White As Witching

Pages: 268 

Publisher: Victory Editing 

Released: 4th of October 2022 

A Grimm-esque fairy tale retelling that readers call "darkly beautiful" and "an atmospheric delight."

The Selection is a lie. The five girls chosen each year do not vanish into a life of royal luxury, as most believe. Snow knows this because she knows her aunt Lyric—the Witch-Queen of Cresilea—murderess and usurper.

When the Selection comes to the remote village where Snow has hidden since her father’s murder, she puts herself forward, trusting in her scarred face to hide her identity, and enters the castle she fled seven years ago—a place now haunted by unnatural whispers and eerie shadows.

But more is at stake than Snow’s revenge, or even the fates of five girls, and she must learn all she can about Lyric’s magic—and her own—before it’s too late.

Rich and darkly enchanting, White as Witching takes you into a perilous world of fairy tale where you must break the first rule:

Do not go into the woods at night.

Do not follow the faerie lights.

Do not dance and do not sing—set no foot in the faerie ring.

What I Have to Say 

This book was better than I expected. I really liked the ideas put forth from the blurb but I wasn't sure how well it would be executed. But it was cleverly written, full of riddles and foreshadowing and it wove the original elements of the fairy tale in with the new stuff really well. 

The only thing I didn't like was the ableism towards the end. The author did a good job of making the point that her scar was a big part of her identity and made a point about sacrifice. But the message was still clear that she had to be "pretty" and perfect in order to rule and get her happy ending. 

In all honesty, it completely ruined the book for me. A book that I was really enjoying, which I'll admit had a clever ending, but I couldn't get past the magical cure. I ended the book feeling really disappointed and betrayed. 

 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Victory Editing for providing me with this copy for review. 

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Synopsis (From Goodreads) 

Pages: 358

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 6th of March 2018 

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

What I Have to Say 

This is the retelling of The Little Mermaid that we needed. I loved it from the start. Lira was the best siren that I've ever seen. I loved how much of a monster she was. It made sure that you knew how different it would be from the original story right from the very beginning. 

I also liked watching Lira change. The way she became more human the more time she spent with the crew. For someone that is so feral to begin with, I found it fascinating to watch. I loved Elian and his crew as well. They were exactly what I always want from books of this kind. I loved their humour. I loved their camaraderie. 

Though maybe a tiny bit predictable in regards to the romance, it really was a lovely fresh take on The Little Mermaid and a story that I have been needing in my life for so long. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

Frogkisser! by Garth Nix

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384

Publisher: Piccadilly Press

Released: 28th of February 2017 

The Last Thing She Needs Is a Prince.

The First Thing She Needs Is Some Magic. 

Poor Princess Anya. Forced to live with her evil stepmother's new husband, her evil stepstepfather. Plagued with an unfortunate ability to break curses with a magic-assisted kiss. And forced to go on the run when her stepstepfather decides to make the kingdom entirely his own.

Aided by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischievous wizards, Anya sets off on a Quest that, if she plays it right, will ultimately free her land-and teach her a thing or two about the use of power, the effectiveness of a well-placed pucker, and the finding of friends in places both high and low.

What I Have to Say 

This book is humorous, entertaining and beautifully feminist. Princess Anya is a wonderful twist on the fairy tale princess, embarking upon a quest, which soon because more like a series of entwining quests, in order to fulfill her sister promise and change her sister's lover back from frog form. And all she really wants to do is get back to the warmth of her library and her books. 

The characters were wonderfully quirky and all had their own characteristics that set them apart. I think my favourite was probably Ardent, the dog, who is excitable, easily distracted but very, very loyal, as all good dogs are.

Despite the humour that surrounded all the characters, they were not only stereotypes and when they were, they had some sort of twist to make them different from the characters that are normally seen in fairy tales. They also each have so many wants that take the story in different directions and create conflict. It made it so that the story was not at all predictable, but at the same time, completely logical for each of the characters. 

This really is a beautiful story and would be perfect for younger readers who have an interest in fairy tales. Though people of all ages who can appreciate humour and ingenious twists. 

My thanks go to Piccadilly Press for providing me with this copy for review. 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 464

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Released: 9th of February 2017

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

What I Have to Say

As a long time fan of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, obviously I was interested in seeing her take on Alice in Wonderland. At the start it was hard to see how anything would connect up with the screeching, angry Queen of Hearts as pictured in the original story. But as I trusted Marissa Meyer as an  author and quite liked Cath as a character, I continued to read and watched as poor Cath's life was torn apart. 

It was a sad story, but it also had a lot of humour, merriment and obviously acts of the impossible. There were many of the original characters from Alice in Wonderland and we saw the origins of a lot of the other characters as well, including the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, obviously. It was beautifully woven with the insanity and humour that Wonderland is known for in Meyer's unique style. 

Meyer has a very distinct style and as I have liked her other books, I enjoyed reading this style, but I feel like she lacked a lot of the humour that Wonderland is known for. It had bits of whimsy involved in it, but mostly it was quite a serious story based within this world. I respect that this is a choice that Meyer had to make, whether to go with her quite serious style or change to add more humour, so I wouldn't say it's a problem as such, but I think I would have liked more humour really. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan to providing me with this copy for review.