Once Upon a Twist on an Old Fairy Tale

A while back I challenged myself to read Swan Lake retellings in honor of my late Grandmother who was a dance critic and had introduced me to the ballet Swan Lake. The tragic story of an Odette a princess cursed to be a swan by day and her love prince Seigfreid whose unintentional betrayal leads them to an unhappy fate is a classic among ballet lovers. In recent years Swan Lake has been the inspiration of several books and movies proving its popularity beyond the ballet world. Unfortunately, not all retellings reach the same level of enjoyment. Sadly, A Captive of Wing and Feathers was somewhat disappointing.  Princess Adelaide has been running from her past for a long time. Even after hearing the curse that was placed on her kingdom and brother King Dominic is broken and he is a changed man she refuses to believe it. How could she when he once abandoned her when she needed him most? Having found a home in the kingdom of Talinos she works at the Haven a place where the elderly and ...

After the previous novel in the Beyond the Four Kingdoms series A Crown of Snow and Ice left off on a small cliffhanger, I was eager to continue on to the next book A Dream of Ebony and White a Snow-White Retelling. Titular character Princess Snow made a previous appearance in A Dance of Silver and Shadow as one the visiting princesses forced to compete in the Princess Tourney. She was worried about her dying father and fearful of her stepmother's guard Randolf who was accompanying her. By the end of A Crown of Snow and Ice Snow's father is revealed to have died and fearing for her friend's safety Princess Celine sent the huntsman Alexander (Snow's childhood friend) back to his kingdom to protect her from a dangerous criminal who was on the loose. With all that story build up I was eager to find out how the timid and quiet princess Snow rose up to become the strong leader her people needed. The story opens with Snow mourning the loss of her father and feeling betrayed b...

The Snow Queen is a very mysterious and dark story written by Hans Christian Andersen about a young boy who is kidnapped by the titular villain and his best friend Gerda who goes on a journey to find him. While the story sounds simple enough there are actually several plot holes in it that have always annoyed me. For example, we never learn who the Snow Queen is nor why she kidnap's Kai in the first place. She is a character whose motivations and fate are shrouded in mystery and left unknown. Thankfully other authors have written their own spin on the tale giving her more character and clearer goals. While no one may ever know what became of Hans Christian Anderson cold-hearted villain we can find satisfaction with fairy tale retellings based off the tale such as A Crown of Snow and Ice by Melanie Cellier. The story opens with Princess Celine traveling to the kingdom of Eldon after accepting an invitation from its two cold princesses Emmeline and Giselle. Along with their brother c...

One of the nice aspects of reading Melanie Celliers fairy tale retellings is that they can be read in any order. Until recently I loved this option. It was a lot easier to simply pick up the book that sounded the most interesting rather than start a series from start to finish. But after completing both the Four Kingdoms and Beyond the Four Kingdoms series I have come to think differently. I am very glad that I chose to read them in order for it felt a lot more fulfilling. Seeing favorite characters and even villains appear in several stories was always a treat and made the reading experience feel more complete. That said there is nothing wrong with reading these books out of order just know that some will probably contain spoilers of their predecessors. A Tale of Beauty and Beast is a prime example of this for it takes place right after A Dance of Silver and Shadow and mentions several events from it. This review will contain a few of those spoilers so if you haven't read A Dance ...

     When I finished Melanie Cellier's Four Kingdoms series, I knew I had to read its follow up set a few years later. Truth be told I had originally considered reading the Beyond the Four Kingdoms series first since the books appealed to me more. However, I am glad that I started from the beginning since the books are more enjoyable when read in order. That said every book can be read individually and it's really up to you how you want to go about it.  Beyond the Four Kingdoms is the follow up series to The Four Kingdoms by author Melanie Cellier and is an improvement from its predecessor. The books are set on a new continent previously unknown and unreachable with all its kingdoms threatened by dark forces. However, with the arrival of three foreign princesses (who all made previous appearances in other books) hope may not be lost after all for the people of who once turned their backs on the High King and the Godmothers.         ...

Valia Lind is a new author I recently discovered whose Beauty and the Beast book instantly caught my attention. Upon reading the title and learning it was based off Russian fairy tales I knew the name sounded very familiar to a picture book I own called The Scarlet Flower by Sergei Aksakov and guessed that it must have been the inspiration for it. I also went through my fairy tale collections and found three collections of Russian fairy tales. One of the collections had been a gift from my late grandparents and I remember reading the book with great enjoyment as a kid. One recurring character I that was featured in serval tales was the infamous witch Baba Yaga who either played the role of villainess or reluctant helper depending on the story. So, it goes without saying that it was a nice surprise to see her playing the role of the enchantress who cursed the prince in The Scarlet Rose. The book opens with Gavriil a prince of the land Skazka being cursed by the witch Baba Yaga to slowly...