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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Emerald Bound by Teresa Richards




A princess, a pea, and a tower of mattresses. This is the sliver that survives of a story more nightmare than fairytale... Maggie Rhodes, high school junior and semi-reformed stalker, learns the tale's true roots after a spying attempt goes awry and her best friend Kate ends up as the victim of an ancient curse. At the center of the curse lies an enchanted emerald that has been residing quietly in a museum for the past fifty years. Admirers of the gem have no idea that it feeds on life. Or that it's found its next victim in Kate. Enter Lindy, a school acquaintance who knows more than she's letting on, and Garon, a handsome stranger claiming he knows how to help, and Maggie is left wondering who to trust and how to save her best friend before it's too late. If only Maggie knew her connection to the fairy tale was rooted far deeper than an endangered best friend


I received a copy of this novel from net-galley and the publisher in return for an honest review


I really enjoy a fairy tale retelling and was quite interested in this one as Princess and the Pea isn't a tale that gets retold all that often. It also has pretty high reviews on Goodreads so I was excited to be approved for it on netgalley.

However I was disappointed, while the premise of girl's essences being sucked into gem stones and a lost princess was a unique plot point and idea, I found the entire story a let down. It was overly complicated, a bit confusing and well... boring.

The story is told from two pov, Lindy and Maggie. Neither character is all that interesting. Maggie is a poor girl with two interesting best friends, her mom is dead, her brother is super smart and her dad is sad, works too much and has to ask Maggie for money. Sounds all to familiar, right? Lindy is a pretty, uber special snowflake Mary Sue under a curse with a big family secret she knows nothing about. I've read this story before.

The bits about Olivian, the evil magical emerald, were interesting and I give the author props for trying to be original and lend a new twist to an old tale. Alas, I did not care for the novel. Though the cover art is pretty.