Novella Review: The Straw King (Dorothy Must Die #0.5)

Release Date: November 10, 2015
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: HarperCollins
Length: 97 pages
Source: Library Audio Book

Once upon a time, the Scarecrow's only wish was to have a brain. This digital original novella is the fifth installment in the prequel arc to the edgy and thrilling New York Times bestsellers Dorothy Must Die and The Wicked Will Rise and follows the Scarecrow after he finally gets his wish.

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow received the gift of a brain from the Wizard and was appointed the new ruler of Oz. In The Straw King, the Scarecrow's tale takes a crooked turn when his reign is threatened. With faith in his newfound wisdom shaken, the Scarecrow will turn to anyone who can help—even if others have their own interests at heart.

The Straw King by Danielle Paige is a dark and compelling reimagining of a beloved classic and is perfect for fans of Cinderby Marissa Meyer, Beastly by Alex Flinn, and Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

    

Review:

Protagonist: When I went into this novella, I expected it to largely take place around the same time as Heart of Tin, and show how the Scarecrow, here nicknamed Scare, became twisted by the gift the Wizard imparted upon him at the end of The Wizard of Oz. Let's just say I was partially right. Scare starts out as a very sympathetic character, he just wants to be the best ruler that he can be. This, Scare thinks, involves a lot of reading. However, when a rag tag group threatens his rule and marches to overthrow the Emerald Palace, slaughtering whoever gets in their way, Scare needs to figure out how to be a good leader and fair ruler. That sounds like a nice, semi-typical, story, but what this character goes through is a bit different. The darkness in Scare comes out softer than with Tin in the previous novella. With Tin, he pretty much started out with his heart being twisted by obsession, with Scare, he more begins to doubt whether his gift even works. With a little push from a particular "Not-So-Good" witch, he'll find just how cunning he can be and what he needs to do to get what he wants. I really liked the development of Scare, don't get me wrong he's in no way a hero, but I liked seeing how knowledge and cunning slowly corrupted him. There were a couple key moments from his development from Straw King to Mad Scientist, but the bits we did see and the development that was shown was very intriguing and compelling.

World Building: This story takes place only a couple years after what I'm just going to call the source material from now on. Anyway, this story does expand Baum's world with Paige's vision as we learn more about the history of Oz, as well as a certain group of all female soldiers who believe that their leader would make a better leader than Scare and use brutal tactics to find a way to take over Oz. While we do see this world expanded a bit, it's honestly not much. This is a very character driven story, but we do get a glimpse into Glinda's master plan and see that she's been working at it for a while.

Predictability: I have to say, while I knew this story would be about the corruption of the Scarecrow, I was not prepared for the surprises and twists that this story holds. Granted they aren't game changing twists that will have lasting consequences in the main series, they're bits in pieces of the story that fit together in ways I wasn't expecting them to.

Ending: As for the ending of this story, well, it wasn't quite the ending I was expecting. I loved seeing how this story came together and how smaller storylines in this series entangle into an amazingly complex web. As this story winds down we learn more about Glinda's master plan, as well as Scare's. Scare has a lot of thoughts in his head, and his thirst for knowledge could lead him down a much darker path, but we already knew that.

Rating:

So I'm giving this story five stars because by itself it's a great and intriguing story of how the Scarecrow became the twisted mad scientist we see in Dorothy Must Die, but honestly other than providing minor context it doesn't seem to have any major significance to the main series. I mean, I know that novellas are essentially supposed to be filler, aspects of the story that aren't vital to the main plot, but I just wished there was some foreshadowing for the main series in these stories or something.

Novella Review: Non-Heir (The Black Mage #0.5)

Release Date: January 24, 2017
Author: Rachel E. Carter
Publisher: Self Published
Length: 138 pages
Source: Purchased e-Book/Audio Book

Prince. Prodigy. Mage.

Perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Falling Kingdoms, and Tamora Pierce.

This prequel novella is set before the events of The Black Mage series. Novella follows Prince Darren as a child through adolescence and his first run-in with Ryiah at the Academy of Magic. Readers discover the dark backstory between the two princes and their father, as well as the ensuing events that shaped Darren into the Academy’s most prodigal mage.

    

Review:

Protagonist: This story is about a young boy named Darren, he's second in line to his country's throne and his father is a sick monster of a man. Honestly, while I like Darren more or less, it's more that I feel sorry for what he has to deal with, his father's an abusive dick, his brother shows some psychotic tendencies, on top of all that he has to be the best at whatever he does or he'll face his father's wrath. I just want to give him a hug and tell him everything is gonna be alright. As the story progresses his personality starts to harden and it kind of comes on pretty fast. It's not that his character is uneven or develops super quickly, there's a few time jumps in this book as well as key moments in his life to explain why he's changed, but it still felt a bit rushed to me.

World Building: So, going into this novella, I thought I could read it before First Year, and still get something out of it, but really, this is something to better read after you've read the first book. This story acts mainly as a character study for Darren and explains, presumably, why he's such a douche in the first book. (Again, that's just guess work, I haven't read Book 1 yet.) In the end, while I did really enjoy this story, and I do feel like it did introduce me to this world and pique my interest for the rest of the series, I just think I would have appreciated it more had I read Book 1 first.

Predictability: So, since this story is really mostly a group of short stories to act as a character study there isn't all that much in this book to act as twists or turns. I do have to say though that the beginning was a bit confusing since it was almost told in a non-omniscient third person and it took a little while to get into the names. Overall, there were some very interesting points to the story, but nothing that really shocked me, unless you consider being baffled at how big of a pile of human garbage the king is a shocker.

Ending: Again, since this serves as more of a character study than anything else, the ending wasn't a huge final climax that builds everything to a head and spells what's to come next in this series. Instead, the reader is treated to what I can only guess are scenes from the first book told from Darren's point of view, and the story just sort of ends after a certain scene. I wasn't necessarily disappointed by this, but since I don't have as much emotional investment in these characters that I would have if I read the first book, it was just sort of meh.

Rating:

Okay, so this story was very entertaining and emotionally scarring, but my biggest take away from this book is that for me to fully appreciate this story I should read the first full book, so after the BookTube-A-Thon, I'll pencil in time to start this series, because honestly, it looks pretty interesting.

Novella Review: Before the Snow (Stealing Snow #0.1)

Release Date: July 26, 2016
Author: Danielle Paige
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Length: 81 pages
Source: Library eBook

Enter a world of elemental magic, forbidden romance, and betrayal in this prequel to New York Times bestselling author Danielle Paige's upcoming Stealing Snow.

Young Nepenthe is half-princess, half-mermaid. Though she longs for the sea, her father wants her to stay on land. But only love can make a mermaid give up the water, and Nepenthe doesn't love anyone the way her mother loves her human father. She wants to live as a mermaid and become the River Witch, like her mother.

Then Nepenthe meets Prince Lazar, the son of the all-powerful Snow King of Algid, and she can't help but fall for him. After a horrible tragedy strikes, Nepenthe joins forces with a young fire witch named Ora to save Lazar and protect the kingdom. But it soon becomes clear that Ora loves Lazar just as much as Nepenthe does... And now Nepenthe must decide: inherit the power of the River Witch, or betray her friend to be with the boy she loves.

And Nepenthe's role in the prophecy is only just beginning. . . In the future, she is destined to cross paths with a girl named Snow, who will have the power to change Algid forever - for better, or for worse.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Nepenthe has lived her whole life with a choice hanging over her head. Born of two different worlds Nepenthe can choose to either succeed her father as the ruler of her kingdom on land or live in the water and succeed her mother as The River Witch. Nepenthe lived on the line between land and river, but after tragedy strikes her choice seems to be made for her. That is until years later she meets Prince Lazar and develops feeling for him, feelings that her best friend Ora seems to share. Now her choices are confused and she's not sure where she'll belong. I really liked Nepenthe, she's not a character who has everything worked out, and she feels such strong pulls toward land and water, and yet doesn't know quite what to do. Even though her life spirals into a bit of a mess, she's still a strong character who won't compromise her morals to get what she wants.

Romance: To say this romance is complicated is a bit of an understatement. Since this is such a short story, at least compared to most novels, there isn't all that much time to properly develop a one on one romance, let alone a love triangle, but I have to say that Paige does a pretty good job. This is mostly due to the fact that Paige doesn't pretend that any of these feelings are pure, there's always something underneath that almost corrupts these romances, something that either one or the other values above the love they claim to have. It's really interesting to read it because even though things are going fast, it still, in some small way, makes sense.

World Building: This story takes place before the official first installment in this series. In it, we're introduced to a few really interesting plot points. First is a prophecy that I'm sure we'll see a lot more of in the main series, but it does give a taste of what's to come. Also, we're introduced to a character who will, supposedly, have a role to play in the main series and will come into contact and (maybe) give some guidance to our main heroine. I have to say it was interesting getting to know this world. I was pleased to see that The Snow Queen isn't the only fairy tale that exists and is referenced in this world. Nepenthe's mother is none other than "The Little Mermaid" who apparently got a much happier ending than the one in the original Hans Christian Anderson version. I loved the magic system and the role that magic plays, not only in this story but in this fantasy world at large.

Predictability: I have to say that this story isn't really predictable. I was expecting something that fit in much more with the fairy tale retellings and other YA stories that are out there today, and while I'm sure there are quite a few that would have similar parallels to this story, it's not something that's the norm. Since I didn't quite know where the story was going, there were a variety of different twists ranging from the surprising to the utterly shocking. I'm trying to figure out if there was anything that I was correctly able to guess ahead of time, but in all honesty there probably wasn't.

Ending: I love how self-aware this story is. The author writes it in such a way that it's no secret that this isn't your classic fairy tale and the ending shows that as well. There are steep prices these characters have to pay for the choices they make as this story comes to a close and sets in motion an ancient prophecy. The final climax of this story isn't so much an epic battle as it is something where we get answers to some burning questions. Then the story flows into an ending. there isn't really a cliffhanger and yet things aren't really tied up since this story is just a precursor to the main series.

Rating:

If you've been reading my reviews for a while now and couldn't tell, I'm a huge fan of fairy tale retellings and if the main novel is half as good as this novella seems to indicate it is I'm sure I'll love this fresh take on The Snow Queen.