Boots: A Puss in Boots Retelling

by Julian Greystoke, Emily Luebke

Before The Ogre appeared and drained all the magic from the land, a poor miller family was bestowed with two blessings and one curse.

Levi, the unfortunate son, lives his life in fear of a dangerous magic inside him, but all mages are long gone and there’s no hope of banishing the curse. All Levi wants is to use his cleverness and inventions to help his family run their mill. When his father dies and leaves him nothing but a horse and a cat, Levi strikes out in search of the one person who can break his curse. The mysterious and dangerous Ogre.

Princess Joanna longs to become the People’s Protector, a duty reserved for second sons, not daughters. She rides through the kingdom bent on thwarting The Ogre’s deathless minions and planning her assault on her enemy’s keep. Her mission: to kill the very creature that could spell Levi’s salvation.

After Levi saves him from a river, Boots the cat’s simple life changes forever. He faces ancient gods, unnerving monsters, and a human companion who is a constant danger to himself and others. Far more than an ordinary cat has any business handling.

Blessings and curses abound in this retelling of a fairytale classic.

Paperback

Published August 9, 2022

Reviews

[Shelby Suderman]

Hype! 😍🐈👢

[Amanda Orts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved it! You can tell the author has a passion for character driven stories because even the people who only show up once or twice have their own beautifully developed personalities.

You can also tell that the author knows her stuff when it comes to sword fighting, the vocabulary used was the one you'd expect from a trained warrior princess.

The LGBTQ+ representation is done very well too. It's casual and not forced and in no way a plot device, just a fact of the characters that happens to be shown sometimes. Loved it.

ALSO It's SO REFRESHING to read about characters that actually communicate and don't have useless misunderstandings just cos of plot reasons. I fell in love with every character and i wish there were more books!

The only negative was maybe a couple minor spelling mistakes but i understand that the version I'm reading has been revised again since, so it does not affect my rating

Also. When i saw the name of the last chapter i smiled. I'm so glad we got to see that character one last time.

[Gianluca Cuthbertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd rate it along the lines of a 2.8/5 stars because there were aspects I liked but felt weren't done enough or explored enough.

Overall, I just had to stop reading this retelling of the fairytale because...well, I just couldn't grasp the main story with the main issues being it's far too simplistic world building, lack of detail (which made a lot of scenes very confusing) and how long it felt even on page 176.

That's where I had to DNF it, unfortunately 😔

I felt very sorry that I had to put down Julian's book because I liked The Wolf and the Hawk, but it did have the world building inconsistencies that were really apparent in this one.

I liked the animal characters and how they were written (except for their...uhh telepathic discussions??). And Julian wrote their behaviours and characteristics well.

I think that's what needed to be explored more. Small moments like "Yes, Sir Cat!!" got me excited.

But overall, it's a nope from me.

[YouTube review coming soon.]
Suited in Black / Janne Karneus

[Jennifer Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging re-telling of the Puss in Boots story. The cat (it is a "real" cat, not a anthropomorphized one wearing boots) is one of the most realistic feline characterizations I have seen in a book. The main human character is also well written and really gets you rooting for him. Asexual and gay characters are well represented in the story. Not the most complex tale you will find, but a very enjoyable read. Good for adults and YA readers, or mature middle readers.

[Scribbling Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosy fantasy with an animal companion. There is some action, but it doesn’t move at breakneck speed.
The POV characters are all likeable, especially Joanna, who is ace and aromantic, and struggles to make her family understand that marriage is not something she will ever be interested in.
The book portrays cat behaviour really well, and I adored hanging out with Boots, the cat, in his chapters.
Overall I really enjoyed this retelling.

[Marseydoats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, but I had no idea that it was over 500 pages long when I decided I wanted to read it. It was a pleasure to read a story by an author who knows horses ---- very few people know that horses actually DO have a sense of humor! All the characters are great and I especially loved Molly and Boots.

[Melara Dark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a lovely read, did not feel as long as it was, which is always a good sign. Loved Joanna, and Lyall, and of course Boots himself.

If you're looking for a fun, whimsical, light read you could do far, far worse.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Cute and Fun Read

I loved the character’s personalities and the characterisation of the titular Boots. Even if the plot isn’t super complicated or twisty, it works and serves the story of Levi, Boots and Princess Johanna.

[Cassie Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the characters and the writing, even if it felt like it dragged a little in the middle. It was still such a fun and coy read despite that.

[AnnMarie Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely retelling of a fairytale from start to finish.