this book even though three of the characters are wizards. The names are unusual yet do not fit into the magical world unless its one written by a 5-year-old child. The characters are all one-dimensional and cliché. Most all of the characters are mentally challenged as well. In the end, everyone gets married to someone, but why? Just because they happen to be in the right place at the right time I guess. Maybe this is supposed to be a play on how actual fairy tales have that love-at-first-sight-so-lets-get-married couples, but I just felt as if the author had given up and wanted to end things quickly. Everything in the plot is building around a castle where the inhabitants are all fast asleep and three princes are the ones that need to be kissed to awaken them. They are put to sleep by their "fairy godmother" who never truly explains why she wants to keep them sleeping besides saying she's "keeping them from the evil in the world." **SPOILER** Then she just runs away when they are finally awakened. Then the book just drags on until everyone gets married and goes their separate ways. There is a kingdom in turmoil where a prince was turned into a frog so he cannot ascend to the throne, but I guess who cares when he is finally transformed? There is a shortage of princesses in the kingdoms, and though one of the characters hints that he might know why this might be, the author certainly never tells you. There is absolutely NO POINT to this book. It builds into nothing. One of the characters has a spell cast upon them where they speak in verse, and it really gets annoying. They also repeat the curse so many times you want to rip the pages out! I'm sure this was supposed to be funny, but it made no sense to what was going on. Basically, this author decides to mess with a bunch of fairy tales that have been modernized so many times that her verson is really a little pop in the grand scheme of things. Very disappointed with this book.
This book is a hodgepodge (and by hodgepodge, I mean a freaking "mess") of different fairy tales all twisted into one. There is really no magic to this book even though three of the characters are wizards. The names are unusual yet do not fit into the magical world unless its one written by a 5-year-old child. The characters are all one-dimensional and cliché. Most all of the characters are mentally challenged as well. In the end, everyone gets married to someone, but why? Just because they happen to be in the right place at the right time I guess. Maybe this is supposed to be a play on how actual fairy tales have that love-at-first-sight-so-lets-get-married couples, but I just felt as if the author had given up and wanted to end things quickly. Everything in the plot is building around a castle where the inhabitants are all fast asleep and three princes are the ones that need to be kissed to awaken them. They are put to sleep by their "fairy godmother" who never truly explains why she wants to keep them sleeping besides saying she's "keeping them from the evil in the world." **SPOILER** Then she just runs away when they are finally awakened. Then the book just drags on until everyone gets married and goes their separate ways. There is a kingdom in turmoil where a prince was turned into a frog so he cannot ascend to the throne, but I guess who cares when he is finally transformed? There is a shortage of princesses in the kingdoms, and though one of the characters hints that he might know why this might be, the author certainly never tells you. There is absolutely NO POINT to this book. It builds into nothing. One of the characters has a spell cast upon them where they speak in verse, and it really gets annoying. They also repeat the curse so many times you want to rip the pages out! I'm sure this was supposed to be funny, but it made no sense to what was going on. Basically, this author decides to mess with a bunch of fairy tales that have been modernized so many times that her verson is really a little pop in the grand scheme of things. Very disappointed with this book.
skundrik87's review against another edition
3.0
A cute little read, with to many character names that sound alike. It was hard to keep the considerable cast straight in my head.
playnejaynedoe's review against another edition
2.0
Rebecca Lickiss' Never After has such potential, but is bogged down by tedious characters and poor writing. The premise is promising: a hodge-podge of fairytales come together to create a fanciful, new story. Unfortunately, it never comes to fruition. The characters are unlikable and flat; the plot feels forced, and the entire tale is quite predictable, with no reward for the reader who sticks it out from "Once upon a time" to "happily ever after".
The front cover proclaims: "Lickiss has a breezy, inventive style." This is true if "breezy" is a synonym for "awkward", and "inventive" is a euphemism for the atrocious sentence fragments that are cobbled together to make this book.
I can appreciate what Lickiss is trying to do, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired. There is little adventure, and no laughter. In a word: boring.
The front cover proclaims: "Lickiss has a breezy, inventive style." This is true if "breezy" is a synonym for "awkward", and "inventive" is a euphemism for the atrocious sentence fragments that are cobbled together to make this book.
I can appreciate what Lickiss is trying to do, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired. There is little adventure, and no laughter. In a word: boring.
elevetha's review against another edition
2.0
Fairytales incorporated: Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, The Frog Prince.
It had a cute idea for a story and cute aspects such as Berangaria, acting as the Princess in "The Princess and the Pea", not feeling the pea but rather falling off the bed many times during the night.
The characters had potential but mostly fell short of any and all expectations. Some of them were a bit annoying and the majority were boring.
The book itself was not terribly engaging.
Favorite character: Rumpelstiltskin. Just quirky and likable.
Urticacea had an almost "Madame Mim" quality; always angry and jumping around. I liked her.
Berengaria was a sweet dear. I wanted more of her.
Mazigian is a wizard cursed to only speak Shakespeare. He was decent.
The Frog. What to say? He's barely in the book and seems rather dense but he had more potential than the rest of the characters.
Princess Vevila was okay but a bit of a feminist. She had a few good scenes. Her and Rumple were kinda cute.
Rueberry, the fat wizard that only thinks of eating. Annoying.
Prince Althelstan annoyed me as well, though I'm not as sure why. Maybe because all he did was run around drooling over Berengaria.
Zenpfennig, the old wizard, was also slightly aggravating, what little he was in the book. He really didn't do much.
One of the main problems was that the characters that I liked were barely in the book. Another was that things were very rarely, (who am I kidding?) NEVER, explained and that aroused my ire. If you're going to hint at a ton of stuff that must be super important...then explain because we don't know what's going on!!
Overall, some cute aspects and very few and far between good characters, that don't get much page time or development.
Nothing in here was enough to entice me to a re-read in the future. I wouldn't recommend it as there are far better "Not just another frog-meets-girl story" books out there. FAR better.
It had a cute idea for a story and cute aspects such as Berangaria, acting as the Princess in "The Princess and the Pea", not feeling the pea but rather falling off the bed many times during the night.
The characters had potential but mostly fell short of any and all expectations. Some of them were a bit annoying and the majority were boring.
The book itself was not terribly engaging.
Favorite character: Rumpelstiltskin. Just quirky and likable.
Urticacea had an almost "Madame Mim" quality; always angry and jumping around. I liked her.
Berengaria was a sweet dear. I wanted more of her.
Mazigian is a wizard cursed to only speak Shakespeare. He was decent.
The Frog. What to say? He's barely in the book and seems rather dense but he had more potential than the rest of the characters.
Princess Vevila was okay but a bit of a feminist. She had a few good scenes. Her and Rumple were kinda cute.
Rueberry, the fat wizard that only thinks of eating. Annoying.
Prince Althelstan annoyed me as well, though I'm not as sure why. Maybe because all he did was run around drooling over Berengaria.
Zenpfennig, the old wizard, was also slightly aggravating, what little he was in the book. He really didn't do much.
One of the main problems was that the characters that I liked were barely in the book. Another was that things were very rarely, (who am I kidding?) NEVER, explained and that aroused my ire. If you're going to hint at a ton of stuff that must be super important...then explain because we don't know what's going on!!
Overall, some cute aspects and very few and far between good characters, that don't get much page time or development.
Nothing in here was enough to entice me to a re-read in the future. I wouldn't recommend it as there are far better "Not just another frog-meets-girl story" books out there. FAR better.
bookscoffeandacat's review
2.0
Not bad, but I was disappointed after having enjoyed Eccentric Circles so much. I might try reading this again, without the high expectations.
wyvernfriend's review
4.0
Takes several fairy tales and plays with them.
Prince Althestan wants a bride but Princesses are rare. Lady Levila is his cousin who doesn't want marriage but wants adventure. Mazigian is a magician trying to work out what to do now that his studentship is over. He's travelling with two friends who are trying to do the same.
When they all find themselves at a castle surrounded by brambles and the fairy tales start to mount. It's funny but sometimes does seem to try to hard to be funny. Still it's an interesting read.
Prince Althestan wants a bride but Princesses are rare. Lady Levila is his cousin who doesn't want marriage but wants adventure. Mazigian is a magician trying to work out what to do now that his studentship is over. He's travelling with two friends who are trying to do the same.
When they all find themselves at a castle surrounded by brambles and the fairy tales start to mount. It's funny but sometimes does seem to try to hard to be funny. Still it's an interesting read.
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