When I saw the tagline Shrek meets John Tucker Must Die with a splash of The Princess Bride, I was sold on this book. And I have to say that it really lives up to all those comps. ⁣
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Prince Charming is a menace. He’s been seducing the fine ladies of the continent and then emptying their treasuries and leaving in the night. He’s unlucky enough that Lady Bella Lucia dei’ Sogni, Marie-Blanche de Neige and Dr Emilia Rapunzel are seated together at a wedding and decide enough is enough. It’s time to take him down. ⁣
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I absolutely adored the style of this book; it’s playful, intelligent and genre savvy. Early on we get the amended version of events for each of our three heroines and I adored these. While Bella is played fairly straight as a fairytale princess, the other two were changed in ways I adored. Marie-Blanche could hold her own as a fantasy heroine in any universe: a bad-ass huntress who speaks to birds and rules in her father’s stead, while Rapunzel is a doctor of the arcane arts and perhaps veering a little too close to becoming the woman who kidnapped and raised her. I loved these introductory vignettes so much. ⁣
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If I had a criticism, it’s that we don’t see enough of the princesses as a trio and I didn’t get a good idea of the chemistry between them. Most scenes of them pose Bella on one side of an argument, and Marie-Blanche and Rapunzel on the other. I would have loved a little more development of this dynamic. ⁣
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However I did come to love our villain/anti-hero Charming (and his many monikers all translating to the same), and his banter with his foul-smelling manservant Roland and the Mostly-Donkey. ⁣
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The ending was really satisfying, I’d guessed about half the twists/reveals and I love when a book both proves you right and surprises you. ⁣
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My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC.

The cover, the blurb and the reviews had me buzzing when I received this however it was definitely shortlived. The writing style was bland and seemed definitely the younger and of YA.

The plot is so intriguing having prince charming as a villain but I feel as though humour is forced on you throughout the book and I did not enjoy.

I struggled with this book. The beginning didn't grab me and felt very slow. I found I wanted to stay in the backstory for each princess but kept being pulled back to the main narrative which, unfortunately, didn't quite work.

I typically try to leave more detailed reviews but ultimately this was a book that I pushed my way through. It got better, but I didn't love it. I liked the idea more than the execution of it, and I don't think this is a book I'll remember easily.

This is the author's first book, so I suspect her work will only get stronger. I might keep an eye out for what she writes in the future (since I at least liked the idea of Charming) but I'll probably wait for general reviews before picking up her next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book, so my review only encompasses the book up through the burn of the 2nd princess. I was super, super excited to read it as I loved the cover and I loved the premise. The concept sounded really fun and I was in the mood for some light reading after some heavier fantasy books. There was a juvenile nature to the style of writing that I had a really hard time getting past. I felt like I was reading a college student's creative writing project.

If you are looking for a light and quirky read, this book could be for you. Unfortunately, it wasn't the book for me.

For fans of fairytales who hate the misogyny, Charming sets the story straight with magical humor and fantastical retribution. I couldn’t put it down!

Unfortunately this was a dnf for me. While I liked the concept, the execution was not up to the mark. The characters were very one dimensional and had no personality

This is an honest review and with no intention of being mean or with hate towards the author. I really wanted to like this book. A mash up of 3 of my favorites things growing up? Yes please. Sadly the execution fell flat. I had to stop reading halfway through, the plot felt heavy and slow, the characters besides charming had no personality and the retellings were not interesting enough for me to keep reading. Charming felt like a good villain but the writing itself of him wasn’t appealing.
The princesses were honestly just boring and forced.
I can see though how some people might enjoy this but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

dnf pg 60 (18%)

this was unfortunately very disappointing...

I loved the premise of the book so much! Three of the victims of Prince Charming all band together to get revenge on him. It seems like a very unique idea that I loved as soon as I read the synopsis. However, I had trouble getting into the story.

I was just very confused. It seems like right now in the story, all of the backstories are being told. I enjoyed the first one (sleeping beauty I think), but I honestly have no idea what is going on in this backstory. I'm pretty sure that all three of these people are friends or something and there is a wedding, but I don't know whose backstory this is and how this relates to Prince Charming. None of the plot from the description from the book has happened yet, and I'm not interested in the set up.

I had much more free time to read this week than I normally do, but because I was confused, I had no interest in picking it up. I really wish I had loved this book, but it wasn't for me

#Charming #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel. A good solid read.

I loved The Princess Bride, so I was excited to get the opportunity to read Charming. It is a story of three princesses (Rapunzel., Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) coming together to get revenge on Prince Charming who along with his man servant Roland have been stealing from princesses after rescuing them. It is an enjoyable read with lots of humour (I loved Roland's dry humour!) I enjoyed the back stories of each of the princesses, however I would have liked there to have been more repercussions for Charming for all that he had done, he seems to have got off quite lightly in my eyes!
An overall Charming (pardon the pun!) read.
Thanks to the publishers Rebellion and Netgalley for the earc.

Unfortunately, there was something wrong with the ebook formatting and it made it very difficult for me to follow the story. I even deleted and re-downloaded it but it came up the same way. This may look ok to others but it makes it too hard for my brain to follow.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book! I'm sorry I wasn't able to understand it. I will still give this 3⭐️ because, darn it, the story looked like it would be really good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion for sharing a copy of this ARC!

Charming is a perfect example of "exciting idea, bad execution". I jumped at the chance to read this book, but I felt that I am absolutely not the type of reader that this appeals to. I found it difficult to read and ultimately it did not live up to the, in my opinion, strong summary that drew me in. I am happy to see that there are many readers who did enjoy this book, it just wasn't for me.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available to me.

Fun, fun, fun! It turns out that Prince Charming is actually a ne'er-do-well who goes around rescuing princesses and maidens fair, then loots their royal treasuries and scarpers off (along with his sidekick, Roland) before becoming permanently attached. Eventually, three of the damsels bond and go on a hunt for the bad boy. Many fairy tales are involved, but eventually we discover the prince's motivations and there is a resolution of sorts. Luckily, there are sufficient loose end left to leave us with the hope that there might be more adventures for our gang of maidens fair in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Rebellion for the ARC of this book.

Jade Linwood presents the reader with a Shrek like story about most well-known western princesses and fairy tales. This book explores an alternative narrative where the prince, Charming, as enchanting as he might be is not what he is made out to be in traditional tales. The new narrative that Linwood illustrates for each princess - Snow white, Sleeping Beaty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, etc- allows for new layers to be seen about each character. Using the wrong doing that Charming has done to three main princesses, the reader explores the life stories of strong women who have been undermined by society from one reason or another.

Although humor is present, at times the subject of the joke does not fit with moral values I would consider to be necessary to be portraying in YA literature. Additionally, the feminist retelling intent is outshined by such jokes, further creating this feeling of inappropriateness.

Moreover, as intriguing as the premiss of the book is, with the promise of a Shrek like story, the reading experience was not as thrilling. The text felt dull at times, and the ending seemed rushed, as if there was something else to tell.

Even though I did finish the book, at times I felt like dropping it and moving to a different genre altogether. Personally, I would recommend this book to a younger audience than YA, seeing how the writing does not fit in with the usually more intellectual content that YA has.

**I want to start by being fully transparent; I received this as an ARC from publisher and NetGalley BUT that does NOT sway my feelings/opinions at all. This is a fully unbiased review formed from my own thoughts after reading. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for allowing me this eARC copy**

It was an okay book. Nothing awful, just doesnt stand out to me

Disappointing. And NOT at all charming.

First off, this is not YA, it's Middle Grade writing. Second, the constant negative stereotypes about people's weight and personality are not cute. Wouldn't it be nice if actual adults stopped trying to pretend that that fat phobia is funny? Shockingly poor taste. Last, but not least, this book is billed as a feminist twist on old tales, but it's not. Instead it reinforces a lot of misogynistic ideas.

Similar to Shrek, in that there is some glib, rapid banter between characters, but this book lacks heart and humor. It's facile, shallow, and overwritten to the point where it's a real slog to wade through. John Tucker Must Die? Not quite. And the comparison to Princess Bride is actually offensive given how far they have strayed from a truly feminist message. The problem with using beloved IPs as your comps is that it's really hard to make that grade, and this came nowhere near the mark.

The author seemed to have a really good time writing this book, but as a reader, it was dull, disjointed, and lacked heart. The entire book read more like a screen play, where an actor would be filling in the emotions that matched the word, and I have to assume that that is the ultimate goal of this book, to have rights purchased. It's certainly not meant to delight the reader. Shame, really- the premise was so strong!

Thank you to NetGalley and Revellion for the opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available July 18,2023.

A cozy fantasy that reminds you of Shrek, John Tucker Must Die and the Princess bride is what the tag line reads. And y’all I have to agree! This female friendly fantasy romp was a fast paced hysterically funny read. Like I was cackling. Don’t let the female friendly part turn you away from this. Prince Charming is a total douche canoe and he gets his just desserts. I’m buying this and giving it as gifts. I enjoyed it that much.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book which had new or amended telling a of fairytales and the banding together of princesses against a dastardly prince and his man servant (who I pictured as Hoggle from Labyrinth in my head the entire time I was reading). I didn’t feel the second half was as good-there is no real resolution at the end, Charming goes on his merry way, there’s no repercussions to any of his actions-and the justification he uses to explain his behaviour is noted as being six months in the future-so not covered by the book!

This was quite a cute, quick read. It was by no means entirely perfect but it had potential to be great.

The book starts off strong opening with Charming who despite going saving princesses from danger and curses, is also a thief. We follow his pov as well as a few others. Which does lead to be a little overwhelming when trying to enjoy a novel flipping through too many pov. Two is typically where I draw the line cause after that it does tend to become a lot. This book did fairly well in keeping interest despite the many different perspectives it took on. Unfortunately because of the length of the book and so many characters we didn't get to see much in the way of character development.

I really loved the initial idea of this book it started off so strong, but started to deter when it came to the plot in the middle of the book which did cause my attention to deter and I felt unsatisfied by the ending of the book.

I will say that the author does a great job at world building though. We get to read about the fae folk, demons, princesses, dragons, curses, etc. It had a lot of plot twists which did keep it fun to me which is why I was able to keep pushing through to find out how it all ends. It is a fun retelling of fairy-tales. I would say it would be pretty well suited for a middle school/junior high audience even though there is some vulgarity in it. The story telling would fit a lot better with that audience than age levels higher than that. It wouldn't be a book I pick up to read again but it would be something I would recommend to one of younger siblings.

Thank you Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for the arc.

This was an unexpectedly fun read. It gave me big Shrek vibes and someone else said it well in their review - John Tucker Must Die vibes. If you love these two films, you'll enjoy this book.

Having Prince Charming be a con man instead of an actual knight in shining armour was the twist I needed in a book. I also loved the different takes on the princesses we all know and love, and seeing them meeting and working together and using their different strengths to compliment one and other.

The writing was a little hard to digest at some points, especially nearer the start of the book. I feel like the writing really strengthened as the book went on.

I feel it also fell a little with character development and instead focused more heavily on the world building, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing for me, but I would have liked if they had been more evenly developed.

Jade Linwood is definitely an author I will be revisiting.