Beauty (Tales from the Kingdoms #3) - Sarah Pinborough

BEAUTY is a beautifully illustrated re-telling of the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the ancient curse, the beautiful girl and, of course, the haunting castle) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. 

It's fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more.

What did I think?

It took me a while to move on to this final book of the Tales from the Kingdoms, but knowing me this would be down to my Cinderella moment when as a 3 year old child I was crying my eyes out at the end as 'I didn't want it to finish'.   I just have to say it one more time: these books published by Gollancz must be the most beautiful hardback books I have ever seen.  Just look at them:

Although ultimately a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Beauty has a proper mixed bag of fairytales in it.  So whichever was your favourite as a child, and you didn't read about them in Poison and Charm, chances are your favourite fairytale character will appear in Beauty.  

I do love the TV show Once Upon A Time, so I was thrilled to find Rumpelstiltskin (dearie) appearing unexpectedly in Beauty.  I loved how Sarah Pinborough brought a little bit extra to his character but I'll not say any more as it will spoil the story.  This is my definitely my favourite of the three Tales from the Kingdoms, it's an absolutely genius characterisation of 'the beast' - so simple yet so clever.

I love reading adult fairytales - although loosely based on our childhood favourites, they remind us of happier innocent times when anything was possible and our imagination could run wild.  With the addition of 'adult' to 'fairytales', you do get a more risqué version of your favourite childhood classic so any demure readers should be prepared to be shocked and slightly uncomfortable.

Beauty is fabulous escapism fiction that will awaken your inner child and allow your imagination to have free reign while you escape from the real world and visit a faraway kingdom from once upon a time.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Charm (Tales from the Kingdoms #2) - Sarah Pinborough

CHARM is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Cinderella story which takes all the much-loved elements of the classic fairytale (the handsome prince, the fairy godmother, the enchanted mouse, the beautiful girl and, of course, the iconic balls) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires.

This is fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more.

What did I think?

Sarah Pinborough has flipped fairytales on their head with this modern adult retelling of Cinderella.  The whole book feels like a fairytale with the opening chapter entitled, Once Upon a Time, but don't be misled as this is Cinderella but not as you know her.

There are many familiar figures such as Buttons and the handsome prince but Cinderella herself is spoilt and selfish, her step-sisters aren't ugly and the fairy godmother isn't very friendly.  There is a huge sprinkling of magic with the enchanted glass slippers and their effect on the prince - if Cinderella wants to live happily ever after she'll never be able to take these slippers off.

Cinderella's relationship with the prince isn't all that it seems.  Cinderella was infatuated with him and kept a photo of him beside her bed, but in reality he is flat and boring.  His heart doesn't belong to Cinderella and when Cinderella follows him through the castle one night she gets quite a shock at what he is hiding.  I had guessed the prince's secret, having read Poison, the first book in the series, but guessing early didn't spoil my enjoyment in any way.

The only thing that spoiled it for me was the reappearance of the wicked queen at the end; you can change the fairytales around to your heart's content but I'm sorry the wicked queen does not have a heart and she'd better not be the one to live happily ever after!

Beautifully illustrated throughout, Charm is the second book in the Tales from the Kingdoms series, and is an imaginative, fun and mischievous adult fairytale.  I bought the full set in hardback and I'm sure you will agree they are quite a stunning set.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

Poison (Tales from the Kingdoms #1) - Sarah Pinborough

POISON is a beautifully illustrated re-telling of the Snow White story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and, of course, the poisoning) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. It's fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more.

What did I think?

After reading my first Sarah Pinborough book, Behind Her Eyes, I couldn't resist looking through her back catalogue.  The amazing cover of Poison caught my eye and once I knew it was an adult retelling of the fairytale, Snow White, I just had to buy it.  Even better, it's part of a trilogy with Charm (Cinderella) and Beauty (Sleeping Beauty) completing the set.  I have to say that if you want to read these books, do go for the hardbacks as the colours when they catch the light are simply magical.

There is enough of the original Snow White story to be recognisable, with the huntsman, dwarves and poison apple, but Sarah Pinborough has cleverly embellished and twisted it to make this a story of Snow White as never told before.

It's actually hard to review this without giving away any of the plot.  Ah but we already know the story of Snow White, you say...not this version you don't.  Will Snow White get her happily ever after in this twisted tale?  I'm not saying but suffice to say it captivated and entertained me from start to finish.  At the appearance of the poisoned apple, I would have clapped my hands with glee if it didn't mean putting the book down.  Not that I meant ill to Snow White, but we all know how the story goes...or do we?

Poison is fun, ingenious and risqué and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of Once Upon a Time.  I can't wait to read the next two in the series.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon