Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon

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.

Cinder and Ella by Melissa Lemon

In this loose adaptation of Cinderella, Cinder and Ella are sisters. After their father abandons the family, it's up to the two middle sisters to hold everything together. Cinder is the more helpful of the two, and she acts as the good little maid. Ella is less agreeable. She tries to be helpful, but cannot tolerate her older sister's shallowness and her younger sister's spoiled nature. When Cinder gets a job at the castle, she expects Ella to pick up her slack at home. After her mother forgets she exists, Ella takes the opportunity to embark out on her own for the first time in her life.

Cinder becomes upset at Ella's disappearance. A kind knight notices the girl's distress and asks the Prince's permission to seek out Ella. It's fairly common knowledge that the Prince is an evil, evil man. So, there's every reason to be suspicious that the Prince gives permission to find Ella, sends two of his own men along, and also has his own evil, evil reasons for finding the girl.

Altogether, Cinder and Ella is a respectable retelling. Ella was definitely my favorite sister because she wasn't as easy to step all over. She's a girl who knows how to push back. I also love her romance with her brave knight Tanner. He had a tendency to drop her and become incredibly accident prone around her, and she was absolutely vicious towards him. It's adorable. There aren't any fairy godmothers, glass slippers, or pumpkin coaches. But we do have magical guardian trees and an evil prince. That counts, right?

I read an advanced copy of Cinder and Ella through Netgalley. It will be published November 9th.