I loved this so much!!!

Malice – Heather Walter

LGBTQ+, retellings, Sapphic, Sleeping Beauty, fiction. 

Rating 12/10

Alyce is known as the Dark Grace. Her blood is green and more deadlier than her fellow Graces. However, she is made harmless as she can’t use magic to cause harm as it is illegal. Her ancestors cursed the Briar’s women. The women unless they kiss their true love they die at the ripe age of 21. Aurora, the last surviving heir, is almost turning 21 and she must find her true love so that she can rule and change the rules. She meets Alyce and both combined alliances work towards making the world fairer towards Graces. Alyce finds her father and he reveals that Alyce is not only half Grace but half Shifter. He slowly teaches her about her untapped potential. There are darker forces at hand that do not want change for the better but rather for the worst. The one who breaks the Aurora’s curse is one twist that no one in the Kingdom would expect. 

I had heard and seen this book everywhere. I don’t really love Sleeping Beauty but I don’t hate her. She is an alright princess. However, this book was hyped and I understand why. This was so well written and kept me hooked from page one to the last page. I finished this within a day which is hard because some days are busier than others for me. I just was like thrown into this world I didn’t want to leave. Another book caused me to have a book hangover. The whole idea that Maleficent and Aurora together really was something I wasn’t expecting. I highly recommend this book. It is so good and I can’t wait for the sequel. I’m anticipating the sequel since this was marked as the first in a duology.

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unsuspecting villains

As Old as Time – Liz Braswell

Disney, Beauty and the Beast, magic, mystery, retelling, Young adult, fiction.

Ratings 8/10

Maurice, father of Belle, has a story of how he came to meet Belle’s mother who was the Enchantress. They fled this one kingdom to protect their baby girl. The Enchantress has found out that the previous king and queen died, and she goes to see if their son is better than his parents. Disguised and ready to test the young prince, the Enchantress casts a spell so that her family doesn’t remember her and that she can flee without putting them in danger. The Enchantress tests the young boy and finds out he is just as despicable as his parents, casts a spell on him that he has until his twenty-first birthday to find someone who can love him as the monster he is or face an eternity stuck as a beast. Continuing the story through Belle’s narrative, she has come across this castle and strikes a deal with the Beast so that her father can be free, and she would be the prisoner of the Beast. Belle finds the rose and touches it, a flood of a memory surges through her. She remembers who her mother was as well as that she is alive. Belle and the Beast work together to figure this mystery out and how to break the curse of the Beast.

This dark retelling of the classic with the twist made me question a lot. At first, I was disappointed until I read the final third of the book. I was surprised by the dark turn it took but made sense with the plot. I was intrigued by the whole line of Disney’s Twisted Tales and one of my close friend’s family member wanted to know if they were any good and I thought this one would be a good one to start to read. I don’t regret picking this book up at all. However, I do not recommend to read these tales for anyone who is under the age of twelve years old. There is some adult situations that the little ones wouldn’t handle some of the scenes and descriptions. Overall, a great story and I would want to read more of these retellings.