The Princess Fugitive by Melanie Cellier
When I first got a Kindle I devoured the The Spoken Mage series by Melanie Cellier, and I genuinely really loved it, but that could have been because I was younger. I read book one in this series and gave it a pretty low rating and review, so I’m not sure why I decided to check out this book.
I called this ‘boring’ in my review and questioned when the retelling elements came in as I got 70% through before deciding to DNF it. My hope was that the main character would have some type of curse or power that changes her into a wolf (this is a Little Red Riding Hood retelling) but that never happens, as far as I know. I did skim the last 30% of the book as I wanted to see if the trial part of the story was interesting (it wasn’t).
I’m also not a huge fan of being told a book has a guaranteed happily ever after before I read it because it takes all tension away for me. I never once questioned whether or not Ava would take the throne because you’re basically told she will with the guaranteed happily ever after.
I’d fully planned to read this entire series and its sequel series but that idea has been binned. Sadly, I don’t know if I’d try another Melanie Cellier book again. Maybe I should re-read book one in The Spoken Mage series to see if it holds up to my opinion of it from six years ago.
Book Review: The Princess Fugitive by Melanie Cellier
Synopsis: Princess Ava used to be a weapon – sharp, strong and beautiful. But when she fails at her most important task, she’s forced to flee from her own family.
Only her personal bodyguard, Hans, remains loyal. Hans claims to know the real Ava but she finds that hard to believe – after all, she’s been the villain so long that she can’t remember anything else.
But deep in exile, Ava learns her kingdom needs a hero and she might be the only one who can save it. The catch? She’ll have to ally herself with the very people she blames for her downfall.
But in a game of life and death where the stakes are an entire kingdom, winning over her enemies will only be the beginning. Can one fugitive save her people, her kingdom and, hardest of all, herself?
In this reimagining of the classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, the girl in the red hood has been swallowed up by the wolf and must decide if she’s willing to fight for her freedom, no matter the cost.
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
By pure coincidence both books in today’s post are retellings, a genre of book I really love but I have found them to be very hit or miss. The two today were both misses, obviously.
I gave this book a few chances but really long chapters and tiny fonts in physical books are really not for me. I’d got around 25% through before deciding that this would be a DNF. Basically, I didn’t care about the characters or what was happening to them. Which is a shame as I did really like the concept of this book.
It’s a little savage to call a book boring, but that’s exactly what I thought of By the Book. It’s far longer than it needs to be and just wasn’t for me.
Book Review: By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Synopsis: Sometimes to truly know a person, you have to read between the lines.
Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing after college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, still living at home, and one of the few Black employees at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to prove her worth and finally get the recognition she deserves. All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?
But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn’t there before.
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