jksteach's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
4.75
This book is five interrelated stories plus an epilogue that take place in the Fairytale Kingdom of Charming. Kai, the Quill (reporter) and Dennis, a palace guard called a Hound are new at their jobs. They get involved with Chase and Cyrus, the two Royal Princes and Ziyi, a visiting Princess, as they all try to stay out of the Fairy snares - like cursed dancing shoes, deadly spinning wheels, and glass slipper shenanigans- and solve the mystery of the missing Prince and the sleeping Queen.
These are really fun and clever stories. I enjoyed the mashup of fairytales and the twisty, malevolent Fae and the dreamlike Fairyland. The characters had surprising depth for such a lighthearted story and I grew to really care about them and their various Happy Ever Afters. There's also a good bit of diversity and LGTBQ rep.
misssusan's review against another edition
3.0
no new thoughts cause this is mostly a reread -- i bought it because i didn't catch dead queen walking before roberts took it down for republishing. i hope the bonus novella is about camilla because i wouldn't mind hearing more from my girl
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
raucous's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
4.25
This is a fun look at how "happily ever after" goes once the original fairy tale ends. The characters were interesting and there were plenty of fable-based plot twists to keep me engrossed to the end.
molokov's review against another edition
4.0
What happens after happily ever after? This collection of novellas, novels and a short story are set around the children of Cinderella and what life is like in a fairy tale kingdom. It's a light, amusing, modern, queer-friendly take on fairy tales, with characters that are sympathetic and likeable as they try to combat the annoyance that only story-based magic can enforce on one's lives. A very enjoyable spin on the fairy tale genre without the darkness or angst of many of the other "twisted fairy tale" books out there.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
4.0
https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2021/03/2021-book-52.html
I read a short little novelette by Roberts last night as a palate cleanser; it was super cute but too short for any real character development. So I was psyched to try a full-length novel from her (though this seems like it might have originally been serialized?). Anyway, the story here is set at the titular Castle Charming, home of a certain queen who was famous for her glass slippers, except things went badly not long after, with one of her children kidnapped and the queen ending up in a cursed sleep. Now it’s years later, her remaining children are beyond rebellious, and a new Royal guard, a new young reporter, and a visiting princess all get tangled up with things. And several other fairy tales come into the mix. I really liked all the characters here, plus there’s lots of queer romance and magic and action and meddling fairies. Just a good fun and fluffy time. Just what I needed. A-.
I read a short little novelette by Roberts last night as a palate cleanser; it was super cute but too short for any real character development. So I was psyched to try a full-length novel from her (though this seems like it might have originally been serialized?). Anyway, the story here is set at the titular Castle Charming, home of a certain queen who was famous for her glass slippers, except things went badly not long after, with one of her children kidnapped and the queen ending up in a cursed sleep. Now it’s years later, her remaining children are beyond rebellious, and a new Royal guard, a new young reporter, and a visiting princess all get tangled up with things. And several other fairy tales come into the mix. I really liked all the characters here, plus there’s lots of queer romance and magic and action and meddling fairies. Just a good fun and fluffy time. Just what I needed. A-.
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
5.0
Marking this as read so it's easier to track that I have indeed read it all when it was serialised.
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