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Pulchritude
Experience a darker side of "The Beauty and the Beast" where, in a world of vindictive fairies and scornful magicians, not everyone will live happily ever after. Pulchritude tells the tale of Bella, a beautiful girl caught between her selfish father and an enchanted prince ready to sweep her into a dangerous romance built on deception and betrayal. This debut novel by feminist blogger Ana Mardoll returns a classic fairy tale to its origins as social commentary and in doing so holds a strange mirror to our own world.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 19, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 18 reviews
February 23, 2020
If you have a 200-odd page book in which about half is dedicated to your Author's Notes explaining why you did this and that and yonder thing in your retelling, then you've failed at writing a retelling.
Think of it for a moment: half to tell your story, and half to tell what we should see in your story. That's a monumental failure as a storyteller.
This is made even truer by the fact that your overly bloated Author's Notes are taken up by superfluous overexplanations when it could (and should) have been a succinct 5-10 pages of your thoughts on the creative process for this book. That would've sufficed. Instead, you regurgitated everything you read about this tale well-flavoured with the college Gender Studies doctrine that you internalised. Do I need to know where the name Ezio comes from and what it means? No, it's irrelevant to the plot. Do I need an endnote telling me what a "portative organ" is, complete with the meaning of portare in Latin? No, I could look that up in a dictionary, assuming I didn't know what that was (and I do know without having Googled it). Do I need to know about the portraits for each character and who drew them? No, character illustrations are irrelevant to the plot, and given how you rail against judging by looks only, it's hilarious how much you invest in your characters's depictions. Do I need to know why the stepmother & stepsisters of Beauty are black? No, your world isn't real Italy, and in Fantasy you could make them black, Asian, white, Native American, whatever. Again, it's irrelevant to the plot and it only paints you as a virtue-signalling ranter too eager to distance herself from the rest of the world who complain about "historical accuracy" in Fantasy. Besides, I have one word for you: Othello was out in 1622.
The pile of pages on the tale of Beauty and the Beast isn't any better, either. I'm aware that I'm in the minority, but there was nothing in all those pages that was new to me. Not everyone who reads this is going to be knowledgeable about the background of the tale, but some are going to know even more than the author, and those who won't, shall still feel lectured at and told what to think about everything in the story simply because nobody is purchasing this book to be told what the story is about and why it is like it is for pages and pages on end. They are purchasing this book to read a good story.
Artists let their work speak for themselves. So should writers. Michelangelo didn't spend a single hour writing a treatise on how he worked on the Sixtine Chapel and what we should look for in it. All the good writers let the teachers and the academics do the 'splainin' and the interpretin'. Anything else is patronising pomposity and intellectual pretentiousness, you're talking down to your readers (some of which, again, might know more).
Without all that chaff in the Notes, the story would've stood out as merely a bleak and tragic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, not particularly good as far as I'm concerned, and that misses the point of the tale but still manages to address an interesting angle. But, once you arrive to the Author's Notes and compare what the author wrote with what she says she wrote, and notice the lack of concordance . . . it becomes damnably obvious how divorced intent and execution are. Frankly, it's even amusing how this author read Villeneuve's original and still managed to miss how fairy tales work and all about archetypes and symbols. Must be because all those interpretations they teach you at college rely on literalism; take the literalism out of the equation, and all that stuff doesn't make as much sense.
Perhaps my biggest issue is the author's claim that this is a deconstruction of the patriarchal systems that make Beast selfish and stereotypically white-privileged and Bella all about looks, and use Disney of all sources as her starting point. I mean, if you read Madame de Villeneuve's original fairy tale (because THAT is the original, the others are retellings, and retellings are that: reinterpretations, you can't use them as support but as examples of how others see the original) and you come up with the conclusion that the biggest injustice in the tale is that Beauty is only known for her looks . . . Seriously? You did acknowledge the curse's origins. Beast is made a beast because he rejected a female sexual predator, full stop. That's the greatest injustice. Even Disney with their hamfisted reinterpretation of the curse as Beast's fault still managed to make it so the fairy is the major villain (think of this: in Disney, Prince Adam was a little boy of about 11 when he was cursed for not sheltering a stranger. What happened to teaching kids to not be too trusting with strangers?). But here, the author says she doesn't have any overt villains and that Beast is "a product of the patriarchal system," and yet . . . She does write overt villains, actually, and blames Ezio/Beast completely and irredeemably 100% for his curse and the tragic outcome, forget it that Rosella is a fickle bitch that actually taunted him into getting cursed for the funsies. Oh, but it's all because patriarchy, of course. Must be very uncomfortable to realise that women can be sexual predators, too. If you ever wonder why male victims aren't taken as seriously, you might find your answer here.
And no, Beauty isn't known "only for her looks." That's a way too narrow and cherry-picking view, one I'm familiar with and that by now only elicits a tired eye-roll. In fact, there's so much wrong in this book that it's very tiring to enumerate. All I can add is that I'm going to remember this book for the 50% author's notes rather than for the 50% story, which I'm already starting to forget just hours after finishing it. Not what the author intended, I bet, but that's what you get for not letting your work speak in your stead.
Think of it for a moment: half to tell your story, and half to tell what we should see in your story. That's a monumental failure as a storyteller.
This is made even truer by the fact that your overly bloated Author's Notes are taken up by superfluous overexplanations when it could (and should) have been a succinct 5-10 pages of your thoughts on the creative process for this book. That would've sufficed. Instead, you regurgitated everything you read about this tale well-flavoured with the college Gender Studies doctrine that you internalised. Do I need to know where the name Ezio comes from and what it means? No, it's irrelevant to the plot. Do I need an endnote telling me what a "portative organ" is, complete with the meaning of portare in Latin? No, I could look that up in a dictionary, assuming I didn't know what that was (and I do know without having Googled it). Do I need to know about the portraits for each character and who drew them? No, character illustrations are irrelevant to the plot, and given how you rail against judging by looks only, it's hilarious how much you invest in your characters's depictions. Do I need to know why the stepmother & stepsisters of Beauty are black? No, your world isn't real Italy, and in Fantasy you could make them black, Asian, white, Native American, whatever. Again, it's irrelevant to the plot and it only paints you as a virtue-signalling ranter too eager to distance herself from the rest of the world who complain about "historical accuracy" in Fantasy. Besides, I have one word for you: Othello was out in 1622.
The pile of pages on the tale of Beauty and the Beast isn't any better, either. I'm aware that I'm in the minority, but there was nothing in all those pages that was new to me. Not everyone who reads this is going to be knowledgeable about the background of the tale, but some are going to know even more than the author, and those who won't, shall still feel lectured at and told what to think about everything in the story simply because nobody is purchasing this book to be told what the story is about and why it is like it is for pages and pages on end. They are purchasing this book to read a good story.
Artists let their work speak for themselves. So should writers. Michelangelo didn't spend a single hour writing a treatise on how he worked on the Sixtine Chapel and what we should look for in it. All the good writers let the teachers and the academics do the 'splainin' and the interpretin'. Anything else is patronising pomposity and intellectual pretentiousness, you're talking down to your readers (some of which, again, might know more).
Without all that chaff in the Notes, the story would've stood out as merely a bleak and tragic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, not particularly good as far as I'm concerned, and that misses the point of the tale but still manages to address an interesting angle. But, once you arrive to the Author's Notes and compare what the author wrote with what she says she wrote, and notice the lack of concordance . . . it becomes damnably obvious how divorced intent and execution are. Frankly, it's even amusing how this author read Villeneuve's original and still managed to miss how fairy tales work and all about archetypes and symbols. Must be because all those interpretations they teach you at college rely on literalism; take the literalism out of the equation, and all that stuff doesn't make as much sense.
Perhaps my biggest issue is the author's claim that this is a deconstruction of the patriarchal systems that make Beast selfish and stereotypically white-privileged and Bella all about looks, and use Disney of all sources as her starting point. I mean, if you read Madame de Villeneuve's original fairy tale (because THAT is the original, the others are retellings, and retellings are that: reinterpretations, you can't use them as support but as examples of how others see the original) and you come up with the conclusion that the biggest injustice in the tale is that Beauty is only known for her looks . . . Seriously? You did acknowledge the curse's origins. Beast is made a beast because he rejected a female sexual predator, full stop. That's the greatest injustice. Even Disney with their hamfisted reinterpretation of the curse as Beast's fault still managed to make it so the fairy is the major villain (think of this: in Disney, Prince Adam was a little boy of about 11 when he was cursed for not sheltering a stranger. What happened to teaching kids to not be too trusting with strangers?). But here, the author says she doesn't have any overt villains and that Beast is "a product of the patriarchal system," and yet . . . She does write overt villains, actually, and blames Ezio/Beast completely and irredeemably 100% for his curse and the tragic outcome, forget it that Rosella is a fickle bitch that actually taunted him into getting cursed for the funsies. Oh, but it's all because patriarchy, of course. Must be very uncomfortable to realise that women can be sexual predators, too. If you ever wonder why male victims aren't taken as seriously, you might find your answer here.
And no, Beauty isn't known "only for her looks." That's a way too narrow and cherry-picking view, one I'm familiar with and that by now only elicits a tired eye-roll. In fact, there's so much wrong in this book that it's very tiring to enumerate. All I can add is that I'm going to remember this book for the 50% author's notes rather than for the 50% story, which I'm already starting to forget just hours after finishing it. Not what the author intended, I bet, but that's what you get for not letting your work speak in your stead.
May 10, 2012
Disclaimer: Received a free copy from author for review.
I was reading this last night, instead of during my workout as I had been doing, because it was later in the evening and I didn't want to start anything new. I had nearly 100 pages left, by my ebook count, so I wasn't expecting to finish it.
But then, suddenly, it was over.
See, what I didn't realize is that of the 250 pages listed on my nook, only 163 of them are actually story. The rest is author notes, discussions about character development, where the story came from, and a deconstruction of Villeneuve's original.
So the ending seemed rather abrupt. I mean, it's a fair ending and all that, but I expected more and, honestly, I would've liked more. Just more all around, really.
It's not a bad telling, though. It's interesting the way the chapters switch to different perspectives, and so you see not just Bella's perspective, or the Beast's, but also her father and step-mother and sisters. And it was nice to see them portrayed as regular people - not the typical fairy tale evil steps.
And it did have twists and turns, and whatnot, but I'm not sure how well it works as a return "to its origins as social commentary". There are some bits here and there - issues of race and xenophobia, issues of women as objects - but I didn't feel that they were really developed to the extent that the could've been.
Likewise, I felt the characters could've been developed more. Really I guess it comes down to the fact I was expecting a more fleshed out novel and got a novella instead.
Still, it's not bad and has enough of interest as a re-telling to be worth giving it a gander. And, hey, if nothing else, it is short. ;)
Overall probably a 2.5 bumped up to 3.
ETA: This story had popped into my head this morning, while I was thinking about another book and blurbs and things, and I think the blurb reveals too much of the tone of the book - especially the bit about how "not everyone will live happily ever after".
What could've been a shock or gut-punch type happenstance in the book instead was a foregone conclusion. The whole time I was reading it I just kept wondering how it would go wrong, and I think it lost a lot of impact that way.
I would recommend changing the blurb a bit to make it more ambiguous, or something,
I was reading this last night, instead of during my workout as I had been doing, because it was later in the evening and I didn't want to start anything new. I had nearly 100 pages left, by my ebook count, so I wasn't expecting to finish it.
But then, suddenly, it was over.
See, what I didn't realize is that of the 250 pages listed on my nook, only 163 of them are actually story. The rest is author notes, discussions about character development, where the story came from, and a deconstruction of Villeneuve's original.
So the ending seemed rather abrupt. I mean, it's a fair ending and all that, but I expected more and, honestly, I would've liked more. Just more all around, really.
It's not a bad telling, though. It's interesting the way the chapters switch to different perspectives, and so you see not just Bella's perspective, or the Beast's, but also her father and step-mother and sisters. And it was nice to see them portrayed as regular people - not the typical fairy tale evil steps.
And it did have twists and turns, and whatnot, but I'm not sure how well it works as a return "to its origins as social commentary". There are some bits here and there - issues of race and xenophobia, issues of women as objects - but I didn't feel that they were really developed to the extent that the could've been.
Likewise, I felt the characters could've been developed more. Really I guess it comes down to the fact I was expecting a more fleshed out novel and got a novella instead.
Still, it's not bad and has enough of interest as a re-telling to be worth giving it a gander. And, hey, if nothing else, it is short. ;)
Overall probably a 2.5 bumped up to 3.
ETA: This story had popped into my head this morning, while I was thinking about another book and blurbs and things, and I think the blurb reveals too much of the tone of the book - especially the bit about how "not everyone will live happily ever after".
What could've been a shock or gut-punch type happenstance in the book instead was a foregone conclusion. The whole time I was reading it I just kept wondering how it would go wrong, and I think it lost a lot of impact that way.
I would recommend changing the blurb a bit to make it more ambiguous, or something,
February 1, 2015
Cross-posted from Papyrus Independent Author Reviews (http://papyrus.calebblake.net/2012/04/06/pulchritude-by-ana-mardoll/)
A young prince is cursed by a capricious fairy; a young beauty is exchanged for her father’s life, and only a love willing to sacrifice all will result in a happy ending.
Pulchritude is a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast and author Ana Mardoll’s first novel. The plot itself is not an attempt to create a faithful facsimile of the original story. Mardoll uses the bones of the story as inspiration to make her own statements. There is an attempt to explore the role of women in a patriarchal society and each character becomes a critical analysis of a possible permutation in such a society.
I can have an averse reaction to being forced into the author’s head via explanation of intent. I like the aspect of fiction (and art in general) that I can take away what I want or need from the work. The last third of this book is an invitation to peer behind the curtain. There is a summary of each character – why the character was created, what the character was supposed to represent and the problems faced by the author in utilising that character in the story. Additionally, there is an explanation of why the story was created, what the author was trying to achieve and even a deconstruction of the original story published in 1740. If I were being cynical, I could postulate that the author is not confident enough that her message will be adequately understood by readers with the story alone. However, I believe that these “post-mortems” are more an indication that the author enjoys sharing the creation process with her readers – a supposition that seems more likely after reading the acknowledgements. If you are like me, I would suggest you wait until you’ve digested the story yourself before starting on the end notes or skip them altogether.
One of the aspects of this story I most enjoyed was the portrayal of the various characters. It is always refreshing to see a distinctly multi-dimensional cast of characters rather than Disney portrayals which often struggle for even two dimensions. Bella was an insecure girl who was aware that her name and her appearance had become her defining characteristics. We see a girl who struggles to fit that mould and so appears vain and shallow. And yet her desire to be loved and to live up to expectations makes her sacrifice herself, both for her father and for the prince. We spend quite a bit of time in Bella’s head and it was interesting and a bit sad to see how easily she aligned herself to the prince’s needs. While she appears at times strong, selfless and even heroic, we can see that all her actions are stemming from her basic need to adapt herself to be what others require of her. Ezio, our beast, is a self-centred lesser-royal who is used to using the people around him to maintain his lifestyle. When cursed his only aim is to remove his curse and regardless of any sentimental reactions to Bella, she remains a means to an end for him. The reader is teased at various points that Ezio might be more than this and perhaps he could have been in a different environment, but ultimately he’s not self-analytical enough to see that the sacrifice to break the curse might need to be his own rather than someone else’s. Several minor characters also add interest, the father who was loving but not enough to prevent him willingly sacrificing his daughter for his life, the step mother who is strong and worldly and the prince’s advisor whose actions are motivated completely by an instinct for self-preservation.
Pulchritude is a fairytale tragedy. These characters are far too flawed for the ending to be happy one. While the prince can’t trust that Bella will return to him and unwittingly engineers her demise sealing his own fate, Bella herself is all too willing to sacrifice herself to act out the role to which she feels destined.
Mardoll’s first fairytale retelling is a concise and successful re-imagining on her terms and I look forward to her next writing project.
A young prince is cursed by a capricious fairy; a young beauty is exchanged for her father’s life, and only a love willing to sacrifice all will result in a happy ending.
Pulchritude is a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast and author Ana Mardoll’s first novel. The plot itself is not an attempt to create a faithful facsimile of the original story. Mardoll uses the bones of the story as inspiration to make her own statements. There is an attempt to explore the role of women in a patriarchal society and each character becomes a critical analysis of a possible permutation in such a society.
I can have an averse reaction to being forced into the author’s head via explanation of intent. I like the aspect of fiction (and art in general) that I can take away what I want or need from the work. The last third of this book is an invitation to peer behind the curtain. There is a summary of each character – why the character was created, what the character was supposed to represent and the problems faced by the author in utilising that character in the story. Additionally, there is an explanation of why the story was created, what the author was trying to achieve and even a deconstruction of the original story published in 1740. If I were being cynical, I could postulate that the author is not confident enough that her message will be adequately understood by readers with the story alone. However, I believe that these “post-mortems” are more an indication that the author enjoys sharing the creation process with her readers – a supposition that seems more likely after reading the acknowledgements. If you are like me, I would suggest you wait until you’ve digested the story yourself before starting on the end notes or skip them altogether.
One of the aspects of this story I most enjoyed was the portrayal of the various characters. It is always refreshing to see a distinctly multi-dimensional cast of characters rather than Disney portrayals which often struggle for even two dimensions. Bella was an insecure girl who was aware that her name and her appearance had become her defining characteristics. We see a girl who struggles to fit that mould and so appears vain and shallow. And yet her desire to be loved and to live up to expectations makes her sacrifice herself, both for her father and for the prince. We spend quite a bit of time in Bella’s head and it was interesting and a bit sad to see how easily she aligned herself to the prince’s needs. While she appears at times strong, selfless and even heroic, we can see that all her actions are stemming from her basic need to adapt herself to be what others require of her. Ezio, our beast, is a self-centred lesser-royal who is used to using the people around him to maintain his lifestyle. When cursed his only aim is to remove his curse and regardless of any sentimental reactions to Bella, she remains a means to an end for him. The reader is teased at various points that Ezio might be more than this and perhaps he could have been in a different environment, but ultimately he’s not self-analytical enough to see that the sacrifice to break the curse might need to be his own rather than someone else’s. Several minor characters also add interest, the father who was loving but not enough to prevent him willingly sacrificing his daughter for his life, the step mother who is strong and worldly and the prince’s advisor whose actions are motivated completely by an instinct for self-preservation.
Pulchritude is a fairytale tragedy. These characters are far too flawed for the ending to be happy one. While the prince can’t trust that Bella will return to him and unwittingly engineers her demise sealing his own fate, Bella herself is all too willing to sacrifice herself to act out the role to which she feels destined.
Mardoll’s first fairytale retelling is a concise and successful re-imagining on her terms and I look forward to her next writing project.
abandoned
March 3, 2012Disclaimer: I got a free promotional copy of this book from Ana's blog, which I visit regularly.
With that said, I've got to admit something: I didn't finish reading Pulchritude. It turns out that it just wasn't my type of story. That isn't to say that it was a bad story. It just wasn't my cup of tea. And so, because I didn't read enough to feel that I got a firm grasp of the plot and the characters (the pictures were gorgeous, though, and they were a wonderful touch), I'll refrain from rating the book.
If you're a feminist who's interested in fairy-tale retellings, or if you fancy reading a slightly-darker retelling of Beauty and the Beast, give Pulchritude a shot. And if you're hesitant about buying the book before reading it, Ana has put up a promotional version that you can download from her blog (here: http://www.anamardoll.com). Edit: It looks like you also can download it off of GoodReads, as a free ebook.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I fully intend to read Ana's next book, which is still in the works at the time of this review.
With that said, I've got to admit something: I didn't finish reading Pulchritude. It turns out that it just wasn't my type of story. That isn't to say that it was a bad story. It just wasn't my cup of tea. And so, because I didn't read enough to feel that I got a firm grasp of the plot and the characters (the pictures were gorgeous, though, and they were a wonderful touch), I'll refrain from rating the book.
If you're a feminist who's interested in fairy-tale retellings, or if you fancy reading a slightly-darker retelling of Beauty and the Beast, give Pulchritude a shot. And if you're hesitant about buying the book before reading it, Ana has put up a promotional version that you can download from her blog (here: http://www.anamardoll.com). Edit: It looks like you also can download it off of GoodReads, as a free ebook.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I fully intend to read Ana's next book, which is still in the works at the time of this review.
June 6, 2012
I've read so many retellings of Beauty and the Beast that i thought that all that could be said already had. This one, though, is something special - especially in the complex characterisation, the multiple viewpoints, and the understanding that this is a story about a girl taught to please men and sacrificed by her father to a husband who needs her for his own happy ending. It's enthralling, and ultimately devastating.
Nearly the last hundred pages of the book are notes and dicussions about the background to the book, which i found fascinating, but it's as well to be prepared for the story winding up far more quickly than you might expect!
Nearly the last hundred pages of the book are notes and dicussions about the background to the book, which i found fascinating, but it's as well to be prepared for the story winding up far more quickly than you might expect!
Read
August 6, 2016I learned a new word. It actually sounds like quite its opposite at least to me, but Pulchritude, the title of this novella, is a synonym to “beauty.”
And just as that harsh sounding word means something completely different than one may think, the novella itself is also an anti-fairy tale, an alternate retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Born perhaps of her popular deconstructions and a keen understanding of tropes and literary stereotypes, Mardoll has riffed on a well-known story with her on unique brand of interpretation. It and the analysis that follows, hold an interesting and well thought through perspective, as do other deconstructions you will find on her blog.
Mardoll addresses the dark side of our shared cultural mythology through a valid retelling and appraisal from which we might all benefit.
And just as that harsh sounding word means something completely different than one may think, the novella itself is also an anti-fairy tale, an alternate retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Born perhaps of her popular deconstructions and a keen understanding of tropes and literary stereotypes, Mardoll has riffed on a well-known story with her on unique brand of interpretation. It and the analysis that follows, hold an interesting and well thought through perspective, as do other deconstructions you will find on her blog.
Mardoll addresses the dark side of our shared cultural mythology through a valid retelling and appraisal from which we might all benefit.
March 20, 2021
I enjoyed this retelling. I had a particular liking for the portrayal of the stepmother and stepsisters. The pacing was a bit strange - I found the three week time span from curse to meeting Bella to be way too short. But, on the whole I enjoyed it.
I didn't read most of the author's notes. I feel like those are mainly for the author and, if made available, should be on a blog or something. At least, when they are extensive.
My overall impression is that this is an enjoyable retelling with some additional elements that add something to the story. The changed ending is a surprise, but not necessarily effective (in that sense that I was not saddened).
I didn't read most of the author's notes. I feel like those are mainly for the author and, if made available, should be on a blog or something. At least, when they are extensive.
My overall impression is that this is an enjoyable retelling with some additional elements that add something to the story. The changed ending is a surprise, but not necessarily effective (in that sense that I was not saddened).
August 17, 2018
This is it a wonderful, interesting, and unique retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. There is also an academic essay in the back of the book on the history and themes of the tale, which I very much enjoy!
September 3, 2018
A desperately maudlin retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Full of flawed people. The tell retold stripped of all the whimsy, the brutality laid bare. Brilliant!
March 7, 2021
Loved, Loved, Loved this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Give it a chance...
September 10, 2012
If you are wanting to read the typical Disney, happily ever after Beauty and the Beast then Pulchritude by author Ana Mardoll is not the book for you. If you are like me and like stories that are not always the happily ever afters then you will enjoy Pulchritude. Ana Mardoll shows great talent in her writing by making the characters her own and bringing them to life. I really enjoyed the fact Ana Mardoll has links in throughout the book to words such as Pulchritude and fata to their meaning for people like me. Ana Mardoll put forth great detail of the cast of characters in Pulchritude and at the takes the time to explain each character and how she came to create each one as its own entity. I greatly enjoyed Pulchritude and found it refreshing to read a story that didn't end with, '...and they lived happily ever after.' All I can say is PLEASE Ana Mardoll write more for me to read.
April 20, 2012
I enjoyed reading this book so much, I was sorry to see it end. It is the retelling in novel form of one of my favorite fairy tales, The Beauty and The Beast. I love fairy tales anyway, and this retelling did not disappoint. It held my interest to the very end. This is Ana's first novel, and I hope very much, not the last. Ana is one of the top reviewers on Amazon, and you can see clearly from her book that she knows writing. I say, keep up the good work Ana! You will have many fans.
February 28, 2018
This book resonated with me so strongly I have a hard time describing it. It was beautiful and powerful and heartbreaking. The characters came to life vividly through the author's strong voice and beautiful prose. They felt very real in their flaws, fears, desires, hopes, and failings. Although the story is ultimately a tragedy, it doesn't end on a hopeless note. Rather, I was left with the bittersweet reminder that human beings are capable of both terrible and beautiful things.
Want to read
June 8, 2012I'm not in the right frame of mind for this right now. I will return to it though. I think the writing is bit heavy handed but it's unique and definitely worth a second shot. I was surprised and found the first character I met to be edgy and powerful. This is an interesting plus...
June 11, 2012
(Actual Rating: 3.5 stars)
August 23, 2012
An interesting take on a classic fairy tale. I didn't realize the original story was a critique of the author's society, and Ana Mardoll's engaging update makes it one of ours.
November 11, 2017
I’ve been somewhat spoiled by Ana’s other books :) and enjoyed this one less, although I still enjoyed it. Often my favorite thing about Ana’s work is xer original characters, but here—although there are certainly some departures from the original—it feels like the framework of retelling a fairy tale kept xer from exploring and developing these characters to the same extent. As others have said, the end caught me off guard because it happened around the 70% mark, but I did enjoy the extensive analysis of the original work that followed.
I very much recommend Ana’s Earthside novels for the original and fascinating characters I missed in this one!
I very much recommend Ana’s Earthside novels for the original and fascinating characters I missed in this one!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 18 reviews