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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
I shelved this on my to-read list a bazillion years ago and I thought I could try to get through a bunch of the books on my list. Turns out, what I wanted to read 5 or so years ago is not what I want to read now. I'm sure that I would have enjoyed this a long time ago, but it just wasn't for me at this time.
DID NOT FINISH.
DID NOT FINISH.
The princesses from our childhood grew up in Letters to Zell and you might not recognize them. For one thing, Snow White has a seriously foul mouth. In this novel, you get to catch up with Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel after their stories have ended. The focus is on how they find their way once their Pages are complete and how their decisions affect the complicated friendship that has developed through the years.
This novel was a fun and entertaining read, but I was about 25 percent through Letters to Zell before I really understood what was going on. Then the characters were not just caricatures of their fairy tale stories - they began to stand on their own. However, none of them were particularly appealing to me, so I wasn't quite sure for whom I should be rooting.
The epistolary format of this novel also seemed to fall away mid-letter at times, which was distracting. It might bother some that the correspondence is one-sided, but I found that device introduced a puzzle that needed to be figured out by the reader. Another puzzle was remembering the difference between the original stories and the Disney versions - Letters to Zell relies on the former, not the latter.
The best aspect of this book was the world building - characters from the stories of my youth were running restaurants, unicorn ranches, and bakeries. I would definitely read another book set in this world, though I would hope for at least one character who was more likable than those included in Letters to Zell. I would love to learn more about why princes seem interchangeable and how the fairy godmothers operate.
Give this novel a try if you love fairy tale retellings, but expect some foul language from our dear Snow White.
{I received an eARC copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.}
This novel was a fun and entertaining read, but I was about 25 percent through Letters to Zell before I really understood what was going on. Then the characters were not just caricatures of their fairy tale stories - they began to stand on their own. However, none of them were particularly appealing to me, so I wasn't quite sure for whom I should be rooting.
The epistolary format of this novel also seemed to fall away mid-letter at times, which was distracting. It might bother some that the correspondence is one-sided, but I found that device introduced a puzzle that needed to be figured out by the reader. Another puzzle was remembering the difference between the original stories and the Disney versions - Letters to Zell relies on the former, not the latter.
The best aspect of this book was the world building - characters from the stories of my youth were running restaurants, unicorn ranches, and bakeries. I would definitely read another book set in this world, though I would hope for at least one character who was more likable than those included in Letters to Zell. I would love to learn more about why princes seem interchangeable and how the fairy godmothers operate.
Give this novel a try if you love fairy tale retellings, but expect some foul language from our dear Snow White.
{I received an eARC copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.}
Zell = Rapunzel, which tells you right off this book is turning fairy tales, and their princesses--upside down. It's a book told in letters, the princesses writing to each other, which is a challenging format to maintain for such a length. Griep is best in weaving the voices here--snarky and sharp, each wholly unique and worth journeying with.
I got to page 6 and could not for the life of me keep reading. it was a great concept but the execution was done terribly.
I'm sucker for re-imagined fairy tales and the novel is well paced. That said, the letter format was not entirely effective, as it left Zell as a half-formed character. Also, I found myself more interested in the fairy godmothers than in the princesses themselves, especially because their friendships were not entirely believable to me.
Princesses with shit relationship skills exchange letters, using dialogue from Sex in the City.
Not entirely my cup of tea.
Not entirely my cup of tea.
This was interesting, if you like chick lit you'd probably enjoy it. Its an odd combination of chick lit and fairy tale? I was a little disappointed, wanting more of the fairy tale and less of the chick lit but it was a fast read and I found a lot of the little references and drops of humor fun. It was entertaining, definitely more 'a story of three women and their friendship' kind of book. Definitely good for people who love those.
I loved this so much. Fairy tale characters usually seem pretty one dimensional. Not so in this book. All the characters are incredibly complex, even the villains and antagonists. The relationships are messy. It's a story of trying to be yourself, in spite of life's constraints. I was utterly charmed by it.
This book was not really my thing if I'm honest, but I can't deny that it was a clever premise and rather expertly done. So I gave it three stars anyway.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This follows three well known fairy tale princesses, CeCi(Cinderella), Bianca(Snow White) and Rory(Sleeping Beauty) in letter form. It's basically mean girls meets Disney. One of their best friends, Zell(Rapunzel) leaves spontaneously and leaves a letter behind for her best friends to find. After that all three start writing to her telling her all about whats been happening since she left. CeCi loves to bake but feels that her position as Princess won't allow her to follow her dreams, Bianca is getting married to her best friend but they don't love each other and instead she finds someone on the Outside, and poor Rory has finally woken up only to find out that her husband is a bore and has no interest in loving her.
Things I Liked:
I like the letter format. It was unique and really different than other fairy tale retellings. Even though descriptions and settings were sparse the content in each letter was great.
All the SASS! and backstabbing and cattiness. That's what made Mean Girls=means girls. Even though all of these princesses are friends they each have their own problems and they try to solve each others problems behind backs thinking they were doing a good thing. Sometimes it got a little too much...
The ending!!! AHHHH The ending!!! So sad and yet it was amazing!
Things I Disliked:
It took a bit longer to get into the story since it is in letter format there is something missing. It's very character driven so if you are a huge character loving person this is the book. (for me it kinda depends..it works here for the story)
The cattiness does get a little old after a while and I started to skim just to get to the next letter.
But overall it was a good book but wasn't one of my favorites. It was unique and I would recommend this to readers who are interested in reading a Mean Girls type of fairy tale retelling. It's not for everyone though.
This follows three well known fairy tale princesses, CeCi(Cinderella), Bianca(Snow White) and Rory(Sleeping Beauty) in letter form. It's basically mean girls meets Disney. One of their best friends, Zell(Rapunzel) leaves spontaneously and leaves a letter behind for her best friends to find. After that all three start writing to her telling her all about whats been happening since she left. CeCi loves to bake but feels that her position as Princess won't allow her to follow her dreams, Bianca is getting married to her best friend but they don't love each other and instead she finds someone on the Outside, and poor Rory has finally woken up only to find out that her husband is a bore and has no interest in loving her.
Things I Liked:
I like the letter format. It was unique and really different than other fairy tale retellings. Even though descriptions and settings were sparse the content in each letter was great.
All the SASS! and backstabbing and cattiness. That's what made Mean Girls=means girls. Even though all of these princesses are friends they each have their own problems and they try to solve each others problems behind backs thinking they were doing a good thing. Sometimes it got a little too much...
The ending!!! AHHHH The ending!!! So sad and yet it was amazing!
Things I Disliked:
It took a bit longer to get into the story since it is in letter format there is something missing. It's very character driven so if you are a huge character loving person this is the book. (for me it kinda depends..it works here for the story)
The cattiness does get a little old after a while and I started to skim just to get to the next letter.
But overall it was a good book but wasn't one of my favorites. It was unique and I would recommend this to readers who are interested in reading a Mean Girls type of fairy tale retelling. It's not for everyone though.