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Faraway Collection #3
The Princess Game
There are no happy endings for the Princesses of Chaminade High in this short, twisty tale of teenage murder games by the New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil series.
The victims are the most popular girls in school, each murdered and arranged in a grim fairy-tale tableau. To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson has gone undercover where the Princes hold court. He’s found enough secrets among the bros to bring them in for questioning—but he could very well get lost in the games the Princes play.
The victims are the most popular girls in school, each murdered and arranged in a grim fairy-tale tableau. To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson has gone undercover where the Princes hold court. He’s found enough secrets among the bros to bring them in for questioning—but he could very well get lost in the games the Princes play.
60 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 15, 2020
824 people are currently reading
3436 people want to read
About the author
Soman Chainani
37 books7,686 followersSoman Chainani’s debut series, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD & EVIL, has sold over 4.5 million copies, been translated into 35 languages across six continents, and has been adapted into a major motion picture from Netflix that debuted at #1 in over 80 countries.
His book of retold fairytales, BEASTS & BEAUTY, also debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List and is slated to be a limited television series from Sony 3000.
EverNever World, his decade-long franchise of fairy tales and fantasy, continues to expand. Together, these books have been on the New York Times Bestseller List for 50 weeks.
In 2026, Soman unveils a brand new universe with YOUNG WORLD, a global political thriller.
In his career, Soman has visited more than 800 schools around the world, where he continues to share his secret with students of all ages: that reading is the path to a better life.
His book of retold fairytales, BEASTS & BEAUTY, also debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List and is slated to be a limited television series from Sony 3000.
EverNever World, his decade-long franchise of fairy tales and fantasy, continues to expand. Together, these books have been on the New York Times Bestseller List for 50 weeks.
In 2026, Soman unveils a brand new universe with YOUNG WORLD, a global political thriller.
In his career, Soman has visited more than 800 schools around the world, where he continues to share his secret with students of all ages: that reading is the path to a better life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 757 reviews
September 27, 2023
In a Nutshell: Yikes!
Story Synopsis:
This standalone short story is a part of the Faraway series, described on Amazon as “a collection of retold fairy tales that take the happily-ever-after in daring new directions.”
As a reader, you can have mainly two kinds of experiences with this story:
My rating tells you which category I fit in.
The story matches the theme of the Faraway collection only partially. It isn’t a retold fairytale. Rather, it incorporates elements from various fairytales into the murders. The ending is definitely not a happily-ever-after, but comes straight out of one of Poirot’s most popular mysteries. While I could see this ending coming because of the ample foreshadowing, it did suit the story and ended it on the right note of ‘What will happen next?’ So, a good, if not original, ending. There’s also some decent diversity in the cast, which can be credited to the author’s roots. (BiPoc authors are far better at ensuring racial inclusiveness.)
That’s all the positive stuff I have to say about this little story of 53 pages. Now get ready for the deluge of negatives.
🚩The story is written as a transcript of recordings from Callum’s phone, which gives it a documentary kind of feel. But keeping the names straight across so many characters is tricky when we don’t have any background info and are trying to know them only through conversations and notes.
🚩 The format also doesn’t work to keep us invested in the investigation. As a major content comes to us in a playscript style, we get more caught up in figuring out who is speaking than in what’s being said.
🚩 There are plenty of male characters in the story, and every single one of them who has a speaking role, is a jerk. Entitled men do exist, but a story that has only entitled men? BORING!
🚩 All the ‘princes’ have clichéd portrayals. Even the lone Indian character fits into the hackneyed ‘top ranker, great in studies, not so good at sports or socialising’ mould. There’s no depth to any of them, each one being as flat as a paper dosa!
🚩 The main detective Chang acted as if he had never investigated anything ever before. How was he so blind? And please, five girls are murdered and you send a halfwit, self-centred rookie as an undercover agent? Sheesh!
🚩 The undercover detective seemed to be more focussed on making the best of his second chance in high school than on doing his work.
🚩 As the setting is a high school, the tone is very much YA, despite the fact that the two detectives are driving the story through their investigation. And how much I like YA is an open secret.
🚩 The overall writing is juvenile in approach, but I can’t even recommend to the younger age group because of the crude and outdated masculine values.
🚩 The dialogues seem to come straight out of a B-grade 1980s college flick. I almost pictured the male suspects with a leather jacket and over-gelled hair, walking with a swag despite being investigated for a heinous crime. Please! Give contemporary high school boys more credit!
🚩 I don’t even want to get started on the limited female characters. Though only one girl has an on-page role, the portrayal of every female character is forcefully patronising. Their sole purpose on earth seems to be to be objectified by the men, and when they start to rebel, they get killed. Please! Give contemporary high school girls also more credit for common sense in their choices!
🚩 Generalisation in any way is harmful, and this story does it in bucket loads. The only purpose of the girls in this tale is to be murdered. The only purpose of the boys in this tale is to act cocky.
🚩 Because of the foreshadowing, even the “mystery” falls flat on its face. You can see the ending coming much before its declaration. A mystery must give us various suspects. But when all the suspects act equally dodgy, it’s so easy to guess what’s coming.
🚩 You get to know the whodunnit, but not the howdunnit. No details on the modus operandi behind the murders.
🚩 The reveal before the ending that talks of the motivation behind the murders. Seriously?
🚩 While I did like the ending, I must add that it is akin to a cliffhanger. So if you don’t like open endings, whoops!
🚩 Alice in Wonderland isn’t a fairy tale!
(OMG, 16 red flags already?!! Stop, Rosh, stop! Get a grip!)
Honestly, I had been quite excited about reading this story as it is by an Indian-origin author who is quite reputed for his ‘The School for Good and Evil’ series. However, my trusted GR friend Thibault’s 2-star review offered enough of a warning to lower my expectations. The above is a rant after lowering my expectations.
(Imagine what would have happened had I not been prepared for disappointment! 👀)
Not at all recommended, though of course you are free to make up your own mind. Then again, it *might* just work if you read it as a satire, though it isn’t meant to be one.
This is the third standalone story from the Faraway Collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Five female students of Chaminade High have been murdered within a few days, with their bodies positioned in a fairy-tale like tableau. To locate the killer, rookie detective Callum Penderson has been posing as a student at the school, trying to get intoi the inner circle of the popular boys, aka the ‘Princes’, in a bid to find more. But he soon discovers that the situation is far more intricate than he had assumed.
This standalone short story is a part of the Faraway series, described on Amazon as “a collection of retold fairy tales that take the happily-ever-after in daring new directions.”
As a reader, you can have mainly two kinds of experiences with this story:
➤ You will enjoy the portrayal of toxic masculinity as depicted through various male characters, reading the story like a kind of satirical comment on masculine behaviour, and applaud the author for showing such misogynistic behaviour as is.
OR
➤ You will keep rolling your eyes at the hackneyed, one-dimensional portrayal of toxic masculinity that touches upon everything from sexism to sexual assault to homophobia, jumping from trope to trope without doing justice to any of the themes.
My rating tells you which category I fit in.
The story matches the theme of the Faraway collection only partially. It isn’t a retold fairytale. Rather, it incorporates elements from various fairytales into the murders. The ending is definitely not a happily-ever-after, but comes straight out of one of Poirot’s most popular mysteries. While I could see this ending coming because of the ample foreshadowing, it did suit the story and ended it on the right note of ‘What will happen next?’ So, a good, if not original, ending. There’s also some decent diversity in the cast, which can be credited to the author’s roots. (BiPoc authors are far better at ensuring racial inclusiveness.)
That’s all the positive stuff I have to say about this little story of 53 pages. Now get ready for the deluge of negatives.
🚩The story is written as a transcript of recordings from Callum’s phone, which gives it a documentary kind of feel. But keeping the names straight across so many characters is tricky when we don’t have any background info and are trying to know them only through conversations and notes.
🚩 The format also doesn’t work to keep us invested in the investigation. As a major content comes to us in a playscript style, we get more caught up in figuring out who is speaking than in what’s being said.
🚩 There are plenty of male characters in the story, and every single one of them who has a speaking role, is a jerk. Entitled men do exist, but a story that has only entitled men? BORING!
🚩 All the ‘princes’ have clichéd portrayals. Even the lone Indian character fits into the hackneyed ‘top ranker, great in studies, not so good at sports or socialising’ mould. There’s no depth to any of them, each one being as flat as a paper dosa!
🚩 The main detective Chang acted as if he had never investigated anything ever before. How was he so blind? And please, five girls are murdered and you send a halfwit, self-centred rookie as an undercover agent? Sheesh!
🚩 The undercover detective seemed to be more focussed on making the best of his second chance in high school than on doing his work.
🚩 As the setting is a high school, the tone is very much YA, despite the fact that the two detectives are driving the story through their investigation. And how much I like YA is an open secret.
🚩 The overall writing is juvenile in approach, but I can’t even recommend to the younger age group because of the crude and outdated masculine values.
🚩 The dialogues seem to come straight out of a B-grade 1980s college flick. I almost pictured the male suspects with a leather jacket and over-gelled hair, walking with a swag despite being investigated for a heinous crime. Please! Give contemporary high school boys more credit!
🚩 I don’t even want to get started on the limited female characters. Though only one girl has an on-page role, the portrayal of every female character is forcefully patronising. Their sole purpose on earth seems to be to be objectified by the men, and when they start to rebel, they get killed. Please! Give contemporary high school girls also more credit for common sense in their choices!
🚩 Generalisation in any way is harmful, and this story does it in bucket loads. The only purpose of the girls in this tale is to be murdered. The only purpose of the boys in this tale is to act cocky.
🚩 Because of the foreshadowing, even the “mystery” falls flat on its face. You can see the ending coming much before its declaration. A mystery must give us various suspects. But when all the suspects act equally dodgy, it’s so easy to guess what’s coming.
🚩 You get to know the whodunnit, but not the howdunnit. No details on the modus operandi behind the murders.
🚩 The reveal before the ending that talks of the motivation behind the murders. Seriously?
🚩 While I did like the ending, I must add that it is akin to a cliffhanger. So if you don’t like open endings, whoops!
🚩 Alice in Wonderland isn’t a fairy tale!
(OMG, 16 red flags already?!! Stop, Rosh, stop! Get a grip!)
Honestly, I had been quite excited about reading this story as it is by an Indian-origin author who is quite reputed for his ‘The School for Good and Evil’ series. However, my trusted GR friend Thibault’s 2-star review offered enough of a warning to lower my expectations. The above is a rant after lowering my expectations.
(Imagine what would have happened had I not been prepared for disappointment! 👀)
Not at all recommended, though of course you are free to make up your own mind. Then again, it *might* just work if you read it as a satire, though it isn’t meant to be one.
This is the third standalone story from the Faraway Collection, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
July 31, 2022
This was a painfully strange fairytale retelling to say the least. It involved the murders of five High school girls, who were apparently Princesses, and it is a race to see who committed the crimes. What screamed at me immediately, is the way the females are portrayed in this. As ever, women are apparently only good in the sack, but in this book, the guys get to grade them on their "talents."
Let me be clear. The guys are dicks, and their toxic masculinity is completely stifling. Give me some air.
This book could have been turned into something interesting by using the subject of female empowerment, but instead, I received a poorly executed plot, an odd style of writing, and a truck load of males with their hands strapped to their manhoods.
Let me be clear. The guys are dicks, and their toxic masculinity is completely stifling. Give me some air.
This book could have been turned into something interesting by using the subject of female empowerment, but instead, I received a poorly executed plot, an odd style of writing, and a truck load of males with their hands strapped to their manhoods.
September 17, 2023
In a school, the most popular girls have been murdered and dressed up like fairy tale princesses. A detective went undercover in the school, and found out something about the popular guys. So now we’re reading the transcripts of the interviews where he and his partner interrogate them, to see how the guys react to what the detectives have found.
It’s a short fairy tale-like murder mystery story that tries to tackle the theme of toxic masculinity. It revolves around the titular princess game, where the guys all give scores to the “performance” of the girls. And the detective is convinced that the game is what got the girls murdered, probably by one of the guys. But they all seem to have an alibi.
Unfortunately, this story kind of misses the mark. Which makes it quite problematic. The most obvious are the guys of course. But they’re supposed to be unlikeable. The detective who went undercover is what makes this story so problematic. Because he’s too preoccupied with regretting the fact that he’s no longer one of the popular guys at school. So it feels like he’d rather continue to be friends with the suspects, than to try and solve the murders. To hit the concept home here, his character really needed to show or at least say that it’s not okay to objectify and murder women. The murder mystery plot itself is pretty solid though.
It’s a short fairy tale-like murder mystery story that tries to tackle the theme of toxic masculinity. It revolves around the titular princess game, where the guys all give scores to the “performance” of the girls. And the detective is convinced that the game is what got the girls murdered, probably by one of the guys. But they all seem to have an alibi.
Unfortunately, this story kind of misses the mark. Which makes it quite problematic. The most obvious are the guys of course. But they’re supposed to be unlikeable. The detective who went undercover is what makes this story so problematic. Because he’s too preoccupied with regretting the fact that he’s no longer one of the popular guys at school. So it feels like he’d rather continue to be friends with the suspects, than to try and solve the murders. To hit the concept home here, his character really needed to show or at least say that it’s not okay to objectify and murder women. The murder mystery plot itself is pretty solid though.
September 3, 2024
⋆.˚✮👑 the princess game 👑✮˚.⋆
may-june 2024
Now this series is getting somewhere…
‧₊˚✧ the plot ✧˚₊‧
In the princess game, some is killing the most popular girls in school, each murdered and arranged in a way to represent a fairy-tale. To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson went undercover as a student at the school. He’s brings the "princes" in for questioning, trying not to get pulled into the games the Princes play.
↑ the ups ↑
The murder mystery of this was so good . Like this is one of the best murder plots I’ve read in a long time (the perfectionists is still on top). The way all the victims were murdered that represented Disney princesses.
Bro that ending!! ARGGG ITS SO GOOD and just so well thought out.
I love love loved all of the princes, they way they acted and talked but then in modern times.
I really liked how this was written as case audio files (is that what it’s called?), it made the book so fun to read and so unique
↓ the downs ↓
Something that I didn’t like was that this was super confusing, I felt as if the whole beginning of the book was missing. however, I will say that reading this for the second time made it a lot easier to follow.
And even tho the story was amazing, I just wanted more.
no faith in book 4, but let’s go
★★★★☆
꒰ 👑 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ
book 1: the prince and the troll ★★☆☆☆
book 2: hazel and gray ★☆☆☆☆.5
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆
may 2023
3.5 stars
interesting idea, great story but weird content. also there is no way Soman Chainani wrote this book, its so different from his usual style
may-june 2024
Now this series is getting somewhere…
‧₊˚✧ the plot ✧˚₊‧
In the princess game, some is killing the most popular girls in school, each murdered and arranged in a way to represent a fairy-tale. To find the killer, rookie detective Callum Pederson went undercover as a student at the school. He’s brings the "princes" in for questioning, trying not to get pulled into the games the Princes play.
↑ the ups ↑
The murder mystery of this was so good . Like this is one of the best murder plots I’ve read in a long time (the perfectionists is still on top). The way all the victims were murdered that represented Disney princesses.
Bro that ending!! ARGGG ITS SO GOOD and just so well thought out.
I love love loved all of the princes, they way they acted and talked but then in modern times.
I really liked how this was written as case audio files (is that what it’s called?), it made the book so fun to read and so unique
↓ the downs ↓
Something that I didn’t like was that this was super confusing, I felt as if the whole beginning of the book was missing. however, I will say that reading this for the second time made it a lot easier to follow.
And even tho the story was amazing, I just wanted more.
no faith in book 4, but let’s go
★★★★☆
꒰ 👑 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ
book 1: the prince and the troll ★★☆☆☆
book 2: hazel and gray ★☆☆☆☆.5
⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆
may 2023
3.5 stars
interesting idea, great story but weird content. also there is no way Soman Chainani wrote this book, its so different from his usual style
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April 26, 2025This was...okay. I get what it was trying to do (comment on rape culture and toxic masculinity with a fairytale twist) but I didn't think it was a particularly good version of it. I'm also not sure who the audience for this was? Too juvenile to really feel like adult fiction, but too crass to feel appropriate for a younger audience. I don't know, other people seem to be liking this better than I did, but I wasn't really a fan. The basic idea is it follows a young detective who's undercover at a high school investigating the deaths of teen girls set up to mimic fairytale princesses. Meh.
December 15, 2020
Wow. I love the narration of this story and I honestly can see this in my head and already started thinking of casting for some of the parts. Parts of the story are funny, but other parts are definitely darker in nature. This is Chainani's take on "The Little Mermaid" apparently. I liked it.
"The Princess Game" follows an undercover cop Detective Callum Pederson (I am thinking Leo) who enrolls in high school to find out who is killing young girls called "princesses." Five girls are found dead in fairy tale call-backs. Callum's cover is blown by his handler, Lieutenant Chang who was also at the school as the chemistry teacher. The story is told through interview and audio excerpts. Pederson and Chang start interviewing the "princes" from the school and looking into who murdered the girls.
I liked how the story showed Pederson getting wrapped up in being one of the cool kids, a prince and how much it hurt when he got pushed out. Also Pederson needs friends or hobbies. He was a whole ass mess.
I did laugh a few times at people making fun of Chang and his teaching. Apparently he sucked. Some of the names of the suspects like Phillip Aurora made me crack up a bit, hello Sleeping Beauty's boyfriend? I guess.
But I loved the riff of the fairy tales we find ourselves exploring in these stories. This is part Mean Girls with a Mean Boys twist that I enjoyed.
"The Princess Game" follows an undercover cop Detective Callum Pederson (I am thinking Leo) who enrolls in high school to find out who is killing young girls called "princesses." Five girls are found dead in fairy tale call-backs. Callum's cover is blown by his handler, Lieutenant Chang who was also at the school as the chemistry teacher. The story is told through interview and audio excerpts. Pederson and Chang start interviewing the "princes" from the school and looking into who murdered the girls.
I liked how the story showed Pederson getting wrapped up in being one of the cool kids, a prince and how much it hurt when he got pushed out. Also Pederson needs friends or hobbies. He was a whole ass mess.
I did laugh a few times at people making fun of Chang and his teaching. Apparently he sucked. Some of the names of the suspects like Phillip Aurora made me crack up a bit, hello Sleeping Beauty's boyfriend? I guess.
But I loved the riff of the fairy tales we find ourselves exploring in these stories. This is part Mean Girls with a Mean Boys twist that I enjoyed.
January 12, 2021
The more I think about this book, the more pissed off I get. Instead of a fairytale retelling, this is just misogynistic murder porn with female characters who only exist to be props. If you’re sick and tired of gaslighting entitled men, skip this one for sure. The whodunnit was super predictable and the ending was unsatisfying as hell.
December 30, 2020
Oh noooo 🙈 This ain’t it.
January 2, 2024
A murder mystery, a group of jocks called princes and five dead princesses. Soman Chainani puts together an interesting twist on the fairy tales through interview transcripts and letters to paint a story of toxic masculinity. I found the writing style to certainly be a choice that often left the plot feeling a bit disjointed, without any emotional connection to the girls being killed off or who the killer is. And while I liked the overall idea, I didn't really like the execution.
December 23, 2020
Do we really need more stories about douchey dudes and the murder of women?
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
December 22, 2020
*read for free with Kindle Unlimited and audible as the audiobook *
3.75 stars 🌟
Full cast narrators: 4.25 stars 🌟
---
My second favorite of the collection 😍. The full cast audio was well done and each voicewas distinct(kept picturing Tom Holland as Callum).
A good murder mystery tale with an ending that had me saying "well played boys" I was reminded of a couple things I had read/watched before with certain aspects and had a guess about what the killer might be but none of it dampened my enjoyment.
This one is best as an audiobook if you can get it that way in my humble opinion. It just adds that "something" extra to the narrative.
3.75 stars 🌟
Full cast narrators: 4.25 stars 🌟
---
My second favorite of the collection 😍. The full cast audio was well done and each voicewas distinct(kept picturing Tom Holland as Callum).
A good murder mystery tale with an ending that had me saying "well played boys" I was reminded of a couple things I had read/watched before with certain aspects and had a guess about what the killer might be but none of it dampened my enjoyment.
This one is best as an audiobook if you can get it that way in my humble opinion. It just adds that "something" extra to the narrative.
January 5, 2021
I listened to this in one sitting, it was great. A fun mystery with a dark fairytale twist.
June 12, 2023
This was just offensive. TW sexism, homophobia, conversion therapy, sexual assault. Why did I subject myself to this?! GROSS!
February 3, 2021
Plot idea was okay, although I figured it out at the first interview who killed the girls. sigh.
Hated the writing and the tone, though. This read like a juvenile boiled down 21 Jumpstreet script (not the awesome, original series, but the gag-worthy remake).
Hated the writing and the tone, though. This read like a juvenile boiled down 21 Jumpstreet script (not the awesome, original series, but the gag-worthy remake).
December 19, 2020
Again, Soman Chainani is another new author to this reader. The Princess Game is the third book in the Faraway Collection of Amazon Originals. This was an audible listen of this story that included a host of new narrators. Some narration was good and some not so good.
In addition, I had a hard time following this story as it was read in script format narration for such a short reat/listen. Although there were a cast of characters, the voice of the detective dragged a bit and took me a bit out of the story. There was some twists, however the final reveal in the end did not seem very believable.
In addition, I had a hard time following this story as it was read in script format narration for such a short reat/listen. Although there were a cast of characters, the voice of the detective dragged a bit and took me a bit out of the story. There was some twists, however the final reveal in the end did not seem very believable.
July 21, 2022
overall, the story was 3.5 stars. i liked it. i was intrigued. i definitely knew who the killer was pretty early on but the set up was nice and i love how it was set up like a transcript. the audiobook and full cast narration really took the story to the next level and if you have any interest in reading this i would 100% recommend listening to the audiobook which is included with kindle unlimited.
December 18, 2020
updated 12/17/2020:
this was my favorite of the 5 ...for sure listen to this one, don't enjoy the language and it is not kid friendly. but fun listen. didn't want it to end ... compared to others.
five stories from the "Faraway" collection on Amazon "deliciously modern twists on classic fairy tales"
my listen order:
1. The Prince and the Troll (this is the 1 i gave the most listening time 2.)
2. The Cleaners (lost me immediately??!)
3. Hazel and Gray (had me giggling immediately)
4. The Princess Game (had me curious, wanna hear more and will return to shortly)
5. The Wickeds (giggling and i will listen to more soon.)
This is what i appreciate about KU you can return books and get them back when you wanna read another book or just don't have the time give it your all. 3 of these books i wanna read more. instead of saying the book name i will just say the order i listened to them in, thx.
book 1 ... i immediately felt or got the feels of reading multiple fairy tales, we know the trolls reads of course. ...but i will say that maybe this will pull toward or be more interesting to the younger crowd due to all the Starbucks references. i couldn't take the i'm sorry for this or that over and over. you can not help how you feel, i mean you should not be going around hurting folks feelings but you should have to say you sorry over and over, don't get your panties in a bunch because of what someone said or will say. if you don't you will never get through life. have an attitude adjustment there. i would think most people all in all mean well and would never go in on purpose to hurt some one's feelings over and over. not saying we can not learn from one another and adjust how we work with others ...but do it respectfully. i can't listen to any more of that. i was getting to frustrated. younger crowd u will enjoy it.
book 2 ... i've been a housekeeper many times in my life, it is hard work ... getting rid of memories and past heartbreak, i can understand and sympathize with that, totally ...i felt you might be able to grab onto what the point was pretty quickly?? ... i sat for a bit and tried to listen but i was completely lost. will not return to that. thx. not sure who would get the feels from this one?
book 3... i've got a curious thought of where this will head and the narrator had me wondering. i will read more soon, i will pick up again. i love narrated books so so much. i can do multiple tasks in a day and not feel that i am missing out on whatever because i am listening to book instead of so n so??! will return for sure.
book 4... now this is the one that had me really curious. a whodunit kind of situation. there is so much i wanna say in just what i did listen to, i am so excited!! pulled me in ASAP!! most definitely i will return to it ... can't wait.
book 5 ... now this would probably be the 2nd fave of the 5. so i will definitely return. not sure when but soon.
now each i will say that 4 - are in the 4 star rating. 1 - in the 5 star rating ...now you may say will how can you say that when u have not listened to the full book ...well like any one ... i know 3 i will return to them for sure. can't wait. i just don't have the time today. later. 2 - i will wish them to some one else who can give them the love and curiosity they so deserve.
this was my favorite of the 5 ...for sure listen to this one, don't enjoy the language and it is not kid friendly. but fun listen. didn't want it to end ... compared to others.
five stories from the "Faraway" collection on Amazon "deliciously modern twists on classic fairy tales"
my listen order:
1. The Prince and the Troll (this is the 1 i gave the most listening time 2.)
2. The Cleaners (lost me immediately??!)
3. Hazel and Gray (had me giggling immediately)
4. The Princess Game (had me curious, wanna hear more and will return to shortly)
5. The Wickeds (giggling and i will listen to more soon.)
This is what i appreciate about KU you can return books and get them back when you wanna read another book or just don't have the time give it your all. 3 of these books i wanna read more. instead of saying the book name i will just say the order i listened to them in, thx.
book 1 ... i immediately felt or got the feels of reading multiple fairy tales, we know the trolls reads of course. ...but i will say that maybe this will pull toward or be more interesting to the younger crowd due to all the Starbucks references. i couldn't take the i'm sorry for this or that over and over. you can not help how you feel, i mean you should not be going around hurting folks feelings but you should have to say you sorry over and over, don't get your panties in a bunch because of what someone said or will say. if you don't you will never get through life. have an attitude adjustment there. i would think most people all in all mean well and would never go in on purpose to hurt some one's feelings over and over. not saying we can not learn from one another and adjust how we work with others ...but do it respectfully. i can't listen to any more of that. i was getting to frustrated. younger crowd u will enjoy it.
book 2 ... i've been a housekeeper many times in my life, it is hard work ... getting rid of memories and past heartbreak, i can understand and sympathize with that, totally ...i felt you might be able to grab onto what the point was pretty quickly?? ... i sat for a bit and tried to listen but i was completely lost. will not return to that. thx. not sure who would get the feels from this one?
book 3... i've got a curious thought of where this will head and the narrator had me wondering. i will read more soon, i will pick up again. i love narrated books so so much. i can do multiple tasks in a day and not feel that i am missing out on whatever because i am listening to book instead of so n so??! will return for sure.
book 4... now this is the one that had me really curious. a whodunit kind of situation. there is so much i wanna say in just what i did listen to, i am so excited!! pulled me in ASAP!! most definitely i will return to it ... can't wait.
book 5 ... now this would probably be the 2nd fave of the 5. so i will definitely return. not sure when but soon.
now each i will say that 4 - are in the 4 star rating. 1 - in the 5 star rating ...now you may say will how can you say that when u have not listened to the full book ...well like any one ... i know 3 i will return to them for sure. can't wait. i just don't have the time today. later. 2 - i will wish them to some one else who can give them the love and curiosity they so deserve.
May 12, 2021
Out of all the books from "The Faraway Collection" this one was by far my favorite. The writing is different so it may not be for everyone. It is written like a script but as an interrogation. The story is about 3 "princess" murders that happened and the main characters who are undercover detectives are trying to figure it out. There are clues along the way and if you pay attention you will figure it out like I did but there is still a twist at the end that I did not see coming. I will definitely be reading this one over again! This was a really fun read and my only complaint is that I wish it was longer.
September 27, 2021
Not very often where I say the ending was the best part of the story but guess what folks?! It is! Also I didn't like how abruptly it ended and I wanted a different outcome. Still it was awesome!
This story, I still have no idea what fairytale it's based off, and frankly, I don't care. It was still a great little twisty tale. I love a good murder mystery and this was a good one. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! I didn't want it to end though, but that's a good thing!
Probably my favorite of the series so far!
4.5/5
This story, I still have no idea what fairytale it's based off, and frankly, I don't care. It was still a great little twisty tale. I love a good murder mystery and this was a good one. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! I didn't want it to end though, but that's a good thing!
Probably my favorite of the series so far!
4.5/5
December 31, 2022
Five girls dead, posed as fairy-tale princesses. Sleeping Beauty. Cinderella. Snow White. Alice in Wonderland. Little Mermaid. Who’s killing them?
When dealing with girls, best response is a random emoji. They don’t know what to say back. 🔪☠️⚰️
When dealing with girls, best response is a random emoji. They don’t know what to say back. 🔪☠️⚰️
May 2, 2023
This was fun, and I liked the interview format, but overall it was a little too goofy for my taste. I’m stupid so it took me until about half way to realise that the Princes were named after the Disney princes. Why you gotta roast Kristoff like that? 😂
I guessed who the ‘killer’ was around then too, because there were a lot of clues, and the ending was pretty abrupt like the author didn’t feel like writing anymore so he just straight up didn’t.
I guessed who the ‘killer’ was around then too, because there were a lot of clues, and the ending was pretty abrupt like the author didn’t feel like writing anymore so he just straight up didn’t.
March 31, 2022
I really enjoyed this! It’s a good teen mystery. Easy to solve the mystery, but a very entertaining story.
December 15, 2020
Some good ideas, but it was lacking in a number of areas. The interview style was hard to follow when you had a very short time to get to know the large cast of characters. The final reveal wasn't very believable at all and any "foreshadowing" was way too blatant and gave away the "twist". The detectives acted ridiculous and it pulled me out of the story.
February 14, 2022
This is one of those books that you are either going to enjoy or going to hate. I think it is an interesting fairy tale mash up of rape culture and the culture that does exist in high school, in fact the type that the schools endorse with the whole Valentine's Day Homeroom delivery that seem to still exist in places. It is one of those questionable narrator stories as well.
January 10, 2021
2,75
Un piccolo racconto tutto costruito esclusivamente tramite dialoghi provenienti da svariati interrogatori riguardo l'omicidio di varie ragazze. Un racconto, in cui l'elemento di ispirazione alle favole classiche, compare nel modo in cui i corpi sono stati ritrovati e nel sistema sociale della scuola su cui i detective si focalizzano. Un racconto che, nonostante non ne abbia ben chiaro il motivo, mi è risultato chiaramente provenire da una mano maschile.
Un racconto che risulta avvincente, e a tratti anche a essere spiritoso. Un racconto con una risoluzione del caso prevedibile, ma grazie a una piccola aggiunta riesce a risultare interessante perché lascia aperto il finale della storia.
Una piccola storia che affronta dei temi importanti in maniera abbastanza buona, ma purtroppo ne affronta un altro con troppa leggerezza.
Un piccolo racconto tutto costruito esclusivamente tramite dialoghi provenienti da svariati interrogatori riguardo l'omicidio di varie ragazze. Un racconto, in cui l'elemento di ispirazione alle favole classiche, compare nel modo in cui i corpi sono stati ritrovati e nel sistema sociale della scuola su cui i detective si focalizzano. Un racconto che, nonostante non ne abbia ben chiaro il motivo, mi è risultato chiaramente provenire da una mano maschile.
Un racconto che risulta avvincente, e a tratti anche a essere spiritoso. Un racconto con una risoluzione del caso prevedibile, ma grazie a una piccola aggiunta riesce a risultare interessante perché lascia aperto il finale della storia.
Una piccola storia che affronta dei temi importanti in maniera abbastanza buona, ma purtroppo ne affronta un altro con troppa leggerezza.
January 12, 2021
Faraway Series
The Prince and the Troll - Faraway, Book 1 - Rainbow Rowell - 3 Stars - Adam, Unnamed Troll? - An unlikely friendship between a man and a creature who helped him save his phone from under a bridge. It's a strange modern fairy tale world and I’m not sure I understood all that was going on but I enjoyed it.
Hazel and Gray - Faraway, Book 2 - Nic Stone - 3.5 Stars - Hazel, Gray - The most messed up version of Hansel and Gretel I’ve ever read…. Well, the original was pretty jacked too. There were some crazy twists in this story but I liked that. The end felt kind of unfinished.
The Princess Game - Faraway, Book 3 - Soman Chainani- 3.5 Stars - too many to list - Girls in Chaminade High School are being murdered and the “Princes'' a.k.a. popular boys are suspects. Two local police officers go undercover to try and catch the perps but blow their cover and it all goes sideways. I think I was most interested in this story. Probably because it has been the most straightforward and I knew exactly who the killer was. That did not diminish my pleasure in listening to the book. I’m glad they went for a full cast of narrators as there were a lot of characters. Even with the multiple cast I still didn’t know who was talking sometimes.
The Cleaners - Faraway, Book 4 - Ken Liu - 3 Stars - Clara, Beatrice, Gui - I have no idea what fairy tale this was supposed to be but that’s not the first with this series. The sister’s story was kinda interesting and so was Gui’s however I’m not sure how they connect and I left the story just feeling confused.
The Wickeds - Faraway, Book 5 - Gail Forman - 3.5 Stars - Elsinora, Gwendolyn, and Marguerite - The real story of Cinderella, Snow White and Repunzel’s mothers. This was a story I could get behind. I was still left with a sense of being confused but I loved the takes on what “really” happened as opposed to the highly exaggerated stories we know.
The Prince and the Troll - Faraway, Book 1 - Rainbow Rowell - 3 Stars - Adam, Unnamed Troll? - An unlikely friendship between a man and a creature who helped him save his phone from under a bridge. It's a strange modern fairy tale world and I’m not sure I understood all that was going on but I enjoyed it.
Hazel and Gray - Faraway, Book 2 - Nic Stone - 3.5 Stars - Hazel, Gray - The most messed up version of Hansel and Gretel I’ve ever read…. Well, the original was pretty jacked too. There were some crazy twists in this story but I liked that. The end felt kind of unfinished.
The Princess Game - Faraway, Book 3 - Soman Chainani- 3.5 Stars - too many to list - Girls in Chaminade High School are being murdered and the “Princes'' a.k.a. popular boys are suspects. Two local police officers go undercover to try and catch the perps but blow their cover and it all goes sideways. I think I was most interested in this story. Probably because it has been the most straightforward and I knew exactly who the killer was. That did not diminish my pleasure in listening to the book. I’m glad they went for a full cast of narrators as there were a lot of characters. Even with the multiple cast I still didn’t know who was talking sometimes.
The Cleaners - Faraway, Book 4 - Ken Liu - 3 Stars - Clara, Beatrice, Gui - I have no idea what fairy tale this was supposed to be but that’s not the first with this series. The sister’s story was kinda interesting and so was Gui’s however I’m not sure how they connect and I left the story just feeling confused.
The Wickeds - Faraway, Book 5 - Gail Forman - 3.5 Stars - Elsinora, Gwendolyn, and Marguerite - The real story of Cinderella, Snow White and Repunzel’s mothers. This was a story I could get behind. I was still left with a sense of being confused but I loved the takes on what “really” happened as opposed to the highly exaggerated stories we know.
July 16, 2024
This is actually my favourite book in the Faraway series till now. I haven't read other books by Soman Chainani, but his writing style is soo good; I loved how this book was in an interrogation format. The plot was also quite intriguing!
"It isn’t about the “Princesses” in the slightest. It’s the Princes who are playing games. It’s always been about them."
The only problem I found with this book was that it wasn't related to The Little Mermaid, like at all? It was supposed to be a retelling of it, but we got something completely different. Also, the ending of this book felt incomplete and rushed. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THIS SERIES IS THAT IT DEALS WITH SUCH TOPICS BUT ISN'T LONG ENOUGH! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading this novella and would recommend it...
"Five dead princesses. No prince to save them. Fairy tales end with a moral, don’t they? Well, these dead girls are trying to teach us one."
(Honestly though, vibes I thought this book was going to give: 💗🎀🧸✨️🌸 vs the vibes it gave: 💀🗡😭👑🩸)
"It isn’t about the “Princesses” in the slightest. It’s the Princes who are playing games. It’s always been about them."
The only problem I found with this book was that it wasn't related to The Little Mermaid, like at all? It was supposed to be a retelling of it, but we got something completely different. Also, the ending of this book felt incomplete and rushed. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH THIS SERIES IS THAT IT DEALS WITH SUCH TOPICS BUT ISN'T LONG ENOUGH! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading this novella and would recommend it...
"Five dead princesses. No prince to save them. Fairy tales end with a moral, don’t they? Well, these dead girls are trying to teach us one."
(Honestly though, vibes I thought this book was going to give: 💗🎀🧸✨️🌸 vs the vibes it gave: 💀🗡😭👑🩸)
December 21, 2025
This book touches on some inportant topics like toxic masculinity and seeing girls as objects, but it failed to do anything.
It's about five girls getting murdered and the murder being posed as a fairytale (one girl was killed by stabbing with a glass slipper- Cinderella , one ate a poisened cake that said "Eat Me"- Alice in the Wonderland, one was killed with a spindle- Sleeping Beauty). Two detectives investigate the case by questioning boys from the same school, who are called "Princes".
The "Princes" rank girls based on their looks and they are expected to hook up with the hottest girls, tell the whole school about it, and then dump them as if they were unvalued objects and not real people.
This was a topic that could have been dealt in a better way, but we don't get that here. The answer to the whodunnit was so predictable. I guessed that halfway through.
I read this just because it was free with Prime Reading.
It's about five girls getting murdered and the murder being posed as a fairytale (one girl was killed by stabbing with a glass slipper- Cinderella , one ate a poisened cake that said "Eat Me"- Alice in the Wonderland, one was killed with a spindle- Sleeping Beauty). Two detectives investigate the case by questioning boys from the same school, who are called "Princes".
The "Princes" rank girls based on their looks and they are expected to hook up with the hottest girls, tell the whole school about it, and then dump them as if they were unvalued objects and not real people.
This was a topic that could have been dealt in a better way, but we don't get that here. The answer to the whodunnit was so predictable. I guessed that halfway through.
I read this just because it was free with Prime Reading.
December 23, 2020
3.75–This one is a bit twisted & it took me awhile to figure out what was what, but damn, the end!! 😱😱
I’m digging these unique shorts & enjoying some time away from MM romance. I’ve been in a major funk lately, starting and stopping no less than 5 books or audiobooks a day. These have been a lifesaver!!
I’m digging these unique shorts & enjoying some time away from MM romance. I’ve been in a major funk lately, starting and stopping no less than 5 books or audiobooks a day. These have been a lifesaver!!
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