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bookbriefs's review against another edition
3.0
**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**Where to start with this one? Letters to Zell is a hilarious and zany ride that takes what we knew of fairy tale princesses and turns it on its' head. Told in letter format, Letters to Zell starts off with a letter to Zell (Rapunzel) from Ceci (Cinderella- but don't call her that! She hates it!). Apparently, Zell up and left her princess friends to run off and tend to Unicorns. Zell, Ceci, Bianca (Snow White) and Rory (Sleeping Beauty) are all a part of a book club, and the other princesses are not too happy that Zell left them without any notice.
The letters drop you right in the middle of their world, and it takes a good bit of time to get your bearings. Since the book is told in letter format, and alternates between the princesses, the author- Camille Greip, has to weave details into each letter. Although this method took longer than a couple setting the stage paragraphs or even chapters would have, it felt more authentic to the story telling method. If these princesses were really writing letters to their friend, they wouldn't explain the world they all grew up in, in one go around. (If my friend wrote me a letter and described Florida, it would be one bizarre letter.) So even though this often left me a bit confused until I could gather enough details to paint a picture of the world, I kind of liked it. It made me feel like I was on a scavenger hunt of sorts.
Let's talk a little bit about the letters. They completely cracked me up! I loved Binaca's. She is so crass. All of her letters started with "Important F-ing Correspondence from Snow B. White" Bianca is also still living out the pages of her story, so her letters were of particular interest to me. The book on a whole was a lot of fun to read. I loved the concept of these princesses bonding together and doing something so ordinary as drinking (a lot!) and having a book club. Parts of the story did seem to drag on a bit, and I had to put the book down a few times and pick it up again later, but overall, I enjoyed this story.
Letters To Zell reminded me of the song "Fairytale" by Sara Bareilles. Where all of the Fairy tales have taken a decidedly less happy(and maybe more realistic?) turn than their happily ever after. Each of these princesses are trying to figure out what they really want to do with their lives. I think this is a great book for people in their 20s to read, because I feel like we all are trying to figure out our passions and what we really want to do. And I think everyone has at some point wondered, or known someone who has wondered, if the path they were on was the right one. This takes that idea, throws in some adventure, princesses and a whole lot of wine, and takes us on a journey to answer that questions. And there are a lot of laughs, and some behavior unbecoming of fairytale princesses, along the way.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
The letters drop you right in the middle of their world, and it takes a good bit of time to get your bearings. Since the book is told in letter format, and alternates between the princesses, the author- Camille Greip, has to weave details into each letter. Although this method took longer than a couple setting the stage paragraphs or even chapters would have, it felt more authentic to the story telling method. If these princesses were really writing letters to their friend, they wouldn't explain the world they all grew up in, in one go around. (If my friend wrote me a letter and described Florida, it would be one bizarre letter.) So even though this often left me a bit confused until I could gather enough details to paint a picture of the world, I kind of liked it. It made me feel like I was on a scavenger hunt of sorts.
Let's talk a little bit about the letters. They completely cracked me up! I loved Binaca's. She is so crass. All of her letters started with "Important F-ing Correspondence from Snow B. White" Bianca is also still living out the pages of her story, so her letters were of particular interest to me. The book on a whole was a lot of fun to read. I loved the concept of these princesses bonding together and doing something so ordinary as drinking (a lot!) and having a book club. Parts of the story did seem to drag on a bit, and I had to put the book down a few times and pick it up again later, but overall, I enjoyed this story.
Letters To Zell reminded me of the song "Fairytale" by Sara Bareilles. Where all of the Fairy tales have taken a decidedly less happy(and maybe more realistic?) turn than their happily ever after. Each of these princesses are trying to figure out what they really want to do with their lives. I think this is a great book for people in their 20s to read, because I feel like we all are trying to figure out our passions and what we really want to do. And I think everyone has at some point wondered, or known someone who has wondered, if the path they were on was the right one. This takes that idea, throws in some adventure, princesses and a whole lot of wine, and takes us on a journey to answer that questions. And there are a lot of laughs, and some behavior unbecoming of fairytale princesses, along the way.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
wordsofclover's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
Review to come
Rapunzel has upped and left Grimmland with her husband and kids to help run a unicorn sanctuary in Oz. And now Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White are left to figure out what to do without her. Suddenly Zell's leaving sparks the idea of doing more in the other Princesses' heads. CiCi wants to be a chef, which means taking lessons outside in the real world. Snow White suddenly realises her wedding may not be the be all and end all of her life and she could be free to love whoever she wants. And Aurora, well she discovers coffee and that maybe her husband isn't her happily ever after after all. Letters to Zell explores the bumps that come after the happily ever after is sealed and how sometime you have to work pretty hard to get it.
If you liked Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, I think you might like this book. While Chapters to Zell is not quite as satirical as Beauty Queens, it definitely that over-the-topness I associate with Libba Bray's book. The girls are loud and dramatic and they, and the world they live in, have ideals about how they should live and what they should look like and it's a stretch to try and change these. But the more the girls travel through the portal, the more their eyes open to other things and their real dreams. They begin to fight for what they want - CiCi for her cooking classes, Bianca for her freedom and Rory for some magic spell that make her life better than it should be.
I thought it was interesting that we never really got to meet Zell. Just heard about what she was like by the letters the other characters wrote to her. She was definitely some ideal fairy princess until the end when CiCi had a go at her and we discover that Zell isn't actually as perfect as we think. I liked that there was some diversity to the books as well, and there was never any hoo-haa about Bianca's choice of partner Outside. I loved that relationship, though it seemed very rushed. I really enjoyed Cici's relationship dynamic with Edmund who at first I thought a bit snobbish and then turned out to be thoughtful and understanding. I also loved the princesses' reactions to their Disneyland counter-parts.Definite LOL moments.
This book will throw any ideas you have about your fairy princesses out of the water. So stop thinking about the singing Disney versions, and think more along the lines of the kick-butt princesses we see in Once Upon A Time, cause that's what these girls are mixed in with a little bit of LA-grit.
Review to come
Rapunzel has upped and left Grimmland with her husband and kids to help run a unicorn sanctuary in Oz. And now Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White are left to figure out what to do without her. Suddenly Zell's leaving sparks the idea of doing more in the other Princesses' heads. CiCi wants to be a chef, which means taking lessons outside in the real world. Snow White suddenly realises her wedding may not be the be all and end all of her life and she could be free to love whoever she wants. And Aurora, well she discovers coffee and that maybe her husband isn't her happily ever after after all. Letters to Zell explores the bumps that come after the happily ever after is sealed and how sometime you have to work pretty hard to get it.
If you liked Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, I think you might like this book. While Chapters to Zell is not quite as satirical as Beauty Queens, it definitely that over-the-topness I associate with Libba Bray's book. The girls are loud and dramatic and they, and the world they live in, have ideals about how they should live and what they should look like and it's a stretch to try and change these. But the more the girls travel through the portal, the more their eyes open to other things and their real dreams. They begin to fight for what they want - CiCi for her cooking classes, Bianca for her freedom and Rory for some magic spell that make her life better than it should be.
I thought it was interesting that we never really got to meet Zell. Just heard about what she was like by the letters the other characters wrote to her. She was definitely some ideal fairy princess until the end when CiCi had a go at her and we discover that Zell isn't actually as perfect as we think. I liked that there was some diversity to the books as well, and there was never any hoo-haa about Bianca's choice of partner Outside. I loved that relationship, though it seemed very rushed. I really enjoyed Cici's relationship dynamic with Edmund who at first I thought a bit snobbish and then turned out to be thoughtful and understanding. I also loved the princesses' reactions to their Disneyland counter-parts.Definite LOL moments.
This book will throw any ideas you have about your fairy princesses out of the water. So stop thinking about the singing Disney versions, and think more along the lines of the kick-butt princesses we see in Once Upon A Time, cause that's what these girls are mixed in with a little bit of LA-grit.
kdowli01's review against another edition
3.0
This was so entertaining, a great re-imagining of Cinderella, Snow White, Briar Rose, and Rapunzel. Three of the four have already lived through their stories as we know them, and Snow White's wedding is quickly approaching, and they've all realized that maybe fairy tales aren't all they expected them to be (or we expect them to be!) Maybe true love isn't really true, or doesn't last forever, or isn't completely fulfilling. Told in a series of letters from the princesses to Rapunzel (Zell), we get to see how they each come to realize what it is they actually want out of life, even if it isn't what's expected of them. A great reminder that there's more to life than happily ever after.
jillheather's review against another edition
4.0
It's hard for me to dislike a book about fairy tales, and this one isn't even YA. Plus: epistolary.
rebekahmay's review against another edition
I got this as part of the Kindle First reads, and I thought that this month I might actually read the book I got through it. This is the first time I've DNFed a book. I just can't bring myself to keep going with this, it's just really not my thing. The characters are ok, there are some funny bits, and it's not a terrible book. I just don't like the views of the characters (except Bianca, I guess). The reason I picked this up was because it was in letter format. The fairytale princesses were a bonus. But the letters aren't written like they're letters. Especially the speech in it. It's more just multiple POVs than anything else. I just wasn't enjoying it, and I have other books that I'm looking forward to that I'd much rather be reading than this. Maybe I'll come back to this in the future but I doubt it.
simsbrarian's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. While I did feel confused for a good third of the story or so because the names were messing me up a bit I loved all the diversity of the characters as the author wove CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White) and Rory (Sleeping Beauty) into a story that pulled from the original Grimm tales and thought to go beyond, to that point when you ask, "So...what happens after 'Happily Ever After'?" It deals with some very heavy and occaisionally dark themes as the women struggle with love, friendships, finding their passions and coping with life/fate/dreams. And all of this comes to the reader as you read letters from the 3 to Zell (Rapunzel) who has run away from Grimmland to live on a Unicorn preserve.
The world the author created was good though could have used more attention in spots but the characters were strong enough to carry the story even with a few areas of "wait...what?" going on with the environment.
Highly recommend to anyone needing a great story of how to find your own Happy Ever After. While it is based in a Fantasy world there isn't much magic to speak of woven in to get in the way of the story. It is beautifully done but be warned, Snow White has a cuss-mouth! ;)
The world the author created was good though could have used more attention in spots but the characters were strong enough to carry the story even with a few areas of "wait...what?" going on with the environment.
Highly recommend to anyone needing a great story of how to find your own Happy Ever After. While it is based in a Fantasy world there isn't much magic to speak of woven in to get in the way of the story. It is beautifully done but be warned, Snow White has a cuss-mouth! ;)
nightxade's review against another edition
3.0
"Important Fucking Correspondence from Snow B. White."
manogirl's review against another edition
3.0
This was a really strange epistolary novel. It probably would have worked more for me if it wasn't letters. (I hate letters. It just occurred to me that there's simply not enough world-building in letters, and I like world-building the best. And this world seems so interesting and promising! But the letters aren't enough to make it pop. At least, that's how I experienced it.) Interesting idea, but execution lacking for me.
wart's review against another edition
5.0
This book does more than break molds. It gives the characters sledgehammers and steps back. I love it.