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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Skokie Public Library.
Feb 08, 2015artemishi rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Dearest is the third in the whimsical fairytale mashup series, The Woodcutter Sisters. I actually liked this one the best of the three. Kontis appears to be improving in style and scope with each book, which makes for a nice change! We follow Friday Woodcutter, who knows herself and is more honest with herself than our previous two heroines. Her voice seemed authentic to me, but that's probably because I've known a few Friday Woodcutter types, myself. There's also the continuing homage to a handful of fairy tales, primarily (not not only) every swan and goose fairy tale you've heard of. I think what sets this book apart in the series is that it feels less like a fairytale mashup, and more like a story (or retelling) in its own right, with a fairytale environment backdrop. The pacing was good, and continuous, and the love was less saccharine (although still very much fairy tale love). The timeline happens concurrently with book 2 (Hero), but in a different part of the country. Overall, this made for a sweet story of adventure and love, centering around a character who didn't need to have a coming-of-age story as much as a triumphing-through-diversity story. I recommend this one for fans of the first two books, although you can read it as a stand alone just fine, and fairytale retellings. Also stubborn female protagonists, reluctant romance, magic, and underdogs. And I'm also still hoping for a Thursday Woodcutter story (though I want to know how she became the Pirate Queen, and thus far all three stories happen in a forward timeline, not a flashback). We've still got to figure out what's going on with Seven and her coma sisters, which I imagine may be Peter's story; we also need Monday reunited with her daughter now that we the audience know what's going on there. And more Conrad, please. But first, let's get the Thursday story!