I've heard about this book from a few friends, and have seen it on my "you may also like" pages, but couldn't fully take the plunge. Having read the excerpt I know that this is a book I need to add to my TBR list.

This was such an interesting glimpse of the story... I loved it and I cannot wait it to read it!

I wasn't keen on these books. The Witch's Kiss just didn't feel like anything different than all the books I've read before. I didn't really feel much for Merry, who seemed to just wait around for more instructions. The end was better and I liked how it linked up, but it didn't change how I thought about the book as a whole.

The second book was better, there was more going on in general and the storyline was much more interesting. But it still felt like most of the action was going on while Merry was just sitting back not doing much. This time it wasn't because of her own decision at least, but I still felt that by confining her and not letting her be part of the action, it just made the story dull and frustrating.

I probably won't be reading any more of this series.

When I originally read The Witch's Kiss last year it somehow managed to escape my attention, very nearly to the end of the book, that it was a loose retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Given how much I love fairy tales this was a great feat indeed!

Merry is a witch but doesn't want to be. She doesn't understand her powers and after nearly inadvertently killing someone she doesn't want to use her powers! Thanks to a string of nightmares, an eccentric grandmother and a mysterious box found in the attic Merry soon realises that there's nothing she can do to avoid what she is. Aided and abetted by her wonderful brother Leo, Merry tries to break the curse that has been passed down through her family for 1500 years before the mysterious King of Hearts and a centuries old wizard can awaken and rise from under the lake where they sleep.

Merry and Leo are two of my favorite characters. They have such a fantastic brother/sister relationship and I'm quite envious that I never had a brother. Jack was also great, as the tortured King of Hearts and his fight to overcome the centuries old curse, and torn between present-day Merry and his love for his 1500 years ago true love. The Corr sisters have put together a truly intriguing take on Sleeping Beauty, a much darker version, of one of my favorite fairy tales. The writing was spellbinding in places, the description of the lake where most of the action took place was so evocative it feels like you are there with Merry, an onlooker to the fight against the darkness. The blend between fantasy and historical was seamless, taking you from one to the other without feeling disjointed and giving you the time to get to know the characters both from then and now.

If you like tales of fantasy, fairy tales and history woven together to make an entirely readable (and, at times, unputdownable) book then pick up The Witch's Kiss and you won't be disappointed!

While this was a sampler, and is no way able to be a total reflection of the book itself, I found it hard to connect with the characters and it all felt surface-level to me.

You know in TV shows, where a character directly addresses the other person in a very overly-plot-explaining way? Like -

"But Donna! You can't go into the woods! The axe murderer we just saw the news report about and who has a weird connection to our Father's pansy dying eight years ago might be out there!"

A lot of the dialogue read like that. And while some of the characterization was really cool, it skipped forwards. The best thing I can do to describe how this sampler felt was like skimming stones - it bounced off the surface a couple of times, hitting enough points to propel it forwards but not enough for me to actually care.

In fact, I found myself skipping forwards too. There's nothing overtly terrible about the writing, it's quite competent and I did enjoy Leo when he was there. But apart from flashes of interesting and nuanced text, I couldn't really get a sense of what this story was meant to mean.

Some important scenes flashed by when I wanted more, when I wanted a reason to care. And I felt a bit let down by it.

Will I pick up the whole book? Possibly, from my library. It's definitely an easy read, but I can't see it staying in my memory for too long.

This was not for me. I tried to read it but didn't enjoy the characters or plot. So I didn't finish it

Just finished reading this book, and I can say that it was super exciting to read. It's a retelling of Sleeping Beauty but with genders reversed. Really enjoyed this and it ended with the magic words. I just wanna know if Merry broke the curse or not.

A great mic of classic fairy tales in particular sleeping beauty mixed with an orginal mystery, flashbacks to the anglo-saxon era(omg, yes!) and a main character who's not the chosen but is actually quite insecure about her abilities. Very believable and myths/legends were expertly blended into our modern world. Can;t wait for the sequel!