Dewitched: The Untold Story of the Evil Queen by E. L. Sarnoff

Here's a fun mashup of fairy tales: E. L. Sarnoff's Dewitched.  The premise of this one is a lot of fun -- after the evil queen's plans to kill Snow White are thwarted, she's entered into a rehab program, by none other than the Huntsman she had trusted to help her with her wicked plan.  With a steady barrage of familiar fairy tale characters, and lively writing, this one is a page turner.

The only real problem I had with this was the constant use of sexuality and ugliness equating to wickedness among the female characters.  This was all from the viewpoint of the rehabilitated queen, whose thoughts and attitudes don't change so much as she learns to progress from her initial impulses of anger and jealousy.  So I suppose it's a matter of the character, but I felt uncomfortable with the constant uses of the words "skank" and "whore" as derogatory terms.  There is also a whole can of worms about body image here and I didn't feel like the writing handled that in a fully responsible way -- in spite of the premise that the queen must overcome her inability to see inner beauty, there is a consistent use through the book of ugliness or ugly terminology to depict evilness.  So if that is a hot button for you, I would avoid this one.

However, it is a fun romp with a lot of clever writing in terms of the use of fairy tales and sly puns about them.  Some of the throw-away mentions of other tales startled laughter out of me and there are good chuckles throughout the book, both in the fairy tale references and the characters themselves.

It's a light and funny read, with a cute premise and a lot of great cameos.  The book didn't go quite where I was hoping it would, but with some surprising twists near the end it was enough to keep me guessing.  It's only available as an ebook now, and for the low price it's a fun afternoon read.

Snow White and the Huntsman

So the Huntsman.  Mmmm, yummy.

Oh, I'm sorry.  I meant Snow White and the Huntsman.  (But I'll be honest--The Hunstman is the highlight of this movie for me.)

Okay.  So.  Snow White is a little girl, with a father who adores her, and a sweet and loving but sickly mother.  A terrible winter comes to pass, and Mother dies.  And then Father, who is sad and in mourning, gets drawn away from the castle to fight a mysterious army that has appeared.  His soldiers fight the bizarre army (great visuals -- as they break apart you see them turn into mirror shards) and "rescue" the beautiful captive, Ravenna.

Well she doesn't take long to turn on him, poisoning and killing him on their wedding night.  So the castle and kingdom are won by treachery.  Then for some reason she locks Snow White in a tower for 8 years.

We tune back into the action and meet a dirty but just matured Snow White, playing with dolls in the fireplace.

For those of you who dislike Kristen Stewart on principal, I'm not going to try to defend her acting in this movie.  There is honestly a lot of mouth-breathing that I could have lived without.  However, if you are a Kristen Stewart fan, you'll like her in this movie.  I think I fall somewhere in the middle, and I thought she did all right with the accent.  She plays the part pretty subtly, and I'm not sure how well that fits this kind of movie, which I tend to think of as more along the lines of Labyrinth than a purely dramatic piece.

My favorite part of the movie is probably the Enchanted Forest, as its own entity.  I think the lead up to it falls a bit short -- there is some suggestion of magic, like the apple tree that blooms and bears fruit at the same time -- but it's all very subtle, background world-building stuff until BAM "This is the forest where the fairies live!"

I found it a bit abrupt.

But don't get me wrong.  The forest itself is gorgeous.  And if you can shrug and say "Okay, we're in THAT kind of movie now," it works out okay.

It is a much looser interpretation of Snow White than I was expecting.  There is a "prince" character to play along Snow White (the Duke's son) and unfortunately that seems to mostly be in order to give the movie some hint of a love triangle.  (Blah, I've had enough of those.)

The movie succeeds at some of the world-building, giving some great backstory on some of the characters.  And then there are other places where I wanted more -- What has the Duke's son been doing all this time?  How did Snow White stay sane, locked up from the time she was a little girl?  WHY did the evil queen just stick her in a tower in the first place?  (If there had been any indication of Snow White and Ravenna talking during that time period, I think it would have worked.  As it is, it appeared that Ravenna stuck her up there and forgot about her.)

The ending fell totally flat.  And by ending I mean literally the last scene.  I thought about it afterwards and decided it was because they didn't bookend the narration -- Chris Hemsworth has a voiceover, setting up the story at the beginning, and at the end there's just all this staring and no narration.  The last scene was just a big ....

Overall I liked the movie much more than I disliked it.  The use of magpies was brilliant (as they are also white as snow and black as ebony).  Charlize Theron does a stunning job of being insane but strangely sympathetic (as you get glimpses of her backstory and where she came from).  Chris Hemsworth plays a fascinating character, with much more motivation than I was expecting -- he's far from a stock romantic-interest character.  I liked the secondary characters quite a lot, from the village women who scarred their faces so they wouldn't be taken from Ravenna (although that hardly made them ugly as they claimed) to the dwarves and the stories they told.

The film is visually beautiful, from the forest critters to Charlize's wardrobe.  It's certainly worth SEEING.  And I did enjoy the interpretation of the story, although I have heard that there's some confusion about how the whole kissing thing works (but not from fairy tale fans).  I think it's worth watching even if you're not a big Kristen Stewart fan.  It's a creative twist on Snow White and pulls in some other mythology and folklore in both the visuals and the storytelling itself.

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer

Mirror Mirror, a Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josee Massee: This is my new all-time favorite fairy tale picture book. Each page is dedicated to a single fairy-tale story, all of them fairly well known, and each page has a poem that is told once, and then told again in the opposite order, changing the viewpoint and subtly altering the meaning. And it's done brilliantly well.



When I heard about this book I was intrigued, but actually reading it blew me away. Mostly because I was amazed again and again at how did singer DO that?? As I read each poem, my mind automatically started to reverse it, making it not only a fantastic book of creative poetry, but a fun and intriguing mind-game.



Please treat yourself to this book! It's a quick read and so well worth it, and the very essence of exploring alternate viewpoints and twisted tales.

Mirror Mirror

I admit I was not the most enthusiastic of fairy-tale-enthusiasts when I saw the trailer for Mirror Mirror, with its heavy dose of Julia Roberts (of whom I am not a big fan) and seemingly endless slapstick.



But my interest piqued when Once Upon a Blog: Fairy Tale News posted about a very different review that the film had gotten: one comparing the plot to the real life assassination of Indira Gandhi. Suddenly that outrageous swan dress didn't seem so off-putting, and Julia Robert's half-assed attempted accent was something I was just going to have to bear with.

So I coaxed (paid for) one of my friends to accompany me to the little local theater and we sat through the previews talking about how horribly wrong fairy tale adaptations could go. (I'm looking at you, Red Riding Hood.)

And honestly... I ended up really enjoying this film. If nothing else, it's worth going to see in the theater for the lush costumes and stunning set work.



Once I found out about the Indian ties (maybe the director's name should have been my first clue...) it was impossible not to see all the Bollywood Influence. (And I like Bollywood movies; if you're not a fan then I'm not sure how you'd feel about the movie, generally, but it's still interesting from a scholarly/cultural perspective -- always nice to see fairy tales that aren't entirely Western-cultural.)

I think the best way to describe this movie is... kind of cartoony. It's tongue-in-cheek through and through, with the prince even commenting on focus groups. It's hard to say it takes itself seriously, yet it drew me in enough to care about the characters (except the queen, and I'm not supposed to care about her anyway, right?), and I was impressed with the time spent to develop some of the secondary characters, like the dwarves and Snow's mentor Margaret. A lot of fairy tale retellings, especially in film, skim over secondary characters to the point where they are interchangeable.



For me, the biggest downfall of the movie was Julie Roberts, which is no surprise. But even my friend said the accent was pretty atrocious: everyone else seemed perfectly happy to just speak in their native accent but Roberts waffled back and forth between a vaguely British slur to her normal American vocalizations. And honestly I do not feel like the woman understands comedic timing or any of the other fine-tunings that come with getting a laugh out of an audience. If you are a fan of hers this might not be a problem for you so I'll leave it at that.

If you prefer darker retellings, this one won't hold as much appeal -- though I think that Indian Assassination angle is worth looking into (which I honestly haven't done, but hey I am a light scholar at best). Here is one other blog post, from pinayredeemed.blogspot.com, drawing the parallels between the political situation and the movie.

So should you see this? If you are a fan of the Snow White story, yes. This has enough of its own twists to be worthy of a viewing; Tarsem Singh does draw in the modern sensibilities of women rescuing themselves and in the end it's easy to cheer for this Snow White. Should you see this in the theater? I would encourage it -- like I said, the costumes are fabulous and the scenery is just yummy.

ABC's Once Upon a Time (Pilot)

If you are a fairy tale enthusiast like me (does anyone other than that read this blog??) then you have also been looking forward to ABC's new fairy tale mashup, Once Upon a Time. The pilot aired last Sunday, and those of us who are hulu-inclined may or may not have caught up since then.

I watched the first episode yesterday with my husband. There was a bit of cheese involved, some definite hamming, at least in the fairy tale backstory--but not as much as I feared. The early scene that was released as a promotional bit was probably the worst as far as that went, and it was literally the second scene in the episode (where the evil queen comes in and warns everyone that she's going to take away their happy endings).

The show has gotten some mixed reviews, especially as far as mainstream reviewers are concerned, but all of the feedback I've heard from the fairy tale communities has been positive. I'll add my own to that--it's a lot of fun to look for the fairy tale references and see how the characters are spun to be recognizable but modern in the Storybrook, Maine, setting.

Even my husband, who politely indulges my fairy tale obsessions, got to the end of the episode and said, "Wait... so... is the next one out yet?" Which I think is very promising in terms of layman fans of the show.

Here is the trailer, in case you somehow have missed it:

Also it's available on hulu; I'm not sure if they'll have an expiration date with it now--I don't see one at the moment but they do tend to roll five episodes at a time for current network TV.

The Snow Queen's Shadow by Jim C. Hines

The more I read of Jim Hines work, the more I love his writing. If you are a regular reader of this blog, PLEASE do yourself a favor and read his Princess series. You will not regret it!

This is the fourth (and final) installment in the series, and it was good. Really good. Amazing. I was not expecting to laugh out loud, or to cry, and I did both. (Really my eyes just misted up for a moment... I swear.... >.>)

I don't want to tell you too much of the plot, in case you haven't read the previous books. Let me tell you a bit about the characters, instead.

Danielle (Cinderella) is the princess of Lorindar, married to prince Armand. She had a glass sword which never cuts her, the legacy gift of her mother. She knows how to use it. She has a son and the powerful love she has for her family shines through her actions. She is totally the brains of the operation. She still cleans a bit around the palace, out of habit.

Talia (Sleeping Beauty) is gifted with fairy beauty, grace, and charm. And she despises the fairies for it--after all, those gifts lead to the downfall of her family, her 100 years of sleep, and her rape by the prince who "rescued" her. Now she's a fighter, fiercely loyal to her friends, and stubbornly resistant to the use of magic. And she's lost her heart to someone who can't return her love.

Snow (Snow White!) is a powerful sorceress who uses her mirror magic to light their way, see far away places, and more, though the toll of her magic is more than she admits. She is sensual and sexy and sassy, by far the most glib of the three. She has a more serious side, and the effects of her broken heart (her mother killed the one man she really loved) follow her through her more carefree years with Danielle and Talia.

The three of them together form a sort of kick-ass/Charlie's Angels-esque secret agency for Queen Beatrice, and they stop the truly awful magic and political attacks on the Kingdom of Lorindar. Though these books are funny, I would hesitate to call them lighthearted: Hines gives the princesses real stakes, and the consequences for their failures follow them through the series. There is no "and everything went back to normal" at the end of each installation. And because of that, they are more powerful, and will get to you, more than you expect!

As much as I love the cover art (and I do!) I think the covers are a little misleading. You might look at them and think: "Here are some hard-core chicks! All right!" And that's true... but there is a lot of depth to the stories as well, and I'm not sure the covers quite nail just how... good!... these books are.

Unlike perpetual series (which Hines admitted on his blog was his original conception for the Princess novels) which can drag on in a state of limbo, each book in the series gets better. I loved his use in this one, not only of The Snow Queen, but also of Snow White and Rose Red, in a most unexpected manner. The character development and plot were perfect, making the quartet of books one of my all-time favorite fairy tale adaptations. These aren't retellings, per se--most of Hines's books deal with the aftermath of the stories we know. Just what does "Happily Ever After" mean? More trouble, usually--and I think that's part of what makes them more enjoyable that the average retelling.

Please read these! You'll be glad you did, and if you ever have a little girl who is obsessed with Disney Princesses, here are three amazing, charming, and fabulous princesses you can introduce her to, as well.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Snow White

I think deep in my psyche, this is what "Snow White" means to me, more than the Disney version, which never really sank in. No wonder I always forgot about the poison comb: it's not in the FTT version, which only had time for tight ribbons and an apple. (Don't they know that fairy tales work by threes?)

Vanessa Redgrave plays the queen, and Elizabeth McGovern plays Snow White. I have to admit, seeing Rex Smith as the prince was a highlight for me (I am a Pirates of Penzance fan).

It was rather amusing to come straight off Thumbelina's: "Will you marry me?" "I have to think about it," to Snow White's: "Will you marry m---" "YES." Where's the message, Ms. Duvall??

There isn't a lot I can say about this as far as quality: it's standard FTT fare. But it might make a nice alternative to the Disney version if you want something new for the kids. Written with plenty of humor, especially among the dwarves, it's quick enough to keep adults entertained as well.

Snow White and the Seven Samurai by Tom Holt

If you like Terry Pratchett or Jasper Fforde, Tom Holt might also be up your alley, filled with what I like to think of as British humor--rather dry and self-referential.

Our story begins with the wicked Queen's mirror, but when the Queen steps out for a moment, three kid-hackers break into the fairy tale reality and quickly set everything amok when they crash the Mirrors (computer) system.

With plenty of puns and loads of fairy tale references, though mostly well-known tales, this is an enjoyable read. The story is a bit disorganized and the ending is not as fully satisfying as I hoped it would be. However, seeing the stories come together and clash is always one of my favorite things to do, and this book is chock-full of that. If you like mashups of multiple stories, this is a fun one.

Snow by Tracy Lynn

Another installment in the Simon Pulse "Once Upon a Time" series, Snow is Tracy Lynn's retelling of Snow White. It's also one of my favorites of the series, of the ones I've read, with a little more complexity and steadiness of character than I've seen in some of the others.

After the death of her mother, Jessica is largely ignored by her father, so spends her childhood mostly running loose on their estate. Until, of course, her father marries again. As Jessica grows older, her stepmother's jealousy grows stronger, finally putting Jessica in mortal danger.

Lynn has some creative changes to the story, such as Jessica running away to the city instead of the forest, and her alteration of the dwarves, and ideas about the mirror and the other magic are transformed into more of a science-fantasy than a purely magical story.

This, like the other books in the series, is a very quick read, and definitely enjoyable for a fairy tale afternoon.

The Mermaid's Madness by Jim C. Hines

If this cover art doesn't make you want to pick this book up and read it, well, I don't know what would work for you. And Jim Hines has managed, with exceptional talent, to write a sequel that is as good as the first book in his Princess series.

Following the further adventures of Danielle, Talia, and Snow (respectively Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White), the story picks up as Danielle sails with her mother-in-law on a diplomatic mission to the mermaids--which goes terribly wrong, terribly quickly. The three princesses must race to save their Queen and Kingdom in this fast-paced, exciting sequel to The Stepsister Scheme.

The series is one of the best I've seen at genuinely updating the sensibilities of the characters, making them three-dimensional and feminist, while retaining the fun and whimsy--as well as the darker sides--of the fairy tales they draw from.

I am mentioning this book in its own entry because, well, it's awesome in its own right. I suggest reading the books in order, as there is a lot of character and plot development that's consistent through the series. Hines follows this one up with Red Hood's Revenge, and I am looking forward to the fourth installment, The Snow Queen's Shadow, which should be released next July.

Also be sure to check out Hines's blog for more information on upcoming books and a number of other cool topics.

Glasgow Fairytale by Alastair D. McIver

I am especially excited to tell you about this book because the author, Mr. McIver, has been a long-time member of my fairy tale community on LiveJournal. We've had quite a few talks about fairy tales and folklore, so I am just thrilled to see his storytelling in action here.

The story starts as several fairytales begin to act upon one another, with often hilarious results--as, for example, Reggie King decides to take out Snowy White (in a nicely done gender reversal) to be the bonniest man in Glasgow--and he hires none other than Ella McCinders to get the job done.

I won't give too much away, but I will tell you that this is one of the funniest adaptations I've ever read, mixing stories and rearranging the elements to fit McIver's own Glasgow. I giggled out loud frequently, and the Cinderella ball scene is my favorite every Cinderella dance. Also: Best Frog Prince Ever.

McIver's penchant for telling stories is apparent in his prose, which is excellent for reading aloud. As an American reader, I had to sometimes slow down to read the Scottish dialect, but even then it wasn't so heavy that I had trouble understanding it.

This is only available in America through intermediates on amazon.com marketplace, but it IS available, and for an excellent price for a trade paperback. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes mixed up fairy tales and funny retellings. I hope you'll check it out!

Snow White: A Tale of Terror

If you ever wanted to see Sigourney Weaver get her CrAzY on, this is the movie for you. Snow White: A Tale of Terror is a pretty straightforward retelling, but with the creep-factor ratcheted up quite a bit from Disney.

It's not one of those retellings where they tried to explain a bunch of stuff. Things that don't make sense in the original story still don't make sense--that is to say, although the mirror gets briefly mentioned as being from the stepmother's mother. Why or how it's magical is still a mystery. In that sense it's very much like its fairy tale roots--the story is the important thing, the interactions of the characters, not the explanations. Although I like that angle in a lot of other retellings, this one works just as well without them.

There are a few twists, e.g. gold miners instead of dwarves, and instead of a prince, it's one of the miners (the hot one) who is the hero. Even with his help, Snow White (Lilli) manages to rescue herself in the final confrontation with her stepmother, which I appreciate in a world oversteeped with heroes rescuing princesses.

This movie holds a special place in my heart, as I believe it was one of the first non-Disney movie retellings I ever saw, and it may have been one of those little junctions in my life where I realized how much you could do with a basic fairy tale storyline.

And there is some wicked good chemistry thrown in between Lilli and her favorite miner.

Definitely one to check out if you haven't seen it!

Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women by Nancy Madore

I love looking at the amazon.com reviews for sexy books. I always read all the one star reviews because it's fascinating to me to contrast the ones who thought the book was too sexy with the ones who thought it wasn't sexy enough....

But anyway. Nancy Madore's Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women is the first in a series of short story collections, focusing on fairy tales. The second book seems to mainly draw from nursery rhymes, the third from a more general fantasy background. The stories are gently erotic--you won't find anything harshly graphic in this collection.

The collection includes these stories:

Beauty and the Beast

Bluebeard

Cat and Mouse

Cinderella

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Goldilocks and the Three Barons

Mirror on the Wall

Mrs. Fox

Snow White in the Woods

The Empress' New Clothes

The Goose Girl

The Sheep in Wolves' Clothing

The Ugly Duckling

I quite enjoyed the twists on Beauty and the Beast and The Goose Girl. The rest of the stories I found less memorable; some were more clever than others.

Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper

Beauty is a particularly complex fairy tale retelling, touching on Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella, with references to others along the way. From the first time I heard of it, I was determined to read it, but broke. Fortunately I walked past the fiction section at the library and it yelled to me, "Here I am!" from the shelf where it had been waiting for me. True story.

I found this to be a very engaging book, holding my attention through the unusual plot twists. Although Beauty has received some criticism for hosting such disparate elements (from a 14th century princess to a future dystopia) I was utterly captivated while reading. Tepper manages to write an issues book without being preachy (although some readers will disagree with me; I thought the story was in the forefront the whole time, rather than the issues).

Overall, the book was much... BIGGER than I was expecting. Tepper bravely goes to a whole different level with her book. While some feel it's less successful, I have to give her mucho credit for her bold, unique book. It's certainly worth a shot.

Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms Week: The Sleeping Beauty

The fifth book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, The Sleeping Beauty is new as of this July. Touching on both our major "Beauty Asleep" stories, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, the Godmother Lily is keeping a sharp eye on the Kingdom, trying to figure out which way the Tradition will push things--but it seems to like Princess Rosamund for either version, and before she can figure it out, the Princess is whisked out of her sight.

To further complicate things, Prince Siegfried wanders into the kingdom with his own sleeping beauty problems--this one being his aunt, with whom he's supposed to fall in love with, ick. As you might imagine, he's doing all he can to avoid his Traditional fate. This throws another wrench in the works for Godmother Lily, who must do all in her power to persuade the Tradition to work for her before the kingdom's enemies, on all borders, come crashing in.

With a clever plan, and a bit of luck, they all might find a happy ending. Okay, okay, this is a Lackey book... of course they'll find a happy ending, and it won't be entirely outside the realm of predictability, but we're just here to enjoy the ride, right?

Once more, I wish Lackey would stop having her characters explain things to each other, after she's had them think about things to explain them to us. BUT having said that, this is a clever weaving of stories. I especially like the third sleeping beauty aspect, from Norse/German tradition. In her introduction, Lackey recommends checking out Anna Russell's routine, "Ring of the Nebulungs (An Analysis)".

So when I was a couple chapters into the book, I got distracted by the internet (more a reflection on my personal habits than on the book), and decided to look it up. Personally, I recommend watching it before you read the books, if you aren't familiar with Siegfried's story. (If you are familiar, it could go either way.) I'll include it here (three 9ish minute youtube videos) for ease of reference:

(The routine is hilarious. I add my recommendation to Ms. Lackey's, for what it's worth!)

Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire

I have found, in the books of his that I've read, that Gregory Maguire's writing style is a bit... hmm, heavy and slow. That's not to say I don't enjoy his work, and in fact I quite liked Mirror, Mirror. It does take a little more patience than some more accessible stories, so if you haven't read any of his stuff, be prepared for that if you pick something up.

Having said that, he does spin a good story.

This is both the tale of the fair and innocent Bianca de Nevada, and the woman who becomes her guardian, Lucrezia Borgia. Not precisely a stepmother, but something of a mother figure, Borgia is an actual historical figure, whom Maguire has bent a little for the sake of his story. However, the Borgia family was known for poisoning their rivals and being absolutely cutthroat to get what they wanted--so it's not so much a stretch to imagine her as the villain in a Snow White variant.

Maguire's fascination with her comes through, and the story focuses on Lucrezia almost more than Bianca. She comes across as both ruthless and sympathic; it is an excellent character study.

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

Let me just start with: Awesome.

This is the first book in Jim C. Hines' Princess series, featuring a Cinderelle, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty who will have you completely rethinking your Disney versions. These ladies are based on their original prototypes--that is to say, Cinderella (Danielle) can talk to birds, and Snow White's (Snow!--don't ask her if you can call her by her real name!) nemesis is her own mother, not a stepmother. And you probably know what happened to Sleeping Beauty (Talia).

I was beyond impressed with this. It's fast-paced, funny, and interesting, without losing sight of the characters and giving all three of these girls a lot more depth that they usually get. If you haven't read it, please give yourself the opportunity to enjoy it!

Jim C. Hines also has a blog that's great reading.

The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

I just finished reading The Godmother, by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.

I was pretty impressed by how well the fairy tales fit into modern Seattle, and I enjoyed the themes the main character, Rose, pulled out of the book of fairy tales. I won't go into details, but I will say that Cinderella, Snow White, Hanzel and Gretel, Bluebeard, and Puss in Boots all make appearances of various kinds.

I felt like the book wrapped up a little too quickly, something like, "My, this is quite a word count I have! Time to end things!" However, upon consideration, I felt that kind of fit with the rush the characters themselves felt they were in, and to be fair, I did read the second half of the book in one big chunk, after taking several... weeks? to get through the first part. (I'm one of those people who is always reading about 20 books at once.)

In any case, I feel that if you enjoy fairy tales, you'd like this book.