Title/Author: Fractured: Happily Never After? by Joanna Karaplis
Publisher/Date published: November 1st 2010 by McKellar & Martin Publishing Group, Ltd.
How I got this book: the author sent it to me.
Why I read this book: I love fairytale retellings.
Goodreads summary: "Everyone knows a fairytale or two. They’re the kind of stories that seem to stick with you. Maybe it’s the magic. Maybe it’s the handsome prince. Or maybe they’re just the absolute perfect place to lose yourself for a little while.
But what would happen if Snow White were around today? Would Cinderella still need a fairy godmother? And would the Little Mermaid show up on YouTube?"
I've recently discovered I really like fairytale retellings, so I was excited when I heard about this book. It contains three stories, modern day retellings of 3 of fairytales I love the best (I've probably watched the Little Mermaid a thousand times). All three have highschool aged girls as their main character.
The Snow White retelling focuses on a girl who needs to learn to look past face value. The Seven Dwarves are seven boys who spend most of their time in the computer lab. The way she replaced the poison apple was genius!
The next one was a retelling of Cinderella, featuring a real-life show star as Prince Charming. This is written completely in chat-format or texting and because of that I found it harder to get into the storyline. I did think the 'fairy godmother' was pretty funny.
And last, but certainly not least: the retelling of the Little Mermaid. This was my favourite of the three. Our Mermaid is insecure about one part of her body and desperately wants to have it altered (and in her opinion improved) by a plastic surgeon. I think there's a very strong message here, there's a growing problem with people running to have surgery when they're not satisfied with something and there should be more attention for the darker side of this. Because it can all go horribly wrong.
Short stories aren't really my thing, I love connecting with characters and then follow them for a while and there's not enough room for that in a short story in my opinion. That said, I did enjoy this book, I thought Joanna Karaplis did a wonderful job in not only writing a good story, but also pointing out some things that are wrong with society right now. I thought her writing style was engaging, except for the Cinderella retelling, the chat-format wasn't for me.
My rating: 3 stars
Other stops on the blog tour:
Nov. 15:
Steph at Steph Su Reads
Jenn at Word bookstore
Nov. 16:
Stacey at Word of Mouse Book Reviews
Steph at Bella's Bookshelves
Nov. 17
Savannah at The Reading Girl
Nov. 18
Stacey at Page Turners
Tahleen at Tahleen's Mixed-Up Files
Nov. 19
Jami at YA Addict
Melissa at YA Book Shelf
Be sure to check them out!
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