Here's my review of Melissa Lemon's Cinder and Ella, which I read a little over a year ago. This isn't exactly a series, but they are both fairy tale retellings. I liked Cinder and Ella, and I like Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem even more.
Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem is told by the Magic Mirror. The story starts out with the wicked Queen of Mayhem wishing to kill her baby. The King steals away with the infant girl. Unfortunately, he is killed, but he succeeds in transferring the child to his uncle's care. Young Kat grows up in his apple orchard, never suspecting that she is the princess. Eventually, her uncle grows old and blind, and he becomes cruel towards Kat. Their farmhand, Jeremy, begs her to run away with him. He gives her some money to take care of herself, then he will join her after he takes care of his debts to his family.
Kat runs away to the market, where her uncle had forbidden her to go in case anyone recognized her. She encounters a cruel man auctioning off a dwarf, takes pity on the poor creature, and purchases him. The dwarf takes her to his home, where he lives with six other dwarfs. They invite her to stay. Meanwhile, the Queen finds out that Kat is still alive and sends a young prince from the neighboring kingdom of Mischief to kill her.
Something about this book really appealed to me. It is more faithful to the fairy tale than Cinder and Ella was. I wasn't a big fan of Kat. She seemed very emotionless. Jeremy professed his love to her, and she just had this cold and robotic response. I also thought she was annoying when she coddled the Dopey-equivalent dwarf. Truthfully, I rather liked the story. I'm a big sucker for a happily ever after, and I'd definitely like to see Ms. Lemon write more of her fairy tales.
I received my copy of Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem from Netgalley, courtesy of Cedar Fort, Inc. It's available now.
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