Literary Review - Sisters: A Fairy Tale by Liz DeJesus

Someone Wicked, a Written Remains anthology, was released by Smart Rhino Publications on November 25, 2013. Edited by Weldon Burge and JM Reinbold, Someone Wicked contains twenty-one tales of wickedness sure to please the most discerning reader.

Over the next few weeks, my plan is to read and review many, if not all, of the stories contained in Someone Wicked. I have not historically been a big anthology reader but having had the opportunity to get to know many of the authors through the Written Remains Writers Guild, I am excited at the prospect of discovering each of their unique and individual writing styles.

Being contrary, and a bit of a scaredy-cat, I began with a story that was somewhat familiar to me. That's not to say that I had read Sisters: A Fairy Tale before; however, I knew some of the characters from the second novel in the author's Frost series: Glass Frost.

Fanny and Elda are sisters. But they are as different as night and day. And they live in a world quite different from ours, a world rich in magic, both light and dark. And this particular peek into their lives is not like any fairy tale I read growing up. In fact, I have only lately discovered that fairy tales can be dark and frightening places.

Liz DeJesus has written a compelling story that draws the reader into the lives of her characters. The fourteen pages of Sisters deliver a fully realized slice of life in this incredible world. Fanny and Elda have both been given a gift by Titania, the Fairy Queen. I won't reveal the nature of these gifts for therein lies the foundation of the story.

It's difficult to write a review that would help one fully appreciate the depth of DeJesus' characters. As I was reading Sisters I tried not to rely too heavily on my foreknowledge. Fanny and Elda are complete, three-dimensional inhabitants of their world; I was drawn into their conflicts, their emotions, and their pain, as if I traveled along with them on their journey to the Fairy Realm.

The narrative and dialogue are excellent and, in my opinion, this is a top-drawer short story. Ms. DeJesus has a gift for writing and clearly loves the world that she has crafted both here and in other, longer works. That love shines through and makes Sisters a clean, crisp read. But be warned, if you linger over long in the Enchanted Wood, you may find yourselves undone by its magic.

Content disclosure: To prepare any potential reader for what they will encounter, I would point out that there is one expletive near the beginning of Sisters and there are some violent confrontations. Hopefully this is to be expected in an anthology entitled Someone Wicked. I would also say this is not a fairy tale for young children.  If I were to give it any sort of rating that might guide parents, I would lean toward PG. There is certainly nothing here that one won't find on network television, but being somewhat conservative, and knowing that some readers of this blog will likewise be conservative, it is important to me to provide this information.

If you choose to read Sisters I believe you will enjoy the brief, but rich glimpse DeJesus has provided into her most magical of realms.

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Literary Review: Glass Frost

In January 2013, I read and reviewed First Frost, the novel that launched the Frost series by Liz DeJesus. I remarked how grown men aren't supposed to get all gushy about fairy tales, unless they're reading them to their young children. Well, I'm hooked now so I might as well man-up and get on with it...

In Glass Frost, we pick up the lives of lead character Bianca Frost as well as those of her friends Ming, Terrance, and Prince Ferdinand. Readers of First Frost will remember that Bianca is the seventeen-year-old daughter of Rose Frost, and a direct descendant of Snow White. Up until stumbling upon her mother battling the witch Lenore, Bianca believed that she was just an ordinary teenager. But as Terrance reminds her in Glass Frost, "...you are everything but normal."

Terrance, who Bianca wasn't sure she'd ever see again, has called in a few markers and found his way to the normal world, where Bianca and her family live. I say normal because Terrance lives in Everafter, where things like magic and witches and such are, well, normal.

As all of us know - because we were teenagers once - we would move heaven and earth to find someone whom we loved; and Terrance and Bianca have a budding relationship that is explored, expanded, and sternly tested in Glass Frost. Of course, that's not the only reason Terrance has crossed the magical boundaries between Everafter and our world: and therein lies what causes Glass Frost to get really interesting.

Beyond his own growing feelings for Bianca, Queen Felicia has dispatched Terrance to come and fetch the young witch who, the queen believes, can be of some assistance with a slippery problem that is growing into a real danger for Everafter. Bianca would accompany Terrance even if they were going to battle a fire-breathing dragon, simply because of her heart. Yet, like any seventeen-year-old, she has to seek parental permission. Rose mandates that if Bianca is to go, then her friend Ming must go with her.

After Ming arrives at the Frost household, Bianca chants the spell that causes a door between worlds to materialize before them...

Find the shortest distance between
This place and the faeries’ green.
A place for weird-less days and weary nights,
Put this door within my sight.

...and the three friends step through into another thrilling fantasy adventure.

Glass Frost picks up shortly after the end of First Frost and carries on with the education and maturation of young Bianca. Although she demonstrated great resolve and tremendous magical ability in First Frost, there is still much for the fledgling witch to learn. As readers will discover, her learning curve is steep and not without significant mortal danger. Beloved characters are met, Everafter is explored in greater depth, and very old magic is uncovered.

Ms. DeJesus has penned a worthy sequel to First Frost. The main characters are fleshed out expertly and continue to grow into the story - and our hearts. Delightful new characters are introduced and blend artfully into the narrative. The plot is exciting, believable, and interwoven with well-known and little-remembered fairy tales from long ago.  

Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for Glass Frost, following just eight months or so on the magical heels of its predecessor. A little Faerie has whispered in my ear that book three is being cast even as we speak, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Relax and enjoy the adventure, romance, magic and action of Glass Frost - you'll be glad you did!

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First Frost - a literary review

This is embarrassing. Grown men are not supposed to be bowled over by novels clearly written for young (and likely female) audiences. I have the pleasure of being in a writer's group with Ms. DeJesus and when a chance came along to purchase the Kindle version of First Frost on a holiday bargain, well, I had to go for it. I had some extra credits on my Amazon Christmas gift card and said to myself, "What the heck?"

Having previously read the synopsis for First Frost - as well as a few blog reviews - I figured it would be kind of a girly fairy tale with a twist or two. From what I'd seen and heard, there was enough to interest me. I write in the fantasy genre and fairy tales are, at heart, fantasy; so...

First and foremost, First Frost is an excellent novel. It is well written with engaging characters and a tight, well-defined plot. The pacing is perfect; at no point in the story did I say to myself, "That's bogus! Character X would never be able to pull that off," or anything of the sort. The growth of Bianca Frost, the story's main protagonist is beautifully written and despite my rather gruff, public pooh-poohing of modern, young adult fiction, I was bowled over by what a great book First Frost is.

No novel is perfect and, if I thought hard, I could probably list a couple of grammatical slips that might have annoyed me but it would amount to nit picking at best. One thing I've noticed while reading new fiction over the last few years is that most of the books universally have a smattering - to a lesser or greater degree - of spelling and/or usage errors. I've read some brilliant stories that are able to overcome the author's obvious faux pas and still be good. In the case of First Frost, while there are a few grammatical errors, they are minimal and by the halfway point in the story I had forgotten about the ones I'd noted and didn't discover any more. This could be because there aren't any later in the tale - or it could be because the book is such a splendid read that I failed to even note them. I think I'll settle on the latter.

If I had to pick one thing that makes First Frost stand out it would be the characters. As I've noted in previous commentaries, for me, the mark of a great story is that feeling you get when you close the book at the end and immediately start missing the characters. Bianca, her best friend Ming, mom Rose, dad David and many others came to life vividly as I turned the pages. My hat is off to Ms. DeJesus for filling the world of First Frost with a three dimensional, lovable (and in some cases hate-able) cast of characters.

I highly recommend First Frost and can't wait for the soon-to-be released sequel!

Just don't tell anyone - I don't want to lose my man card :-)

Once you read it, come on back and tell me what you think!

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Boring disclaimers:

The copy of First Frost that I reviewed was purchased by me on Amazon.com - I received no compensation for this review, other than the pleasure of reading a great book.

For your own copy, click on over to Amazon and get yours! (link to Kindle version)