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ninamanon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
What a great original take on the fairytale! I loved the world building and the magic system. Especially the first half of the book was thrilling and I couldn’t put it down.
The writing was a bit too obvious and over explaining to my taste, sometimes. Some things would’ve worked better if they were left for the reader to figure out and conclude.
The main twist could be spotted from a mile away. Maybe that was intentional! But it didn’t really work for me.
I also didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the main couple. It felt a little forced. There was barely any buildup.
The writing was a bit too obvious and over explaining to my taste, sometimes. Some things would’ve worked better if they were left for the reader to figure out and conclude.
The main twist could be spotted from a mile away. Maybe that was intentional! But it didn’t really work for me.
I also didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the main couple. It felt a little forced. There was barely any buildup.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Blood, Bullying, and Racism
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Addiction, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, War, Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Slavery
kaitieg97's review against another edition
Felt a little too fairytale for me; the stakes feel low, "no one will ever love me because I am a monster", "I wish I was more of an outcast like you!!"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: War
frantically's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This turned so unexpectedly dark in the last third and I loved it so much! The retelling aspect worked so well — the ending relies on the original fairytale but in a way I didn't expect at all. I'm a bit unsure about how Alyce acted in the last chapters, it is all in line with her characters, I guess I'm just not as used to actual villains being the main character 😅 Interested to read the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, and Bullying
Moderate: Torture, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
Minor: Self harm, War, and Death of parent
charley34's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Murder, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and War
abbs15norm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, War, Murder, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Blood
Minor: Classism, Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Alcohol
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Through out this book I was thinking it was enjoyable but nothing adventurous. I couldn't understand the hype and love around this book. It felt like another misunderstood character trope which, don't get me wrong, is good but I couldn't see it being beloved worthy. Then the ending happened and now I understand. It may not be a 5 star read but I can see where the love is coming from.
The second half of the book really let's the villains slowly shine. There are some great moments where it puts there "I'm the villain" scenes front and centre, and honestly I was kind of there for it. Sometimes villains just need to be villains as not to take away from the other characters.
I recommend reading this if you are a fairytale retelling fan. It doesn't follow it all the plot beats, but there are some good easter eggs.
The second half of the book really let's the villains slowly shine. There are some great moments where it puts there "I'm the villain" scenes front and centre, and honestly I was kind of there for it. Sometimes villains just need to be villains as not to take away from the other characters.
I recommend reading this if you are a fairytale retelling fan. It doesn't follow it all the plot beats, but there are some good easter eggs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Moderate: Violence, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
Minor: War, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse
arys_library's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of my favorite books of the year! A sapphic sleeping beauty retelling?! What else could you need?
I loved that this book was told in the villains point of view. I think it really revealed thoughts and perspectives that we can’t get with an average protagonist. I absolutely loved this book snd I’m so excited to read the second!
The world building was incredibly and unique. Usually I only see this storytelling type of world building in the beginning of Disney princess movies. It was really easy to understand and picture in your head.
I loved that this book was told in the villains point of view. I think it really revealed thoughts and perspectives that we can’t get with an average protagonist. I absolutely loved this book snd I’m so excited to read the second!
The world building was incredibly and unique. Usually I only see this storytelling type of world building in the beginning of Disney princess movies. It was really easy to understand and picture in your head.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Biphobia and War
kingrosereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I like so many things about this book, but I want to make sure this review isn’t forever long. Okay so the story follows Alyce, a 20 year old half-Vila in the queendom of Briar. And she is known as the Dark Grace. Graces are human-born women magically gifted by the Fae. These Graces cause use their magical blood to mix elixirs that grant beauty, musical talent, wisdom, etc. These Graces are also forced to remain in Briar for their entire lives and they must work for the upper class. Alyce’s gifts create curses. Because of her heritage and the type of magic she possesses, she’s treated as a monster and people exclude, harass and fear her. She is also defined as being “ugly” with scaly skin, thin hair, and a green tinge to her complexion.
There’s also a curse (surprise!) on the women of the royal family. This curse kills the princesses on their 21st birthday. The only way to break this curse is true loves kiss. This means the young Princess Aurora was forced to kiss hundreds of strange men from the time she was 8 years old. Not only is this curse a problem, but over the generations of Briar Queens, their power has slowly shifted to their husbands. Aurora hopes to change the laws around the Graces and put power back into the Queenship.
Alyce meets Kal, who tells her of her heritage and magic. He tells her that her magic doesn’t work like the Graces’ and Alyce has been holding back what she can do for all these years. She’s more powerful than the Graces and possible more powerful than the Fae.
Alyce and Aurora soon meet and develop a friendship based on working together to break the curse using magical means. The beautiful, ethereal Aurora does not see Alyce as an ugly monster, but as an amazing gifted person. She’s in awe of Alyce’s magic and prefers it over Grace magic. And Alyce slowly develops feelings towards Alyce.
But it becomes clear that the King and Queen will not accept their relationship and neither with the rest of the queendom. The people Alyce thought she could trust betray her in the worst way. And when Aurora falls under a new curse (one that won’t end with true love’s kiss) Alyce is left to become the monster they all made her out to be.
It’s all very fun and sapphic. I think the chemistry between Alyce and Aurora is great, but when they get to the point where they make their feelings known, it’s a bit clunky. I do like that this is a Sleeping Beauty retelling told from the perspective of the “evil witch” and not only that, but they fall in love with the princess! Aurora is every bit of a powerful Queen in the making. She is stubborn, rebellious, clever, and open minded. She’s the first to really tell Alyce that just because her magic stems from dark magic, that doesn’t make Alyce a monster or evil. As the reader, you get to see Alyce hate herself less and fear her magic less. She becomes more sure of herself and her power, but she still questions her worth and her self-esteem is still struggling the increase.
I’m glad this is just a duology and not a whole long series, I’m definitely excited to read the next book. I like that this story challenges the whole “good vs evil” and the black-and-white mentality lots of fairytales and hero stories have in them. It definitely challenges the whole “rise above it” or “turn the other cheek”, because at the end of the day, we should all demand respect and to be treated well. I also like that Aurora sees Alyce as being beautiful, because she doesn’t adhere to their society’s beauty standards.
There aren’t too many downsides to this story, but I think there were more things the author could’ve focused on, like Hilde and even just the middle part of Alyce and Aurora’s friendship. The book does drag on a little longer than necessary and there were some scenes that didn’t flow very well.
That being said, I think this is an amazing and interesting concept and take on Sleeping Beauty that was executed well.
There’s also a curse (surprise!) on the women of the royal family. This curse kills the princesses on their 21st birthday. The only way to break this curse is true loves kiss. This means the young Princess Aurora was forced to kiss hundreds of strange men from the time she was 8 years old. Not only is this curse a problem, but over the generations of Briar Queens, their power has slowly shifted to their husbands. Aurora hopes to change the laws around the Graces and put power back into the Queenship.
Alyce meets Kal, who tells her of her heritage and magic. He tells her that her magic doesn’t work like the Graces’ and Alyce has been holding back what she can do for all these years. She’s more powerful than the Graces and possible more powerful than the Fae.
Alyce and Aurora soon meet and develop a friendship based on working together to break the curse using magical means. The beautiful, ethereal Aurora does not see Alyce as an ugly monster, but as an amazing gifted person. She’s in awe of Alyce’s magic and prefers it over Grace magic. And Alyce slowly develops feelings towards Alyce.
But it becomes clear that the King and Queen will not accept their relationship and neither with the rest of the queendom. The people Alyce thought she could trust betray her in the worst way. And when Aurora falls under a new curse (one that won’t end with true love’s kiss) Alyce is left to become the monster they all made her out to be.
It’s all very fun and sapphic. I think the chemistry between Alyce and Aurora is great, but when they get to the point where they make their feelings known, it’s a bit clunky. I do like that this is a Sleeping Beauty retelling told from the perspective of the “evil witch” and not only that, but they fall in love with the princess! Aurora is every bit of a powerful Queen in the making. She is stubborn, rebellious, clever, and open minded. She’s the first to really tell Alyce that just because her magic stems from dark magic, that doesn’t make Alyce a monster or evil. As the reader, you get to see Alyce hate herself less and fear her magic less. She becomes more sure of herself and her power, but she still questions her worth and her self-esteem is still struggling the increase.
I’m glad this is just a duology and not a whole long series, I’m definitely excited to read the next book. I like that this story challenges the whole “good vs evil” and the black-and-white mentality lots of fairytales and hero stories have in them. It definitely challenges the whole “rise above it” or “turn the other cheek”, because at the end of the day, we should all demand respect and to be treated well. I also like that Aurora sees Alyce as being beautiful, because she doesn’t adhere to their society’s beauty standards.
There aren’t too many downsides to this story, but I think there were more things the author could’ve focused on, like Hilde and even just the middle part of Alyce and Aurora’s friendship. The book does drag on a little longer than necessary and there were some scenes that didn’t flow very well.
That being said, I think this is an amazing and interesting concept and take on Sleeping Beauty that was executed well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
Minor: War and Suicide
ankonyx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, and Bullying
Minor: Death of parent and War
parkergeist's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Sexual content, Torture, and War