The Storybook of Legends: Book 1 (Ever After High, #1)

by Shannon Hale

At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens . . . whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End - both for a story and for a life.

As the daughter of the Evil Queen, Raven Queen's destiny is to follow in her mother's wicked footsteps, but evil is so not Raven's style. She's starting to wonder, what if she rewrote her own story? The royal Apple White, daughter of the Fairest of Them All, has a happy ever after planned for herself, but it depends upon Raven feeding her a poison apple in their future.

What if Raven doesn't sign the Storybook of Legends? It could mean a happily never after for them both.

• ISBN10: 034912406X
• ISBN13: 9780349124063
• Publish Date: 8 October 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Withdrawn
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[limabean74]

My Review:

The kids and I spend about an hour and a half driving in the car on Fridays to head down to my parents shore house and of course an hour and a half home, I thought way not listen to a book on the way. This was the PERFECT book to listen to, I can't tell you how much we all loved it and how much I loved the Narrator, Kathleen McInerney, she was an amazing way of telling a story and wow can she do a ton of different voices, giving all the characters their own voices. I might have a very hard time listening to any other audiobook after listening to her. She made this book come alive and the kids and I couldn't wait to get in the car to listen to it.

The story is so much fun, my daughter already has most of the Ever After High dolls and she has watched pretty much all of the movies on Netflix but to listen to the story being read gave her a better sense of each character and even though she knew what was going to happen she loved the story being told to her. I wasn't sure my son was going to like it, I thought he would find it to girly but he surprised me at how much he enjoyed every part of this book. He would without hesitation request to listen to it before I even asked if we were going to.

I am not going to rehash the synopsis since and this is set in my favorite kind of world, fairytale retellings. I think the kids and I could agree that Madeline Hatter was our favorite character and her conversations with the narrator were hilarious. Apple White got on my nerves a little bit but I also really enjoyed Raven Queen, I kind of felt bad for her throughout the book and I can't wait to see where this story goes. I know the kids want to listen to the next book but I don’t want to wait till next summer we have decided to do an hour a week listening to the next book, we are so excited to see what happens next.

I HIGHLY recommended this series whether you read it or listen (I seriously think you need to listen to it) this is a super fun story with lots of twist and turn. Amazing characters and a fantastic narrator made this book one of my new favorite series.

Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my review

Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

This review has to begin by addressing the elephant in the room: The premise of The Storybook of Legends makes absolutely no sense—and the problem is not one that can be fixed, bar rewriting the entire book with a new plot.  In Hale’s fairy tale world, each new generation of characters must relive their parents’ stories.  Apple White will become the next Snow White, eat an apple, fall asleep, fall in love, etc.  Ashlynn Ella will become the next Cinderella, work hard, go to a ball,  meet her prince, lose her shoe, etc.  And so on.  This social structure raises a lot of questions.

For one, why are all these characters in high school together?  Holly O’Hair (Rapunzel) should have been kidnapped as a baby and raised in a tower.  Ashlynn (Cinderella) should have had a terrible childhood with an evil stepmother.  Briar (Sleeping) Beauty should be hidden away from spinning wheels. And so on.  These fairy tale characters have already missed half of their stories!  Other complications arise, however.  Apple White and Raven Queen are supposed to be Snow White and the Evil Queen, which means Raven should be Apple’s stepmother.  She is not.  This is actually mentioned in the book and the characters shrug it off, saying, “There must be slight variations in the story.”

Yet other characters have similar relationship problems.  For instance, Ashlynn Ella’s parents are Cinderella and Prince Charming—yet Ashlynn is supposed to marry Prince Charming.  But would not her brother, if she had one, be Prince Charming?  Whom, then, does she marry?  And, since her mother Cinderella is still alive, must  she suddenly die so that Ashlynn’s father can remarry an evil stepmother?  And then does her family suddenly lose their fortune and royal status so Ashlynn can live as a mistreated commoner girl?  The questions  can go on and on and on, for each and every one of the characters.  Saying that the stories must change a bit with each general of fairy tale characters is far from an adequate explanation.

Nonsensical premise aside (and we must put it aside to get anywhere with this book), The Storybook of Legends is a pretty entertaining read.  It is more commercial, or perhaps gimmicky, than Hale’s typical stories, filled with cheesy modern references to musicians (Taylor Quick), and brands and with silly fairy tale puns.  The characters have their own fantasy slang, such as telling each other they look “fairy nice,” apparently an attempt to make the book sound hip.

The story’s strongest point, however, is probably the characters.  Though Hale is working with fairy tale “types” and with somewhat predetermined personalities, she manages to make each person come alive.  Even the characters truly invested in living out their well-known destinies have unique hopes, dreams, and quirks.  Apple White is determined to be the best queen she can, yet experiences moments of self-doubt.  Briar Beauty wants to live life to the fullest, since she is going to spend a lot of time sleeping.  Dexter Charming wishes to be as brave and, well, charming as his older brother.  Hale’s star character, however, is Madeline Hatter, a slightly mad girl who speaks in Riddlish yet has the world’s biggest heart and a lot of wisdom.  For me, her charisma helps her outshine even protagonist Raven Queen.

The main storyline, following Raven as she decides whether or not to sign the Storybook of Legends and seal her destiny as the world’s most evil queen, is an engaging little adventure.  Raven gets into a number of escapades, some related to discovering her destiny, some just to get her through the daily trials of high school.  Readers spend as much time with Raven trying to navigate friendships and classes and they do navigating magical perils.  In the end, the plot does not get quite as far as readers might wish, instead saving the things that I, at least, really wanted to know for future books in the series.  The Storybook of Legends just gives readers a taste, introducing characters and the main problem, without really solving it.  Truthfully, I would have liked to see a tighter plot, with everything answered and tied up in a standalone, rather than an entire Ever After High series.

All that said, The Storybook  of Legends is still fun, creative, and cute.  Shannon Hale has written better books, but for a book trying to sell a series of Mattel dolls, it really is quality stuff. I would recommend it for readers who enjoy light fairy tale retellings and fantasy books with a modern touch.