I think villain origin stories or stories told through the villain's POV are a fantastic subgenre or retellings, and although this book's premise was amazing, the execution, not so much. I am typically a Showalter fan, I have read from both her YA and Adult series, so I was eager to get to this retelling, but I would start, and just forget about the book once I put it down. Perhaps if it was a hundred pages or so shorter, but it was a slog. I actually really liked Everly as the protagonist - the idea of who you are - whether it is fated or you have free will is such a great theme to delve into and the fact that Everly was assumed the "evil" twin while they were in the "real" world, she leaned into that and when she and Hartly were whisked away to the world they actually belonged in (very Snow White-like with A LOT of fantastical creatures) she stopped at nothing to protect her sister - whether Hartly needed it or not. The main romance was very insta-love (which I hate - I don't mind instant attraction, we are human after all) I would have rooted for them more if it was a slow burn despite their differences, although those differences were negligible once they got to know each other better. I think those who are fans of romantasy will definitely enjoy this but I like my retellings at a much faster pace.

Gena Showalter is an evil genius. This book had so many twists and turns. And I loved how she flipped typical good and bad on its head. You could see things from many different perspectives. I liked that it wasn't the hing you would expect.
It was new and fresh. And I absolutely loved the idea of muddling the lines of what we concider the right and wrong sides. How perspectives and actions can change or alter those things.

The Evil Queen is a great fantasy read that keeps you entertained until the very end.

In the realm of Enchantia, creatures of legend still exist, magic is the norm, and fairy tales are real.

Raised in the human world, Everly Morrow has no idea she’s a fairy-tale princess—until she begins to commune with mirrors. Soon, a horrifying truth is revealed. She is fated to be Snow White’s greatest enemy, the Evil Queen.

Everly is just a normal girl… who can see people in her mirror. There’s a girl that she calls Angel who she watches in her compact, little does she know that Angel lives in an enchanted realm and just be Snow White. If Angel is Snow White, is Everly the Evil Queen? Gena Showalter has created another epic YA fantasy. This unique fairytale retelling is gripping if a little under executed. The dialogue was cringe worthy at best, and the book was way too long, but the plot was good. Ultimately, it’s a fun escape novel for readers who have the time to read it.

I was a huge fan of shows like Once Upon a Time and other twisted fairy tales, so this book was super exciting for me. I really enjoyed Everly's story and seeing a new fantasy world!

I liked that this was an actually fresh take on Snow White and not just another retelling with a twist. I enjoyed the Evil Queen's backstory and was pleasantly surprised with where Showalter took the story. I will definitely be reading the second installment.

YA is tough for me to review because I tend to either find the books wonderful or cringy. The Evil Queen was a fun read and had an inventive take on fairytale stories. There were a few cheesy parts, but overall I would definitely want to check out the next in the series.

It took me a long time to really sit down with this book. I started it a couple times but, maybe it was just me, the beginning past the prologue just wasn’t working for me. The vibe threw me off.

Once we get into the fairytale setting though, meeting and interacting with all the characters and their interplay with Everly really drew me in. I loved the concept and the love story and the evil drama. I’m a sucker for angst and emotional upheaval. And it was a constant uphill climb for Everly and I was on board with the way she handled it. Made for great reading.

The idea that everyone is a character in a fairytale but we’re not sure who is supposed to be who was great. But I didn’t like how it slotted out and was explained at the end. It was too messy and a bit of a letdown.

Overall though, I had a great time reading it and once I was sucked in it went fast. Ticked the majority of my YA Fantasy boxes and the cast of characters were fun. I’d definitely recommend giving it a try and I’m curious for more in the series.

I LOVE IT. first of all I’ve always been interested in villain centered narratives and this is one of the best I’ve read! So SO good!

I tend to fall in love with the misunderstood villains in stories, so it would make sense that I absolutely adored this retelling.

Love retellings and when I saw this was compared to the show once upon a time I knew I had to read it. I love when stories make you root for the 'villian' definitely recommend.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel! This will be a spoiler-free review so I suggest if you're looking for something super in depth to check out a spoiler review!
First, I love the concept of this work. That is what initially drew me in! I truly love Disney villains so a retelling/reimagining is absolutely up my alley. However, I would like to say that the dialogue felt a bit young for the potential audience. It also could have absolutely done with a slow down of the pacing--it felt like the story was flying by too fast without giving me a chance to become invested in the plot and the characters. I completely understand that the target audience for this novel is YA, but even then the dialogue felt really, really young (it read more as a mid/high middle grade in terms of the dialogue). I think this was a case of amazing concept with slightly subpar execution, but it was overall still a fun read. If the youngness of the dialogue/character development doesn't irk you I would highly suggest giving this a chance! This wasn't my favorite, but I love this author and I will absolutely be checking out more by her in the future.

I was listening to a podcast where Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole were being interviewed and when Ms. Showalter described the book she was working on at the time, The Evil Queen, it literally gave me chills! It sounded utterly fascinating to me to get the wicked Snow White queen’s backstory and understand why she is the way she is and what her motivations for everything were. I love getting the villain or what you perceive to be the villain’s story because they’re so complex and thought-provoking. I was chomping at the bit to read this and though I thought I would dive in as soon as I got it, I put it off because I had such high, high expectations for The Evil Queen and while I knew Ms. Showalter would deliver an excellent book no matter what, I was still a little worried that it wouldn’t live up to the hype I’d built up in my head. I really should not have been nervous at all though, because from the very moment I started reading, I knew it was going to be worthy and I was extremely excited to continue on. The Evil Queen was truly even better than I was hoping for and I could not have imagined a better book — it was incredible!

There were so many things I loved about The Evil Queen, but one of the aspects that I loved the most was the world building. The world of Enchantia is so huge, complex, and detailed that I was just in awe of it. There was no part of it that wasn’t fully developed or well-thought out. The world and the plot really just blew me away.

The Evil Queen brought out all my emotions from frustration and heartbreak to amusement and happiness. It had me on the edge of my seat, glued to the pages and kept me guessing until the very end. The Evil Queen was stunning, intriguing, and outstanding. It is easily one of my favorite reads of the year and I can’t wait for more from this series to come!

~ Sonja, 5 Stars

This book was so much fun to read!

I am a bit leery when it comes to fairy tale story retellings but for some reason, I really enjoyed this one. To be honest, Snow White is one of my least favourite fairy tales but I found this revamped modernized verson interesting and refreshing. I like the focus on the Evil Queen but I also really enjoyed how the author created her complex character. She wasn't all good or all bad and at times she could be contrary and sarcastic. I think one of the things that appealed to me with the story was the psychology behind the Evil Queen's behavior and actions. I could relate to how an action by someone else can affect one's behavior in the sense of putting on false fronts to fool people. I'll make you hate me because you are going to hate me anyway mentality. I don't usuallly read the second book in a series unless I really liked the previous book in the series. I will be reading book 2.

This is one of those books that I picked up and was immediately angry with myself for not picking this up the moment that I got it! I loved the other YA series I’d read by Gena Showalter, the Everlife trilogy. I think that I searched for someone to have a copy of this on Twitter for a books for trade deal, and was lucky enough to get it. In fact, when I finished this, I immediately jumped onto Twitter again and reached out to see if there had been any physical ARCs of the second book that came out this past fall. Because I’d love to have a matching set!

Now when I started, I didn’t realize that this was not only going to be a fairy tale world for a setting, Enchantia, but that it also would begin in the real world that we are in, a world with no magic, that we know of. Basically the main character finds out that she is part of the Snow White fairy tale, but isn’t exactly sure what character she is. She believes she is the evil queen, hence the title, for the majority of the book. And something that we learn with this story, something I’ve seen in a lot of the reimagining stories for villains, is that we are all heroes in our own stories, and others are the villains. I loved the way this story handled that, and how it made it all work in the end.

I totally was on Everly’s side for the story. But I was also wanting her not to do the vengeance actions she was going to do when she decided to just own the character everyone had pushed her into becoming. And oh did I love Prince Roth Charmaine. I was so mad at him during certain parts, but really, I just adored him by the end.

This book really had everything. There was humor, but there were also so many moments I was moved to tears on Everly’s behalf. The world was beautifully written, so vivid. I think this would be a great tv series. Similar to the tv show that I did watch all but the last seasons of, Once Upon a Time. Loved, loved, loved, and now I need the second book!

I;m a big fan of retellings, and especially a fan of villain-centered narratives. But the book is fairly flat, with ridiculous and unrealistic teens. Nothing really sets it apart from other retellings or young adult fantasies.

Thank you to netgalley.com for an advanced Reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I liked this book. I liked the concept a lot it definitely speaks to my villainy is decided by the protagonist's perspective theory. I have loved Gena Showalter for quite some time and was eager to read this novel by her! Would highly recommend to those who enjoy having a well known villain's side of the story and how decisions and choices can lead you to places that conflict with your intentions. Along with a nice happily ever after!

I always love a Gena book but was worried about a new series. I loved it! So excited for some new characters from her. Excited for more.

I never thought I was a fan of retellings, and then I got into fairy tale reimaginings. Those I like. A lot. I especially enjoy anything that imagines the story from the villain's point of view. The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter fits that bill perfectly.

In The Evil Queen, Ms. Showalter envisions a world in which the fairy tale characters know their stories but don't know which role they play in those stories. While the characters toss around words like prophecy and fate, they soon realize that choice plays a much more important role than any preset prophecy can predict.

All this means is that characters like Everly, convinced she is the Evil Queen, get a chance to fight their supposed destiny and achieve a happily-ever-after. It is this fight that makes Everly such a compelling character. Yes, she has a tendency to enjoy violence and want revenge against those who wrong her loved ones, but it is her fierce loyalty and devotion to those loved ones that sets her apart from everyone else. When everything she does is fighting to save the life of her twin sister, it makes it difficult to fault her decisions.

Plus, Everly is just so darn likable. She agonizes over the possibility that she is the Evil Queen and dreads the possibility. Yet, when faced with choices that mean potentially becoming the villain, she does not hesitate to make those choices if it means saving her sister. Her choices are always altruistic. She fights her growing attraction to Roth because it would distract her from her mission to save her family. Similarly, she fights her powers because she does not want to drain others and potentially kill them. In many cases, it would be so easy to make the selfish choice of love and self-protection, but she doesn't do so time and again.

While The Evil Queen does have a sequel, I love how this story ends, so much so that I have no desire to read the sequel. It may be open-ended, but it is so in a good way, where you know that Everly will find a way to get her happily-ever-after now that she knows the secrets of the prophecies. You don't need to read about the pending battles between her and a certain Snow White-type character to know that they are going to be messy and complicated but successful in the long run. The Evil Queen is a satisfying retelling of the Snow White tale in which evil means something a bit different.

****I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and Inkyard Press****

I have been a Gena Showalter fan since the day I read the first book of the Lords of the Underworld series! I proceeded to devour all of her books after that day so I had to get this copy of her newest work!

The Evil Queen is Gena's take on a Snow White retelling but nothing is as clear as good/evil in this new world. I appreciate her take on this timeless tale but that was about it. I believe that Gena should keep to writing about adults because she does not understand teenagers. This book took me awhile to finish because I kept starting and stopping because of the lackluster character development and plot forwarding. There were so many times that I wanted to face palm myself over the dialog. There were more plot holes than a block of swiss cheese and then the Mc, Everly, was annoying and only had a badass name.

I am not sure that i will continue this series. I will still recommend Gena's NA work but perhaps that is her best lane.