Reviewed by Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub on
This is going to be one of those blog posts that is a mixed bag. The premise was original, in that it’s Snow White’s nemesis that’s a bit reluctant to take up her expected role as as the villain. I also haven’t read many fairy tale adaptations that take place in both “the real world” (I write that in quotes because the way the real world was written felt off to me), and the fairy tale world.
The premise is what worked for me. The rest…not so much. The characters felt very one-dimensional to me, like they were archtypes of a CW show. There was the snotty ex, the prom queen, the popular good girl that everyone likes, and the misunderstood outcast. I found it very difficult to care about any of the characters at all.
The writing didn’t work for me. I’m just too enamored by words. So, when something unexpected happened to the main character (Everly), and the book just said, “reeling” in italics, it really irritated me. I would have preferred something along the lines of, “the news sent me reeling,” just as an example. A full thought, as opposed to a quick word, would have worked much better for me.
The dialogue felt very over the top and unbelievable to me, and the very long random explanations given throughout the first bit of the book caused the story to seem very stop-and-go. I never ended up invested in the story.
Ultimately, while it had potential, this book simply did not deliver. However, I could be just too much of a grammar nerd to appreciate the dialogue and writing style. While this book wasn’t for me, this is just one person’s opinion. I believe that Showalter is very popular author, but this book just wasn’t my thing.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 7 May, 2019: Reviewed