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annalpurcell's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I feel reluctant to give any book 5 stars, but this to me is a truly excellent children’s novel. The story features 2 strong, well-developed and flawed female protagonists that feel convincingly enough like real children and a creative reimagining of traditional fairytale lore. Modern retreadings of old fairytale fare are a dime a dozen, but I think this novel takes the concept in an interesting direction and extends beyond the standard Disney canon. The mystery of the Red Hand and what happened to the girl’s parents sets up 2 intriguing mysteries to be unraveled in the following books and to serve as connective tissue tying together the individual stories. The prose is simple but effective and flows like butter on a hot pan. Perhaps it is because I am an adult woman now, but you can tear through this book with ease. Side note because i don’t know where else to put this but the fairytale creatures are referred to as Everafters which is incredibly dorky, but given that this is a middle grades novel, I will not hold it over them. There is a sprinkling of misogyny in this book, particularly from the character of Puck, but the book does not appear to endorse it and instead includes it as an obstacle that the two young women face. As someone who was also a young woman in the early 2000s, when I assume this book was set, I would say that is a fairly realistic obstacle. I loved these stories as a kid and would read them over-and-over, so i’m excited to find out that, at least this one, still holds up.
Also…
“‘How does it feel to know that your own kind wish you dead?’
‘Not nearly as bad as it must feel to know they don’t care if you are alive’”
Absolutely raw line of dialogue for a middle grades novel
Also…
‘Not nearly as bad as it must feel to know they don’t care if you are alive’”
Absolutely raw line of dialogue for a middle grades novel
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
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