Buddy read with Hansrox!

I am a huge sucker for retellings, and Ash and Bramble was no less! I was just as excited to read this, and I didn’t really have any problems at first.

This book is definitely creative, and it doesn’t really follow along other retellings that I’ve read. But, I was just hugely disappointed with the ending…

It wasn’t really just the ending, it was also the fact that by the time I actually reached the ending I felt like the whole buildup towards the end was just a huge letdown.

Ash and Bramble made it sound like the ending would resolve the whole “Does Cinderella really fall in love with the Prince?” theme, but in reality it made me feel as if the entire book could’ve been a lot less focused on the romance.

Kind of disappointing, but since the take on this retelling was okay, I don’t really mind trying out Prineas’s next retelling: Rose and Thorn. This time, I’ll be sure to control my expectations based on the romance.

I have seen Ever-After and loved it.
I have seen the new Cinderella with Robb Stark and Bellatrix and loved it.
That one with Hillary Duff and Chad Michael Murray? Love it.
However, I honestly don't know if I've seen the entirety of the animated movie, because I hate it. I don't know why.

So I'm always skeptical to read retellings because most of the time they're just like the animated movie.

But this. This is something completely different.
This is darker. This is Once Upon a Time and Into the Woods.
This flips everything you were taught about the story of Cinderella onto its side.
And I loved it.

If you're looking for a sweet fairytale. Turn away from this book. You wont find it here.

You will find magic and fate.
You'll find a strong willed woman.
A man who doesn't take away from that.
You'll find family; blood and non.
You'll find glimpses of other fairytales that you love, and they're just as twisted and dark.
You'll find yourself surprised at who the good and bad guys are.
Blood and gore and ball gowns.

The writing in Ash & Bramble is beautiful. It's elegant and enchanting.

Not a character goes unnoticed or unappreciated.

I really enjoyed this book once I took the time to sit down and devote myself to it.

Breaking the seams between magic and reality, Ash & Bramble is an action packed, romantic show stopper of a novel.

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SUMMARY

When Pin dares to escape her slavery of making fairytale clothing for a magical Godmother, she and her Shoemaker friend are captured and catapulted into an irresistible world where the prince is having a ball and no one recalls their past. This original Cinderella retelling has more twists than you can shake a bramble at as Pin and Shoe dare to tackle the very power that turns over a story, and a young girl demands to choose her own destiny.

WORLDBUILDING

Wowser. I loved this world. It’s already set in a fantasy-type world, but for some reason there’s this Story power that forces people to live the lives of fairytales, and the Godmother gets her power from that, so it’s this never-ending cycle of growing power so long as everyone does as they’re told. There must have been quite a few fairytales already played out such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel, but what I really wanted to know was where did Godmother get her inspiration from? How does she know how the stories are supposed to go?

CHARACTERS + RELATIONSHIPS

There is no insta-love and there is no love triangle. Let me make that perfectly clear. It’s a Cinderella retelling, so whatever Pin and the Prince feel for each other is forced upon them, and they’re made aware of that. Pin feels affection early on towards Shoe, but how else are you supposed to become friends with someone? Pin and Shoe are totally lovely anyway. I love their banter, and I love the way they think about each other and care for each other. I love how Shoe and Cor become friends even though they’re kinda rivals. I love how Pin doesn’t have time for silly romances yet finds a way to kiss both of them and thoughtfully compares it – because she knows she’s ‘meant’ to end up with the Prince, but she has real feelings for Shoe. That’s why it’s not a love triangle, even though there is kissing two boys.

WHAT WORKED/DIDN’T WORK

[spoiler]I loved how Pin had this whole life before she was enslaved with a memory wipe, so she was already a badass capable staff fighter, she just didn’t know it. And a lot of her power came from being her mother’s daughter and knowing instinctively how to make the magic thimble work.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Pin dares to live her own life, escapes from the Godmother, plans to run away from the stepmother’s abuse, doesn’t want to go to the ball or meet the prince. She’s not a very good Cinderella, although she can’t resist the lure of the story. I’ve never read a Cinderella retelling where Cinders didn’t want to go to the ball![/spoiler]

[spoiler]I wouldn’t necessarily love a sequel, but I sure as hell would love a prequel. I want to see Faye and Pin’s mother going at it Godmother/bad witch style. OH MY GOD YES. And her grief when she fails Snow White. And how Faye finally defeats her. I’d LOVE to see that! See, I’d love to see a prequel because maybe then we could learn more about Pin and what she was like Before. Since she can’t give her own memories back, she doesn’t know, but I’d love to see this epic showdown between the ice-blue Godmother and the raven-haired witch.

[/spoiler]

I loved how homosexuality was just casually mentioned. First there was the tavern boy who flirted outrageously with Shoe, then there were casual couples dotted about. No big deal is made about homosexuality but neither is it erased.

OVERALL

I was completely sucked in to this book. I couldn’t believe how quickly I read it, especially as I was coming out of a pretty bad reading slump. Although the cover is somewhat hideous (NOT because the dress is red, it works in context, but because of all the white, which unfortunately also works in context, I just don’t like it – would rather see the more traditional ‘girl in prom dress running through a dark forest’ kind of thing), and the title is completely uninspiring, I thoroughly enjoyed this story about choosing your own destiny and I would recommend it to any fairytale fan who is looking for something a little meta, a little quirky, a little bit different to the more mainstream retellings. The quality of writing is high, the characters are three-dimensional, and there’s enough originality in the retelling to make it its own kind of fairytale.

Criticism of 'insta-feelings' by another reviewer 5% into a book.

For fuck's sake, apparently characters aren't allowed to feel anything for anyone at any point in a fucking story. Not concern, or affection, or even a kinship.

Are these people perpetually single because they never get feelings for anyone in real life?

Are they lonely spinsters?

Are they fucking jealous because they can't get someone to love them so it must be impossible for two characters to instantly connect for little reason? EVEN THOUGH THIS IS HOW IT WORKS IN THE REAL WORLD, YOU 'CLICK' WITH SOMEONE AND CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN WHY.

Apparently you're not supposed to have any kind of feelings for anyone unless you know them inside out and have known them FOREVER. Otherwise it's INSTA-LOVE.

But the best part of falling in love is discovering all those wonderful things and secrets and quirks and habits of your partner.

SERIOUSLY WHY ARE PEOPLE SO FUCKING CYNICAL. THAT'S NOT HOW LOVE WORKS IN THE REAL WORLD YOU DOOFUS.

Arc provided by Harper Teen through Edelweiss

Release Date: September 15 th


Part of me can't help wonder how much I would have _ or not _ enjoyed this title if I wasn't reviewing it.

Thing is, reading for reviewing purpose is different from reading for enjoyment: I find myself constantly trying to analyse this and that, without mentioning the fact that I am constantly evaluating which rating I should give.

Then there's the second guessing myself, especially in cases such as this, in which the story's quality is unquestionable.


This definitely has quality and has to have had a lot of hard work behind it: the plot twists, basically being able to interwove a great number of retellings into a cohesive plot has to have taken a lot of hard effort. And it isn't as if this is a simple story. It most definitely isn't.

But, I can't say that as a whole it was perfect...

The pace of the story

For me this was the main culprit: one minute I was wondering what was going to happen next, and a couple pages later, the story had stalled. And I was bored.

But then it would pick up again until too many descriptions would stall it once again.


The main character

I am afraid she starts and ends as a mystery, and if at the beginning that is completely understandable, I can't say I was happy about it...

No, that isn't right. It isn't the case of me being happy or not _ don't worry, the story has a perfectly acceptable finale _ it was the vagueness of it all that left me unsatisfied.

The story took so long to get there, to the beginning of a new start that I wanted a little more . I wanted to have a little idea of what was it than Pen wanted for her life.

Also _maybe that was the author's idea _ I could never really fit Pen into some sort of "role": okay, she's fierce, but also a little reckless, while keeping hold of a certain aloofness all around her.

She wants to be her own self, that's probably what characterizes her in the end.
However besides that, I could never establish a connection with the girl: what should come out as strength of character sometimes sounded to me more like selfishness and reckless behaviour.

Also I ended up disliking the way the love triangle _ that shouldn't be a love triangle _ was dealt. Thing is, were Pen a guy, the cavalier way she deals with "certain things" would be less than tolerated.

In face of all this, it comes as no surprise that my favourite character ended up being Shoe. He ended feeling more complete and with more depth than Pen.

The fact that he reminds me of Peeta with his quiet way of being ( not that it matters, but yes he has blond hair) is another point in his favour.

In here, you'll find stories within stories... do not expect a basic Cinderella retelling.

If any of you has already read Mercedes Lackey, The Fairy Godmother, book one in the Five Hundred Kingdoms you must be aware of the concept of a Story _ in Lackey's that concept goes by Tradition _ that forces characters into certain roles. Fairy tale roles. Sometimes things work out... most times they don't.

This is a dark take on a concept of a Story, determined to feed itself and to find strength in its constant never ending circle.

I loved that the author introduced some great plot twists that go against what we normally get in these type of stories: from the Godmother's role, to the evil Witch's role, to characters that are given a whole new direction like a lesbian couple whose half of it is a very well known princess.

That was great. Things like these would get a five star rating.

But then _like I mentioned before_ we would start getting a little too much description on certain moments, and not enough on others: it was driving me insane!

This was what was going through my head while reading this tale:

"okay... 4.5 stars... no, 4 stars...maybe 3.5...this last part is boring 3stars... but this should get at least a four... but are you enjoying it... do you think you're going to re-read it... 3.5 stars maybe... oh, God how am I going to review this?"

I wanted to know more about the thimble: well the thimbles, plural.
Why did they have power? Where did it came from? Why a thimble from all objects?

I wanted more information on the sisters. Not to mention details about how Pen's life used to be.

I didn't find logical that .... how to say this without spoilers... there was someone that maybe could have shed some light on Pen's background, and she has that "attitude"? And then she "throws the problem" at someone else?
o_O

Also, wouldn't that, place her in the same path of that... *cough* person?

Finishing a story and having more questions than answers is never a good thing.

To finish this mess of a review I can only say that I don't know if you're going to enjoy it.
The only thing I can say is that it does have quality.

Oh, and the cover girl with the red dress?
Well, there's a perfectly good reason for the colour red :D

For the modern cut of the dress?
No. -_-

For the blankness of what surrounds the girl?
Okay, it can be comprehensible due to "things"....although I would prefer to see a certain lighted path of the mushrooms in the cover ;)

"Who am I? I am nothing."(1)


(1)quote removed from arc *don't kill me, it is just a tiny little sentence* and prone to changes.