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lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Loved reading this story, it was a great end to the series!
smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review against another edition
3.0
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
Why is everyone being so harsh on Alex Flinn lately? It seems like nobody likes any of her newer books, including this one. I still stand by the fact that her worst one was Towering, but I digress.
While this one wasn't perfect, and I do get why people don't like it, I was genuinely enjoying it. It reminded me of Bewitching, where every story was a retelling of a fairy tale that Kendra somehow gets herself involved in. While Kendra wasn't really a main character in this aside from the first story, I genuinely enjoyed her small cameos in each of the stories.
I'd say the first two were probably the strongest. You can tell the author had a lot of fun retelling them in a historical setting, and had plenty of ties to the original stories while also being their own thing. I did appreciate how the third story was a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which is pretty obscure in the Western world despite being a Western fairy tale, but I thought it was too short and was cut off too early in this book. I felt like just when everything was starting to get going, it just ended. I don't even think she got her husband back from the troll princess.
The fourth story was definitely the weakest. I admire the ambition, and how it was a retelling of The Ugly Duckling, which a lot of people don't like to retell for whatever reason, but I was unable to relate to the main character even though I've experienced some kind of miracle in my life where I went from being a short, ugly butterball nobody took seriously to an extremely pretty doll-like figure. It seemed to be way too unfocused and the characters were too underdeveloped.
As for Kendra trying to find her long-lost love, I wasn't too bothered by it. I honestly kept forgetting that was the actual plot of the book since there's so little focus on it. I liked the idea of her trying to find him in all these different time periods and countries, but it wasn't explored very well.
Overall, an ambitious idea of a book that had some good ideas, but I don't think they were executed very well. However, I admire the idea more than the execution, and at least it was better executed than Towering was.
Why is everyone being so harsh on Alex Flinn lately? It seems like nobody likes any of her newer books, including this one. I still stand by the fact that her worst one was Towering, but I digress.
While this one wasn't perfect, and I do get why people don't like it, I was genuinely enjoying it. It reminded me of Bewitching, where every story was a retelling of a fairy tale that Kendra somehow gets herself involved in. While Kendra wasn't really a main character in this aside from the first story, I genuinely enjoyed her small cameos in each of the stories.
I'd say the first two were probably the strongest. You can tell the author had a lot of fun retelling them in a historical setting, and had plenty of ties to the original stories while also being their own thing. I did appreciate how the third story was a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which is pretty obscure in the Western world despite being a Western fairy tale, but I thought it was too short and was cut off too early in this book. I felt like just when everything was starting to get going, it just ended. I don't even think she got her husband back from the troll princess.
The fourth story was definitely the weakest. I admire the ambition, and how it was a retelling of The Ugly Duckling, which a lot of people don't like to retell for whatever reason, but I was unable to relate to the main character even though I've experienced some kind of miracle in my life where I went from being a short, ugly butterball nobody took seriously to an extremely pretty doll-like figure. It seemed to be way too unfocused and the characters were too underdeveloped.
As for Kendra trying to find her long-lost love, I wasn't too bothered by it. I honestly kept forgetting that was the actual plot of the book since there's so little focus on it. I liked the idea of her trying to find him in all these different time periods and countries, but it wasn't explored very well.
Overall, an ambitious idea of a book that had some good ideas, but I don't think they were executed very well. However, I admire the idea more than the execution, and at least it was better executed than Towering was.
kaikai1618's review against another edition
1.0
This book was not Flinn's best book. I tend to find myself enjoying her modern stories more and getting more attached to those characters for some reason. I think that Alex Flinn's stories can be predictable, and if the story is ify then I don't find myself loving what I'm reading. The stories tended to get a little better with each one.
First Part-that was alright but left some unanswered questions
Second Part- better then the last one but a very frustrating main character. I found her to be shallow and frustratingly oblivious.
Third Part- I was very excited since I love this tale, but thinking back on it I enjoyed it but it was lacking of something interesting at times. This would show more if you haven't been read East of the Sun, West of the Moon and don't have an attachment like me.
The thing about these first three stories was that in these older timed stories, there was a lot of insta-love. I can understand this for the time, but it is kinda sudden like I LOVE THEM. And the characters lacked the depth and complexity that truly good characters have. Cornelia was agonizingly oblivious and needed some serious character development.
(SPOILERS: In the end when she ends up with "Rum" honestly I didn't find it satisfying that she finally realizes how great this guy is, but by then he's kinda too good for her. But in reality this probably would have happened and they are relatively happy and in love. Even though it was more insta-love after three nights with him but OK. I mean think about it: Kendra's story was insta-lovey but reasonable in time I guess. I explained Cornelia. And the girl in the third part danced with a guy then married him. After a week, PURE LOVE. Yeah I don't think so.)
Fourth Part (Mildish SPOILERS)-This was my favorite and I found myself a lot more attached to these characters and that I enjoyed the story much more. The relationship between the two main character spans years and isn't rushed. I loved the relatable modern Easter eggs, and just how the story was explained in the sequence of these characters developing from kindergarten to high school. I loved the friendship dynamic, because the texts and dialogue was so enjoyable and didn't stretch on. It was so refreshing from the other stories because I felt myself relating more towards the character. This part was just so much better than the others and it showed. You really see how they change together and how the people around them are involved in their life. This story was longer, and therefore better since it needed to be longer to be good with all the events that played out over the years. The other stories could have been longer with better character development, but I wouldn't want to read all that as much as I would for this story. It was a good note to end on, even though overall I do feel the lack of complexity in the world and characters that comes with this kind of writing.
I enjoyed reading this to know what happened, but I don't think I'll re-read it. I'm not a big re-reader, but if I re-read anything from here it would totally be the ugly duckling part.
I think she should really finish this series up and not drag it in for too long of more "Kendra has lived so long and these are things that happened." I really liked the stories that took place during the first books, since they tended to be more complicated and more detailed. If she keeps dragging on the series it will probably go even more downhill but how would I know? It depends on the ideas of the writer.
sturmykins's review against another edition
3.0
This one was interesting, because it was a lot of little stories. I actually found Kendra's underlying story to be the most boring of them all. It didn't seem very well thought out or flushed out, unlike the others.
sand_leewin's review against another edition
3.0
I WANT MORE KENDRA AND JAMES ROMANCE.
The Kendra chronicles are my guilty pleasure reads. They are always so entertaining, short and
The Kendra chronicles are my guilty pleasure reads. They are always so entertaining, short and
kallania's review against another edition
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Although the overarching story is about Kendra and the love of her life, the book takes you through several short stories that combine to form the whole story. Each story is a fairytale retelling told by the perspective of one of the characters involved.
The stories include retellings of the Salam witchtrials, Rumpelstiltskin, East of the Sun - West of the Moon, and the Ugly Duckling .
Despite the fact that theSalem Witchtrials is historical and not fantastical it has been retold and retold in books, and on screen enough times that it has become a fairytale in its own right. Usually I disapprove of the way that it is portrayed but I absolutely loved Alex Flinn's retelling in this book and find myself disappointed that the short didn't become a fully fledged novel.
The stories include retellings of the
Despite the fact that the
minna1999's review against another edition
5.0
Alex Flinn is brilliant. I love the way she always blends a bunch of fairytales into one retelling and how she ties things together and connects them. My only problem with this book is how quickly all the girls fall in love. Even the main character falls in love too fast. I mean, she has a love story with this dude for a couple of months but remains in love with him for 300+ years after he ditches her multiple times? That's highly unlikely to happen, but I guess ninnies in fairytales are supposed to be like that.
universalbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Alex Flinn excels at telling a certain type of fairy-tale retelling. You may be familiar with it...
A main character with characteristics that are deemed unattractive by their peers faces hardships which are overcome by realizing they never needed to seek society's approval. With this realization, the main character connects with their true love, often the best friend they didn't realize was so perfect for them.
There is nothing harmful with the above formula - which is why I still rated it three stars - however, it is formulaic. There were very few surprises in this read for me, which is unfortunate as Beheld is an anthology of sorts and Flinn had several opportunities to craft a unique narrative around the original stories she chose to re-tell.
Ultimately, I found this read a little too cliched and full of tropes to enjoy fully. Especially, when in the last short story, there were several unflattering and stereotypical depictions of women (air-head cheerleader, "bad mom", etc). However, if you're looking for a light read, and enjoyed the other Kendra books, I think you would enjoy this novel.
A main character with characteristics that are deemed unattractive by their peers faces hardships which are overcome by realizing they never needed to seek society's approval. With this realization, the main character connects with their true love, often the best friend they didn't realize was so perfect for them.
There is nothing harmful with the above formula - which is why I still rated it three stars - however, it is formulaic. There were very few surprises in this read for me, which is unfortunate as Beheld is an anthology of sorts and Flinn had several opportunities to craft a unique narrative around the original stories she chose to re-tell.
Ultimately, I found this read a little too cliched and full of tropes to enjoy fully. Especially, when in the last short story, there were several unflattering and stereotypical depictions of women (air-head cheerleader, "bad mom", etc). However, if you're looking for a light read, and enjoyed the other Kendra books, I think you would enjoy this novel.