Once Upon a Twist on an Old Fairy Tale

When you think of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty you think of a princess cursed to sleep for one hundred years until a prince wakes her up with a kiss. The princess is asleep for most of her story and as a result is a very inactive character. In recent times many authors have tried to fix this problem by giving the princess more moral agency and a bigger role. Melanie Cellier achieves this by drastically changing the curse. Instead of having her be actually asleep she has the princess's mind appear to be asleep making her act like a fool in front of others.  Princess Celeste was cursed at birth by her aunt Millicent to die on her sixteenth birthday. A fairy godmother offered to have her sleep instead but this idea was rejected. It was decided as an alternative to make her mind seem it was asleep by having her become foolish. Growing up Celeste tried to find a way to break her curse but was unsuccessful. On the eve of her sixteenth birthday she contacted her godmother to beg for hel...

After reading The Moonfire Bride and The Sunfire King by Sylvia Mercedes I just knew I had to read more of her books. However when it came time to pick a new one I was unsure where to start. At first I chose book one in her Scarred Mage of Roseward trilogy Thief and found it to be quite enjoyable. However instead of continuing to the second book Prisoner I picked up Of Wolves and Wardens which is part of the One in Whispering Wood series and a sequel to the Of Candlelight's and Shadows duology. In retrospective I probably should have started this book first since it is about Valera's (the main protagonist from the previous books) younger sister Brielle. I was glad that she got her own book since her fate in The Sunfire King was less than satisfying.  The book opens with Brielle hunting a werewolf under the orders of her grandmother Granny Dorrel. She owes Granny seven years of service due to a bargain her sister made to save Brielle's life. During her time as a huntress she...

When I started my blog the first book I reviewed was The Rose and the Thorn by Katherine Macdoanld. The book was a Beauty and the Beast retelling told from the perspective of Rose. The story was beautiful and haunting full of magic, mystery, and of course true love. It became one of my favorite books of all time and Katherine Macdonald became a favorite author. So a few she released a companion novel of the same tale told in Thorns (the beast) perspective I was impatient to read it. When I finally got my hands on it I was so excited. Upon finishing it though I confess I found it a little but lacking. When I asked myself why this was at first I wasn't completely shore. The story was as good as it had been before, the characters were just as well written and the setting was as hauntingly beautiful as I remembered it. So why did I find it to be not as enjoyable?  Warning this book summary reveals major spoilers to The Rose and the Thorn. If you don't want to be spoiled then come b...

Katherine Macdonald is one of my favorite authors of all time. Her books are so enthralling. Full of well written characters enticing plotlines and swoon-worthy romances. So it goes without saying I was very excited when I began reading her Snow White retelling A Tale of Ice and Ash. However, upon starting the book I was surprised (and a little saddened) to discover it was set many years into the future where most magic has disappeared. However, once I got passed the fact that the fairy Ariel would not be making an appearance (although there is a brief mention of her) I found myself enjoying the story just as I had with the previous two. The story opens five years after Eirwen's stepmother Queen Bianca tried to assassinate her. Eirwen is living with her dwarven adoptive family and has grown into a strong and capable fighter but still retains her kind pure heart. One day while searching for a certain treasure in the abandoned dwarven underground city she comes upon Cole her stepbrot...