Gina’s Review: Fairest of All by Serena Valentino

Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen 
written by Serena Valentino
published by Disney Press, 2009

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book: I did enjoy this book, but I will say it is a dark read. It’s not a fluffy retelling of Snow White by any means. It gets into the deep, dark poison apple core of the story. I loved how the wicked queen is portrayed. She’s a woman who has gone through a lot of family drama and trauma. There were a lot of times I sympathized with her and even empathized. I found myself lying in bed hoping she would fight the darkness and become a good queen. However, we all know that the wicked queen in Snow White doesn’t get her happy ending. It’s a short but powerful story that makes me have a newfound respect for the Wicked Queen.

GOLDEN LINE

“After all, she had chosen her path long ago.”

Would I recommend it: Definitely!

 

About the book – from Goodreads: The tale of the young princess and her evil stepmother, the Wicked Queen, is widely known. Despite a few variations from telling to telling, the story remains the same—the Queen was jealous of the girl’s beauty, and this jealousy culminated in the Queen’s attempt on the sweet, naive girl’s life.

Another tale far less often spoken of is the one that explains what caused the Queen to become so contemptuously vile. Still, some have attempted to guess at the reason. Perhaps the Queen’s true nature was that of a wicked hag and her beautiful, regal appearance a disguise used to fool the King. Others claim that the Queen might have hated the girl for her resemblance to the King’s first wife. Mostly, the Queen is painted as a morally abhorrent woman who never loved another being during the course of her miserable life.

In fact, the theories about exactly what cause the Queen’s obsessive vanity and jealous rage are too numerous to catalog. This book recounts a version of the story that has remained untold until now. It is a tragic tale of love and loss, and it contains a bit of magic. It is a tale of the Wicked Queen…