Grey Liliy reviewed Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale (Ever After High, #1)
Review of 'Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
If you are a fan of the Ever After High doll line or animated shorts, I highly recommend checking out the novel!
It offers a greatly expanded views of the events in the shorts (specifically a retelling of the Show from the characters introductions to the "Legacy Day" special), developing their characters farther than a few minutes at a time could offer. I loved getting to see much more of the relationships between characters like Apple and Briar, Raven and Dexter, and of course Apple & Raven themselves.
On the off chance you're unfamiliar with the series, the book focuses on Raven Queen (the Daughter of the Evil Queen) and her desire to avoid becoming evil like her mother. On the opposite stand, is Apple White (The Daughter of Snow White), who desperately wants to see her Happily Ever After come true. For that to happen Raven must accept her …
If you are a fan of the Ever After High doll line or animated shorts, I highly recommend checking out the novel!
It offers a greatly expanded views of the events in the shorts (specifically a retelling of the Show from the characters introductions to the "Legacy Day" special), developing their characters farther than a few minutes at a time could offer. I loved getting to see much more of the relationships between characters like Apple and Briar, Raven and Dexter, and of course Apple & Raven themselves.
On the off chance you're unfamiliar with the series, the book focuses on Raven Queen (the Daughter of the Evil Queen) and her desire to avoid becoming evil like her mother. On the opposite stand, is Apple White (The Daughter of Snow White), who desperately wants to see her Happily Ever After come true. For that to happen Raven must accept her destiny. Apple loves Raven dearly as a friend, but it's become her top priority to get Raven to embrace her evil side. It's an odd game of dealing with being friends when you're destined to hate each other later, and a great adventure as they try to prove whether or not everyone will be doomed if Raven Queen breaks the script. On the way, Raven finds out she might not be the only one who's dreading her destiny.
If I had anything to criticize, it would probably be the Madeline Hatter vs The Narrator chapters. While I know the author was attempting to mimic Maddie's ability to break the forth wall and hear & talk with the Spoken Narrators in the show, it doesn't quite work so well in the book form. Most of the book is written in close third for each chapter, focusing with either Raven or Apple--so the sudden switch the omniscient, mimicking a spoken voice dialogue between the character and author is slightly jarring. It's not horrible, but it does take you out of the story in a way that didn't happen with the animated counterpart. It's a nice reminder that sometimes things that work really well in one medium, don't quite crossover to another.
But that was probably my smallest complaint. The rest of the book shows a great look at the extended cast of the school, as well as their lives. It introduces some great fun with Grimm and Raven's Mother, as well as a view at the character's home lives we haven't seen yet in the show.
I definitely had a smile on my face the entire time, so there's that. :D
This book had lots of puns, was a nice quick read, and I'm very much looking forward to the next book.
I'm a big fan of Ever After High, and I'm happy this is such a great addition to the franchise.
