The book was pretty good though at some parts it was kind of cheesy. Which makes sense, considering its a middle grade fantasy series. It definitely had a lot of parallels to Once Upon a Time - especially with season 4 and Regina's quest of getting a happily ever after that doesn't involve being miserable and alone. The story follows Apple Snow and Raven Queen, which is also similar to the tv show and it just so happens that Apple Snow (the daughter of Snow White) is blonde - Emma Swan reference here. I'm not sure when this book was published or if the author had any inspiration from the tv show, but it's almost too similar. Apple's character was a little to naive and annoying and kind of selfish at times too. Oh and I almost forgot. There was also a moment when Raven bumped into Sparrow Hood (aka Robin Hood) which reminded me of Regina and Robin. Anyway, besides the constant comparisons the story lacked the "I wonder what will happen next feeling". It wasn't intense or exciting. The adventures the characters went on were really short and honestly too easy. I gave this a 3/5 stars only because it gave me good memories of Once Upon a Time, not because of the actual story. I'll probably read the rest of the books just to see what happens and if it gets any more similar to the tv show.