ark99's review
4.0
this was so cute and I loved the two main characters together and their dynamics. Also great character development
elentarien's review
4.0
I actually REALLY enjoyed this book. I'm not terribly familiar with the original story (and after glancing at it, I agree with the author that it's got a really ugly tone to it towards women. :P), but the concept is great and this retelling. . .I just REALLY enjoyed it.
Rinda was. . .snarky. . .and starts out not particularly likable. However, she's given reason behind that snarkiness, and it's built up well enough that it's not terribly unbelievable that she learns to be her *real* self, without the snark. As she comes into people who are safer for her to be around and accepted more for herself, she is able to unfold and lose the brat. I also like that Alek is not 'perfect' and makes his own mistakes along the way, so they both have something to learn and grow and come out on the other side stronger for it.
While I would have preferred a slightly happier ending (a 'triumphant' return and her father eating crow or something, would have been nice. . .), I have to admit, it would not have been as realistic as the two people involve learning their lessons, but the rest. . .yeah. Need their own stories, or never change. Life's like that, unfortunately. At least the main characters got their happy ending, and made some good choices.
My only real complaints about the book would be 1. There could have been a bit more character building, and time spent. IE, she was only gone for a few weeks. It's hard to believe that a 'strong love' really grows *THAT* fast. Sorry, but with all the learning they had to do. . .I'd have liked to see a bit more time and character growth. And, perhaps, more character filling. It was a short book, we could stand more details. ;) 2. The title of the book. . .there was ZERO surprise at the 'big reveal'. We all knew exactly who he was the entire time. It made the subterfuge of his pretending to be a poor minstrel slightly annoying because of it. I coudl forgive Rinda for not knowing, but it did make me a bit impatient for him to just tell her already! Personally, I would have preferred having the story a bit more. . .mysterious, and being pleasantly surprised in the end. But yeah. Small complaint, really.
There was also some faulty editing in this story. Hearing multiple times about how she does not know how to braid her own hair (yet she fails to ask one of the helpful women to show her how? Why?), among a few other points, should have been caught in editing or by beta-readers and fixed during a rewrite. This did make for some slightly irritated moments. But did not detract from the overall story.
Rinda was. . .snarky. . .and starts out not particularly likable. However, she's given reason behind that snarkiness, and it's built up well enough that it's not terribly unbelievable that she learns to be her *real* self, without the snark. As she comes into people who are safer for her to be around and accepted more for herself, she is able to unfold and lose the brat. I also like that Alek is not 'perfect' and makes his own mistakes along the way, so they both have something to learn and grow and come out on the other side stronger for it.
While I would have preferred a slightly happier ending (a 'triumphant' return and her father eating crow or something, would have been nice. . .), I have to admit, it would not have been as realistic as the two people involve learning their lessons, but the rest. . .yeah. Need their own stories, or never change. Life's like that, unfortunately. At least the main characters got their happy ending, and made some good choices.
My only real complaints about the book would be 1. There could have been a bit more character building, and time spent. IE, she was only gone for a few weeks. It's hard to believe that a 'strong love' really grows *THAT* fast. Sorry, but with all the learning they had to do. . .I'd have liked to see a bit more time and character growth. And, perhaps, more character filling. It was a short book, we could stand more details. ;) 2. The title of the book. . .there was ZERO surprise at the 'big reveal'. We all knew exactly who he was the entire time. It made the subterfuge of his pretending to be a poor minstrel slightly annoying because of it. I coudl forgive Rinda for not knowing, but it did make me a bit impatient for him to just tell her already! Personally, I would have preferred having the story a bit more. . .mysterious, and being pleasantly surprised in the end. But yeah. Small complaint, really.
There was also some faulty editing in this story. Hearing multiple times about how she does not know how to braid her own hair (yet she fails to ask one of the helpful women to show her how? Why?), among a few other points, should have been caught in editing or by beta-readers and fixed during a rewrite. This did make for some slightly irritated moments. But did not detract from the overall story.
pickledpuck's review
1.0
What the heck happened to this book?
Man, that premise was so good. The relationship between the father and heroine, along with the sister had so much potential. But for some reason, in the end, there was no confrontation with the father, the sister was downright vilified (this one was baffling to me. there was literally no point to this. but in a few sentences, the sister went from tentative ally to jealous and mean. honestly, why? literally no point), and the love interest became a cardboard cutout.
And do not get me started on the unbelievably stupid thing of the h trying to earn money.
What happened? I felt like this was gearing up to another direction, but swiveled halfway and left all sweet potential gaping after it in the dust.
And that character development, what? Was the mountain a magic mountain that lets you skip pages of development and hope no one noticed because oh look spiders! Honestly what. Absolutely baffling.
1 star for did not like it.
Man, that premise was so good. The relationship between the father and heroine, along with the sister had so much potential. But for some reason, in the end, there was no confrontation with the father, the sister was downright vilified (this one was baffling to me. there was literally no point to this. but in a few sentences, the sister went from tentative ally to jealous and mean. honestly, why? literally no point), and the love interest became a cardboard cutout.
And do not get me started on the unbelievably stupid thing of the h trying to earn money.
What happened? I felt like this was gearing up to another direction, but swiveled halfway and left all sweet potential gaping after it in the dust.
And that character development, what? Was the mountain a magic mountain that lets you skip pages of development and hope no one noticed because oh look spiders! Honestly what. Absolutely baffling.
1 star for did not like it.
bookwormneedsbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
bunnerz's review
4.0
The FMC Princess Rinda truly was quite the obnoxious brat in the beginning, but it allowed her plenty of room for personal growth and was quite the cute fairytale ending.
books2graham's review
5.0
I give this book a solid 5 stars. I felt that the characters were well rounded and that the plot was well constructed. I loved how different the characters were in this novel from what's typically written. For example, Rinda is a Princess who is the definition of a spoiled brat. But through the novel, she develops into this compassionate, caring person who learns to think of others before herself. I never got annoyed when reading through her tantrums because they all seemed like reasonable complaints from her point of view. I also need to put in here that I loved her witty, sharp tongue.. that was also refreshing to get a female lead that had so much spunk. I also loved Alek! He wasn't at all what I expected, but I loved that he was always so happy and cheerful... it's refreshing to get male leads that are strong, but put the female lead first. Though I wasn't sure when they married, I knew for certain who Alek very quickly into their journey. However, this didn't turn me off from the novel, mainly because Rinda didn't see it... and I didn't feel tricked about it either because there were enough clues along the way. The romance was totally up to par with my standards, though I would have liked a little more of it (a small complaint on my part). Though I'm not familiar with the King Thrushbeard fairy tale, I still immensely enjoyed this retelling! I definitely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a good romance and a fairy-tale-retelling! =)
Re-read: I love this book just as much the second time through, if not more! Like seriously, this is such a great story! =)
Re-read: I love this book just as much the second time through, if not more! Like seriously, this is such a great story! =)
justcatherine's review
5.0
Interesting framework for the story (setting; reason for the protag to be as awful as she was). My favorite thing about this retelling is that this was less "break this woman from being so awful by making life needlessly hard for her" and more "kindness & facing life together & character growth as a byproduct" type vibe to it. This is a great YA read.
lilytholfsen's review
5.0
(4.5 stars) This book was a fresh, romantic take on an outdated fairy tale and I loved that. I loved the entire book, even though there were no plot twists (it's a fairy tale, come on). This was a fun read.
xakyr's review against another edition
4.0
I had never read or heard of this fairy tale before, so reading this story was a new experience for me in a couple of ways, as I had also never read anything by the author before either! I really enjoyed it! Rinda and Alek were very different people, and watching them fall in love was very sweet! I didn't like Alek's deception, but I understood his reasons for it. I especially liked how much Rinda changed over the course of the book! My only complaint was that it was too short! I will definitely be on the look out for more by this author!
chelsea_not_chels's review
4.0
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
It should not be a surprise to anyone here that I adore a good fairytale. It's not a secret at all, really, and I am a huge fan of the retold fairytale trend that has been sweeping the media (books, TV, movies, all of it) in recent years. I have read many, many fairytales, but I don't believe I'm familiar with the King Thrushbeard story. That, of course, is what The Scarecrow King is based off of.
Our heroine in Rinda, the younger princess of Balinore. Her mother was a commoner, and while Rinda's older sister seems to have gotten their father's royal genes, Rinda herself seems to be common to the core. Her father hates her, for a complicated medley of reasons, the primary one seeming to be that her mother died giving birth to her and Rinda reminds him too much of the woman he really loved. So he pushes her away, and Rinda tries to get his attention by--surprise, surprise--acting out. In her case, she enjoys spending astronomical amounts of money to piss him off. For example, the opening scene finds her tossing pearls to fish for kicks. Rinda's father wants her gone, so he decides to marry off both his daughters. Imogen, the older of the two, already has a beau, so that's easy. Rinda doesn't want to get married, and embarks on a quest to alienate every eligible man she can find, including the visiting king. Furious, her father declares that if she won't marry any noble, then she'll marry the next man who turns up at the castle steps. The next morning, Rinda finds herself married off to a truly terrible minstrel.
It's really no spoiler that the minstrel is the visiting king in disguise. We know that, but Rinda doesn't, and watching her fumble her way through her supposed new life as an impoverished minstrel's life is amusing. Her character develops so much over the course of the story, transforming from a spoiled brat into a poised young woman willing to go to amazing lengths to protect the people she cares about. Myles' world is also incredibly rich for such a short novel. The Birthrights of the people of Balinore are interesting, and manifest in such manifold ways that I would love to read more about them. The Ghost Roads were an intriguing idea with a hint of menace, but nothing to drag down the spirit of the story too much. The romance builds at a good pace--no insta-love, but no waiting until the last five pages for emotions to appear, either.
I do wish Rinda and Alek had encountered some more troubles on their journey and been forced to rely on each other a bit more. While the part of the story which took place in the mountains was great, it wasn't really that much of a trial, except for the very end, and I would have liked to see more things happen to bind them closer together. I also would have liked Imogen to a bit less...plastic. She wasn't nearly as complex a character, and I would have liked to see her developed a bit more despite her relatively little page time. Still, these are minor complaints, and I devoured The Scarecrow King in one sitting. Which wasn't very hard, considering it's a short book, but it was so utterly charming I couldn't help myself. I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a short, romantic fairytale-inspired read.
It should not be a surprise to anyone here that I adore a good fairytale. It's not a secret at all, really, and I am a huge fan of the retold fairytale trend that has been sweeping the media (books, TV, movies, all of it) in recent years. I have read many, many fairytales, but I don't believe I'm familiar with the King Thrushbeard story. That, of course, is what The Scarecrow King is based off of.
Our heroine in Rinda, the younger princess of Balinore. Her mother was a commoner, and while Rinda's older sister seems to have gotten their father's royal genes, Rinda herself seems to be common to the core. Her father hates her, for a complicated medley of reasons, the primary one seeming to be that her mother died giving birth to her and Rinda reminds him too much of the woman he really loved. So he pushes her away, and Rinda tries to get his attention by--surprise, surprise--acting out. In her case, she enjoys spending astronomical amounts of money to piss him off. For example, the opening scene finds her tossing pearls to fish for kicks. Rinda's father wants her gone, so he decides to marry off both his daughters. Imogen, the older of the two, already has a beau, so that's easy. Rinda doesn't want to get married, and embarks on a quest to alienate every eligible man she can find, including the visiting king. Furious, her father declares that if she won't marry any noble, then she'll marry the next man who turns up at the castle steps. The next morning, Rinda finds herself married off to a truly terrible minstrel.
It's really no spoiler that the minstrel is the visiting king in disguise. We know that, but Rinda doesn't, and watching her fumble her way through her supposed new life as an impoverished minstrel's life is amusing. Her character develops so much over the course of the story, transforming from a spoiled brat into a poised young woman willing to go to amazing lengths to protect the people she cares about. Myles' world is also incredibly rich for such a short novel. The Birthrights of the people of Balinore are interesting, and manifest in such manifold ways that I would love to read more about them. The Ghost Roads were an intriguing idea with a hint of menace, but nothing to drag down the spirit of the story too much. The romance builds at a good pace--no insta-love, but no waiting until the last five pages for emotions to appear, either.
I do wish Rinda and Alek had encountered some more troubles on their journey and been forced to rely on each other a bit more. While the part of the story which took place in the mountains was great, it wasn't really that much of a trial, except for the very end, and I would have liked to see more things happen to bind them closer together. I also would have liked Imogen to a bit less...plastic. She wasn't nearly as complex a character, and I would have liked to see her developed a bit more despite her relatively little page time. Still, these are minor complaints, and I devoured The Scarecrow King in one sitting. Which wasn't very hard, considering it's a short book, but it was so utterly charming I couldn't help myself. I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a short, romantic fairytale-inspired read.