Book: Fairy Tale Retellings #1
I wanted to answer, to whisper yes into the space between us, but I was afraid.
All Gesela's life, her home village of Elk has been cursed. And it isn't a single curse—it is one after another, each to be broken by a villager, each with devastating consequences. When Elk's well goes dry, it is Gesela's turn to save her town by killing the toad that lives at the bottom. Except… the toad is not a toad at all. He is an Elven prince under a curse of his own, and upon his death, his brothers come for Gesela, seeking retribution.
As punishment, the princes banish Gesela to live with their seventh brother, the one they call the beast. Gesela expects to be the prisoner of a hideous monster, but the beast turns out to be exquisitely beautiful, and rather than lock her in a cell, he offers Gesela a deal. If she can guess his true name in seven days, she can go free.
Gesela agrees, but there is a hidden catch—she must speak his name with love in order to free him, too.
But can either of them learn to love in time?
My Review: Gesela is minding her own business in the woods and getting wood for the fire. Until she gets cornered in the woods and made to kill the frog in the well to break the curse.
Gesela is thrown into the well and the frog is kind enough to show her a way out. She really wants to just save this frog and not have to hurt it, but in the end it goes south. The frog she killed wasn't just a frog, but a prince.
Woken in the middle if the night, Gesela is surrounded by the elven princes. They want to punish her for killing their brother and so send her to live with another brother who they call the beast.
Gesela and the beast clash. Lots of back and forth and her hate for him is shown. So how in 7 days is she to find out his true name and say it with love.
She gains letters and asks how to find his true name. The mountains and the story of how it came down to someone having to say his true name with love.
I have a love/hate with this book. I love retellings and have fallen for Scarlett's other books. However, I am not a fan that the beginning didn't have more of a backstory. But the romance concept just seemed not the standard I'm used to with Scarlett's other books. It was rushed and just didn't seem right for them to go at each other to in love in a week. I had a hard time with that part.
Overall, I enjoyed it but its not my favorite by Scarlett. But I look forward to reading more by her.
