ladyofthelake68's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book in one day. It is not a difficult read. I would not recommend it for young readers though, there are some elements that might be difficult for them. More mature readers can fully appreciate Turgeon's work if they are familiar with the Grimm brother's versions of Rapunzel and Snow White.
I love how Turgeon was able to seamlessly combine two classical fairy tales into a new story that is both familiar and surprising. Throughout the book I kept thinking I knew where Turgeon was going with the story, only to be surprised when she took the story elsewhere. Everyone knows that the Evil Queen is a villain, but is she really? What was life like for her? These are the questions that Turgeon explores in this book.
Anyone who loves retold fairy tales will love this book.
I love how Turgeon was able to seamlessly combine two classical fairy tales into a new story that is both familiar and surprising. Throughout the book I kept thinking I knew where Turgeon was going with the story, only to be surprised when she took the story elsewhere. Everyone knows that the Evil Queen is a villain, but is she really? What was life like for her? These are the questions that Turgeon explores in this book.
Anyone who loves retold fairy tales will love this book.
geldauran's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was quite well done. The author has a lovely turn of phrase at times, which really helps to carry what can be a rather slow plot at times. The beginning is a bit rough, but really picks up around chapter 4- I read it straight to the end after reaching that point. The book also maintains a fairy-tale tone-- the vaguely European setting fit the story well.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting to like the combination of Rapunzel and Snow White, but while reading the story it all fell together quite nicely. There are a few twists and changes here and there, but the concrete plots of each fairy tale are intact and expressed well. Rapunzel's character development is particularly well done, her slow descent from girl-in-the-tower to the Evil Queen is balanced- both dark and understandable.
I would recommend the book to fans of fairy tale retellings, especially those who might be unsatisfied with large changes to the original stories that other versions take.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting to like the combination of Rapunzel and Snow White, but while reading the story it all fell together quite nicely. There are a few twists and changes here and there, but the concrete plots of each fairy tale are intact and expressed well. Rapunzel's character development is particularly well done, her slow descent from girl-in-the-tower to the Evil Queen is balanced- both dark and understandable.
I would recommend the book to fans of fairy tale retellings, especially those who might be unsatisfied with large changes to the original stories that other versions take.
diaryofthebookdragon's review against another edition
3.0
Fairytales and retellings are one of my favorite themes in books, so you can accurately guess I was pretty excited to read The Fairest of Them. I could not wait to find out how Carolyn Turgeon combined Rapunzel and Snow White.
Surprisingly, the merge of these two fairytales went pretty smoothly. First events from Rapunzel happen and then from Snow White happen. Transition was masterfully done and there were a couple of new unexpected elements and twists that made the reading enjoyable.
Story is narrated in first person by Rapunzel. There were times when I struggled with her descriptions of events. If something bad happened to her, I felt like she tried to make me feel sorry for her. Vice versa, if Rapunzel did something bad, I felt like she was making excuses for her behavior. I guess what I am trying to say is that too much is explained through narration. And that leads us to second problem I had: sometimes flat characterisation. I like to get to know characters well and then decide myself. Too many excuses will not make me sympathise with them.
Yeah yeah... :p You always have a choice.
If we neglect these personal issues I had, The Fairest of Them is a quick and entertaining read.
You may notice that I didn't label it as young adult. Honestly, I think that there is too much sexual situations and some themes that are not of interest to younger audience like: infidelity in marriage, infertility etc.
In The End...
With interesting combination of two famous stories, The Fairest of Them will make all fans of fairytale retellings happy. Just be warned, for a book labeled as young adult, there is a lot of sex and other mature topics.
My rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review. This text is also posted on my blog Bookworm Dreams in a little bit more styled edition.
Surprisingly, the merge of these two fairytales went pretty smoothly. First events from Rapunzel happen and then from Snow White happen. Transition was masterfully done and there were a couple of new unexpected elements and twists that made the reading enjoyable.
Story is narrated in first person by Rapunzel. There were times when I struggled with her descriptions of events. If something bad happened to her, I felt like she tried to make me feel sorry for her. Vice versa, if Rapunzel did something bad, I felt like she was making excuses for her behavior. I guess what I am trying to say is that too much is explained through narration. And that leads us to second problem I had: sometimes flat characterisation. I like to get to know characters well and then decide myself. Too many excuses will not make me sympathise with them.
Yeah yeah... :p You always have a choice.
If we neglect these personal issues I had, The Fairest of Them is a quick and entertaining read.
You may notice that I didn't label it as young adult. Honestly, I think that there is too much sexual situations and some themes that are not of interest to younger audience like: infidelity in marriage, infertility etc.
In The End...
With interesting combination of two famous stories, The Fairest of Them will make all fans of fairytale retellings happy. Just be warned, for a book labeled as young adult, there is a lot of sex and other mature topics.
My rating: 3 stars
Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review. This text is also posted on my blog Bookworm Dreams in a little bit more styled edition.
booksabrewin's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of this book from Touchstone in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely love fairytale retellings and the fact that this book is essentially a mash-up of two of my favorite stories was just icing on the cake. I was thoroughly bewitched by the premise, the lovely royal blue color of the cover, and the fine praises of the author's writing. I had to have it. I had to read it and find out what could have happened to my favorite princess, Repunzel, to turn her into the evil stepmother that I have so often read about in Snow White.
The story starts out with a young, vibrantly happy Repunzel who meets a young prince simply by chance. She sees his hunting party in the woods from the crumbling remains of a kingdom long forgotten (perhaps, this speaks of some foreboding that I only recognized after reading the book in its entirety). She sang to the men straight from her heart, not thinking it would catch the ear of the royal heir and seize upon his heart.
Mathena, the witch who adopted Repunzel after her parents were deemed unfit, attempts to shelter Repunzel from the prince to no avail. Repunzel and the Prince Josef share one night of passion which changes Repunzel's life.
After Prince Josef is forced from Repunzel's side to wed a princess of his parent's choosing, Repunzel is forced to spend years hearing of her lost love's life from women who seek the guidance of her guardian. Through a series of events the queen passes away after first giving birth to Snow White. Now King, Josef seeks Repunzel out and makes her his wife.
Repunzel is forced to mold herself into a refined woman of court, instead of the wild woman she once was. She falls for Josef even more and even finds a place in her heart for Snow White. But, all things are not happy for Repunzel as she realizes the true nature of her king and loses the favor she once gained from her stepdaughter.
The book was so beautifully written and was such an original concept that despite some personal issues with a bit of the book, I enjoyed the read. It had so much substance and I came out of it sympathizing with a character in a historic fairytale that I had hated almost my entire childhood. Then ending ended up saving the entire reading experience for me. I was filled with dread throughout the book, waiting for the inevitable to happen and see Repunzel become the evil demon of a woman of Snow White folklore. The ending surprised me. It moved the book, leaps and bounds, head on my rating scale. I would recommend this book to those who have read Wicked by Gregory Maguire and love reading fairytale retellings.
This story read a lot like the book Wicked by Gregory Maguire. In Fairest of Them All, the reader can't help but bleed for Repunzel/the Evil Stepmother. It was the back story that was needed to truly understand what drove someone so pure of heart and loving to a desperation that caused evil to sow roots.
Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com
jessica_flower's review against another edition
4.0
This takes the fairytales of Rapunzel and Snow White and blends them together so well that when the plot twists come you're left feeling major whiplash.
Highly recommend.
NOTE: IT IS MUCH DARKER THAN IT LOOKS. (especially at the end.)
Highly recommend.
NOTE: IT IS MUCH DARKER THAN IT LOOKS. (especially at the end.)
sjj169's review
4.0
Rapunzel as the Evil Witch from Snow White?
So many yes words just came from my mouth.
Rapunzel lives in the woods with her 'foster' mother. They gather herbs and help the villages women with their men troubles and grow vegetables. Mathena has told Rapunzel stories from her birth..about how her parents were horrible to her and that she saved her and took her to raise.
Then one day Rapunzel stumbles upon the handsome prince. You would think after hearing all the villages stories about how stupid men were that she would leave him alone...but no. Her heart goes pitter patter.
She must see him again!
Mathena locks her in the tower so that she can't run off with him.
You know that crap doesn't work with a teenage girl so Rapunzel drops down her magic hair and there is the prince!
Spoiler alert~ She doesn't use the frying pan. They do the bangity bang.
Then Rapunzel finds out that the prince is going to marry another chick because that's what princes do to save their kingdoms. Princes are sorta stupid. (This one is extra stupid)
Then Rapunzel is super depressed and some bad stuff happens.
But alas! Now the queen is dead and guess who shows up wanting to marry Rapunzel?!
Now you have to read the story to see if Rapunzel beats the snot out of Prince or just eats Snow White's heart.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
So many yes words just came from my mouth.
Rapunzel lives in the woods with her 'foster' mother. They gather herbs and help the villages women with their men troubles and grow vegetables. Mathena has told Rapunzel stories from her birth..about how her parents were horrible to her and that she saved her and took her to raise.
Then one day Rapunzel stumbles upon the handsome prince. You would think after hearing all the villages stories about how stupid men were that she would leave him alone...but no. Her heart goes pitter patter.
She must see him again!
Mathena locks her in the tower so that she can't run off with him.
You know that crap doesn't work with a teenage girl so Rapunzel drops down her magic hair and there is the prince!
Spoiler alert~ She doesn't use the frying pan. They do the bangity bang.
Then Rapunzel finds out that the prince is going to marry another chick because that's what princes do to save their kingdoms. Princes are sorta stupid. (This one is extra stupid)
Then Rapunzel is super depressed and some bad stuff happens.
But alas! Now the queen is dead and guess who shows up wanting to marry Rapunzel?!
Now you have to read the story to see if Rapunzel beats the snot out of Prince or just eats Snow White's heart.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
thearosemary's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
A big thank you to my sister for recommending The Fairest of Them All. This was an amazing retelling, twisting together the tales of Rapunzel and Snow White in a dark way.
Carolyn Turgeon is a magnificent writer. Her creativity is simply astounding. She has a way of writing characters that you can love and hate at the same time. Characters are not always going to be lovable, and it was refreshing to see a mix of both good and evil within the cast--particularly in Rapunzel.
This is definitely a favorite for me.
A big thank you to my sister for recommending The Fairest of Them All. This was an amazing retelling, twisting together the tales of Rapunzel and Snow White in a dark way.
Carolyn Turgeon is a magnificent writer. Her creativity is simply astounding. She has a way of writing characters that you can love and hate at the same time. Characters are not always going to be lovable, and it was refreshing to see a mix of both good and evil within the cast--particularly in Rapunzel.
This is definitely a favorite for me.
renalexis's review against another edition
5.0
book review here: http://therandombibliophile.tumblr.com/post/113770661075/the-fairest-of-them-all
:)
:)
mlmcmrry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
bookshy's review against another edition
4.0
How have I not heard of this book? I was actually quite surprised at how good this book was, considering there are so many bad fairy tale novels out there. A bit simplistic and a quick read, but overall great ideas and I like the way she twisted the tale to fit her plot. Will be reading the other novels in this series as well.