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rayraym2020's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
psocoptera's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying
shinydiscoballx's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
harleyrae's review
3.0
3.5/5 Stars
Overall I enjoyed this book, it was a super fast-paced and entertaining read. I am a sucker for a good fairy Tale retelling, or really anything that deals with Fairy Tales, and for me this book did not disappoint. While it is not my favorite I had a fun time while reading this. I can see why some people didn't enjoy this as much, if you don't have a sense of humor this book might not be for you, it had many humorous parts throughout the book. The biggest issue for me though was Gilly, she got terrible annoying at points and almost seemed to have air about her like she thought she was all that. It really got on my nerves a couple times.
All in all this was a fun and enjoyable middle grade book, and if I happen to come across the sequel I will defiantly pick it up.
Overall I enjoyed this book, it was a super fast-paced and entertaining read. I am a sucker for a good fairy Tale retelling, or really anything that deals with Fairy Tales, and for me this book did not disappoint. While it is not my favorite I had a fun time while reading this. I can see why some people didn't enjoy this as much, if you don't have a sense of humor this book might not be for you, it had many humorous parts throughout the book. The biggest issue for me though was Gilly, she got terrible annoying at points and almost seemed to have air about her like she thought she was all that. It really got on my nerves a couple times.
All in all this was a fun and enjoyable middle grade book, and if I happen to come across the sequel I will defiantly pick it up.
mkmcd's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
I've been seeing this book for quite some time now and I have to admit that usually you already have me with the words Fairy Tale. However, I needed a little time to get in the mood for this story and concept, because it also seemed a little like School for Good and Evil (a series I haven't finished yet, either...). However, last week I was placing my book order on Amazon and I thought to just give it a try and today I needed a quick and easy read. It was a perfect match.
This book is in every way a middle grade. The characters in the story are children, they act like children, they think like children and they talk like children. The plot of the story isn't too complicated either. It's very much a good versus evil story, where the good might be a little "gray", but the evil is very clearly evil. And although the book starts a little slow, it gets more and more exciting towards the end and especially the finale screams for more.
I do however like how this story didn't fall into the "once evil always evil"-trap and brought some nuance to characters who otherwise rarely get really redeemed. Although we didn't see him too much in the story, I really enjoyed the big bad wolf in this story. Surprisingly enough he made quite a decent teacher and I can't wait to find out more about him in the next book of the series. I did like however that the book took its time to reveal which evil characters were really evil and which ones weren't. It's a nice guessing game.
I hope that the next few books in the series will address the big gap between the royals and the commoners though. A few things were already taking care of in this book, which was quite nice, but I feel like there is more work to do. It's one thing to send kids who are thieving to a school to get rid of their evil ways, but of course it's another thing to actually make sure they don't have any reason to get into thieving in the first place. So, I'm really curious to see if this issue is tackled in the next installments.
This book is in every way a middle grade. The characters in the story are children, they act like children, they think like children and they talk like children. The plot of the story isn't too complicated either. It's very much a good versus evil story, where the good might be a little "gray", but the evil is very clearly evil. And although the book starts a little slow, it gets more and more exciting towards the end and especially the finale screams for more.
I do however like how this story didn't fall into the "once evil always evil"-trap and brought some nuance to characters who otherwise rarely get really redeemed. Although we didn't see him too much in the story, I really enjoyed the big bad wolf in this story. Surprisingly enough he made quite a decent teacher and I can't wait to find out more about him in the next book of the series. I did like however that the book took its time to reveal which evil characters were really evil and which ones weren't. It's a nice guessing game.
I hope that the next few books in the series will address the big gap between the royals and the commoners though. A few things were already taking care of in this book, which was quite nice, but I feel like there is more work to do. It's one thing to send kids who are thieving to a school to get rid of their evil ways, but of course it's another thing to actually make sure they don't have any reason to get into thieving in the first place. So, I'm really curious to see if this issue is tackled in the next installments.