Creeping Beauty: Fairy Tales Gone Bad

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I love this world-wide myth of “the one who fell from the sky”. I also really enjoyed her personality development throughout this story, from a princess escaping difficult situations to becoming a warrior. Who ever thought of calling a princess "Bitsy"? This cutesy princess is like some pet lamb with a baby-talk name that's thrown into a bloody world she can't navigate and has problems thrown at her that she barely handles enough to not be swept away by the mess. Bitsy is as lost in the world she's taken to as a naïve lamb would be and ridiculously mismatched to the "creepy" atmosphere of that world and its mad king. Not to mention the plotline is so haphazard that it ends on a major cliffhanger (and bear in mind this book doesn't have a continuation, "The End" is written right there at the end, like in some Looney Tunes skit), and it all leaves you dissatisfied and confused. When I first came across Creeping Beauty on NetGalley my interest was piqued. A fairytale retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess isn't dependent on a prince to save her? Count me in! Sadly, this book was not what I was expecting. While there were a lot of things about this book that had me disappointed, there were also a lot of things I really enjoyed. Although the premise hints at potential, the execution falls short of expectations. The book's oscillation between contrasting tones and unresolved storylines detracts from its overall impact. Despite its intentions, "Creeping Beauty" may struggle to engage readers consistently. I typically don’t like first person point of view, but Bitsy made it work well. Furthermore, I love when characters break the fourth wall! It’s hilarious on TV, it’s hilarious in movies, and its hilarious in books. Sorry, that is just never going to be not funny to me.

Portes' third novel, ANATOMY OF A MISFIT, was published in September 2014 by HarperCollins. In July 2014, the book was optioned in a pre-emptive deal by Paramount Pictures, with Allison Shearmur (THE HUNGER GAMES, CINDERELLA) producing. Portes was raised in rural Nebraska, outside of Lincoln. She attended Bryn Mawr College on full scholarship and later received her MFA from University of California, San Diego. After graduation, Portes moved to the neighborhood of Echo Park in Los Angeles. In the tradition of Sleeping Beauty, Bitsy falls into a slumber from which she cannot be awaken but, unbeknownst to her parents and all those around her she is living a new life in a new world, which involves facing numerous and significant challenges, including cannibalism, enslavement, and more. It is in this world that Bitsy goes on a journey of growth and there is a distinct journey that if you stay with the story is both moving and empowering. And as for the happy ending, well how I believe how you judge the story will tell you a lot about yourself. I thought Bitsy was a great female character at the end of the book, I loved watching her character development throughout the book from being one that would shy away from things to being someone who is fighting for something.Created with a synthetic voice only for early review use, this VoiceGalley advance audio edition provides another great way to get an early sneak peek of this new book! This does not reflect the audiobook, which will be voiced by a human narrator. What instantly drew me to this book was the enchantingly beautiful cover. Once I saw that the story was a retelling of the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty, I was eager to read it.

First of all, the atmosphere of the story was everything I'd expect from a fairytale retelling. While reading I really did feel like I was in a fairytale, and the descriptions were well done and gave me clear pictures of what the world looked like. However, the world-building could have been more well-done, and the world didn't make a lot of sense. The story had a vibe similar to Caraval, as you were never quite sure what was real, who you could trust, or what was happening. This is one of the things that kept me interested and ultimately made me finish the book. I wanted to learn how the story ended and why everything happened, as we weren't shown why she fell asleep, to begin with, and I couldn't quite piece it together on my own. When you aren't familiar with the author or their worlds, sometimes it's the cover that catches your eyes (vain thing that you are 😘) and gives you pause to consider. It takes a good blurb to sell you to even read it. It is then up to the author to get you to fully commit hours of your life on their story, all the while everyone is hoping for the grand payout -- an excellent story and a happy reader. With that being said, I did want to DNF the book about 20% in, but I pushed through, and I am happy that I did because I think this book could have been amazing if there were a few things changed in it. I loved the crazy world she traveled to and that it DIDN’T make sense! It wasn’t supposed to! This is an alternate reality not dissimilar from Wonderland. It makes for a great fairy tale but I think it would be better pitched with less adult themes and moved into the middle grade category to suit the nature of the writing and the characters.

The book is broken up into sections that open with entries from the king's "diary," something he does begrudgingly because he's a Man and only writes about his feelings out of love for his wife who's forced him to do so. It's supposed to be humorous and a little "down with the patriarchy!", but it's just forced and cringe, it's like a really bad, prolonged dad joke. The pacing, pretty fast, I will say, but I think it may have been more me rushing through it to get to the end rather than because I wanted to see where the story would take me. Then we have Princess Elizabeth "Bitsy" Whatever her last name is, which really has to be some kind of bad joke because, Bitsy? Really? She is not like other princesses. She's plain and nerdy and has mastered the art of "creeping" (a word, that unfortunately, appears far too often in the book) so she can escape her dreadfully vain cousins to go read. She wants her servants to be her maids of honor and breaks the fourth wall because she's a modern woman trapped in a patriarchal society. I mean, Portes really tries to give Bitsy a distinct and unique voice. It just...doesn't work. Eshe and her twelve sisters are Fairy Godmothers, honoured for the incredible gifts they can bestow. But Eshe's special abilities are a little different - she can glimpse into the future! And, one day, Eshe foresees something terrifying: a world blanketed in creeping vines and a girl covered in thorns. Eshe needs to stop her vision becoming true, but it will require old and powerful magic. And she won't be able to do it alone... To put it succinctly, everything in this book from the writing to the characterisation to the plotting leaves much to be desired.

Now, the reason this is 3.5 ⭐️, leaning more towards 3 ⭐️…two things….first, the romance. What on earth! There was a very good romance going on there and I just have no words for how that never really happened or ended, it just fizzled out and left me disappointed, severely disappointed. But the ending…the ending is an open ending, and I do enjoy open endings, but the implication of this ending makes no sense! Bitsy goes from listening to her parents all the time, to being her own person, to allowing another person to influence her and to do what!? I won’t say what it is, but it makes no sense! This was seriously going to be a solid 4 ⭐️ until that ending and how the romance just never played out. I cannot express my disappointment in both of these situations, and I have great ideas as to how that could have turned out differently! I felt like I was reading a middle-school book was young adult content. I can 100% guarantee my mom would not have let me touch this book with a ten-foot pole when I was eleven. While it was not graphic, there was some violence, and a few kiss scenes, that would have ensured this book was used as kindling or ripped apart for art projects in my house. One of the main reasons the writing was cheesy was because Bitsy (I won't get into how weird of a name the author chose) talks directly to the reader. Using phrases like "Dear reader," and asking us about our surroundings is something I would have loved when I was younger, but it just felt incredibly juvenile here. Im sure with some more editing and a way of this book 'finding itself' the concept could be great but as it is, I just couldn't invest in it. I also advocate for self-development and mental health and dabble in non-fiction as time allows. I love the outdoors and still hope to be abducted by fae! (I may have more in common with my characters than I care to admit.)

Joseph Coelho Press Reviews

I hated that ending. It was anticlimactic, wiped away all character development for her, and was not what I wanted or what we DESERVED! It was terrible. The end.

I love fairytale retellings, but Creepy Beauty is unpolished mess of a story. I think Andrea Portes was trying to go for some kind of Sleeping Beauty x Through the Looking Glass dark fantasy mash-up, but it feels like she just took a bunch of random elements, threw it in a blender, and called it a day. Unfortunately, the only good this book was good for was trying to help me go to sleep. I would describe Creeping Beauty as a cross between Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz, with a definite splash of female empowerment and autonomy. There is no question, this book is more targeted at the younger end of YA but, despite that it still takes a firm stance on misogyny, cruelty, enslavement, colonialism and contains themes that could distress or trigger the very young, such as self-harm, suicide, parental neglect and other themes of cruelty. Cannonball will get your ass up, head banging and jumping like an idiot, whether you like it or not." Greta ThunbergPortes also chose HarperCollins to publish HENRY & EVA AND THE CASTLE ON THE CLIFF, the first in a middle reader series of HENRY & EVA books. The second release in the series will be HENRY & EVA AND THE FAMOUS PEOPLE GHOSTS.