Scan barcode
geethr75's review
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
This is a queer fairytale retelling of three well beloved and known tales. Each tale links to the other melding together into a cohesive whole. Cinderella is the wicked stepmother of Snow White who in turn becomes the wicked fairy who curses Sleeping Beauty, the protagonist of our tale.
She remembers the witch who cursed her and though she’s told she should fear her, she’s drawn to the witch, and wants to know more of her. The story is unveiled through hints at first, and then told by the witch herself.
The curse cannot be avoided, but true love can break it. The only question is will the one who loves have the courage to take that step?
This is a short and very entertaining read. On the whole, I enjoyed it. It’s a mash up of various fairy tales done very creatively.
The insta love didn’t do much for me, and I didn’t feel the emotions as much, but I would still rate this high because of the creativity in bringing all these various fairytales together.
Also, queer! Give me all the queer!
I also loved how the author didn’t just sweep all the practical problems under the carpet but came up with a solution which addressed all the practicalities.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes high fantasy, fairytale retellings as well as queer fantasy.
The insta love didn’t do much for me, and I didn’t feel the emotions as much, but I would still rate this high because of the creativity in bringing all these various fairytales together.
Also, queer! Give me all the queer!
I also loved how the author didn’t just sweep all the practical problems under the carpet but came up with a solution which addressed all the practicalities.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes high fantasy, fairytale retellings as well as queer fantasy.
booksandladders's review
3.0
I did enjoy this one but I found parts of it confusing and it was definitely too short. I thought that the idea was really interesting and cool, especially since it interwove three different fairy tales together (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) and have all the MCs be lesbians. I just didn't think the execution was quite perfect. The chapter lengths were all over the place, making it hard for me to stay concentrated on the story because some were so long and others so short that I was putting the book down a lot. Part of this was due to the fact that there weren't any names, just "she" and "her" all over the place, which made it really confusing as to who was being referred to and who was speaking. Sure there were other indicators, but not enough for me to really get a feel for the characters or be able to thoroughly identify them. As well, I thought the "final" relationship was a little underdeveloped. There was just love without truly explaining it from either side. I could understand attraction or mutual lust, but the "love" part was confusing to me. I am glad there was easy acceptance and even a wink-nudge to a m/m relationship in the past, but I felt like the ending was too easy. I would have liked there to be some obstacles that the two had to face together since they didn't really have any chemistry to me -- I needed to see them interact more.
ashkiryn's review
3.0
I came for the promise of queer princesses in love with each other and that didn't end in tragedy or a Bury Your Gays trope (and thankfully, there was a happy ending, and I really did like the lines the book ended on, so that was good). Unfortunately, the queer lady romance was severely underwhelming for me. The main protagonist (who I guess I'll call the Sleeping Beauty/Aurora analogue, bc she never got named) is just.....in love with the Snow White analogue (or Briar, as she gets named). The reader is never shown why SB is in love with Briar, we just get told that over and over again, and it never feels genuine to me. I can't muster up any emotional investment in these characters and their romances, because the audience is never shown any real emotion from them, and just get told about it instead. Basically, it was all telling, and never showing. Plus, the story was far too short for it to feel like the characters got any genuine development.
Also, the whole "dark romance" elements of the story, and the main character 'passionately' telling Briar that she would embrace her darkness, all of that just made me roll my eyes.
Surprisingly, the thing that I did get out of this story, and the reason I gave this 3 stars instead of 2, was the fairy tale re-imagining aspect. In particular, I thought it was absolutely fascinating how each princess became the next princess's villain. Cinderella turned into Snow White's Evil Queen Stepmother, and then Snow White turned into Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent/evil fairy who cursed her at birth. I thought that part was the book's highlight and the strongest point in its narrative. Other elements like the origins of the poisoned apple and the green smoke were also fascinating, and I love that it was one of the dwarfs who awoke Briar from her cursed sleep.
But apart from that, the story really didn't have much to offer, especially in regards to queer romance. Plus, there were a ton of other problematic elements, like the hand-waving the protagonist and the narrative gave towards the abusiveness of the good witch/Cinderella analogue towards the end. If I was going to recommend this book, it would only be for the fairy tale re-imagining aspects, and with hefty trigger warning for abusive and toxic relationships.
Also, the whole "dark romance" elements of the story, and the main character 'passionately' telling Briar that she would embrace her darkness, all of that just made me roll my eyes.
Surprisingly, the thing that I did get out of this story, and the reason I gave this 3 stars instead of 2, was the fairy tale re-imagining aspect. In particular, I thought it was absolutely fascinating how each princess became the next princess's villain. Cinderella turned into Snow White's Evil Queen Stepmother, and then Snow White turned into Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent/evil fairy who cursed her at birth. I thought that part was the book's highlight and the strongest point in its narrative. Other elements like the origins of the poisoned apple and the green smoke were also fascinating, and I love that it was one of the dwarfs who awoke Briar from her cursed sleep.
But apart from that, the story really didn't have much to offer, especially in regards to queer romance. Plus, there were a ton of other problematic elements, like the hand-waving the protagonist and the narrative gave towards the abusiveness of the good witch/Cinderella analogue towards the end. If I was going to recommend this book, it would only be for the fairy tale re-imagining aspects, and with hefty trigger warning for abusive and toxic relationships.
sopranopage's review
I knew I was in for a hard time within the first couple pages, already mentally editing sentences as I read. Fortunately, this is not a long story so my suffering wasn't too drawn-out.
The best thing I can say? This was an interesting concept, having a (sort of) love triangle between Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella. The idea that enchanted sleep would change the victim and give them magical powers? Also could've been very cool. The execution, however, left much to be desired.
The biggest issue I had, aside from basic writing technique, was the sheer volume of abuse apologism contained in this story. Just... the sheer number of times the protagonist claimed the so-called "good" witch, despite all the horrible things she did, really cared about the "evil" witch, honest. Seriously, you're hearing about all these abusive behaviours and still haven't latched onto the fact it's abuse?
Hell, some of the abuse elements could've worked if they'd actually be treated with the gravity they deserved, rather than having the protagonist mentally hand-waving everything she was told.
Speaking of telling, there's a reason the phrase "don't, don't tell" exists. This book is an exercise in what not to do. The protagonist somehow being in love with the "evil" witch who cursed her could've possibly worked if so many of the things that created a connection between them hadn't been glossed over with a few sentences in a prologue. There were also a few convenient things that were brought up at the end of the story to help the protagonist get what she wanted that honestly should've been hinted at earlier so they didn't come off as something of a deus ex machina.
Because neither witch really had a redemption arc that I found particularly believable, the ending seemed rather off to me. However, there was one line I thought was pretty great:
"As Lord Harold said, we are a queer couple. If you'd like to honor our queerness, please feel free to join us, with someone you might not normally dance with at a ball."
I tried to find the positives in this story, but they were few and far between. An occasional good line here and there, and an interesting concept. This could have been a good book and I'm rather sad I found it lacking.
The best thing I can say? This was an interesting concept, having a (sort of) love triangle between Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella. The idea that enchanted sleep would change the victim and give them magical powers? Also could've been very cool. The execution, however, left much to be desired.
The biggest issue I had, aside from basic writing technique, was the sheer volume of abuse apologism contained in this story. Just... the sheer number of times the protagonist claimed the so-called "good" witch, despite all the horrible things she did, really cared about the "evil" witch, honest. Seriously, you're hearing about all these abusive behaviours and still haven't latched onto the fact it's abuse?
Hell, some of the abuse elements could've worked if they'd actually be treated with the gravity they deserved, rather than having the protagonist mentally hand-waving everything she was told.
Speaking of telling, there's a reason the phrase "don't, don't tell" exists. This book is an exercise in what not to do. The protagonist somehow being in love with the "evil" witch who cursed her could've possibly worked if so many of the things that created a connection between them hadn't been glossed over with a few sentences in a prologue. There were also a few convenient things that were brought up at the end of the story to help the protagonist get what she wanted that honestly should've been hinted at earlier so they didn't come off as something of a deus ex machina.
Because neither witch really had a redemption arc that I found particularly believable, the ending seemed rather off to me. However, there was one line I thought was pretty great:
I tried to find the positives in this story, but they were few and far between. An occasional good line here and there, and an interesting concept. This could have been a good book and I'm rather sad I found it lacking.
jamiebooksandladders's review
3.0
I did enjoy this one but I found parts of it confusing and it was definitely too short. I thought that the idea was really interesting and cool, especially since it interwove three different fairy tales together (Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) and have all the MCs be lesbians. I just didn't think the execution was quite perfect. The chapter lengths were all over the place, making it hard for me to stay concentrated on the story because some were so long and others so short that I was putting the book down a lot. Part of this was due to the fact that there weren't any names, just "she" and "her" all over the place, which made it really confusing as to who was being referred to and who was speaking. Sure there were other indicators, but not enough for me to really get a feel for the characters or be able to thoroughly identify them. As well, I thought the "final" relationship was a little underdeveloped. There was just love without truly explaining it from either side. I could understand attraction or mutual lust, but the "love" part was confusing to me. I am glad there was easy acceptance and even a wink-nudge to a m/m relationship in the past, but I felt like the ending was too easy. I would have liked there to be some obstacles that the two had to face together since they didn't really have any chemistry to me -- I needed to see them interact more.
More...