Fairy Tale - not a page turner
582715
I really enjoy Lisa Scottoline but this book just glided over parts that were unrealistic.  Finding an underground tunnel and scaling out of it without trouble.  The fact that her family was st her brothers side due to s heart attack and not really concerned with her week long evading the law.  Come on get a little more realistic.  She also says she did more research for this book over many others in the past.  I think she went down a rabbit hole to include things she was interested in but weren't really relate to
358942
Once upon a time, in a land far far away there was a tale about a girl named Cinderella.
She sang and danced and fell in loved after only one kiss.
This isn't exactly her story . . .
This is the story of Ella.
There wasn't much to sing about in her life and she didn't have the energy to dance.
She was an orphan being sold into a marriage of convenience by her wicked stepmother.
But Ella was given a wish.
She used it to wish to be free to marry the man she loved.
Of course she loved the prince she met at the ball that she snuck into.
But like I said, this isn't exactly the story you remember.
This is a version of the story you will not have heard of before.
18+

My thoughts

I really didn't care for this book at all. It was totally different than what I thought it was going to be. I love stories that twist fairy tales. This is the first erotic "fairy tale" that I've read. I just couldn't get into it. I like the writing style of Sophie Starr, I just didn't like this.
2447424
**I received an advanced copy of this book through a giveaway**
I didn't love the book or the characters. The story line was promising and did come together at the end of the book but it didn't have as much substance to it as I would have liked. I know the book was supposed to have the impression of an adult fairy tale but when there are literally cartoon characters engaging in sex acts (implied but not written in detail) and relationships it puts it a little over the top for me. The use of cliches throughout the book was also overwhelming and gives the sense of a simplistic writing style.
I found the main character to be dull and very anti-social; However, after one twist in the story, everything changed and she seemed to completely turn around (in the last 10-15 pages). The dialogue of one of the secondary characters, and an inhabitant of the house, left something to be desired. Her speech was written in such a way that it was supposed to imply an accent and English as her second language but it didn't come across that way in the writing. Instead, it made her seem as though she was of less than average intelligence and a bit child-like.
Overall, the story line was there even though I felt it was still in the beginning phases. And I have to give credit for the ability to make a (usually) inanimate object a main character in the story. The house itself was the most in-depth character there was.
532592
Oedipus did not fill my expectations for what I was led to believe. Before reading the story I was excited to read about a young King's plight to uncovering a confusing secret. In the middle of the story I found my mind wondering because the story did not hold my attention. It was boring because it was not in modern language. In order to follow the story, I had to keep stopping myself and take time out to understand the "code" of words. While I was taking time to understand I had already forgot what I was reading in the first place.
51678
This was an odd book that I abandoned after reading less than 50 pages. It was a mash-up of several fairy tales ("Cinderella", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Snow White") written in a self-conscious old-fashioned style and just was not interesting enough to me to continue with.
2078609
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I didn't really love it as I thought.

The books tells us about real princesses in history who are not really remembered. Some of them were good, some bad, and some just plain insane. The author really gives a lot of variety: there are princesses from Europe, but also from Asia and Africa.

I thought the book was a little bit too tedious. I had to stop several times and read something else because I just stopped caring. Maybe if there had been more illustrations? But it's definitely not a book that you can finish in one sitting.
4367512
Tried reading this book several times but I just can't get into it. For me, it doesn't seem realistic to the world we are living in. It's more like a fairy tale.
1228416
Awfully simple was barely able to get through the book. To much of a fairy tale,really easy to predict. I was able to finish it very unhappy paying that much money for it should have been free. Please try again and get more real.
3709660
I love the different take on all of the fairy tale "bad guys". I would not, however, pay full price for these "books". They are more like a collection of short stories with very little background to each of the characters. Occasionally confusing with not having much of the back story prior to the "romance" part of the novels. I am interested in the next stories just to find out what happens. I will wait until they are on sale.
3571140
This was an interesting twist on the 12 Dancing Princesses fairy tale. I really liked the two main characters, Galen and Princess Rose. I thought their characters were very well drawn. I also liked the inclusion of knitting, as that added a touch of realism.

However, there were a several things that disappointed me. One, though several of the reviews claimed that the princesses aren't just passive victims, they WERE just passive victims. I kept looking for them to do something to try to help themselves. However, there was only one scene where they did anything like fight back.

And speaking of fights, I found the grand finale wasn't very interesting. The villain had been set up as a supremely powerful, boogie man type and yet, it was all too easy to defeat him.

I also felt there were times when the characters acted extremely stupidly, especially one scene with Galen and Rose during the Midnight Ball.

There were too many throw away characters in here. Ms. George spent a lot of time explaining Galen's family background. I would have liked it better if she had skipped the boring narration and had Galen explain himself.

It was a mostly enjoyable book, but I wish I had waited for the paperback version.
485682
If you've gotten to my review than you've already read the jist of this  story.  This is a fairytale.  Anyone who's tried to lose weight and keep it  off will tell you so - and besides, doesn't everyone always say that being  thin won't in and of itself make you happy?  While Jemima J is an  entertaining, quick read, it is not nearly as clever as Bridget Jones is;  the story is predictable, aside from one detail that is too weird to reveal  here, and the essence of the fairytale overwhelms Jemima's human quality  and real life issues.  So, I would recommend this book to someone who wants  a quick, engaging read for the beach, but definitely not for someone who is  looking for quality reading (like Harry Potter or Bridget Jones...).  Also,  the author shamelessly name drops locations in Santa Monica as if they are  as important as landmarks like Big Ben!  I'm from LA and I can tell you  that the author's description of Santa Monica is trite and reads like it  comes from the chamber of commerce.  Aside from this mildly annoying  aspect, the book is an OK read that I enjoyed from a fantasy perspective.  We should all be as lucky as Jemima J is.  From the time she loses the  weight and becomes glamorous and self confident, her issues with food are  only briefly referred to and seem to disappear - which is a surprise given  the state of mind she has in the last chapter of the book... I just didn't  get it.  But, this is a fairytale and I'm sure there were missing pieces in  Cinderella that didn't make sense either...
4446857
A bit of a fairy tale, but who doesn't like a fairy tale.
3832734
I liked the idea of the girl seeing her reflection as a princess, but I didn't think it was executed well. The story was repetitive in a way that didn't add anything to the story or help with the flow of language. I would still consider another book by this author but wouldn't have high hopes going in.
3942275
Babette Cole wrote one terrific book  Prince Cinders -- that turns a fairy tale on its head. Princess Smartypants is similar to Prince Cinders, but it isn't nearly as good. The idea of a princess who has lots of interests of her own and no desire to sit around waiting for a prince to come along and save her is a good one. But Smartypants is such an annoying character that the whole thing falls apart, I think. In order to discourage her suitors, Smartypants makes up tasks they have to complete before they can claim her hand. The tasks are mean and pointless, and the princess comes across, to me at least, as a spoiled brat. A princess waiting for Prince Charming may be a lousy role model for young girls, but this bratty princess is no improvement. If you're looking for an antidote to too many fairy tales, there are lots of better alternatives...
3335419
It seems this is one of those movies where they put all the good parts in the preview- We did not enjoy it as much as we thought we would. A little slow, to "phoney" for our taste-not near as good as the real fairy tale.
2081344
This book is pretty good but I find (personally) that all the constant marital discord, the evil villain's continuous overwhelming success and the books predictability grated on my nerves and became tiresome.  I stopped reading the book at one point for a week .  I did come back to it eventually and finished it.  While the ideas used in the retelling of the fairytale were clever...I felt there was just something missing.  Something that would have kept my attention and helped me stay engaged with the story.  I think I lost interest soon after the identity of the villain was made clear.  The rest of the story just plodded on to the end in a fairly predictable manner.  I don't recommend this book with great enthusiasm...but it's okay.  Still readable.  That's why I gave it 3 stars.  I only give 5 stars to books I can't put down & that I'm sad when they end.
2286821
skimmed and skimmed and skimmed and never got it.  read the first 50 pages and decided it was a fairy tale but later thought this is too brutal for children.  then I thought it must have a moral but not to sure of that.  Maybe just didn't enjoy the story.