softrosemint's review against another edition
1.0
Just an incredibly bizarre choice of a book to write in the YA age group. I was already puzzled at the choice of writing the getting pregnant from your first time trope written in a book published in 2021 but this takes this to a whole new level.
This whole book felt vaguely misogynistic in a way I cannot quite pinpoint but I am surprised I have not encountered in any of the top reviews, be it negative or tentatively positive.
It is just very strange to revolve the majority of your YA book around pregnancy and some sort of a natural maternal instinct and child rearing. It is not really something that is on the mind of the majority of the target readership and comes off as strangely preachy. I know that in the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale - and a lot of classic fairytales - the motive of the firstborn child is very common. But there is a reason something like "Labyrinth" gave its adolescent heroine a step baby brother instead!
At the time when those stories were created, procreation and ensuring that offsprings are not only created but also survive in order to guarantee the continued existence of the family were very important parts of the lives of commonfolk. The fear of being unable to bear children or losing your children was a very real possibility. But how would something like that be relevant to the majority of Western adolescents that this book is targetted to?
Add to that the fact that for a lot of those people, those children would have been very much wanted - unlike Serilda who gets pregnant accidentally.
And it is not like the book had anything interesting to say about motherhood or childrearing that it really needed to interpret the original fairytale in this direction or dedicate such a large portion of the book to it. Even with the plotline about Perchta wanting kids, it could have been done more interestingly - are there not adoptive parents who are incredibly loving? Are there not some who genuinely desire kids but cannot have any and are willing commit atrocious acts from love? Or is Marissa Meyer just not interested in writing a more layer, complex and compellig villain?
I just found the whole way these themes were interwoven into the story outdated and nearly offputting. Just a very, very bizarre choice. The book was unnecessarily long, too.
This whole book felt vaguely misogynistic in a way I cannot quite pinpoint but I am surprised I have not encountered in any of the top reviews, be it negative or tentatively positive.
It is just very strange to revolve the majority of your YA book around pregnancy and some sort of a natural maternal instinct and child rearing. It is not really something that is on the mind of the majority of the target readership and comes off as strangely preachy. I know that in the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale - and a lot of classic fairytales - the motive of the firstborn child is very common. But there is a reason something like "Labyrinth" gave its adolescent heroine a step baby brother instead!
At the time when those stories were created, procreation and ensuring that offsprings are not only created but also survive in order to guarantee the continued existence of the family were very important parts of the lives of commonfolk. The fear of being unable to bear children or losing your children was a very real possibility. But how would something like that be relevant to the majority of Western adolescents that this book is targetted to?
Add to that the fact that for a lot of those people, those children would have been very much wanted - unlike Serilda who gets pregnant accidentally.
And it is not like the book had anything interesting to say about motherhood or childrearing that it really needed to interpret the original fairytale in this direction or dedicate such a large portion of the book to it. Even with the plotline about Perchta wanting kids, it could have been done more interestingly - are there not adoptive parents who are incredibly loving? Are there not some who genuinely desire kids but cannot have any and are willing commit atrocious acts from love? Or is Marissa Meyer just not interested in writing a more layer, complex and compellig villain?
I just found the whole way these themes were interwoven into the story outdated and nearly offputting. Just a very, very bizarre choice. The book was unnecessarily long, too.
curiouscarrot's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
trippalli's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I'm not certain on this one.. It's so dark and violent of a fairy tale and the heroine is so manipulated and abused. It's very hard to read even if it does have a happy ending
joanne_gallacher's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
alidy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
teapot_of_unique's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mustashleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sebongies_nat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
neriumslibrary's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 ✨️
Marissa Meyer and her retellings are some of my favorite things. She always seems to find the right way to spin her tales and I adore that.
Would I recommend this to my best friend? I would recommend this duology to her. This world-building, the twists throughout the series, and our protagonists are just *chef's kiss*
Marissa Meyer and her retellings are some of my favorite things. She always seems to find the right way to spin her tales and I adore that.
Would I recommend this to my best friend? I would recommend this duology to her. This world-building, the twists throughout the series, and our protagonists are just *chef's kiss*