retelling – Feed Me Fiction

Published by HQ – 28th October 2021 (UK)

Synopsis

There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms.

When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary.

But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.

Pages: 1 2

*sigh* I have joined the Maases (he he he)

Published yonks ago (2015) by Bloomsbury

Synopsis (just in case you don’t know)

Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

Review

Yikes! I am so behind with this series!

The ACOTAR series completely passed me by when it came out – I missed it, I didn’t know it existed for a long time but then I kept hearing about it. I resisted still, I thought I had left it too long, that I wouldn’t be the right audience for it and to be honest I didn’t know which books went with which series when it came to Sarah J Maas!

So it took a lot of prodding and encouragement from my fellow readers over on Instagram but I decided this year I was at least going to dip my toe in the Maas worlds (it still took six months after I made the decision). Several people told me to read ACOTAR first and I had seen those beautiful new covers coming out but I just couldn’t wait. I bought the older covers second hand and set out to join in a readalong on Instagram with a few others.

Now I must apologise to the entire reading community and all the Book Gods. I’m sorry I didn’t read this sooner, it was right up my street and I shall always listen to you in future!

I enjoyed it a lot, I loved the instant world-building and how fast-paced the story was. I kept pronouncing Feyre wrong so I’m glad Maas cleared that up in the narrative. Despite having the book split into five sections, I read it in three and I’ve really enjoyed experiencing this for the first time alongside those who have already read the books because they have made me excited to see where it’s going. I have to say I haven’t read any series specifically around faeries that I’ve enjoyed (I tried Cruel Prince and didn’t click with it). Faeries tend to drop in on my reading but don’t take centre stage, especially fantasy novels not set in our world so this was a pretty new phenomena for me.

BUT I’m not going to say it was perfect. After all the comments on the internet and references I had seen everywhere on Bookstagram. I just couldn’t help but notice the breathing and the purring and the tongue clicking. How many times?? I know it is going to get worse and I tried not to focus on it but maaaaan these tiny things are annoying when they pop up in every conversation! My only other drawback was while I was reading I couldn’t help but feel that Feyre fell pretty easily into her new life … yes she thought about leaving at first and then all of a sudden, nope she was cosy. I guess for me, when she first arrived in the Spring Court I thought Feyre could have been a bit more suspicious about what was going on.

From what I can gather, most people say this series gets better so I have all my fingers and toes crossed since the other two books are a bit chunkier than ACOTAR which I have to say was a pretty energetic and adventurous opener. I’m excited to be on this journey and I’m bringing you all along for the ride … sorry! Let’s see what the Night Court is like!

I would also like to stress that this book had some sexual content in it and although it’s labelled as Young Adult … I would not have been comfortable reading this as a teenager!

Also, it is currently less than £2 for Kindle here in case you don’t have a copy …

Goodreads Rating 4 / 5