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Melanie DickersonZondervan / 2012 / Trade PaperbackOur Price$9.494.7 out of 5 stars for The Fairest Beauty #3. View reviews of this product. 23 Reviews
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JCMorrowsAge: 35-44Gender: female5 Stars Out Of 5Another extraordinary fairy tale from Melanie!July 3, 2014JCMorrowsAge: 35-44Gender: femaleQuality: 5Value: 5Meets Expectations: 5I find myself wishing I were a slower reader... Because now I have come to the end and I must wait until November to read the next story.
How will I survive?
Well I suppose I can always read "The Captive Maiden" again so there's that. And I'm certain I can find some other books to help me pass the time.
But I want to know what happens next!
Absolutely no insult is intended to "The Captive Maiden" or "The Healer's Apprentice" or "The Merchant's Daughter"... but I do believe "The Fairest Beauty" is the absolute BEST book Melanie Dickerson has written yet!
"The Fairest Beauty" has everything you would expect to find in a fairy tale — A damsel in distress, mistaken identity, exaggerated rumors of the Princess's death, an evil "Queen" — in this case a Duchess, a hired assassin and a hero!
It's just an all-around GREAT story!
And the real-life fairy tale is so much more appealing in my opinion! These are real people with real emotions and real flaws! — not some perfect, flawless combination of all the best traits and none of the worst that we see in the traditional fairy tales. Even the "bad guys" are clearly human, with flaws and weakness — not just a villain that's purely evil who does nasty things simply because they can.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.
I LOVE the way Melanie Dickerson writes fairy tales!
She doesn't put the focus on the wrong things — magic and rebellion. She makes certain the focus is on how important it is to marry for love — which is Biblical (Marriage is meant to be forever... do you really want to be in a loveless marriage forever?). And she draws your attention to how important it is to remain pure and innocent - saving yourself for the man you marry.
This story especially - shows how important it is to understand the difference between love and lust.
It's a difficult subject and not always a popular one in the world we live in today but it is an important one and I am very impressed to see an author taking a stand!
BRAVO MELANIE!
I wish these were the fairy tales I had grown up with. I can only imagine how different my outlook on life might be if I had not started with the ridiculous world view traditional fairy tales present.
All the more reason that these will be the fairy tales I give MY daughter to read!
All little girls need to know — while fairy tales can be real — they are not all about magic and luck! -
Carol GehringerRaleigh, NCAge: 55-65Gender: female5 Stars Out Of 5A Clean Teen Read!April 10, 2013Carol GehringerRaleigh, NCAge: 55-65Gender: femaleQuality: 5Value: 5Meets Expectations: 5Award-winning Melanie Dickerson pens her third young adult novel loosely based on the story of Snow White.
In The Fairest Beauty, Duchess Ermengard fakes the death of her stepdaughter Sophie, driving her husband, Duke Baldewin, to disappear in despair. For over fifteen years, she convinces everyone the scullery maid Sophie she torments, is only an orphan girl. Even Sophie is unaware of her true identity. A former nurse, the only one left with knowledge of the deception, fakes her own death and travels to Sophie's betrothed. But Valten is laid up with a broken leg and unable to come. His impulsive younger brother, Gabe, decides to rescue Sophie on his own.
He tells Sophie of her true identity, and convinces Sophie to escape with him because her life is in danger. When Gabe is severely injured by pursuing guards, they take refuge in the Cottage of the Seven. While he recuperates, Sophie and Gabe discover they are falling in love, but they are both betrothed to others. News reaches Gabe that Sophie's father is not dead but alive, and he leaves to find out the truth. While he is away, the Duchess, in the guise of an old woman, visits Sophie in the Cottage of Seven with the intent of killing her.
Like her earlier books, the faith element is clearly evident. Sophie prays for her stepmother instead of hating her. Both Gabe and Sophie struggle with past hurts needing God's healing. They also struggle to seek God's will and act honorably with others.
Dickerson is a masterful storyteller with a carefully crafted plot, richly drawn characters, and detailed medieval setting. The reader is pulled into the story, forgetting it is based on a familiar tale. All of her books are a delightful retelling, but this one is her best so far!
Disclaimer: Book reviews are my opinion of books I either purchased or received free of cost from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. -
IreneUnited States5 Stars Out Of 5Awesome story!April 11, 2013IreneUnited StatesQuality: 5Value: 5Meets Expectations: 5This is an excellent Christian teen book! I gave this book 5/5 stars. I enjoyed the story especially since you do not see many Christian books written with settings like this one or even in the time period as this one. I thought the authors' descriptions and conversations were incredible and they really helped this book be more enjoyable. I even liked the characters as they showed real human characteristics and emotions. I would recommend this book to any Christian teenager to read, they will really enjoy it!
I would like to thank the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read. -
StoryGirlAge: 18-24Gender: female5 Stars Out Of 5Another Great Read from Melanie DickersonJanuary 29, 2013StoryGirlAge: 18-24Gender: femaleQuality: 5Value: 5Meets Expectations: 4Another Melanie Dickerson book!!! {insert squeal} I love fairy tales. I do. And I love Christian books- but it's not often those two genres collide. But every once in a while, they do.
And that is cause for celebration.
The Fairest Beauty is (aptly titled) a re-telling of Snow White. I really liked it. Probably not as much as the other two books in this "series", but very much. My favorite, favorite, bits were where Sophie and Gabe visited the Cottage of the Seven. Mrs. Dickerson's take on the seven dwarfs was great- I only wish the seven of them were in the book even more!
The only thing I didn't like so much about this book was the romance part, mainly because I felt Gabe was making excuses for liking Sophie when he knew she was engaged to his brother. Yes, he fought against his feelings at first, but when he realized he was in love with her, he just kind of threw everything out the window and pursued her. So that bothered me. But, on the plus side, this had a bit more action than The Healer's Apprentice and The Merchant's Daughter.
I think there's some perverse reading gene that always makes me interested in secondary characters more than the main ones, because as soon as the reader was introduced to Valten, I wanted to know more about him, and I'm SO happy that Melanie Dickerson's next fairy tale retelling is about him! I really enjoyed this book, and I'm dearly looking forward to the Cinderella retelling that is set to release sometime this fall! -
DebraGaylesville, Al.Age: 45-54Gender: female5 Stars Out Of 5Loved it!!June 25, 2013DebraGaylesville, Al.Age: 45-54Gender: femaleQuality: 5Value: 5Meets Expectations: 5Let me repeat...Loved it, loved it, loved it!! Melanie Dickerson has done it again! The Fairest Beauty is a wonderfully written new twist on Snow White and the Seven Drawfs. Melanie has such an amazing ability to pull you into the story, and keep you there from the very beginning of the book until the very last line. Once I started reading it, I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I highly recommend this book, I would give it 10 stars if I could!!! Melanie is truly one of my favorite authors. Keep 'em coming, Melanie, Keep 'em coming!
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