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alandd's review
4.0
Romantic, funny, charming and beautiful.
It had some boring parts that seemed to go nowhere, but it was also filled with many different scenarios that mad me fall in love with the characters, their emotions and the way the felt about each other.
Full review to be posted on the blog!
It had some boring parts that seemed to go nowhere, but it was also filled with many different scenarios that mad me fall in love with the characters, their emotions and the way the felt about each other.
Full review to be posted on the blog!
ellelainey's review
3.0
Book – Wytch & Prinze
Author – Kassandra Lea
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
Word Count – 10k
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, one character
Would I read it again – No
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Short, Ghost, Fairytale
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
This is my second story by Lea and, unfortunately, it's another one that could have really benefited from a few experienced beta readers.
The story is a play on The Princess and the Pea, but if you're expecting anything not mentioned in the blurb, then you're going to be disappointed. This is one story that does what it says on the tin and no more. The blurb is basically all set up and fulfilled within the first page. The part where Jacob and Amelia get together to sabotage the bed didn't make sense to me when I read the blurb, as it sounded like it needed some editing, but it does make sense once you've read the story and know that it's basically The Princess and the Pea.
Sadly, though the POV was well chosen and implemented well, there were a few disconnects where it felt like we were being read a bedtime story and there was no true POV, such as the beginning and end, when it felt like we were being spoken to directly, which is a pet hate of mine. Another pet hate is starting with “Once upon a time” even though I get that it's a fairytale retelling, I don't find it necessary.
There are editing issues, but not as severe as the previous book I read by Lea, so that's an improvement. However, there are still little things that don't make sense like “just for a chase to get” and consistence error, example: repeatedly reminding us that Gruff is a dog, which is unnecessary, and the lack of consistency in description. At one point, we're overloaded with detail and the next there's a lack of detail that makes it confusing to follow.
My biggest problem is the language. The story starts off like a fairytale, with modern words, slang and phrases, that make it feel like a real retelling in a contemporary world. But, honestly, if Jacob hadn't used a mobile phone and talked about Amelie attending a rave party, I would have thought this story belonged in the 1800's from the way the characters spoke to each other. The modern phrasing only took place within the main text of the story, and felt forced, while all the dialogue belonged to old men:
“My beloved Jacob,” Renwick chirped. “It's always so wonderful to see you. And let me tell you, I just do not see you often enough.”
That ^ happens a lot. It comes across as the author being more comfortable with a historical genre, but attempting to make it a modern story. Honestly, I'd have been more convinced if this was a Victorian story. Maybe then the plot of sabotaging Renwick's bed, the uncertainty of revealing his feelings and the tip-toeing around the issue for so long would actually make sense. In fact, all of my issues with the story would make more sense if this was a historical story.
Overall, though, the story just wasn't consistent enough. The premise was great, but the execution just wasn't where it needed to be to do the story justice. With the editing issues, the serious consequences of Jacob's actions being so easily dismissed (“What if this little game of his cost Renwick his lecture spot? Or even worse, what if he nodded off on the drive there?”) meant that I couldn't give this more than a 3. For me, the 3 is for the potential of the story and the characters, but if I'd been judging on execution alone, it would have dipped to a 2 star.
Author – Kassandra Lea
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
Word Count – 10k
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, one character
Would I read it again – No
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Short, Ghost, Fairytale
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
This is my second story by Lea and, unfortunately, it's another one that could have really benefited from a few experienced beta readers.
The story is a play on The Princess and the Pea, but if you're expecting anything not mentioned in the blurb, then you're going to be disappointed. This is one story that does what it says on the tin and no more. The blurb is basically all set up and fulfilled within the first page. The part where Jacob and Amelia get together to sabotage the bed didn't make sense to me when I read the blurb, as it sounded like it needed some editing, but it does make sense once you've read the story and know that it's basically The Princess and the Pea.
Sadly, though the POV was well chosen and implemented well, there were a few disconnects where it felt like we were being read a bedtime story and there was no true POV, such as the beginning and end, when it felt like we were being spoken to directly, which is a pet hate of mine. Another pet hate is starting with “Once upon a time” even though I get that it's a fairytale retelling, I don't find it necessary.
There are editing issues, but not as severe as the previous book I read by Lea, so that's an improvement. However, there are still little things that don't make sense like “just for a chase to get” and consistence error, example: repeatedly reminding us that Gruff is a dog, which is unnecessary, and the lack of consistency in description. At one point, we're overloaded with detail and the next there's a lack of detail that makes it confusing to follow.
My biggest problem is the language. The story starts off like a fairytale, with modern words, slang and phrases, that make it feel like a real retelling in a contemporary world. But, honestly, if Jacob hadn't used a mobile phone and talked about Amelie attending a rave party, I would have thought this story belonged in the 1800's from the way the characters spoke to each other. The modern phrasing only took place within the main text of the story, and felt forced, while all the dialogue belonged to old men:
“My beloved Jacob,” Renwick chirped. “It's always so wonderful to see you. And let me tell you, I just do not see you often enough.”
That ^ happens a lot. It comes across as the author being more comfortable with a historical genre, but attempting to make it a modern story. Honestly, I'd have been more convinced if this was a Victorian story. Maybe then the plot of sabotaging Renwick's bed, the uncertainty of revealing his feelings and the tip-toeing around the issue for so long would actually make sense. In fact, all of my issues with the story would make more sense if this was a historical story.
Overall, though, the story just wasn't consistent enough. The premise was great, but the execution just wasn't where it needed to be to do the story justice. With the editing issues, the serious consequences of Jacob's actions being so easily dismissed (“What if this little game of his cost Renwick his lecture spot? Or even worse, what if he nodded off on the drive there?”) meant that I couldn't give this more than a 3. For me, the 3 is for the potential of the story and the characters, but if I'd been judging on execution alone, it would have dipped to a 2 star.
liacooper's review
1.0
**ARC received from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, full review time...
I requested this book for review because the cover is unarguably gorgeous, and I'm pretty much always down for a fairytale retelling. I think it needs to be pointed out that in the blurb and in the text itself, the author and publisher draw explicit parallels to the fact this intended to be a Princess & the Pea retelling. This is important.
This is a short story, which again was just what I was in the mood to read (to break up reading a couple longer books I've been working on for #tometopple). I won't rehash the blurb w/ my own summary because, honestly, the blurb says it all.
I'm really sad that I had to give this a 1-star but in all honesty I cannot rate it higher. My rating takes into account a couple of categories: writing quality, story cohesion/pacing, characters, general enjoyment. Unfortunately, this short story didn't deliver in any of these categories.
Things I liked: the cover....sadly that's all I can say.
Things That Didn't Work For Me:
1. The Story: I'm going to lead with this because it was a glaring issue that just distracted me throughout the entire story. Like I pointed out above, it was clearly stated in the actual story text that this is riffing off of The Princess & the Pea (at several points the two protagonists have a COPY of the Hans Christen Anderson fairytale and read it/reference it), but the way this is executed was not only insipid and a little creepy, but also showed that no one involved in the writing or editing process really understands what the Princess & the Pea is about??? Like....in this short story, the protagonist (Wytch) goes about sabotaging every bed in his house in an attempt to drive his love interest into bed with him. The Princess & the Pea is about separating royalty from peasantry????
Let me break this down a little (like I said, I love me some fairytales). Essentially, the Princess & the Pea is about a prince who needs to/wants to marry a princess of real royal blood. He's encountered several women at this point who claimed royal blood but revealed their uncouth heritage through a series of social blunders. When he meets the Princess of the title, he decides to subtly (key here again is SUBTLY) put a pea at the bottom of her bed, because only someone of truly royal lineage would have the well-bred, nearly divine ability to detect the (undetectable to peasants) discomfort.
The point was not to make her bed so horridly uncomfortable she had no other recourse than to fall into bed with him. It was about identifying someone of true nobility. So, the plot of Wytch & Prinze sort of falls apart as anything to do with Princess & the Pea, ESPECIALLY when the protagonist has a copy of the fairytale, is seen reading it, thinking about, and deciding to implement it. It would have stood on its own WITHOUT this really hammered intention to make it a retelling, riff, remix, but since that's so central to the story and the blurb I feel it's justified holding them up to one another.
/facepalm.
(sidenote: Wytch also makes a reference to the Emperor's New Clothes and it's couched in terms that again, sort of show that the author doesn't know what the underlying point of that tale is either, but that's neither here nor there).
2. The Characters: the whole plot hinged on two characters not speaking to one another, which CAN WORK, I can be total trash for miscommunication, but....eh. For such a short story, I think the author gutted the possible tension by revealing the fact that both parties were already pining for one another. It just came across as frustrating and insipid. Also the dialogue between the two men was incredibly stilted.
On top of that, Wytch's behavior was just unpleasant. His attempts had forcing Renwick into his bed weren't cute or charming. If the relationship between them had been less weirdly predatory I probably could have ignored some of the other issues, but *shrug*
3. The Writing: Lot of mixed imagery, verging on mixed metaphors. The dialogue between the men was incredibly odd and stilted. Lots of awkward phrases. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to quote from a netgalley arc, esp since it might still undergo editing. There weren't any typos, but definitely some head scratching constructions that could have been smoothed over. Not my cup of tea.
Tl;dr
This was not pleasant to read. I really had to force myself through the second half because it's a review copy. It's unfortunate because I love the idea of see more short fairytales floating around. I read The Bread We Eat in Dreams last month and am dying for another short story collection in that kind of vein. Alas.
Ok, full review time...
I requested this book for review because the cover is unarguably gorgeous, and I'm pretty much always down for a fairytale retelling. I think it needs to be pointed out that in the blurb and in the text itself, the author and publisher draw explicit parallels to the fact this intended to be a Princess & the Pea retelling. This is important.
This is a short story, which again was just what I was in the mood to read (to break up reading a couple longer books I've been working on for #tometopple). I won't rehash the blurb w/ my own summary because, honestly, the blurb says it all.
I'm really sad that I had to give this a 1-star but in all honesty I cannot rate it higher. My rating takes into account a couple of categories: writing quality, story cohesion/pacing, characters, general enjoyment. Unfortunately, this short story didn't deliver in any of these categories.
Things I liked: the cover....sadly that's all I can say.
Things That Didn't Work For Me:
1. The Story: I'm going to lead with this because it was a glaring issue that just distracted me throughout the entire story. Like I pointed out above, it was clearly stated in the actual story text that this is riffing off of The Princess & the Pea (at several points the two protagonists have a COPY of the Hans Christen Anderson fairytale and read it/reference it), but the way this is executed was not only insipid and a little creepy, but also showed that no one involved in the writing or editing process really understands what the Princess & the Pea is about??? Like....in this short story, the protagonist (Wytch) goes about sabotaging every bed in his house in an attempt to drive his love interest into bed with him. The Princess & the Pea is about separating royalty from peasantry????
Let me break this down a little (like I said, I love me some fairytales). Essentially, the Princess & the Pea is about a prince who needs to/wants to marry a princess of real royal blood. He's encountered several women at this point who claimed royal blood but revealed their uncouth heritage through a series of social blunders. When he meets the Princess of the title, he decides to subtly (key here again is SUBTLY) put a pea at the bottom of her bed, because only someone of truly royal lineage would have the well-bred, nearly divine ability to detect the (undetectable to peasants) discomfort.
The point was not to make her bed so horridly uncomfortable she had no other recourse than to fall into bed with him. It was about identifying someone of true nobility. So, the plot of Wytch & Prinze sort of falls apart as anything to do with Princess & the Pea, ESPECIALLY when the protagonist has a copy of the fairytale, is seen reading it, thinking about, and deciding to implement it. It would have stood on its own WITHOUT this really hammered intention to make it a retelling, riff, remix, but since that's so central to the story and the blurb I feel it's justified holding them up to one another.
/facepalm.
(sidenote: Wytch also makes a reference to the Emperor's New Clothes and it's couched in terms that again, sort of show that the author doesn't know what the underlying point of that tale is either, but that's neither here nor there).
2. The Characters: the whole plot hinged on two characters not speaking to one another, which CAN WORK, I can be total trash for miscommunication, but....eh. For such a short story, I think the author gutted the possible tension by revealing the fact that both parties were already pining for one another. It just came across as frustrating and insipid. Also the dialogue between the two men was incredibly stilted.
On top of that, Wytch's behavior was just unpleasant. His attempts had forcing Renwick into his bed weren't cute or charming. If the relationship between them had been less weirdly predatory I probably could have ignored some of the other issues, but *shrug*
3. The Writing: Lot of mixed imagery, verging on mixed metaphors. The dialogue between the men was incredibly odd and stilted. Lots of awkward phrases. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to quote from a netgalley arc, esp since it might still undergo editing. There weren't any typos, but definitely some head scratching constructions that could have been smoothed over. Not my cup of tea.
Tl;dr
This was not pleasant to read. I really had to force myself through the second half because it's a review copy. It's unfortunate because I love the idea of see more short fairytales floating around. I read The Bread We Eat in Dreams last month and am dying for another short story collection in that kind of vein. Alas.
veri98's review
3.0
3.5/5
An eARC of this book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis: “Medium Jacob Wytch lives in the forest with his fluffy dog Gruff and his ghostly fairy godmother Amelie. When he gets a call from his friend Renwick Prinze, he panics. Jacob has been pining for Renwick longer than he cares to admit. Instead of admitting, however, he listens to Amelie and begins to sabotage Renwick’s beds in hopes of inviting his dashing friend to sleep with him.”
Once again, a synopsis that tells the story from start to finish. It’s cute, well written, and the plot was sweet. Although, when I was reading it I couldn’t NOT think of how much it reminded me of another short story: The Errant Prince by Sasha L. Miller. There is a magician, a soldier, they fall for each other, they try to tell their feelings to one another, they end up becoming lovers; Fin. There is a similarity between these two stories.
Could it have been a better story? Sure, but the way Jacob sabotaged those beds could have been less clichéd. I mean, marbles?
The only character that I liked was Gruff. He was the only sensible one in the whole story – after all, he is a dog. Amelie was childish, even though she is supposed to be around 16-17. Jacob is an introvert without a backbone. Renwick is a skittish teenager with confidence problems. It wasn’t a really good story. It was cute. Nothing more, and that’s the problem. It didn’t really have a sound structure that made the story memorable.
An eARC of this book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis: “Medium Jacob Wytch lives in the forest with his fluffy dog Gruff and his ghostly fairy godmother Amelie. When he gets a call from his friend Renwick Prinze, he panics. Jacob has been pining for Renwick longer than he cares to admit. Instead of admitting, however, he listens to Amelie and begins to sabotage Renwick’s beds in hopes of inviting his dashing friend to sleep with him.”
Once again, a synopsis that tells the story from start to finish. It’s cute, well written, and the plot was sweet. Although, when I was reading it I couldn’t NOT think of how much it reminded me of another short story: The Errant Prince by Sasha L. Miller. There is a magician, a soldier, they fall for each other, they try to tell their feelings to one another, they end up becoming lovers; Fin. There is a similarity between these two stories.
Could it have been a better story? Sure, but the way Jacob sabotaged those beds could have been less clichéd. I mean, marbles?
The only character that I liked was Gruff. He was the only sensible one in the whole story – after all, he is a dog. Amelie was childish, even though she is supposed to be around 16-17. Jacob is an introvert without a backbone. Renwick is a skittish teenager with confidence problems. It wasn’t a really good story. It was cute. Nothing more, and that’s the problem. It didn’t really have a sound structure that made the story memorable.
novelbloglover's review
5.0
Wytch & Prinze seemed to me to be an LGBT M/M romance retelling of the Princess and the Pea and I loved it. The relationship between the boys, the banter between Wytch and his fairy godmother was brilliant. Highly recommended.
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