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January 14, 2013

Review: The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson

Title: The Fairest Beauty
Author: Melanie Dickerson
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication date: January 8, 2013
Genre(s): Young Adult (Fantasy/Fairytales)
Source: Publihser
Format: ARC
Pages: 352
A daring rescue. A difficult choice. Sophie desperately wants to get away from her stepmother's jealousy, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be Sophie's one chance at freedom---but can she trust another person to keep her safe? Gabe defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the girl's inner and outer beauty has enchanted him. Though romance is impossible---she is his brother's future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else---he promises himself he will see the mission through, no matter what. When the pair flee to the Cottage of the Seven, they find help---but also find their feelings for each other have grown. Now both must not only protect each other from the dangers around them---they must also protect their hearts.
This book is for fairy tale lovers. Sophie has been a scullery maid all her life, a prisoner in Honhendorf Castle. Her evil stepmother, Duchess Ermengard, hated Sophie due to her beauty. Sophie had black hair, pale skin, natural red lips and big blue eyes. The duchess throws Sophie into the dungeon for every little thing. Sound familiar? Yup, this story is based on Snow White. When a stranger named Gabeheart comes and tells her she is royalty, betrothed to his brother,Valten, she decides to run away with him. What she didn't expect, is that she would fall in love with Gabe. Can she break her betrothed to Valten, and still live in a loving family, which is all she ever wanted? 
If you like romance, action, suspense, and fairy tales, then this book is perfect for you. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this book was still really good. The beginning was a bit boring to me because I'm not a Snow White fan, but I still decided to give it a chance. It was so good after the first few chapters! I will tell you guys out there in advance, there is some religious points in the story, as both the main characters, especially Sophie, believe strongly in God and Jesus. Anyway, the book was pretty amazing, and I might even read it again. The flow was smooth and easily understandable to me. 
I think my favorite part was when Sophie first met Gabe. I thought it was interesting to see how they would react to each other, like a cat reacting to a strange new animal. I didn't know what she would do next. Would she stay? Would she call the Duchess, who murders every trespasser who doesn't come to please her? I couldn't tell and the suspense was killing me!! Nothing from the book really annoyed me. I thought it was a good book. 
The writing style was actually a favorite of mine. Every chapter or 2, she would switch points of view, so in one chapter, I was Sophie, then in another, I was Gabe. I like that writing style. This is a wonderful book. I totally recommend it to 7-11 graders. The Fairest Beauty is for fairy tale lovers who always want a happy ending. 

17 comments:

  1. This sounds like a cute fairy tale story. I love alternating points of views too. I think they let us learn more of each character. Great review!

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  2. I adore fairy-tales and this book is one I've been anticipating the release of so it's good to know that you enjoyed it, Danna. I'm even more psyched about reading it now. Great review! :)

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  3. YES YES YES. I was very excited about this book, because I love my fairytales and retellings as you might know already. Now I definitely can't wait, because it sounds like it has everything I love in a book <3

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  4. Thanks for the recommendation--I love fairy tales! Yet another addition to the TBR pile :)

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  5. Sweet review! Someone recommended this book to me on good reads! I love fairy tales retale and will check it out.

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  6. I am looking forward to this. I love the fairytale retelling. Great review...

    Jenea @ Books Live Forever

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  7. I enjoyed Dickerson's writing style! Snow White retelling sounds awesome. I'll see if my bookstore carries it. Thanks for sharing :)

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  9. Oh this sounds like something for me. I love fairy tales :) Haven't seen it before but I'll add it on my to-read list :) Glad to see you enjoyed it :)

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  10. I always love happy endings! :) Thanks for the review!

    Janhvi @ The Readdicts

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  11. I love fairy tale retellings. This cover is really pretty too. I also love dual POV's so this sounds like a book I would really enjoy. Fantastic review!

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  12. I haven't read too many retellings, but hope to read more this year. This one sounds great :)

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  13. I can be a bit funny about changing points of view, but I am usually comfortable with a dual narrative. This sound great! It's been a while actually since my last fairytale read, so I will add this to the list. :) Lovely review!

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  14. Yep, this sounds AMAZING! Sometimes I like fairy tale retelling's and sometimes I don't, but this sounds like a must read!

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  15. I love books with dual perspectives! I recently added this to my TBR list because I thought it was interesting that the cover designer decided to have her model wear Disney's Snow White's colours, making the story instantly recognizable. I absolutely can't wait to read it!

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  16. Not a huge fan of Snow White until recently (and not Disney's version!) but I like the direction of this! Great review. =)

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  17. Ahhhhh Fairy tale retelling!? YES PLEASE lol but why.... why must Authors keep up with the alternating points of view >.< It hurts my head lol.. oh well, I'll get over it.

    The Passionate Bookworm

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