Retelling gone wild
Princess of Souls (POS) honestly gave me whiplash. it's inspired by Rapunzel, so it's technically a retelling—BUT Rapunzel is a teen witch sworn to steal souls for an immortal king. I'm still not quite sure why the publisher deemed it appropriate to compare this novel to Rapunzel when I think it clearly stands by itself. Also, I didn't realize this until perusing reviews, but POS takes place in the same universe as To Kill a Kingdom. When I tell you my mouth dropped open, it was to the floor! Also, the synopsis makes it out to be like Selestra is evil or at least morally grey, and I'd argue the exact opposite. No, she's not the bubbly, innocent Rapunzel from Tangled, but she's certainly not a dark character at all. It felt more like Katsa from Graceling, but again, the marketing led me to believe some villainy was gonna happen. So a bit disappointing. I'm not quite sure if Christo is the author for me anymore because I read TKAK so long ago that I don't even remember her writing style. POS jarred me with its choppy prose and lack of details. Probably not for me anymore.