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cozyreadings's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Retellings have been so overdone in the last years, that I feel it's become hard to find one that isn't boring and repetitive. I would love to say that this one was an exception, but it wasn't. Although the premise is pretty interesting (the aftermath of a fairytale instead of the actual fairytale), it was easy to guess all the twists, and I feel like towards the end there were too many things trying to happen at once. Too many fairytales becoming mixed into one story, which made it a bit "overachieving".
Now for the positives. The atmosphere of the village and the woods was great. The townspeople were written well: when a character can make you feel such anger towards them yet at the same time feel sad for them, you know the character was written well. The magic parts were woven in neatly with the normal daily village life parts.
For a debut novel I am impressed, but as retellings go it still felt generic and like something I had read before. However I'm very interested to see what will be coming next from this author!
Now for the positives. The atmosphere of the village and the woods was great. The townspeople were written well: when a character can make you feel such anger towards them yet at the same time feel sad for them, you know the character was written well. The magic parts were woven in neatly with the normal daily village life parts.
For a debut novel I am impressed, but as retellings go it still felt generic and like something I had read before. However I'm very interested to see what will be coming next from this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
applejacksbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, and Abandonment