Review Detail

The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter has been on my radar since it first hit shelves in 2019. I love fairy tale retellings, and I especially love the anti-hero stories, you know the stories about the villain. That is one-hundred percent this story! The Evil Queen twists everything you thought you knew about Snow White and turns it on its head.

Everly Morrow thought she was a normal teen with normal teen problems: a smart kid, socially outcast, hanging on til graduation. What she didn’t expect was to be magical or to not even be from the human realm, but from Enchantia, a realm where fairy tales are real and so are all the monsters that haunt them. After accidentally killing her mother, Everly finds herself navigating this strange world without any preparation. The only thing she knows to be true is she has to find her sister and not become the prophesied evil queen.

Then enters Prince Roth Charmaine. That’s right, Prince Charming in the flesh. Everly can’t seem to resist the pull he has over her. However any relationship they have is doomed from the start by prophecy, or is it? I loved their interactions. Everly pushed Roth’s buttons, and he did the same right back. Their chemistry is undeniable from the moment they meet, but Everly doesn’t have time to focus on that. She has to save her sister.

I half-listened, half-read this one. As always, Caitlin Kelly’s narration is spot on! She is fantastic. I never have a problem figuring out which character is speaking at the time when Kelly narrates. Her subtle inflections and pitch changes bring the characters and story to life.

Overall I really enjoyed The Evil Queen. I love how the author twisted the original story and created a wholly new one. I can’t wait to read more of this series. I highly recommend this one to anyone that enjoys YA fantasy and retellings.