Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen (Villains Book 1)

I am a fan of the villains, so being able to read the backstory of the Evil Queen was really fun. I enjoyed getting to see another side of a character we’ve always known simply as the villain. It gives you a better understanding of how she became the Evil Queen and shows that there was more to her story than just being evil. I liked seeing the events that shaped her and watching her story slowly turn darker. It definitely made me look at her character a little differently. If you enjoy Disney villains and like finding out what happened before the story we all know, Fairest of All is a fun read and a great start to the Villains series.

**Im rating them one at a time as I receive & read them** 100% recommend!! The book quality was as expected (perfect) & the story was amazing. Such a good read. Im going to go watch the movie again. Fills in gaps & much more then the movie of course (being it the queens story & a book) I love the Different point of view this book has. The only thing i will say is i wish the books were much bigger. I could read about her story for a week at least but I cant wait to start the next of the series as Beauty & The Beast is my all time favorite :D

My First Impression I was very excited about this series before I even started reading it! I think there were at least 7 or 8 books in the series already published when I discovered them. It was very intriguing to see the stories from the perspectives of the villains, especially since I love books with alternate histories or perspectives. I will admit that Snow White was never my favorite Disney story. I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't my favorite. Having seen the other books in the series, I was very excited for the Maleficent one since Sleeping Beauty has always been my favorite! However, seeing as that is book 4 in the series, the first thing I searched was "Does this series need to be read in order?" I was a little bit bummed to see that the answer was yes, but that just meant that I'd read all the books for sure! While each book retells its own Disney classic, some pieces make the whole world intertwine. At least, that is how I understood it. Getting Reading As I began reading the book, I was immediately sucked in. The writing was easy to follow and they dove right into the Queen and her story. I enjoyed the plot since it felt like it added more human traits to the queen, and tells the story from before she met the king through the end of the Snow White tale we all know and love. In addition to making the queen feel more human, some really cool concepts were introduced about the mirror that made it very interesting. I also really enjoyed finding little easter eggs about other Disney stories which I did not expect in the first book yet. The pacing of the book was also really good. It wasn't too fast, wasn't too slow. Final Thoughts I think this book was written for the Young Adult genre, but I still found it enjoyable as an adult reading it for the first time. I think it will be great for teens and young adults who like Disney, or an adult who likes Disney and wants an easier read. Overall, good writing, a good pace, and an engaging plot that was fun and easy to read!

After reading this beautiful book, I will never ever look or think about the wicked queen the same way ever again. I love this book, it was beautiful, full of sentiment, magical, and so moving that I found myself tearing up at so many parts of the book. I believe this is the true story of the Wicked Queen that the Brother's Grimm and Disney never revealed to us. I was stunned and mesmorized on how loving and gold hearted the Queen was at first when she married Snow White's father and infinitely stunned on how loving and motherly she was to Snow White especially when she was a little girl. It melted my heart to learn all of this that the Wicked Queen was originally a lovely kindhearted woman and loved Snow White as if she were her own daughter. I loved it when the queen called her new daughter "my little bird" or when she said to Snow that she was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen and at the took her little daughter on picnics and picked flowers together and even encouraged Snow White to honor and love her original mother and even accompanied Snow to visit her mother's grave and leave flowers for her. The real stepmother of Snow White loves her infinitely, in fact is like a second mother to her or a godmother. So tragic that that that horrible mirror with the Queen's evil father's spirit in it, turned her into a wicked woman later on in the story. I love the imagery in this book especially about the meadows where the Queen and Snow picked flowers and the dreamscapes of the Queen. I also love the sentiment in this book, how Snow and the Queen reminisce about happy times when Snow's dad was still with them laughing and playing with his new wife and Snow after supper before he went to battle that tragically ended his life. I love how the queen used to remember her happy times with her nanny and the Strawberries and Cream. While I read that I could really tell what a sweet heart she originally had. The farewell chapter made me weep to high heaven. Snow was so young to lose both her mother and father and then she lost her loving second mom as well when her father died. The very end line of the book is the most beautiful part of the book. It seems that when the wicked witch version of the queen died, the true self of the Queen and good hearted version of her and her soul, came back to life again in her mirror and replaced the evil spirit of her father. As Snow White unwrapped the mirror of her stepmother's on her wedding night, she saw her stepmother's loving image and heard her stepmomma's loving words, she said to Snow "I love you my little bird, I always have, and I always will." And blew Snow White a kiss. This book is awesome. I don't care what anyone says, I believe that the Wicked Queen wasn't really the wicked to begin with, I believe that she was originally a kind lady and a loving new mom to Snow White that Snow White's original mom approved of. I believe it was the father of the Queen and those evil sisters of the King made her turn into a totally different person which was a wicked bitch. But it's lovely when that wicked witch died, Snow's loving stepmom or second mom came back in existence again and could talk to Snow White and love her again through the formerly evil but now benevolent magic mirror. One of the best books I have ever read in my life, so good I could not put it down and finished it in 3 days. I give this book 5 stars.

When the Evil Queen first appeared on movie theater screens in 1937, Walt Disney set the gold standard for all screen versions of fairy tale villains to come. She was gorgeous, menacing, and altogether overwhelming -- a scene-stealing villain, the embodiment of unrepentant evil. Or was she? As it is no secret that I adore fairy tales and film and novel re-tellings -- or re-imaginings -- of these classic tales of good versus evil, it was a foregone conclusion that when I stumbled upon Fairest of All I'd one day read it. Here, Serena Valentino crafts a backstory to the Evil Queen of legend, positing a history that, were different choices made, could have allowed for a very different -- and altogether more positive -- outcome of the Queen's relationship with her stepdaughter Snow White. Much like Elphaba's story in Wicked, the television show Once Upon a Time, or (presumably) the upcoming film Maleficent, this novel attempts to reassess the Queen in light of her upbringing, if not exactly excusing or attempting to justify her behavior outright, but rather to offer a plausible reason as to why the Queen would go to such drastic measures to remove Snow from her life. The young Queen is one eager for a place to belong, desperately in love with her husband and eager to be a mother to her new daughter. But she's terribly insecure, crippled her father's emotional abuse and eager, desperate for the validation being in a family can provide. However, when that haven is threatened, the door is opened for this insecure Queen to seek affirmation elsewhere -- even if its at the hands of a mirror whose power stems from her greatest oppressor. I love the ambition behind this novel, and the fairly plausible manner in which Valentino attempts to flesh out the canon of the film. It is a bit simplistic in its rendering, however, as she introduces great ideas only to leave them less than fully developed, perhaps giving the target audience less credit than they deserve. Valentino knows her source material, and peppers her story with film and other Disney canonical (including my favorite, a Sleeping Beauty shout-out!). Her prose, while occasionally reminscent of Grimm or Perrault, can be somewhat simplistic and stilted, filled with awkward descriptions and "flourishes," but on the whole this is a pleasing addition to Disney and fairy tale lore. I'd love to see Valentino explore the backstory of other famous villains, like Ursula, or perhaps Cinderella's enigmatic nemesis -- a veritable treasure trove of opportunities are waiting in the wings, and Valentino's passion and imaginative flair for this type of fiction holds promise.

This book was absolutely amazing. I love the back story of the Queen. Can’t wait to start the next book in the series.

Review of condition of book: I bad bought the book previously owned because it was less expensive. The condition of the book is still very good. The cover came a bit dirty because the material is like a silk matte kind of material and of course its pre owned. I simply just cleaned it with a wet wipe and dried it off with s towel and it was fine, it will continue to get dirty because if the oils off ur fingers so thats something that will always happen. The actual book is well, no folded pages or smudged words and also no stains. There is a very small slight dot of possible ink on the side of the book on the pages however it does not bother me i barely notice it only if u truly pay attention to looking for tiny details. Review of story: the story is amazing if you love learning lore, and im referring to ALL of the disney villain books, ive only read 2 so far. It may not be what disney intended for their stories years ago however they have accepted these books as disney official and the stories go deep beyond what we know of the fairytales. The story is VERY intriguing and detailed very intertwined with the other books. I love disney and i know it would be very easy for any young adult/adult disney fan to say they love these if they love lore. The book just has some things described that i dont think parents would want their young kids to read because it describes actions like a princess throwing herself off a cliff and one character choking another character and describing some other awful ways deaths occur. BUT ITS SUCH A GOOD BOOK OMGGGG please im 22 and ive bought the entire series and im OBSESSED so far my bestie and i have been reading it together so definitely give it a read if this interests u!

I've had this book 2 days and I'm already half way through. It is a page turner. I'm so excited to read the rest of the collection. The only reason I gave this 4 stars is because of how my book came. The cover had smears and smudges and finger prints; I was honestly irritated.

Great book! Makes you understand her side of the story. The ending is so sweet, my daughter is loving this series.

What I.like about these books from Serena valentino are the stories behind all these Once upon a time stories, where it revolves arou d the.princess and the villain is just the villain. With this book, it talks about the villains, on how they have become, and it tells you how too much love can really kill you.

So touching 🥹

This is first book of the series. WHAT A BOOK! I actually finished this book with my 4 year old in couple of days(with some odd explaining here and there for her and censoring only one scene with the stab happy queen).we couldn't of enjoyed this anymore!!! I do recommend this for all ages. WHAT TO EXPECT? well thought out plot and scenes appearing from the actually disney movie itself! The twists that will keep you on your toes and a moral! (That you will learn for yourself). This book truely makes sense of why she like what she was while bringing a whole lot more to the table.

The covers of this entire series is absolutely stunning and the twist on the normal Disney stories is super interesting and fun.