A fairy tale retelling that did not quite deliver.
I am an absolute sucker for any kind of fairy tale retelling, especially one that promises to turn the fairy tale completely on its head like this one did. And on that promise it did deliver, I'll give it that much. But there was nothing else that appealed to me whatsoever, sadly...
👎 What I Disliked 👎
Characters: First of all, I didn't really like any of the characters in this book aside from Luke, who is only a minor character. Second of all, none of the characters have any particular arc, they don't evolve, they don't grow, they don't learn. The were just static all the way through, no development at all.
World building: I really wished the world had been build a lot better. It's an intriguing premise - a world that revolves around the idolization of a fairytale. But that's just about all we know of this world. We don't know much of the history, of the geography, of the demography, of the magic. It's all just a blank space, where a few bits and pieces are thrown at us randomly without any explanation or context. It felt disjointed.
Sophia: Sophia really rubbed me the wrong way. She had a superiority complex, especially when it comes to her 'friend' Erin. Erin tells her loud and clear what it is that she wants, but Sophia chooses to ignore everything she says because she thinks she knows best. That really irked me multiple times. Like, how can you think that's okay? How can you think that's love? When the one you love tells you, she doesn't want the same thing you want, why are you still pushing her to go against her own conscience and wishes? I really did not like Sophia...
Chemistry: Sophia ends up shifting her affections from Erin to the mysteries stranger, Constance. For no apparent reason that I could find, except for the fact that they are both queer. I didn't feel any attraction of any chemistry between the two. It felt completely out of the blue, with no preamble or build up.
The king: Our antagonist is the king of this underdeveloped world. He is diabolical and tyrannical, holding the women of his kingdom on a tight leash. once it's revealed why he behaves like this, I was stunned. Because it made absolutely no sense. I couldn't follow the reasoning, it seemed to lax and illogical.
