Once Upon a Twist on an Old Fairy Tale

Recently my family was struck by tragedy with the death of one of my grandmothers. During her life she was a dance critic and throughout her career she has watched many ballets. One of those ballets was Swan Lake which is also a particular favorite of mine. To honor her memory, I attempted to read five different retellings of Swan Lake within a month. Sadly, I only got to read three due to my busy school schedule. I was originally going to write about K. M. Shea's Swan Lake first but after having written three reviews for the Villains Ever After series I decided to go with this one. I had heard of the author Lucy Tempest for a while and am excited to read her Fairy Tales of Folkshore series sooner than later. It should also be mentioned that although The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess is part of the Villains Ever After series it is set in the same world as the Fairy Tales of  Folkshore  making it part...

The Arabian Nights is a story that has always piqued my interest. The question of why a king or  sultan,  as he is  called,  would murder  his new bride every night because of his first wife’s betrayal always made me want to read a retelling of this tale. The Sultan and the  Storyteller is the first retelling of this story I have  read,  and I must say I really enjoyed it. While I later read The Storyteller’s Daughter by Cameron  Dokey   I got to say that any retelling I read of this story will have a lot to live up to. This book that was less th an 200 pages was such an amazing retelling that I will be eagerly looking into other books by the  same author. In  fact,  it seems that Lichelle Slater really enjoyed writing this book for she is making another   series  based  on  the tale Aladdin  set in the same world .  Aladdin is not my favorite fairy tale nor my favorite movie (although I adore...

  As a lover of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale I was only too eager to read a retelling where the  main character fills both roles of both Belle and the Enchantress. I had heard of  the author Camille Peters and  similar to  the authors Lucy Tempest and Lichelle Slayter I decided to r ead one of their shorter books in a  brand-new  series A Villains Ever After. The series consists of twelve books each by a dif ferent  author,  where they make  traditional villains  the protagonists of their own adventure .  So  far,  I have read only three of these books ( The Beast and the Enchantress , The Sultan and th e Storyteller, and The Sorcerer and the Swan Princess)  and have enjoyed them all very much.  This is the first book in the series, but it doesn’t matter what order you read them in.     The book begins with enchantress in training  Astrid's   sister Rosemarie crushing hard on the p...

  During my long hours of  school,  I had little time to read long books. To solve this  issue,  I started reading shorter books that were less than 200 pages. Now that Thanksgiv ing  vacation  has  started,   I have more time on my hands  to read longer books.  However,  I still want to review and give credit to those shorter books since they were all good.   Rose Bound Magic by Caitlin Crowe was  an enjoyable experience that  I wish to share with the world. I had never heard of Caitlin Crowe before  and it seems she has not written anything else so far. I hope that will change since this book was enjoyable.    The book introduces the readers to Belladonna or Bell who lives alone with her father whose memory is fading. Her  older  sisters have  both married and she never hears from them  which worries her  since both were unhappy with their husbands . Making ends meet by w...

  The Frog Duke  by Chelsey Noelle Review   After reading Arabella and the Cursed Prince I decided to read its prequal The Frog Duke. I had enjoyed Arabella and the Cursed Prince but hadn’t l oved it. I had wanted to s ee the two main characters  spend more time getting along together. I knew they loved each other by the end but the journey to it wasn’t as satisfying as I wished it to be.  I was also curious to see more of the ugly faerie who despite seeming to have good intentions  tries to achieve her goals in a not so nice way.  Needless to  say,  I  did enjoy this book more  than  its predecessor.   The book begins  on   a bit of a downer  note  with future Duke Francis   as a kid  being told by his father to end his friendship with Princess  Colette,  the second daughter of the king.  Instead,  he is instructed  to befriend the older princess,  Gabr...