Fairest Of All (Villians,#1)

   

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CONTAINS SPOILERS

The tale of the young princess and her evil stepmother, the Wicked Queen, is widely known. Despite a few variations from telling to telling, the story remains the same—the Queen was jealous of the girl’s beauty, and this jealousy culminated in the Queen’s attempt on the sweet, naive girl’s life

Another tale far less often spoken of is the one that explains what caused the Queen to become so contemptuously vile. Still, some have attempted to guess at the reason. Perhaps the Queen’s true nature was that of a wicked hag and her beautiful, regal appearance a disguise used to fool the King. Others claim that the Queen might have hated the girl for her resemblance to the King’s first wife. Mostly, the Queen is painted as a morally abhorrent woman who never loved another being during the course of her miserable life.



In fact, the theories about exactly what cause the Queen’s obsessive vanity and jealous rage are too numerous to catalog. This book recounts a version of the story that has remained untold until now. It is a tragic tale of love and loss, and it contains a bit of magic. It is a tale of the Wicked Queen…

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Magical.



As a kid, I loved Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs , I must have read it and watched the movie multiple times. It always seemed magical to me. Of course, as I am sure many others, I hated the wicked queen. When I came across FAIREST OF ALL and saw that it is told from Wicked Queen’s point of view, I could not help and be curious and decided to check the story out. I was always curious about her, wondering if she was always this evil or if there was a reason behind it. Now that I have read FAIREST OF ALL , I see the Wicked Queen in a completely different light. It was not what I was expecting, and I could not help but feel sorry for her. In my mind, I had never seen her as anything but evil who tried to kill Snow White. I loved this twist to the Snow White tale and that it was told from the villain’s point of view.



I loved how sweet she was in Snow White at the start; it was clear how much she loved her. While reading it, I could not help but wonder what happened to the Queen to make her hate her. Now that I have read the story, it is clear that she never hated her, but it was as if something came over, and she could not seem to stop her. Yet, even when she was trying to kill Snow White, I had noticed her hesitation, and there was a part of me that wished she realized that before it was too late. I do wonder if there were a chance she would not change if it weren’t for her husband’s death or if she kept ignoring the mirror. I do wonder if the mirror had a significant impact on the Queen’s change. Because of the mirror, she changed and seemed to push everyone close to her, away, including Snow White.



I loved the relationship between the Queen and the King while he was alive; it was clear how much they loved each other. I could not help but smile at how they were with each other when he came home. The three of them were happy. My heart not only broke for Queen, but for Snow White, not only did she lose her dad that day but her mother as well. FAIREST OF ALL was a beautifully written retelling, and I cannot seem to get out of my mind. Now I am eager to read the rest of the books in this series. If you love fairy tales and would like to see one from a different point of view, be sure to check out.