catyalice's review against another edition
4.0
Such a neat idea!! Makes me think of all the Shrek movies with the Fairy Godmother. There were a couple of misprints or spelling errors but overall, beautiful story!!
baggy_taster's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
amarylissw's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars. Boring, starts off weird, doesn't get any better, skimmed pretty much the whole thing, couldn't get attached to the characters at all. What could've been an interesting story executed very poorly.
jemcam's review against another edition
2.0
This book had such a wonderful start (foreboding atmosphere, interesting concept, strong heroine, and Shoe, the unsmiling, earnest boy that I fell head over heels for), but then it meandered, and I became frustrated, and I was unsatisfied with the ending.
alexperc_92's review against another edition
3.0
Good story but maybe I'll finish it later DNF at 40%
quiet_chaos's review against another edition
2.0
Man, I was really excited for this book. It was pretty much a huge let down, which is probably why it took me just under a year to finish it. I really didn't know if I would at all. It's really hard for me to write a negative review because I know if I were an author (thank god I'm not because no one would want to see that) I know I would read reviews and I would take that personally. That being said, I read a lot of YA fairy tale retellings and know several people who see my reviews do too. So I want to give this one a fair one, and it's not real pretty.
Ok, so what I liked?
- The premise and the beginning. It started out with a really good mysterious beginning. Where did this girl come from, what is her past?
- We had a cameo from the LGBT community, and it wasn't ever used as a way to promote the book, it was just a pleasant surprise.
Now what I didn't like
- The pacing. The beginning was good. And there were a few parts in the middle that were good. The rest mostly dragged.
- The fight scenes felt very staged. (I mean I get it's in a book, but just not feeling that)
-There was little to no character development. And the romance. There was a scene that literally involved a girl and two boys standing in a triangle.
-There were too many unanswered questions. I guess it says it's part of a series and I saw a "companion" book to this one, but it felt like there were just huge gaping holes.
- A lot of redundancy, especially toward the end. Maybe we were supposed to see the word "brambles" as many times as possible throughout the book so we'd know where the name came from?
- When there were feminist speaking points, they were beat you over the head.
I'm not going to read the sequel and I can't in good conscience recommend this. There are much better Cinderella (?) retellings. As great as this one could have been...
Ok, so what I liked?
- The premise and the beginning. It started out with a really good mysterious beginning. Where did this girl come from, what is her past?
- We had a cameo from the LGBT community, and it wasn't ever used as a way to promote the book, it was just a pleasant surprise.
Now what I didn't like
- The pacing. The beginning was good. And there were a few parts in the middle that were good. The rest mostly dragged.
- The fight scenes felt very staged. (I mean I get it's in a book, but just not feeling that)
-There was little to no character development. And the romance. There was a scene that literally involved a girl and two boys standing in a triangle.
-There were too many unanswered questions. I guess it says it's part of a series and I saw a "companion" book to this one, but it felt like there were just huge gaping holes.
- A lot of redundancy, especially toward the end. Maybe we were supposed to see the word "brambles" as many times as possible throughout the book so we'd know where the name came from?
- When there were feminist speaking points, they were beat you over the head.
I'm not going to read the sequel and I can't in good conscience recommend this. There are much better Cinderella (?) retellings. As great as this one could have been...
readingwithemmett's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this story. I thought the plot was very intriguing and was different from the typical Cinderella retellings that I have read before. I loved the characters and their complexities with forgetting about their previous lives. Some parts of the story were not as enjoyable for me, such as the middle and ending, however, I enjoyed the overall story. At times, I wanted to pick up this book to find out what would happen next, and other times I would force myself to read it so I could just finish the story. Ultimately, the book was kind of long, but I really liked the premise of it. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
I really enjoyed this story. I thought the plot was very intriguing and was different from the typical Cinderella retellings that I have read before. I loved the characters and their complexities with forgetting about their previous lives. Some parts of the story were not as enjoyable for me, such as the middle and ending, however, I enjoyed the overall story. At times, I wanted to pick up this book to find out what would happen next, and other times I would force myself to read it so I could just finish the story. Ultimately, the book was kind of long, but I really liked the premise of it. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
emilyloveslit's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating 3.5/5 stars. Not sure that I will continue with the series.
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
I loved how terribly meta it was, and the demands of Story while having to tell a satisfying story that does have its own demands. Excellent. My own real complaint is that, to my ear, Pin sounds pronounced exactly the same as Pen.