The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen

The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen
by Andrea Cefalo

Published June 1, 2012
280 pages

This book was provided to us by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Snow White was a pet name her mother had given her, but her mother’s dead now. Adelaide hates that name anyway. A rampant fever claimed Adelaide’s mother just like a thousand others in Cologne where the people die without Last Rites and the dead are dumped in a large pit outside of the city walls. Adelaide’s father is determined to obtain a funeral for his wife, but that requires bribing the parish priest, Father Soren. When Soren commits an unforgivable atrocity, he pushes Adelaide to her breaking point, but if she seeks justice against the cruel priest, she risks sacrificing everything: her father, her friends, her first love, and maybe even her life.

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I love all things fairytale, so I was excited when I was asked to review this. That being said, the title confused me a bit. In this version of the Snow White story, Snow is named Adelaide, and she's nothing near a princess. That's fine, not a bit deal, we're talking fairytale here. I expected her to find out about her royalty later in the book. She didn't. Okay, I got past that. The queen in the story, though, is Adelaide's mother, although the book starts with her funeral. Avenging the Queen is a bit of a misnomer.

Once I got past those obvious things, I did really enjoy the story. The setting is richly described, and the characters were interesting. I have to say, my favorite character is Ivo. Yep, he's the "prince"---or rather, the neighbor boy. He's the reason I'll be reading future books in this series.

I can't say this book is for everyone, but if you enjoy period books, stories loosely based on fairytales, and don't mind references to whorehouses and the people and activities within, it's worth a try!

3.5/5 stars