DNF, page 199

I’ve heard good things about this novel, and even though Halloween is over and it’s officially Christmas time, I was hoping for an entertaining, mildly spooky story. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what I got.

I didn’t like Alice, the protagonist, at all. I know some characters are intended to be unlikable, and I’m totally fine with that. There are some unlikable characters that I actually love; however, this wasn’t the case with Alice. She was cold and angry – what a combination, I know. She treated almost everyone like crap, including her supposed love interest. Up to the point I stopped, there was a part where she didn’t like something Ellery said and told him to “go get a liberal arts degree”, as well as brushing off his attempt at a discussion on racism and privilege – he’s biracial, and Ghanaian, according to another review I read. Oh, and she’s constantly finding ways to insult him because he comes from a wealthy family.

The story itself wasn’t as intriguing as the synopsis and the hype promised it would be. I was rather bored most of the time, and even listening to a few chapters of the audiobook didn’t help. I was about halfway through, and I can honestly say that nothing interesting happened. I did kind of like the fairytales, though they were occasionally too dark for my tastes.

I’m not giving this a rating because I didn’t finish it, but I will say that I wasn’t a fan. For more details from readers that finished the book, I recommend checking out this review and this one – spoiler warning for the second. If you’re interested, definitely give this a try. However, I don’t see myself giving this a second chance, or picking up this author’s future work. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯