The Quick Cut: A girl learns the truth about her origins and battles with the person she is destined to become.
A Real Review:
Do we have control over where we end up or is that entirely in the hands of fate? It's a question that has been debated for centuries and no one truly knows the answer. Some even try hard to fight and make a point of showing that they are the only ones who control their destiny. When destiny says you're bound to be an evil sorceress, wouldn't you fight that? This is the battle that Everly Morrow fights against when she finds out her true origins.
Everly Morrow lives in the mortal realm with her twin sister, mom, and mother's boyfriend. However, she is no mere mortal. Unbeknownst to her and her sister, they are both princesses from the land of Enchantia, where magical creatures are real and fairy tales are the destinies that the people are bound to play. So when their past comes a calling and the family needs to go back to Enchantia, their mother tells them the truth: that Everly is destined to become one of the roles in the Snow White tale and all the signs point to her being the Evil Queen. Will she become an evil sorceress like everything is pointing to? Or can she fight fate and make her own way?
I love how this story tells a very important truth in life (fictional or not): villains aren't born, they're created. No one wakes up and decides to be a bully; they become one after undergoing their own personal hells. As someone who was bullied as a kid, I can relate to how hard it is not to villainize the people who make our lives hard. But it's a truth that needs to be seen and heard and this book does an excellent job of showcasing that with Everly's story. She doesn't become who she is because she wants to be mean or evil: she becomes that way because of the labels people place on her and treat her as such. Its so heartbreaking and as a reader, it pulls you into the battle happening internally in Everly.
While I enjoyed the story, there are so many different characters that at moments I had a difficult time keeping track of them all. Some names are similar, which only makes that harder. I wish that the author did a more detailed process of differentiating each one. It would have made staying into the story much easier to do.
A fairy tale based thriller that puts you in the eyes of the villainous.
My rating: 4 out of 5