The Fairest of Them All

I adore fairy tale retellings so I was excited for this one. It wasn't quite what I was expecting though. I understood pretty quickly that it was going to be from the “villain”'s point of view (the queen who goes after Snow White) but the narrative didn't make me sympathetic to Rapunzel or anyone she knew. The only really likeable character for me was the girl Snow White, but when she grows up she goes through a pretty rude phase.

Now, all that could be understandable. But then the end of the book took several very dark turns. Overall it left me kind of wide-eyed, thinking, “did that really have to happen?”. So that left a poor taste in my mouth.

Overall I like the witchy take on the tale and how the two stories weave together. But the extra darkness in the story didn't add anything for me.