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A review by onceuponacarm
The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale
3.0
Not as similar to The School for Good and Evil as I expected (which is a good thing), this series focuses on the choice between destiny (safety) and choice (freedom). In Ever After, fairytale characters go to school to train into reliving the stories of their parents. Each generation repeats the story, with new actors in the famous roles, which guarantees a happily ever after for some but also destines many to become evil, whether they like it or not. Raven Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen, has never felt right about following in her mom's footsteps, but her Apple White is desperate to keep everyone in their traditional roles so she can end up with the Snow White happily ever after.
The story is fun and original enough to keep me turning pages (I can completely see the appeal to the targeted middle grade audience) but the constant pop culture references and slang with a fairy tale twist were nauseatingly annoying. They use the word "fairy" to mean "very," everyone carries MirrorPhones, the music of One Reflection and Tailor Quick are popular--these references feel forced and artificial, an unnecessary nod to today's world, and are going to quickly seem dated. This is absolutely not the quality storytelling of Shannon Hale's Princess Academy (among my favorites) or Goose Girl.
The story is fun and original enough to keep me turning pages (I can completely see the appeal to the targeted middle grade audience) but the constant pop culture references and slang with a fairy tale twist were nauseatingly annoying. They use the word "fairy" to mean "very," everyone carries MirrorPhones, the music of One Reflection and Tailor Quick are popular--these references feel forced and artificial, an unnecessary nod to today's world, and are going to quickly seem dated. This is absolutely not the quality storytelling of Shannon Hale's Princess Academy (among my favorites) or Goose Girl.