3.5 stars rounded up
I wanted so bad to love this book! I mean...it's Marissa Meyer. I love the Cinder Chronicles, and I have read Heartless more times than I care to count. So, hearing she was writing another fantasy story, I was super hyped to read it!
And then....it just kind of fell flat? I enjoy the folklore and the Rumpelstiltskin retelling portion of this book, but a lot of it felt repetitive and it is a very slow burn. Even the romance felt a little cut short, considering they were only together for a few hours once every full moon. Really feels like a romance of convenience! I am interested in seeing how that all plays out in the second book....which I will definitely be buying (because, like, it is Marissa Meyer guys).
I enjoyed Serilda's storytelling, and I caught onto the twist pretty early, but it was nice in breaking up some of the monotony of the physical book as I was reading it. Meyer does have a way for spinning stories, and I am always a sucker for a story within a story! All the other characters did not feel super fleshed out, but that is because of the POV and Serilda telling their "backstories" through the stories she made up.
I am left with a lot of questions, and I seriously started stressing near the end of the book because I did not know it was the start of a new series. With the ending of this book, I can only hope the second has more action and less repetition.
Until then....I'll go back to rereading Heartless and wishing that one was a series.
Overall, I had high hopes for this one (between the cover and the author, I really couldn't resist) and it just fell short. I really tried to love this one too, but it was a slow burn and very repetitive at points. I am left with more questions than answers, and can only hope the second book will be better!
I wanted so bad to love this book! I mean...it's Marissa Meyer. I love the Cinder Chronicles, and I have read Heartless more times than I care to count. So, hearing she was writing another fantasy story, I was super hyped to read it!
And then....it just kind of fell flat? I enjoy the folklore and the Rumpelstiltskin retelling portion of this book, but a lot of it felt repetitive and it is a very slow burn. Even the romance felt a little cut short, considering they were only together for a few hours once every full moon. Really feels like a romance of convenience! I am interested in seeing how that all plays out in the second book....which I will definitely be buying (because, like, it is Marissa Meyer guys).
I enjoyed Serilda's storytelling, and I caught onto the twist pretty early, but it was nice in breaking up some of the monotony of the physical book as I was reading it. Meyer does have a way for spinning stories, and I am always a sucker for a story within a story! All the other characters did not feel super fleshed out, but that is because of the POV and Serilda telling their "backstories" through the stories she made up.
I am left with a lot of questions, and I seriously started stressing near the end of the book because I did not know it was the start of a new series. With the ending of this book, I can only hope the second has more action and less repetition.
Until then....I'll go back to rereading Heartless and wishing that one was a series.
Overall, I had high hopes for this one (between the cover and the author, I really couldn't resist) and it just fell short. I really tried to love this one too, but it was a slow burn and very repetitive at points. I am left with more questions than answers, and can only hope the second book will be better!