DNF at 25%.

This is going to be a divisive one, in that it will either work very well for people, or it will not work at all. Sadly, I was firmly in the latter camp.

I appreciate the idea behind this book and the imagination of it, even if I ended up not appreciating the book itself. A terminally ill girl is able to enter the pages of her favourite story and finds herself a villain in the story, which she decides to fully embrace. The book does not take itself seriously at all, so I could see someone having a lot of fun with this.

I did not have much fun with the tone of the writing nor the main character. Rae annoyed me and just seemed . . . kind of unbearable as a person. I feel bad speaking ill of a fictional cancer patient, but I truly don’t have a good thing to say about how her character resonated with me. She’s having fun with her circumstances and making the most of it, I guess?? That’s a semi-positive thing to say about her?

The writing has a very specific tone, but beyond that, it’s also awkward. A choice passage:

And, Rae recalled with a shock like walking down steps she relied on at night only to find air instead of stair, a new guard suggested how the lady should be punished.

Excuse me, what? This is just not a good sentence.

When I talk about the specific tone of the book, that’s where I think this will be most divisive.

“Seriously, you will be powerful A.F.”
The king’s brow wrinkled. “A.F.?”
“As foretold,” Rae intoned hastily.

And almost the entire first quarter of the book is written like that; I am confident the remaining 75% also is but I just couldn’t bring myself to read more. This book was very resolutely not for me.

However, I do hope others will find this to be a fun and cartoon villainous ride, and I thank the publisher, Orbit, and NetGalley for the ARC.