Review: Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale
At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens...whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End-both for a story and for a life.
As the daughter of the Evil Queen, Raven Queen's destiny is to follow in her mother's wicked footsteps, but evil is so not Raven's style. She's starting to wonder, what if she rewrote her own story? The royal Apple White, daughter of the Fairest of Them All, has a happy ever after planned for herself, but it depends upon Raven feeding her a poison apple in their future.
What if Raven doesn't sign the Storybook of Legends? It could mean a happily never after for them both.
-summary and cover via goodreads
Plot: I wasn't quite sure if I would enjoy this book or not, but I was pleasantly surprised by it! The plot was actually really interesting! I liked how Raven was questioning weather or not she would have to be as evil as her mother is. And I liked that while I disagreed with Apple's thoughts on it all, you understood why she believed what she does. It wasn't just black and white for all of the characters, you wondered what they should (and would) do right along with them. The only thing I wish had been done different with this book, was I wished the author explained a little bit more of the world they live in. At one point, Apple (I think) mentions that she wants the story to continue so that everyone can continue to know the story of Snow White (and other fairytales) who does she want to remember? The fairytale characters and their children? Or people in our world, who don't know about Ever After High (Do we exist in this book world)? Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book!
Characters: I really liked the characters in this book! I liked Raven Queen (Daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White). Apple White (Daughter of Snow White) was a bit annoying at times, but I did like her overall. My absolute favorite character though, was Madeline Hatter, the daughter of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland! I loved her explanations for things. And her conversations with the narrator in between a few chapters was very fun!
The cover: I like it! Fits the story, and characters well. Oh, and if you get the physical copy of this book (Not sure if the ebook has this) every page has a pink and purple swirl border on it! Very pretty. The part of me that loves pretty things was very happy with this. :)
Overall: If you love fairytales, characters struggling to know what's right, or just a fun adventure, you should give this book a try! Even if you're not sure about it, I would suggest trying it anyway! You may be pleasantly surprised! I wouldn't call the ending of this book a full on cliff-hanger, but others may. I think of it more as a minor one. I thought it wrapped it up enough, or at least as much as it could have been. I'm now eagerly awaiting the sequel that releases in March! :)
I checked this book out from my local library.
Series?: Yes, the Ever After High series.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Would I recommend this book?: Yes!
I've never heard of this one (until you told me about it;) but it sounds very interesting! I'm glad you liked it a lot. It sounds really cute. I'll definitely be picking it up now. Great review, Jessica!
ReplyDeleteIt was! It was cute, I know a lot of people probably won't like it because it's very MG (Not a bad thing all! But I know a lot of YA readers don't like MG.), but it was very good! I hope you enjoy it if you do read it! Thank you!!! :)
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