Scan barcode
harleyrae's review
3.0
This book had both good and bad things about it. Its hard to jumble both of the stories together so I'm going to review each story separately.
Snow
3/5 Stars
In total I really enjoyed this book. I liked the direction the author took it. One of my biggest issues though was the length of the story. Because it was so short the story at parts felt rushed. Some parts took forever to get through while other we flew through and at times needed better explaining. I feel that if this book was about twice the size it could have had a much better impact. Also the stepmother issues was resolved way way to quickly. It really should take more then 3 pages for stuff to wrapped up, especially considering there almost nothing leading up to it. All in all this story had great potential it just need more pages to really make the story come alive.
Beauty Sleep
2.5/5 Stars
Out of the two stories this one was by far my least favorite. I feel like the author was trying to hard, the writing style felt forced and really strange. I wish it hadn't been told in the manner of the event happening in the past like it was. I wanted to be there while it was happening. Also what happened to our villain! If someone came and cursed my child to an endless sleep I'd be doing everything in my power to find her and bring justice. But nope everyone seemed to act like she was really no big deal, almost like they once again forgot about her. Also the romance really got on my nerves. To me it was uncomfortable and awkward. As a person he was fine, but the age difference really got to me, I knew it was coming and that's how it was gonna play out but I despised every minute of the so called romance. I got so excited when there seemed to be a potential new romance, especially to a guy I actually quite enjoyed, and then everything just fell apart when she chose who she did. All in all I don't think much could have changed for me to enjoy this story. Sadly it would most likely have to be a completely different retelling. The only aspect I really enjoyed was 1) Ironheart and 2) that this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
All in all these two stories were interesting, but both had many issues. That being said I'm looking forward to reading other stories by these authors.
Snow
3/5 Stars
In total I really enjoyed this book. I liked the direction the author took it. One of my biggest issues though was the length of the story. Because it was so short the story at parts felt rushed. Some parts took forever to get through while other we flew through and at times needed better explaining. I feel that if this book was about twice the size it could have had a much better impact. Also the stepmother issues was resolved way way to quickly. It really should take more then 3 pages for stuff to wrapped up, especially considering there almost nothing leading up to it. All in all this story had great potential it just need more pages to really make the story come alive.
Beauty Sleep
2.5/5 Stars
Out of the two stories this one was by far my least favorite. I feel like the author was trying to hard, the writing style felt forced and really strange. I wish it hadn't been told in the manner of the event happening in the past like it was. I wanted to be there while it was happening. Also what happened to our villain! If someone came and cursed my child to an endless sleep I'd be doing everything in my power to find her and bring justice. But nope everyone seemed to act like she was really no big deal, almost like they once again forgot about her. Also the romance really got on my nerves. To me it was uncomfortable and awkward. As a person he was fine, but the age difference really got to me, I knew it was coming and that's how it was gonna play out but I despised every minute of the so called romance. I got so excited when there seemed to be a potential new romance, especially to a guy I actually quite enjoyed, and then everything just fell apart when she chose who she did. All in all I don't think much could have changed for me to enjoy this story. Sadly it would most likely have to be a completely different retelling. The only aspect I really enjoyed was 1) Ironheart and 2) that this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
All in all these two stories were interesting, but both had many issues. That being said I'm looking forward to reading other stories by these authors.
ennitsud's review
4.0
honestly, the thing that bothered me the most was that aurore's prince was her cousin. i mean, i see the charm and why; dokey sets that up very well, but i was really hoping that he was only her cousin in name only. that maybe he was adopted or something. but that doesn't discount from the fact that it was still a lovely story, despite the incest.
this sounds like i tolerate incest. to make things clear: i don't. ew.
this sounds like i tolerate incest. to make things clear: i don't. ew.
katanais's review
1.0
As a disclaimer, I only read the first story of two in this book, which was "Snow" - a retelling of Snow White. I quite enjoy retellings, but I didn't like this one at all, which is why I didn't even bother to read the other. I didn't find myself rooting for the characters. I honestly didn't care very much about any of them. There was a jump in time when 'Snow' or 'Jessica' was locked up by her stepmother, but I found it very abrupt, and we learned little about the circumstances of her life while she was away.
Additionally, the romance seemed randomly thrown in to me. There were some instances where the characters seemed to connect somewhat, but it felt hollow and forced. I also did not enjoy the seven dwarves becoming The Lonely Ones, which we part-human/part-animal. I found it odd, and though the author explained in the end, I just don't think it made sense at all. Overall, I did not enjoy this book at all, and I would not recommend it.
Additionally, the romance seemed randomly thrown in to me. There were some instances where the characters seemed to connect somewhat, but it felt hollow and forced. I also did not enjoy the seven dwarves becoming The Lonely Ones, which we part-human/part-animal. I found it odd, and though the author explained in the end, I just don't think it made sense at all. Overall, I did not enjoy this book at all, and I would not recommend it.
readingwithamy's review
3.0
More of a 3.5 then a 3 stars. I did enjoy this book. It wasn't great and I defiantly had my problems with it, but if your looking for a quick little fairytale it's good. I do wish it wasn't so rushed, in Snow White I felt the last chapter was so rushed and then the story just ended which was a big disappointment to me
sephranix's review
1.0
Okay, look, I really like a well done fairytale retelling, and the blurb made these sound promising. However, they both suffer from the same two fatal flaws:
1. Incredibly poor pacing. There is too much time wasted in set-up that you get very, very little conflict and conflict resolution. You get the conflict and then everything is really rushed. The ending for Snow, in particular, was super anti-climatic and disappointing.
2.
Spoiler
INCEST. Really???? In Snow, you are basically told that the Lonely Ones are the half-animal, half-human children of Snow's stepmother. So, unless the evil stepmother has been kidnapping children or desecrating baby graves (aside from that one), this means they are her biological children and their father is Snow's father. Meaning they are Snow's half-siblings. So WHY OH WHY would you make Raven, a Lonely One, her love interest???In Beauty Sleep (which is an incredibly misleading title - in fact, this was a loose, loose retelling all around), her love interest is her cousin - her FIRST cousin by blood. It was bad enough when I thought the love interest was going to be a descendant of her family, but to pull some creepy magic and have the love interest be her actual cousin? No, thank you.
And really, they ruined everything about these stories for me.
aroobaamir's review
4.0
Book 1 - 4.5/5
Thoroughly captivating, I loved the twist on the original story. Romance between Snow and Raven was perfect.
Book 2 - 3.5/5
A good adaptation, Aurore ending up with Oswald was a bit weird (but expected!) I loved the end, where everyone was re-introduced, but the entire “100 year sleeping princess” thing was a bit confusing. (and did Aurore’s own grandson kiss her???)
Thoroughly captivating, I loved the twist on the original story. Romance between Snow and Raven was perfect.
Book 2 - 3.5/5
A good adaptation, Aurore ending up with Oswald was a bit weird (but expected!) I loved the end, where everyone was re-introduced, but the entire “100 year sleeping princess” thing was a bit confusing. (and did Aurore’s own grandson kiss her???)
aolvera's review
2.0
I enjoyed Snow (the first part of this book). But I could not get into the writing of Beauty Sleep. It was all over the place.
groundedwanderlust's review
3.0
I thought these stories had a lot of potential. The writing was good and the new premise for old ideas was intriguing. Ultimately though, the ending were a huge let down.