Book Review: Prince Charming Must Die by Isabella Fontaine

Prince Charming Must Die

Author: Isabella Fontaine
File Size: 309 KB
Print Length: 91 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Brew City Press (April 16, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
Amazon Buy Link

Note: I received a review copy of this book free from the author, Isabella Fontaine. The review posted below is based on my personal thoughts while reading the book.

Ratings: ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

I was intrigued by the title that's why I agreed to read and review this book. It was a quick read, probably spent only few hours reading this. The story is based on Grimm fairy tales mixed with some teenager lovelife drama. I thought the story line is great, loved the characters especially the talking rabbit - made the book lively and interesting. Writing is simple so definitely easy to read and understand.

Why 4-star? Since the story is based on Grimm fairy tales and of course with the title, I pretty much knew how this would end. Still, if you're looking for a quick, light and funny story, you might want to pick-up this book. 

About the book:

On the eve of her 18th birthday, high school junior Alice Goodenough feels on top of the world. Classes are almost finished. She's about to start her summer job at the local library, where she'll be surrounded by all of her favorite books. And she has a wonderful boyfriend.

Then the rabbit shows up. The giant talking rabbit. He has a message:
200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm unleashed their stories upon the world.
Literally.

With the help of a magic pen and paper, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm brought all of their characters to life. The world was a more magical place ... for a time. Cinderella found her prince. Briar Rose's spell was broken. The dancing princesses spent their nights hidden away in a secret underground city. The old miller's boy found true love.

Then, slowly, the Grimms' characters began to change for the worse. They became Corrupted. Evil. They didn't belong in our world, but it was too late for the Brothers Grimm to destroy them.

Only a hero can save the day. Every generation for the past 200 years, a hero has been chosen to fight the Corrupted and rid the world of the Grimms' fairy tales. To her horror, Alice has been chosen as the next hero. As her 18th birthday nears, she begins to realize life is never going back to normal. School will never be the same.

As for her boyfriend, Edward ... well, he might be hiding a terrible secret.

This book also contains the following original Brothers Grimm fairy tales:
- Snow White
- The White Snake
- The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat
- The Godfather

Guest Author and Book Trailer: Jan Wallentin

I’m not much of a writer, actually. 


About four years ago I was working as a journalist, and Strindberg’s star started out as something of a hobby. The basic idea was to try to create an irresistible story of suspense without resorting to depictions of grim (and often extremely boring) violence. Instead I wanted to rely on the element of unpredictability, to take the reader by surprise (if you will).


Strindberg’s Star would take off as your usual who-done-it, typical crime-story with all the common ingredients. After about 80 pages the genre would suddenly switch to a Hitchcock thriller, then to a surreal roller-coaster adventure, and after that the storyline would continue to twist and turn. The reader would have to keep on reading simply because there would be no way for him or her to outguess the direction of the ride! 


I thought this idea was pretty good and as a result the first draft of Strindberg’s Star was written during a fit of inspiration (and haste) in the summer of 2008. It was about 250 pages long, and contained all the essentials of the book that exists today: cave-diving, the Arctic expedition of 1897, the gates of the underworld, the exploration of the Nazi occult and so on. 

When I finished I concluded: “Whatever are those lazy authors complaining about? I could write ten novels a year without any problem, and have time for a vacation as well!”


In the fall I sent this extremely unpolished draft to a number of Swedish publishing companies with great expectations, and as time passed by without any response, I got—yes—rather depressed.


The next spring, however, it was accepted, with one minor clause: I had to rewrite the entire novel from the first page, first paragraph, and first sentence. It was going to become a completely different book—the same story but half the tempo, half the action, and twice as long.


After that I researched and wrote intensely for about two years, almost managing to wreck my marriage (and both my and my wife’s mental health). But of course it ended happily and I’m very pleased with the novel that exists as a result.





At this time, Strindberg’s Star has been published in about a dozen different languages, with editions still being printed in far away places like China and Brazil. I truly have no idea how it all got to this point, but I do hope you’ll enjoy the book if you decide to read it!

www.strindbergsstar.com

Thursday Trailer: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

THE GOLDEN LILY 

by Richelle Mead

Hardcover: pages, TBA

Release Date: June 12, 2012 Razorbill

Amazon Buy Link

Synopsis:

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students--children of the wealthy and powerful--carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead's breathtaking Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.