Ravenspire Series

The Ravenspire series by C. J. Redwine is a fun, YA level collection of fairy tale reimaginings.

Luckily, this is a series in that they all take place in the same world and have little nods to each other, but the stories are completely independent and do not need to be read in order. They each take place with different characters in different countries, with only the occasional name drop of characters from other stories to tie the world together. There is also the bounty hunters Hansel and Gretel who are a lot of fun and show up to do their jobs in all but the first book.

Since they can be read in any order, I'm also going to talk about them out of order, from my most favorite to my least.

"Shadow Queen" (Snow White, book 1) was the book I started with, is my favorite, and is the most separate from the rest of the series. I don't know if it is the case or not, but if you told me that this book was written before the author decided to make it a series, I would easily believe you. Several of the changes made to the generally known story were ones I really appreciated, such as giving Snow White her own agency and giving the huntsman a backstory and motivation that are relatable, which help make him a real character. Plus, it has dragons.

"Blood Spell" (Cinderella, book 4) has a lot of the same elements I loved from book 1. Cinderella has agency, stands up for what she believes in, and finds that balance between being kind and being a pushover. I also appreciated that the timeline was shifted so you get to see Cinderella and her prince come to know each other and fall in love over time rather than in an evening. I also like the way Redwine addressed the "her shoe could fit a lot of people" issue.

"Wish Granter" (Rumpelstiltskin, book 2) has a lot of good elements. I think the villain is well crafted, the characters loveable, and the love story is very sweet. Unfortunately, there was something a little off for me with this one. Some of it is due the pacing, which is a bit stop and go, especially in the beginning. Some of it may also be that this reimaging told a new story, with reference to the one we know as something that had already happened. I'm not particularly invested in the Rumpelstiltskin story, but I think I kept waiting for the story versions to match up the way the others did.

"Traitor Prince" (False Prince/Prince and the Pauper, book 3) is the weakest of the set for me. The pacing really hurt this one, and the first half of the book dragged like crazy for me. So much so that it took me a couple of tries to get through this one. I will say, the characters are still very well done, and the romance is quite sweet. So, once the story picked up, it was quite enjoyable. Also, since the main character here was raised to rule, we're able to get a bit of better sense of the wider world they live in.