Fairest of All
"Famed is thy beauty, Majesty. But hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee."
-Magic Mirror
And that is where it all begins...
Fairest of All is the most recent book I have read by Serena Valentino, and after reading The Beast Within, I knew it was going to be good. However, I don't think I was prepared for just how good it was going to be! I finished it within 2 days and spent every spare moment reading it because I literally couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. As I mentioned in my previous post, Valentino puts a twist on classic Disney fairytales that most of us are familiar with, but adds vivid details that enhance the storyline giving you surprises at every turn of the page.
In Walt Disney's first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, we learn very quickly that they Evil Queen isn't fond of Snow in the slightest. Once she finds out that Snow is fairest in the land, she goes on a crazy rampage and tries to have her killed, which causes Snow to run away and meet her woodland creature friends and the seven dwarfs, and eventually find her Prince Charming. But, what happened before the tale begins? What was Snow White's childhood like? How did she come to be a maid at the castle? How did she and the Evil Queen become acquainted, and where did this magic mirror come from?
From beginning to end I was captivated by Valentino's plot twists and how she creatively incorporated details that puts the entire story into perspective. It was so interesting to learn about the Evil Queen's life and how she got her name; deep down she's a daughter yearning for the love of her father, and her jealousy of Snow White drove her beyond insanity. It's a heartbreaking novel in one regard, yet it's also filled with love and has a wonderful moral to it. So far Valentino has only written two Disney novels, but I can't wait to see what she does next; Fairest of All is one that I look forward to reading again and again.
Go ahead dearie, take a bite!
Blushfully,
Belle