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monetp 's review for:
Fairest of All
by Serena Valentino
"Magic Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" ~ [b:Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen|6124802|Fairest of All A Tale of the Wicked Queen|Serena Valentino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360570756l/6124802._SX50_.jpg|6303264]
3.5 stars
Definitely not my favorite of the books in this series but still an enjoyable read. [b:The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince|17428643|The Beast Within A Tale of Beauty's Prince (Villains, #2)|Serena Valentino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394411414l/17428643._SX50_.jpg|24284974] expanded more on the Beauty and Beast fairytale, making the retelling more vivid and rich with detail. However, [b:Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen|6124802|Fairest of All A Tale of the Wicked Queen|Serena Valentino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360570756l/6124802._SX50_.jpg|6303264] was like reading a screenplay version of Disney's "Snow White." The first half of the book gave the reader some backstory on the Evil Queen. The only aspect of her backstory that I liked was her passionate love for her husband. She seemed like a great queen at first, but the explanation on why she became evil didn't...really...work. Since three other witches were influencing her to turn evil, I didn't feel convinced of the Evil Queen's personality change. Also, it wasn't clear to me how the queen became evil? What was that about her being descended from a family of witches? Did the Evil Queen have some sort of mental illness? I have too many unanswered questions.
What I think would have made this story better would be more names for the characters, a longer and more intricate plot, development of Snow White's character, and more action near the beginning of the book. Every time something interesting started to happen the queen just ran off to ask the Magic Mirror the same questions. I did appreciate the foreshadowing of the queen and Snow White hiding in the swamp and then later the Evil Queen traveling through the same spot in the swamp!
3.5 stars
Definitely not my favorite of the books in this series but still an enjoyable read. [b:The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince|17428643|The Beast Within A Tale of Beauty's Prince (Villains, #2)|Serena Valentino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394411414l/17428643._SX50_.jpg|24284974] expanded more on the Beauty and Beast fairytale, making the retelling more vivid and rich with detail. However, [b:Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen|6124802|Fairest of All A Tale of the Wicked Queen|Serena Valentino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360570756l/6124802._SX50_.jpg|6303264] was like reading a screenplay version of Disney's "Snow White." The first half of the book gave the reader some backstory on the Evil Queen. The only aspect of her backstory that I liked was her passionate love for her husband. She seemed like a great queen at first, but the explanation on why she became evil didn't...really...work. Since three other witches were influencing her to turn evil, I didn't feel convinced of the Evil Queen's personality change. Also, it wasn't clear to me how the queen became evil? What was that about her being descended from a family of witches? Did the Evil Queen have some sort of mental illness? I have too many unanswered questions.
What I think would have made this story better would be more names for the characters, a longer and more intricate plot, development of Snow White's character, and more action near the beginning of the book. Every time something interesting started to happen the queen just ran off to ask the Magic Mirror the same questions. I did appreciate the foreshadowing of the queen and Snow White hiding in the swamp and then later the Evil Queen traveling through the same spot in the swamp!