sarahed's review
5.0
Really enjoyed this fantasy read with a flavour of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The capture of the princesses in the forest formed a great backdrop to Gwen working out her true feelings. And I LOVE all the different types of dragons - so much fun!
leahegood's review
4.0
Supportive of her sister's tentative falling-in-love with a prince from a neighboring kingdom, Gwen accompanies her for a visit despite her lack of interest in the prince's brother who seems hopeful of winning her heart. But all is not so simple. Attacked by stone monsters on their journey, Gwen finds herself trapped in the forest, exiled with a blindfolded, long-missing prince she once had a crush on and a capricious girl under the influence of a love potion.
This book is labeled as a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not being a great lover of Shakespeare, that meant I had no idea of what to expect. I still don't know how much the tale borrowed from the original, but I did enjoy the adventure and the way things developed between Gwen and Eddie.
Something I have appreciated about Lea Doue's writing so far is the lack of some typical YA love story tropes. The character's experience fears, doubts, and questions about the direction their heart is taking (much as you would anticipate in real life) but, even with other love interests present, Doue refrains from the dreaded-but-expected love triangle.
I also find her take on the princesses to be unique and refreshing. Gwen and her sisters are spunky, capable, and confident but still feminine and willing to accept help.
This book is labeled as a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not being a great lover of Shakespeare, that meant I had no idea of what to expect. I still don't know how much the tale borrowed from the original, but I did enjoy the adventure and the way things developed between Gwen and Eddie.
Something I have appreciated about Lea Doue's writing so far is the lack of some typical YA love story tropes. The character's experience fears, doubts, and questions about the direction their heart is taking (much as you would anticipate in real life) but, even with other love interests present, Doue refrains from the dreaded-but-expected love triangle.
I also find her take on the princesses to be unique and refreshing. Gwen and her sisters are spunky, capable, and confident but still feminine and willing to accept help.
delightful_reading's review
4.0
I thought this was fun. There's some love potion hi-jiinks, but I was more amused than annoyed by it. Gwen was properly annoyed by all 3 brothers as a result of this, which was amusing. Also, Eddy's blindfold and deteriorating castle prison reminded me of the classic [b:East of the Sun, West of the Moon|6933597|East of the Sun, West of the Moon|Susanna Davidson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347778637l/6933597._SX50_.jpg|7165107]/[b:A Bear's Bride|38206167|A Bear's Bride (Entwined Tales, #3)|Shari L. Tapscott|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516929886l/38206167._SY75_.jpg|59875846]. Sisi was definitely creepy. And Tharian/Tharius (he's so tricky I have problems with his name) is becoming more and more anti-hero like, which is fun.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read.
fictionadventurer's review
3.0
Cute, mostly bland story. The characters had little personality (What little they did have was told rather than shown). For some reason I kept mixing up Hazel and Gwen--which shouldn't have happened, given that Gwen was the POV character. I was often annoyed with the characters, who seemed to take forever to figure out really obvious plot points. Sissi and Tharius were the most interesting and complex characters, but even they had blandly two-dimensional evil moments.
As with the first book, the dragons were the most interesting part. There were several exciting moments, but they were nestled among too many moments of bland romantic angst. The writing style gave so little description that it was often hard to visualize what was happening. This was going to be a 2 star book, but there were two creative events at the end of the story that bumped it up one more notch. The book was just good enough to tempt me to pick up the next one, just to see what happens with Tharius.
As with the first book, the dragons were the most interesting part. There were several exciting moments, but they were nestled among too many moments of bland romantic angst. The writing style gave so little description that it was often hard to visualize what was happening. This was going to be a 2 star book, but there were two creative events at the end of the story that bumped it up one more notch. The book was just good enough to tempt me to pick up the next one, just to see what happens with Tharius.
hlburke's review
5.0
I honestly felt this was better than the first book in the series. Getting away from the palace and all the other princesses up the focus and it was easier to pin down the story ... plus to me Gwen is a more interesting character than Lily, better motivation, her conflicts felt natural to me, just generally a stronger girl.
The story moves at a good clip and Sissi is dang creepy/weird. Honestly, she's the Lady Gaga of the fantasy fashion world and I was just sitting there waiting for her to show up wearing a meat dress ... which she didn't, but she came pretty dang close a couple of times.
There was one "shout at the characters for being stupid" moment but the character figured it out like two pages later and I was like, "Good, now I don't have to hate you."
I'm excited to see where the other princesses end up.
The story moves at a good clip and Sissi is dang creepy/weird. Honestly, she's the Lady Gaga of the fantasy fashion world and I was just sitting there waiting for her to show up wearing a meat dress ... which she didn't, but she came pretty dang close a couple of times.
There was one "shout at the characters for being stupid" moment but the character figured it out like two pages later and I was like, "Good, now I don't have to hate you."
I'm excited to see where the other princesses end up.
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