I was originally going to rate this as a 3 star book. The opening chapter was stunning and grabbed my attention. Shortly after that, the book started to not feel so...amazing to me. It started to drag on with Everly's modern day school and life problems. I was approximately half way through the book, after she came home to the land of her mother when the book picked back up again and pulled me back in. After that, it was amazing again! There are lessons to be learned in this book and I would recommend it for older teens. This book contains mature content that I would not recommend for someone younger than 16 years old. A full, thorough review will be posted on my blog by this Friday 5/24/2019.

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If you love a snarky heroine, surprise twists and turns, and a fairytale-themed plot, THE EVIL QUEEN is designed to be your new favorite read. This book follows Everly in the first person as she uncovers her history and perseveres to protect the people she loves. From the beginning, we know that girls were born after their mothers ate from a forbidden, magical apple tree, and that they will play a role in bringing a fairytale to life- Snow White. However, which role each girl will play is unknown. The beginning of the book also gives us a taste of where things will end, but we must also follow the journey to get there.

Everly was taken from Enchantia, the magical land where the women had eaten from a tree which is full of mystical creatures, fairies, fairytales, and humans with magic, when she was an infant. She has been raised in the mortal realm with her twin sister, Hartly. Now, as a teenager, Everly has begun to see things in mirrors. In particular, she sees another girl who looks like Snow White and whom she refers to as an angel. As she will soon learn, however, her scrying powers (e.g. seeing things in mirrors) are from her Sorcerian heritage. Sorcerians do not have wells of magical ability like others in the realm. Instead, they must take the power from others to use for their natural abilities but also to take other abilities. If they take a little, the being will feel tired until they regenerate it, but if they take a lot, they will kill them. As such, they are generally considered evil and hated by many.

Although we know that the girls and main characters will play out the tale of Snow White, who will play which role is unclear. Each character seems to possess characteristics or abilities that would point to one or many of the potential roles. For instance, Prince Roth Charmaine (Everly’s love interest) could be Prince Charming or he could be the Huntsman or he could be something else altogether. It is only as the story plays out that we might be able to learn how the fairytale will come to pass.

What I loved: This book surprised me in a lot of ways. Although Everly seems slated to be the Evil Queen, a major theme is that your actions determine whether you are evil or good, and this has many sides/views. For instance, if you do something which could seem evil out of self-defense, does this make you evil? There are also some themes about prejudice (regarding trolls and sorcerers) and sexism which also add to the thoughtful plot. Familial love is also a major theme in the book, particularly love between siblings. The romantic love also adds a nice touch to the overall story.

World-building in this book is top-notch. While the early parts of the book are a little slower due to all the information there is to take in, this pays off later in the book when it is all much easier to understand and imagine. Adding to that, the characters, primary and secondary, are all really well fleshed out and come alive throughout the story. There are so many fantastic characters whom I adored throughout the story, and aside from the main characters, Phobia, a spidorpian, might be my favorite. On the whole, there’s so many to love, hate, and be intrigued by though that I felt completely engrossed in the story and their lives.

As for the main characters, primarily Everly and Roth, they are beautifully crafted. Everly is multidimensional. We see the world through her eyes, and although she is full of snark, she is also full of heart- whether guarding herself, worrying about her family, or caring for her friends. Roth is a completely swoony hero, and while he doesn’t always make the best decisions, he also cares deeply and tries to do what is right.

Final verdict: Overall, this is a consuming, engrossing, and addictive YA fantasy/fairytale retelling that will keep you guessing. Fans of Gena Showalter, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Gregory Maguire will delight in this exciting new tale that turns Snow White on its head.

Confusing timeline, starts off with a bang, definitely middle-grades premise with the dialogue. Hoping book 2 is better!

Gena you never cease to amaze me. I loved this whole story..never quite knowing who was who and following Roth and Everly on this extremely wild ride. There is so much I can say but alas don't want to ruin it for anybody else. In a nutshell the moral of the story is to follow your heart and LOVE conquers all.

I really liked this retelling - I had a hard time putting it down! I've been looking forward to reading this book and it didn't disappoint. The length was great and it definitely wasn't boring!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

I adore this author. Her past work has been absoultely amazing, so of course, her new work would be too,.
This is a new take on Snow White and the meaning between good/evil.

Buy it!

I am a big fan of retellings and this one was not disappointing. It was intriguing from the start and not what you might expect in the end. The characters were interesting, the story had a good pace and there was even hints of future fairy tale stories in the future (???). It wasn't the most detailed about the worlds that surrounded the story nor about certain points in the story but it was still a joy to read. I hope that there are future stories so I can see what happens to the characters after this!!

The Evil Queen she crafts a new version of Snow White where everyone can be any of the characters in the fairy tale; it's all a matter of what you choose to do with your life and the situations that transpire around you

Gena Showalter is one of my favourite authors. I've read most of her books and have yet to read one I wouldn't at the very least classify as enjoyable. That includes The Evil Queen. This novel is a clever and deep take on the fairy tale of Snow White. In adapting the classic tale Showalter highlights just what it means to be good and what it means to be evil. This book is filled with philosophical conundrums and it keeps the reader on their toes. You never know from one moment to the next who to actually root for because each choice changes ever characters motivations from beginning to end. It's almost like all of the characters are each running through the story choose your own adventure style. I really liked it and I'm going to keep an eye out for the next book in the series.

I received a copy of The Evil Queen from Harlequin TEEN (US & Canada) through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this one more than I actually did.

The righting is great and a lot of it is really evocative but the character of Every came off as about 12 or so. Her reactions didn't strike me as realistic for a high schooler at all.

The dialogue is a bit cheesy at points but I'm not gonna complain to much because what's a fairy tale without some cheese?

I did enjoy the story but the sensual parts did come off a bit awkward to me on account of the MC seeming so young.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. It will be available to purchase on June 25th.

This is going to be one of those blog posts that is a mixed bag. The premise was original, in that it’s Snow White’s nemesis that’s a bit reluctant to take up her expected role as as the villain. I also haven’t read many fairy tale adaptations that take place in both “the real world” (I write that in quotes because the way the real world was written felt off to me), and the fairy tale world.

The premise is what worked for me. The rest…not so much. The characters felt very one-dimensional to me, like they were archtypes of a CW show. There was the snotty ex, the prom queen, the popular good girl that everyone likes, and the misunderstood outcast. I found it very difficult to care about any of the characters at all.

The writing didn’t work for me. I’m just too enamored by words. So, when something unexpected happened to the main character (Everly), and the book just said, “reeling” in italics, it really irritated me. I would have preferred something along the lines of, “the news sent me reeling,” just as an example. A full thought, as opposed to a quick word, would have worked much better for me.
The dialogue felt very over the top and unbelievable to me, and the very long random explanations given throughout the first bit of the book caused the story to seem very stop-and-go. I never ended up invested in the story.

Ultimately, while it had potential, this book simply did not deliver. However, I could be just too much of a grammar nerd to appreciate the dialogue and writing style. While this book wasn’t for me, this is just one person’s opinion. I believe that Showalter is very popular author, but this book just wasn’t my thing.

The Evil Queen is a new book hitting the YA fantasy atmosphere. It's the first book in The Forest of Good and Evil trilogy and I found it to be quite entertaining.

It follows prophetic storyline about 6 girls, one of them the Evil Queen and the rest of the book is spent shrouded in this mystery as you try to figure out which girl fits that role. 100 pages in and all my early reservations were appeased as I was submerged in the intricacies of the narrative. There were some ballsy and unprecedented twists that affirmed my quickly emerging adoration with this, even more. The story is very engaging, and I read the book in no time! Some chapters lagged a little, but not enough for me to be bored or start skimming.

My only problem is this book suffers because it can be easily overlooked among hundreds of other similar retellings or YA fantasies. I wish that the world building would be more thorough, but even as it is, we get enough sense of the environment that we can picture the scenes vividly. Perhaps we will find out more in the sequel so for now I'll let it slide.

Would I Recommend It:
I recommend this book! Fantasy fan, retellings fan, Snow White fan, this book is magical and epic and I think will appeal to anyone.

Thank you to the publisher and author for this ARC through NetGalley.

I love all of Gena Showalter's books. She is one of my all time favorite authors. With that being said I really enjoyed this book. It felt more YA than her other fantasy books, but it was still a good read. I'm interested to see if there will be any more in this series.

I was really looking forward to this book. I love retellings especially when you get villain backstory and this synopsis sounded really good. Unfortunately I DNF’d this one. It started out good but I found the main character (Everly) to be annoying and I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters. It felt like it was written for the younger end of ya and that may have been what contributed to my disconnect.

Giving this one 4.25/5 stars!

The Evil Queen is a retelling of Snow White, but Gena Showalter puts her own unique twist on how the plot develops. We have the prophecy, as in many retelling type stories, and characters that are each designated their own place in the story. The plot takes of fairly quickly at the beginning, with a prologue of what's to come.

So what's unique about it? Even though the characters know the story they are retelling is Snow White, they don't know which character they are living as. They all work through the book as events unfold trying to determine what their role in the story is. I found this to be super cool! Another thing that really added to the mystery of the characters was that any decision they made could change who their character was. Like if Prince Charming was to instead betray everyone and desert them all? Well, his role of Prince Charming would go to someone else instead, and he'd be given a new role without him knowing. This doesn't happen in the book obvs, but just wanted to give an example. I found this to be a really cool concept and it was done so well! It's definitely the best part of the group and leaves a ton of freedom for character development all throughout.

A few issues I had were how others immediately classify Everly as evil. We know from the beginning what her role is, but her actions don't justify how the others perceive her. It wasn't fair, and anyone can see that she was only doing what was best to save her loved ones. It's definitely more nitpicky of me, since it's meant to be used to settle the other characters into their roles, and the love triangle of course, but it just didn't sit with me 100%. Another was that the middle was a bit slower than I'd like. I felt like things were moving at a great pace, and then it just sloooowwwsss down. It lasts for quite a bit, but it picks up again which is nice. This might be nitpicky, but I don't like the inner monologues that Everly has. It feels really off because we see all the events from her POV to begin with, so having these inner thoughts pop up randomly don't make much sense.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I'd been eyeing it and was so glad to have gotten both a physical and ebook ARC! Knowing that there's a sequel to this, I'd definitely be tempted to pick it up. One could even read this as a standalone tbh. I'd say to check this one out sometime! I think it may be worth the read!

ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was an amazing read! It was captivating and intense! I was so giddy when I got picked tonread this book, and it did not disappoint. They plot line was unique. This author knows how to suck a reader in to the story!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This was an interesting take on Snow White retelling via a modern Evil Queen POV. While I found the first half of the book interesting by the middle I felt it drag. Still an decent retelling.

I received this NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The premise of this book is so interesting! That these characters are prophesied to play certain roles in what we know as fairytale stories. The main character, Everly, believes she is the evil queen but so do the other girls in this novel. I loved uncovering the mystery of who is who in this book. What I didn't really love was the dialogue, it just made me cringe a lot. Overall I really enjoyed the plot!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book. I loved loved loved it. The narrator is edgy and fun. The writing style is interesting and original. I felt drawn into the characters immediately and was happy to stay with them through this story. This is perfect for those who enjoyed “Fairest” by Marissa Meyer. I will definitely be purchasing this book for the library.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Showalter!! Now having said that, this is not my favorite book from her. I found the story very confusing at times with the timeline jumping around the way it did. But overall I loved the story and am very curious to see what comes next. I will reserve judgement until the next book.