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ocean's review
5.0
The characters are amazing, the story was amazing! Must read, I absolutely adored it and it was so much fun to read! Honestly my new favorite series!
transboywriting's review
3.0
Well that was way too long. Also, kinda gay? It went from good to bad, then good and bad again. It was worth the read(I think), but I definitely won't read it again, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to bother with the sequel. The concept is great, but so many things fell flat and it just took so. dang. long.
viparikh's review
3.0
What am I doing writing this almost 7 years after this book was released? Well, the first time that I learned that this book even existed was about two months ago, right before the release of One True King. And once I read the summary and the author's name, I knew I had to have it (South Asian Author Rep!)! So I borrowed a copy from my local library (a precaution that I take just in case I read a book that I DNF), and boy, was I surprised! And it wasn't all a good surprise.
First things first, I gave this book 3 stars mostly because I loved some parts of it (the writing, the dialogue, the world-building!) and absolutely despised some of it (ugh, some of the character development was atrocious), and there was nothing in the middle (except this review
First things first, I gave this book 3 stars mostly because I loved some parts of it (the writing, the dialogue, the world-building!) and absolutely despised some of it (ugh, some of the character development was atrocious), and there was nothing in the middle (except this review
esperata's review
5.0
Stunning. Everything about this book defies expectations and plays on the traditions of fairy tales. It is also clear throughout that the story we're reading is only the surface plot line and that there's another tale happening beneath. There were so many unexpected twists that I doubt anyone reading this could predict the end. Heroes, villains; witches, princesses; you'll be supporting both, unsure who's who anymore.
dogstar85's review
2.0
This book started out with promise but by halfway, the only thing keeping me going was Sophie and Agatha's relationship. Unfortunately, it get bogged down by very uninteresting dudes and offensive happenings.
Tedious things, like Tedros (why do we need a cardboard dude who's apparently the golden goose that these girls disgustingly have to earn by being the best?) and Agatha being pretty bland, got in the way. Sophie was fascinating because the story felt so biased against her especially towards the end where I felt she became a cardboard villain to Agatha's cardboard princess. Still, she remained the most interesting character because she felt the most real in the beginning - she was nasty, solipsistic, simpering, vain, and flawed that she was a vast improvement over Agatha's painfully facile narrative of the girl, who underneath her shallow hard candy exterior is really so good and smart and selfless. She's a girl who can see through the flaws in the system while no one else can and she's the girl who thinks she's ugly but really she's gorgeous if she smiled more and gag me please.
There were disturbing messages being perpetuated about beauty and good and evil. When a character became really evil, it was validated through their ugliness, for example, and when a character became really good, they conformed to the standard fairytale princess look by becoming breathtakingly beautiful. I thought that those offensive ideas would be deconstructed when I first started the book as neither Sophie nor Agatha fit those stereotypes regarding beauty and female villains and female heroines but, sadly, this novel played it straight.
This book was fairly heteronormative, especially with the Good, and a lot of it made me rage. I expected something deconstructionist from the premise and from the first third or so of this novel. I was actually pleased with the ending but literally it was only the last handful of pages and the whiplash character decisions that saved this from being a one star rating tbh.
Tedious things, like Tedros (why do we need a cardboard dude who's apparently the golden goose that these girls disgustingly have to earn by being the best?) and Agatha being pretty bland, got in the way. Sophie was fascinating because the story felt so biased against her especially towards the end where I felt she became a cardboard villain to Agatha's cardboard princess. Still, she remained the most interesting character because she felt the most real in the beginning - she was nasty, solipsistic, simpering, vain, and flawed that she was a vast improvement over Agatha's painfully facile narrative of the girl, who underneath her shallow hard candy exterior is really so good and smart and selfless. She's a girl who can see through the flaws in the system while no one else can and she's the girl who thinks she's ugly but really she's gorgeous if she smiled more and gag me please.
There were disturbing messages being perpetuated about beauty and good and evil. When a character became really evil, it was validated through their ugliness, for example, and when a character became really good, they conformed to the standard fairytale princess look by becoming breathtakingly beautiful. I thought that those offensive ideas would be deconstructed when I first started the book as neither Sophie nor Agatha fit those stereotypes regarding beauty and female villains and female heroines but, sadly, this novel played it straight.
This book was fairly heteronormative, especially with the Good, and a lot of it made me rage. I expected something deconstructionist from the premise and from the first third or so of this novel. I was actually pleased with the ending but literally it was only the last handful of pages and the whiplash character decisions that saved this from being a one star rating tbh.
cyntax's review
I was entertained by this book, and even laughed out loud several times. Definitely some things to like here. At first this book seemed to be about friendship, and what's inside counts rather than what's outside; all good things. Then somehow it ended up being about boys being the only thing that matters, and only what's on the outside counts? So on principle I want to give this book one star.
stephnsketch's review
5.0
So...I'm 23 years old, and I loved this book. Not only did I love the personalities each character has, but the fairy tale world is both hilarious and terrifying.
The story revolves around two girls: the beautiful maiden who has always wanted to be a princess, and the emo girl living in a graveyard. As tradition has it, two children are kidnapped after four years: one good and one evil. And both of our ladies are taken.
But the emo girl ends up in the school for good and our dear damsel in distress ends up in the school for evil. Both must now adapt to prepare to live out their fairy tale. But there must be a mistake. Why are they in places they aren't supposed to be? And now there's a prince involved! Poor prince, hopefully he knows that looks can be deceiving...
Yep, loved it. Already finished the second book. It's funny, cliche, dramatic, written well, and had an ending that surprised me.
The story revolves around two girls: the beautiful maiden who has always wanted to be a princess, and the emo girl living in a graveyard. As tradition has it, two children are kidnapped after four years: one good and one evil. And both of our ladies are taken.
But the emo girl ends up in the school for good and our dear damsel in distress ends up in the school for evil. Both must now adapt to prepare to live out their fairy tale. But there must be a mistake. Why are they in places they aren't supposed to be? And now there's a prince involved! Poor prince, hopefully he knows that looks can be deceiving...
Yep, loved it. Already finished the second book. It's funny, cliche, dramatic, written well, and had an ending that surprised me.
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