Star Rating: 

Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling
Number of Pages: 267

Date Started: December 20, 2017
Date Finished: December 21, 2017

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
Spinning straw into gold was only the beginning of the story…

Marie, the dutiful princess of Northhelm, chafes under the rigid protocol that governs her life. Then a growing darkness threatens the kingdom and uncovers the lie at the centre of her whole life–a single pact that changes everything.

Throwing off convention, she joins Rafe, a handsome, charming newcomer, on a quest to save her kingdom. Except he doesn’t know she has a mission of her own–to discover the truth about her identity. Increasingly drawn to Rafe’s strength and good humour, Marie is torn by her double purpose. With time running out and death and destruction looming, Marie will have to unravel the bargains that surround her and choose where her true allegiance lies.

In this twist on the classic fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, a hidden identity is just one of the things Marie will have to unravel.

Review:
Marie was so easy to care about, given that she had worries and fears about her differences that many people feel throughout their lives. I had hoped reading the first book in The Four Kingdoms series that one would tell more about Marie, so I was quite pleased for this one to focus on her.

Marie’s journey was mostly of self discovery, though she learned quite a few useful skills along the way. I thought that Rafe was an excellent character and quite enjoyed the ending, though I had suspected long before the reveal. While part of me wants to admonish Marie for how easily she was manipulated, many people are pressured in similar ways regularly.

Rumpelstiltskin wasn’t at all the same story, or, part of it was, but for once, it was not necessarily Marie who had to go through the traumatizing experience with him. I quite enjoyed the way he was characterized, as well as both the description of and reasoning behind his appearance.

I quite enjoyed this story, and am reading book 4 in the series now!

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
Melanie Cellier grew up on a staple diet of books, books and more books. And although she got older she never stopped loving children’s and young adult novels. She always wanted to write one herself but it took three careers and three different continents before she actually managed it.

She now feels incredibly fortunate to spend her time writing from her home in Canberra, Australia where they don’t have a beach but they do have kangaroos hopping down the streets. Her staple diet hasn’t changed much, although she’s added choc mint Rooibos tea and Chicken Crimpies to the list.

She is currently working on The Four Kingdoms, a series of young adult fairy tale retellings.

Visit Melanie at her website: http://www.melaniecellier.com or follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Melanie-Cellier-689002674569364/ for all the latest news on The Princess Companion and other upcoming Four Kingdoms stories.