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Turn & Peep
Wishing on a star doesn't do much to change your life, but a prayer to the Guardians of the Realm can work magic.
Alexander 'Ash' Hartford lives a charmed life at his parent's farm until his parents' untimely deaths in a boating accident while on a business trip to the capital. With the arrival of his aunt and two cousins, Ash finds himself disinherited and living in the barn. The only bright spot in his life is the arrival of the Martins, two travelling tinkers, who arrive in time for the Autumn Harvest.
While Ash dreams of escaping Crown Prince Louis, Heir to the House of Hirsch struggles with the future destiny has laid out on his behalf. Louis wants to marry for love, not for lands and titles. But, as Heir to the throne, he has no choice. Until his mother, Queen Helena, steps in to remind his father about a rebellious young prince and the daughter of a minor noble who once caught his eye.
As Ash struggles under the combined weight of his grief and the desire to escape, a proclamation from the Summer Palace brings him some respite. On receiving the news of a grand masked ball to celebrate the Crown Prince's 21st name day, his aunt and cousins leave immediately for Wasserfield to prepare themselves. If anyone will marry the Crown Prince, Aunt Harriet is determined it'll be her daughter who captures the young prince's eye.
Turn, and Peep is a young adult, queer fairytale fantasy about love, grief, and trusting yourself.
Alexander 'Ash' Hartford lives a charmed life at his parent's farm until his parents' untimely deaths in a boating accident while on a business trip to the capital. With the arrival of his aunt and two cousins, Ash finds himself disinherited and living in the barn. The only bright spot in his life is the arrival of the Martins, two travelling tinkers, who arrive in time for the Autumn Harvest.
While Ash dreams of escaping Crown Prince Louis, Heir to the House of Hirsch struggles with the future destiny has laid out on his behalf. Louis wants to marry for love, not for lands and titles. But, as Heir to the throne, he has no choice. Until his mother, Queen Helena, steps in to remind his father about a rebellious young prince and the daughter of a minor noble who once caught his eye.
As Ash struggles under the combined weight of his grief and the desire to escape, a proclamation from the Summer Palace brings him some respite. On receiving the news of a grand masked ball to celebrate the Crown Prince's 21st name day, his aunt and cousins leave immediately for Wasserfield to prepare themselves. If anyone will marry the Crown Prince, Aunt Harriet is determined it'll be her daughter who captures the young prince's eye.
Turn, and Peep is a young adult, queer fairytale fantasy about love, grief, and trusting yourself.
Kindle Edition
First published March 13, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 8, 2024
I still have no idea why this book is called "Turn and Peep".
Although I almost DNF-ed this ...eh, version of Cinderella several times, it was a quick (if chaotic) enough read to just finish it.
The first chapter of the book was quite promising and not badly written, but then Ash's parents die and the chaos ensues. Grammar, typos, unhinged characters (almost <-- scratch that, Every. Single. One of Them), dumb decisions, you name it you have it.
There is no concept of time in this book. You think a day has passed, but no - a month or two or Spring is gone. Time is its own person and does as it pleases. To add to the confusion, in this mediaeval tale
- it's a Jaguar - a car, not even an animal - that's pulling Ash to the castle. No one blinks an eye.
- it's the actual Toblerone - foil and all - that the Prince and Ash are snacking later on.
Apparently, Ash's magical Guardians time travel and bring back luxury cars and luxury sweets.
The Guardians (sorta kinda Fairy Godparents) are also extremely disorganized. They can see the future, but they also choose to neglect it, telling Ash to "wait, it will all sort itself out". In the mean time the boy gets severely abused, beaten and finally almost killed. WHY DIDN'T YOU INTERFERE, MAGICAL IDIOTS???
Not sure why there is a pet cat in the story. The cat is almost another MC, but he does absolutely nothing. What was the purpose of it? A mystery to me.
In the end, I am afraid all I can give this story is 1 star.
Although I almost DNF-ed this ...eh, version of Cinderella several times, it was a quick (if chaotic) enough read to just finish it.
The first chapter of the book was quite promising and not badly written, but then Ash's parents die and the chaos ensues. Grammar, typos, unhinged characters (almost <-- scratch that, Every. Single. One of Them), dumb decisions, you name it you have it.
There is no concept of time in this book. You think a day has passed, but no - a month or two or Spring is gone. Time is its own person and does as it pleases. To add to the confusion, in this mediaeval tale
- it's a Jaguar - a car, not even an animal - that's pulling Ash to the castle. No one blinks an eye.
- it's the actual Toblerone - foil and all - that the Prince and Ash are snacking later on.
Apparently, Ash's magical Guardians time travel and bring back luxury cars and luxury sweets.
The Guardians (sorta kinda Fairy Godparents) are also extremely disorganized. They can see the future, but they also choose to neglect it, telling Ash to "wait, it will all sort itself out". In the mean time the boy gets severely abused, beaten and finally almost killed. WHY DIDN'T YOU INTERFERE, MAGICAL IDIOTS???
Not sure why there is a pet cat in the story. The cat is almost another MC, but he does absolutely nothing. What was the purpose of it? A mystery to me.
In the end, I am afraid all I can give this story is 1 star.
November 15, 2023
Quite Bizarre!
There is next to nothing of Cinderella in this sloppily constructed fairytale. There was lots of magic and mayhem, murders and assaults, and eventually, a fairytale ending. There might be a story in here somewhere, amidst the jumbled actions, quick scene changes, and sudden magical alterations but it was not easy to find. Character and plot development were barely acknowledged and it all left me feeling more than a bit frustrated, saved only by the mostly positive ending.
There is next to nothing of Cinderella in this sloppily constructed fairytale. There was lots of magic and mayhem, murders and assaults, and eventually, a fairytale ending. There might be a story in here somewhere, amidst the jumbled actions, quick scene changes, and sudden magical alterations but it was not easy to find. Character and plot development were barely acknowledged and it all left me feeling more than a bit frustrated, saved only by the mostly positive ending.
Did Not Finish
September 30, 2024DNF 8%
A bit strange to try to read something that takes place in like regency era England but uses modern speech. Wasn't able to get into it.
A bit strange to try to read something that takes place in like regency era England but uses modern speech. Wasn't able to get into it.
February 9, 2025
I am loathe to rate a queer story so poorly. A story has to be quite messy to get me to this point, and I'm sorry for how the truth can hurt as much as it can.
My thoughts are flowing freely, as I think this story broke me.
We were staying pretty true to time-period Cinderella lore. Horse-drawn carriages, charming cottages, you get the idea. Something magical was going on with a few characters, so I couldn't wait to see how the world-building would weave that in. Heavy on the physical abuse, bordering on being too gory for me. At least Ash stood up for himself pretty often! That's certainly a departure from the original source.
I had a feeling the anachronistic side comments from the Martins were intentional and not mistakes. This should've clued me into the absolutely bonkers choice of how Ash got to the ball and what he was dressed in. Surprisingly, this was just funny, and I could forgive it for taking me out of the story.
Was this story supposed to be a romance? It doesn't seem like it, since Ash and Louis share about 10 sentences with each other before they're betrothed. We're certainly TOLD that Ash and Louis have a connection, but we don't see any evidence of it. There's instant attraction, but nothing notable beyond that.
Was this story supposed to be about relying on your own strength to carry you through tough situations, like the Martins tried to convince Ash to do many times throughout the story? I t doesn't seem like it because they lead him to all of the good outcomes of his "destiny" and fix literally everything with magic.
Was this story supposed to be about respecting nature? Ash reverently planted that tree at the beginning and he was rewarded through magical help throughout the rest of the story because of that single act.
I guess the answers to these questions are kind of true to the original source, since everything just happens because our hero needs help and people will help him. Yay? No lesson? Hm.
So, there's hardly any romance, our hero doesn't learn much of a lesson (since he's naturally a forgiving person who also takes care of himself as best as he can), and karma is mentioned...I guess.
I feel like this author started writing this story with great ambition but didn't know the purpose of this story other than being a retelling of a classic. Adding humor and higher stakes doesn't necessarily mean that the story is elevated compared to its classic predecessor.
I encourage anyone who wants to write to explore their intent as to why they're writing a particular story. Focusing on a character's purpose and journey toward that purpose will keep a story from getting lost in so many details that seem exciting to include in the spur of the moment.
All that said, thank you for all of the work that went into this story, Mike Cullen! Quite an undertaking.
My thoughts are flowing freely, as I think this story broke me.
We were staying pretty true to time-period Cinderella lore. Horse-drawn carriages, charming cottages, you get the idea. Something magical was going on with a few characters, so I couldn't wait to see how the world-building would weave that in. Heavy on the physical abuse, bordering on being too gory for me. At least Ash stood up for himself pretty often! That's certainly a departure from the original source.
I had a feeling the anachronistic side comments from the Martins were intentional and not mistakes. This should've clued me into the absolutely bonkers choice of how Ash got to the ball and what he was dressed in. Surprisingly, this was just funny, and I could forgive it for taking me out of the story.
Was this story supposed to be a romance? It doesn't seem like it, since Ash and Louis share about 10 sentences with each other before they're betrothed. We're certainly TOLD that Ash and Louis have a connection, but we don't see any evidence of it. There's instant attraction, but nothing notable beyond that.
Was this story supposed to be about relying on your own strength to carry you through tough situations, like the Martins tried to convince Ash to do many times throughout the story? I t doesn't seem like it because they lead him to all of the good outcomes of his "destiny" and fix literally everything with magic.
Was this story supposed to be about respecting nature? Ash reverently planted that tree at the beginning and he was rewarded through magical help throughout the rest of the story because of that single act.
I guess the answers to these questions are kind of true to the original source, since everything just happens because our hero needs help and people will help him. Yay? No lesson? Hm.
So, there's hardly any romance, our hero doesn't learn much of a lesson (since he's naturally a forgiving person who also takes care of himself as best as he can), and karma is mentioned...I guess.
I feel like this author started writing this story with great ambition but didn't know the purpose of this story other than being a retelling of a classic. Adding humor and higher stakes doesn't necessarily mean that the story is elevated compared to its classic predecessor.
I encourage anyone who wants to write to explore their intent as to why they're writing a particular story. Focusing on a character's purpose and journey toward that purpose will keep a story from getting lost in so many details that seem exciting to include in the spur of the moment.
All that said, thank you for all of the work that went into this story, Mike Cullen! Quite an undertaking.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews