Five Poisoned Apples

Title: Five Poisoned Apples: A Collection of Snow White Stories

Series: Rooglewood Fairytale Collections (Book #4)

Year: 2018

Summary: A TALE SO DARK AND LOVELY. 

Falling Snow: The strange dark circus is the only life she’s ever known—but is Snow a performer or a prisoner? 

Raven’s Heir: Taking her in could risk the lives of his rebel band—but how can Damien leave the young woman at the huntsman’s mercy? 

The Fairest One: Her people look for the prophesied Fairest One—but can Livna find courage to step out of the shadows and save her nation? 

Red as Blood: He’s been hired to assassinate the princess, no questions asked—but how can Zaig take the life of one so young, so innocent? 

Snowbird and the Red Slippers: She longs to be worthy of the scholarship that changed her life—but can Jeong Hayan survive the bitter rivalry of a prestigious New York dance school? 

Experience the haunting beauty of Snow White in five thrilling retellings.

Falling Snow // Skye Hoffert

If I'm to be honest, I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. With the current rage about circus stories going around the entertainment world lately (The Greatest Showman, Dumbo [remake], The Electrical Menagerie, etc.), this story is just what everybody wants. Circus excitement, but with a Snow White twist.

Snow is only one among many performers working to do what they can to entertain the crowds. She's hoping to teach herself to become a tightrope walker, since the pay is higher and that will enable her to eventually leave the show business forever. But for now, she's stuck being a clown with seven dwarves.

Chayse is one of the fae. His mother runs the circus, and is the person of power and beauty at the top of everything. He knows that Snow is the only human in the entire circus (though the poor girl has no clue), and it's his job to watch her. Until someone else shows up unexpectedly and starts to take away that job.

This story was extremely well-paced and fun. True, it's pretty gritty since it includes things such as smoking, drinking, and hints of sexual issues. Overall, though, I'd have to say it handles everything well, and it fine for audiences probably around 14 and above.

I think the tale of Snow White fit really nicely into the circus, particularly with all the fae and magic there. I was a little confused at how Snow was so important to the queen (maybe I somehow missed that part, or there's something about the fae I didn't quite understand), but the twist on the huntsman's scene was brilliance. I loved how all of the original Snow White elements were incorporated, and was not disappointed with the ending. It is truly a Snow White for this generation.

Grit and all, I have to give it a 5 out of 5 stars.

Raven's Heir // Jenelle Hovde

Ahh, the Snow White adventure. I really loved this one. Even though there wasn't an epic quest exactly in this story, it felt most like an epic quest kind of story. And slightly more the huntsman's story than actually Snow White's, so it was cool to get to see more of the Snow White characters brought to life. This story is vying for my favorite in the collection, honestly. These are all just TOO GOOD.

Kara is the heir to the throne, only -- in true Snow White fashion -- her stepmother has taken over and now wants her dead. Succumbing to the evil queen's power isn't an option (obviously), so Kara must flee and find help among the outcasts.

Damien is the son of an outcast noble. And a dead noble, at that, accused of murdering the king, Kara's father. His main motive is to stay invisible to the eyes of society, but he's doing his fair share of rebellious work on the side. When an expected messenger from an old friend turns out to be the runaway princess, Damien knows he has the beginnings of a huge fight on his hands. The queen doesn't allow any to escape her, and it's only a matter of time before the huntsman tracks them down.

My only complaint with this story is the length. Honestly, the first half or so felt like it was building up to a great epic novel, and then (due to the contest's limitations) it rounded out under 20K words. Which was still extremely satisfying, but the end felt a bit rushed. I loved how the author wove all the original Snow White elements into the tale, and it felt absolutely appropriate to be a part of this collection.

Definitely violence/fighting/some bloodshed in this one. Nothing seemed too terribly graphic. However, there were some dark magic elements that made the story feel more mature. Snow White is a tale dark and lovely, and this one was no exception to that description. The magic felt similar to some other retellings that I've read, like Melanie Dickerson's works or Jessica Day George's, so anyone who's a fan of those authors wouldn't have a problem with the magic here. It made sense to have the magic as part of the story considering how the author chose to adapt Snow White.

Though I wish it could have been longer, it's another 5 stars from me.

The Fairest One // Cortney Manning

Unexpectedly, this one contends for my favorite of the collection. I never would have thought it possible. The story started off immediately feeling like it was set in Lewis's Tashbaan and Calormen empire, but it quickly spiraled off into a completely unique Snow White tale.

Princess Livna only wants her father's approval. She's done her best to be obedient and the perfect princess, but he's never really seemed to notice her. That is, until the emperor announces he's looking for a wife (Cinderella-esque style), and her father unexpectedly agrees to her request to attend the grant ball. Even though she doesn't want the emperor's hand in marriage, her attendance could gain her the attention from her father that she craves.

Oren is a dwarf. He's very opinionated. He's also been kidnapped and forced to use his dwarven abilities to the new queen's advantage. His main talent is changing appearances, so she finds him extremely useful when it comes to standing as the fairest in the land. Oren's only friend is the Princess Livna, but even she doesn't seem to be important enough to help free him from the queen's clutches.

And then after the emperor unexpectedly (but predictably) chooses Livna as one of the girls selected to go to his palace as a contender for his wife, things spiral out of control, and Livna finds herself fleeing for her life, with Oren as her guide.

Other than the queen/stepmother and her fabled beauty, the beginning of this story doesn't taste much like a Snow White retelling. But it's well-paced and keeps interest long enough until the Snow White elements smack you in the face and make you feel stupid for not having noticed them sooner. The reason this story is probably my favorite of the collection is because of how the author snuck all the original Snow White elements into the story. The dwarves, the mirror, the beauty, the apple! AND then we've also got the comb that most retellings seem to appropriately forget. What's not to love? This is one of my favorite Snow White retellings to date, and I'm actually looking forward to reading it again. And again.

Advisory: Fantasy action/violence and dark magic. The dwarves have magical abilities that feel very much like the talent of Tolkien's elves from LOTR.

I can say nothing more than 5 well-deserving stars.

Red as Blood // Maddie Morrow

This story scared me. I'm not into vampires or that sort of character at all, and I almost skipped reading this story. I skipped the zombie story in the Beauty and the Beast collection (mainly because I was suffering vivid pregnancy dreams at the time and zombies were the number one nightmare), but since I had received a copy of this collection for the purpose of review, I felt I needed to hold my breath and jump in.

I still don't like vampires, but this story surprised me in a way I never thought possible. Honestly. Wow.

Even though Raven's Heir previously felt like a good bit of the huntsman's story, this is the true huntsman's story of the collection. Zaig is our charming rogue, assassin, huntsman, tracker, etc. While he's not crazy about his line of work, it keeps a roof over his head and food on the table. But when a mission from the queen herself comes within his grasp, he can't ignore it for the glittering pile of reward promised behind one last kill. As it is, he is the best in the business, and the queen only wants the best. The mission? Take the princess out into the woods and kill her, bringing her heart back to the queen as proof of her death. Oh, yeah, and he also shouldn't let the princess kiss him.

And true to the original fairytale, Zaig can't complete the murder. Instead, he takes Princess Ailda to hide out at his old lumberjack stomping grounds and brings back a pig's heart instead. Surprisingly, the queen buys his lie, and everything looks like it's home-free for Zaig.

That is, until his timber friends helping hide Ailda from the queen start dying one by one, and the queen is the main suspect.

I never thought vampires could work so well as a Snow White retelling, but IT WAS PERFECT. I'm so at war with myself right now since I want to loathe every vampire story, but this story was just so well done. I loved the every little twist of the fairy tale elements, and AHH. I'm still kinda in shock at how perfect it was.

Obviously, advisory on the violence. Yes, there's vampires, and, yes, there's blood. I would definitely rate this the most violent and bloody of all the stories in this collection, and some of the graphic description is not for the weak at heart. The supernatural elements of the vampires felt very much like Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball, so anyone who's a fan of that and doesn't mind some blood would really enjoy this story.

Argh. Vampires. BUT IT WAS SO PERFECT. *shakes head* 5 stars.

Snowbird and the Red Slippers // Rachael Wallen

This story... what to say? Overall, I liked it, but it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the collection. After all the epic Snow White retellings with action and intrigue and mystery and danger, this one was just... almost shallow and too calm. Getting into this story was actually kinda confusing. In many ways.

Jeong Hayan has left her Korean home to make a new life in America, and her fondest wish is to become the best-trained dancer. She has an uncanny talent that is super unique to any fairy tale ever written: she can sense the emotions of clothes and shoes and similar objects. She's not outspoken or overly ambitious, but another dancer in her school seems to have singled her out for torment and whatever pain she can inflict. The only thing brightening Jeong's (turned American name, Snowbird) days are a vibrant pair of red ballet shoes that crackle with life, hope, and danger. Shoes that are the color of blood.

This story focused on our Snow White character, Snowbird, almost exclusively. I really liked how the author incorporated the under-used elements of the comb and corset that many retellings often ignore. Here, they're perfectly situated as a tiara and a bodice. With the slippers themselves, it all felt very well suited to a Snow White tale, given that Snowbird can sense their emotions.

Intertwined with Snowbird's story is another tale of a Snow Maiden who became the secret dancer who mysteriously disappeared. And possibly died. The story itself feels like a fairytale and doesn't make sense until the end of the story when PLOT TWIST! And spoilers. I do like how that all came together, but I can't say much more on that.

I mentioned before that I felt that this story didn't fit with the others in the collection. After the rush and adventure and danger of the previous tales, this one started VERY SLOWLY. To me, the first two chapters at least could have been condensed down into a couple paragraphs. Other sections of the tale are pretty wordy, with not much moving the plot along. My other complaint is that the main character didn't seem to have a ton of development. We got to know Snowbird little by little throughout the story, which was great, but other than a bit of confidence and courage, she was still pretty much the same character at the end. Many of the other characters felt like they were superfluous and could have been written out completely without much changing the story at all. To be honest, after such great stories at the start of this collection, I was disappointed to end with this one. There, I said it. Sorry, folks. A very well done retelling, but it didn't fit. In its defense, however, it was well-received by many other readers.

Therefore, a sad 4 stars for this one.

~*~*~*~

Overall: This was a strong conclusion to the Rooglewood fairytale contests. I was never a huge fan of Snow White, but I will always hold this collection dear since it was the first contest that I personally entered. (I'd started stories for each of the contests, but never actually came through with entering a finished story for any of them.) Each of the stories was perfectly unique, so that you remember each one vividly after reading all of them straight through. And I think this is the perfect collection for any avid fairytale enthusiast. Definitely darker as a whole (and advisably for slightly more mature audiences) when compared to the other Rooglewood collections (though, I confess, I've not read the Sleeping Beauty one yet), but beautiful and rewarding nonetheless. This may very well be my favorite Rooglewood collection.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*

*Apology to the publisher: This review was supposed to be completed and published by December 10, 2018. Due to a busy holiday season of getting sick, having no internet for two weeks, and helping my parents move, I was unable to complete this review until now.*