Krazykiwi @ Kiwitopia

Better than average YA fairy tale retelling.

But not exactly the second coming that some people seem to make it out to be. The reviews are a little hilarious.

I'm a little confused also at the antipathy some people have to the mixed names - emigration is nothing new, I'm a kiwi who lives in Sweden, people have been living in places where their names stick out as foreign for centuries, I can't imagine that changes much a few hundred years into the future.

I'm also a little bewildered by the level of adoration this book has received. It's certainly better than average, but it was a fast and easy read (I read it in a couple of hours in fact), and it's flawed in some ways.

The "plot twist" is pretty much telegraphed from the beginning (even leaving aside the obvious plot points stemming from it being a fairy tale retelling).But it's fairly smart, the world building is well done and the idea is good and well executed, there's no insta-puppy-love, and the way is quite clear for the other books. I will probably read the rest of the series though.