Once Upon a Twist on an Old Fairy Tale

  Towards the end of 2020 I decided I needed to read more Cinderella retellings since at the time I basically read nothing but Beauty and the Beast books. Cinderella has always had a special place in my heart but for some reason I haven’t read nearly as many retellings of it as I want to. So, I decided to read Shard of Glass by Emily Deady since the summary on Amazon made me wonder if the prince character was someone the Cinderella character Ashlin could trust. I remember enjoying the book for what it was and was curious to learn more about the ongoing plotline. Fast forward to 2022 and I had recently signed up for Emily Deady’s newsletter. I one day got an email saying that Shard of Glass was in the process of becoming an audiobook and she was looking for fans to listen to it before it was released. I was one of the first people to sign up for it and was eager to listen to it. Although I was a little slow in finishing the book (due to college and getting sick) I found Shard o...

  For the longest time I have been wanting to read The Four Kingdoms series by Melanie Cellier along with its follow up series Beyond the Four Kingdoms and Return to the Four Kingdoms. However, I was always daunted to do so since it would take me a long time to finish. Not to mention the Return to the Four Kingdoms series is unfinished meaning more books would be released. However, I finally decided it was about time to stop hesitating and just read them and so I began the first book The Princess Companion A Retelling of the Princess and the Pea. The story didn’t instantly grab my attention and seemed to move slowly. But I kept at it and by the end it was a good read. The Princess Companion is the story of a woodcutter's daughter named Alyssa who gets lost in a forest while traveling to the city to meet with her aunt. Stumbling upon the royal family's winter palace the servants accidentally mistake her as one of the princesses the king and queen had invited. Staying the night...

  I am always excited to read East of the Sun and West of the Moon retellings when I get the chance. I am always interested to see how authors put their own twist on a previously told story. However, when an author sticks too closely to the original story the book isn’t as interesting. And sadly, that was the case for Curse Breaker by Taylor Fenner. The book is good but it doesn’t add much in addition storyline to really help make it stand out from its original source.   Curse Breaker is the tale of Hel (aka Helga) the youngest daughter of a Viking who dreams of love and adventures. However ever since her fiancée died, she has had little hope of ever finding love again let alone adventure. Little does she know that her prayers to Freya (the Norse god) will lead her on a journey she never could have imagined and a love worth fighting for. When a white bear appears at her house asking for her to come with him in exchange for riches her family encourages her to go. Despite not...

  When I was in middle school, I discovered a book by chance at a local library that was a retelling of the fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon. If you are thinking that book was East by Edith Pattou well, you would be wrong. It was actually Sun and Moon Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. I was completely enthralled by this book that I started looking for other retellings of the tale. After some searching, I discovered a few more including Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, Once Upon a Winters Night by Dennis L. McKiernan, and East by Edith Pattou . Out of all these books East looked the most interesting and so I checked it out and read it. While I don’t remember how I originally felt about the book overtime it would become my favorite book from childhood. Even to this day at age 22 I still get a lot of enjoyment out of this book. The writing style is fantastic, the characters are so well written, and the story keeps you on your toes.    Rose was born to replace her...