Kenley Davidson

This is not just a Cinderella re-telling. The traditional fairy tale plot line is the driver for Trystan's big decision, but there is so much more to this story than that. Our heroine must grapple with putting what she knows is right, not just over what she wants, but ultimately over her own freedom from an oppressive life, no small thing. She becomes a changed person in the process, but once decided, never wavers.

The main characters are fully fleshed out and likable, their banter together show more is fun, further rounding their personalities. I definitely rooted for them, and enjoyed the supporting characters as well. As a debut novel I think this was great, and I'm looking forward to more from Kenley Davidson! show less

I loved this book even more than the first one, if possible. Kenley Davidson took all the essential elements of Rumpelstiltskin and wrote a completely original tale that was beautiful and wonderful and everything I want in a fairy tale.

Elaine is orphaned, abandoned by her fiancé, and left near destitute. She is also desperately shy and unused to making her own decisions. But she is deeply loved by the few who know her, and she is a talented artist, talented being a vast understatement.

And show more so, she is asked to paint a portrait of a dying woman, only not as the woman currently is but as her husband remembers her. Spinning straw into gold would be easier. Instead, she paints gold.

This was about as close to a perfect book as I've read in some time, which unfortunately, causes me to fall into a reading funk as nothing else can compare. But why was it so perfect? The characters. Kenley wrote beautiful, unique, and compelling characters. I loved every one of them. Elaine was so kind and forgiving. Will was willing to sacrifice everything to do what he believed was right. Blaise was beautiful and brave. And while the three of them made an unlikely group of friends, it was perfection in every way. The side characters and the crazed villains were also wonderful, but you'll have to read the book to find that out for yourself.

It was also low stakes. There was no world-saving, world-domination backstory. Just a girl who wanted to repay her family's debt. A boy wanting to earn his name. While, I anticipate this connecting into the larger world of Andari at a later point, I was perfectly happy with the book as a standalone. And everyone, whether good or bad, received their perfect ending. I was content in every way. show less

This is one of the more complicated versions of Cinderella I've ever read. A girl who would rather be in the forest alone than go to a ball. A prince taking the throne because his brother is an incompetent imbecile rather than for ambition. A scheming fairy godmother who takes advantage of a girl who only wants her freedom to overthrow the monarchy. And poor decisions made right because of noble individuals risking everything for the good of another. It was very different than I had show more expected, but made me think a lot more deeply than many fairy tales do. What if I had to sacrifice everything I ever wanted for the sake of truth and honor and love?

This book was recommended to me by my friend Jessica who has very good taste in books. And Kenley Davidson has just earned a place on my list of favorite fairy tale retellers. show less

This book is far and away the best in the "Entwined Tales" series. The others are just so-so. This one stands out.

This book has a number of things going for it:
- It's well written. Davidson is very good with words, more so than the other authors in this series.
- It's hilariously funny. Not so much at the beginning, but toward the climax--wow. The banter between the characters is fantastic. (You'd think, because the premise of this whole series is a grumpy, not-too-competent fairy godfather show more is driving the magic, that every book should be laugh-out-loud funny, but this is the only one where that really works out.)
- It's an interesting twist on the fairy tale. It's the girl who gets turned into the frog.
- It's definitely a twist on the usual beautiful girl story. The girl has uncommon beauty, but this story explores the downsides. Nobody can even think about being her friend: girls are jealous, boys can't get past her face. She's lonely. And nobody can take her seriously, either. She just wants to be a librarian, but nobody can think of her as that, either. Can she find a friend who cares about her, who can see past her looks? show less