E-Book Review : The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt

Title : The Sevenfold Spell
Author : Tia Nevitt
Publisher : Carina Press
Genre : Fantasy, Romance 
Format  : e-book 
Series : Stand Alone
Release Date :September 27, 2010
Rating : 2.5/5 Stars - Okay

Description from Amazon : 

Have you ever wondered what happens to the other people in the fairy tale?

Things look grim for Talia and her mother. By royal proclamation, the constables and those annoying "good" fairies have taken away their livelihood by confiscating their spinning wheel. Something to do with a curse on the princess, they said.

Not every young lady has a fairy godmother rushing to her rescue.

Without the promise of an income from spinning, Talia's prospects for marriage disappear, and she and her mother face destitution. Past caring about breaking an arbitrary and cruel law, rebellious Talia determines to build a new spinning wheel, the only one in the nation--which plays right into the evil fairy's diabolical plan. Talia discovers that finding a happy ending requires sacrifice. But is it a sacrifice she's willing to make?

Review : 

I've always been a huge fan of a good fairy tale retelling, and when I read the synopsis of this book on NetGalley I had to read it.  Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my favorites, and I wanted to read what Nevitt's take on this story would be.  I was surprised at the approach, but still intrigued.

Normally, the princess is the main character, but not in this retelling.  A young maiden from a tiny village, named Talia, is our main character in this situation.  She isn't remarkably beautiful as most would assume.  In fact, she's quite the opposite.  Talia is described as being ugly, with warts, and most definitely not a looker.  She has even been forced to settle with one young man as her only chance at marriage, because of her ugly features.

When Talia and her mother are forced to give up their spinning wheel, the only source to their livelihood, Talia is forced to use her dowry to keep them alive.  Without that money to offer to her future husband, Talia loses the chance at becoming a wife as well.

I found this part of the Sleeping Beauty tale to be most distressing.  I'm glad the author gave us insight into the lives of the people we had never before seen.  I didn't particularly like Talia's character, but she was good for this part.  There was a lot of sexual content in this story, and at times it felt like it was not necessary.  I just wanted to skip over most of these parts, and get to the real story.

Nevitt's take on Sleeping Beauty was in fact different, but I can still only say that I only enjoyed it a little bit.  I felt like she could have given us a little more magic, and romance, rather than just flat out sexual content.  I would love to give more of her work a chance in the future, because I feel she has great potential.

Where did I get this book? :

I downloaded my review copy from NetGalley.com and read and reviewed this copy for my own enjoyment.

Amazon Affiliates : 

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