Happily Ever After …Or Happily Nevermore?
I always enjoy Melanie Dickerson‘s fairytale retellings and this one was no different. In fact, The Captive Maiden is my favorite of all of Melanie’s novels. And not just because it’s Cinderella’s story.
I loved how she brought the stepmother and stepsisters to life. They have motivations and malice for Gisela. Which made me want to read even more about them. But they never took away from Gisela or Valten.
And Gisela and Valten! They were sweet on each other from the beginning in an endearing sort of way. More and more books I read lately feature heroes and heroines who dislike each other at first but grow to embrace each other’s good qualities (Pride and Prejudice, anyone?).
I enjoyed the fact that Gisela has always admired Valten from afar and Valten is smitten with her at first sight. It made for a refreshing change and many twists in the story as their love is constantly encountering barriers! Plenty of the damsel-in-distress aspect that makes my heart race as I read!
A few times the writing became somewhat cramped or stilted when the scene needed to be hurried along but overall I think Melanie Dickerson captured the medieval time period well (and she drew from Ivanhoe, so that makes it even better!).
Fairytale lovers such as I will enjoy the Cinderella retelling of The Captive Maiden. My favorite was Chapter 28 when she is captive no more. =)
About the Author
Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer’s Apprentice, a Christy Award finalist and winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award for Best First Book. Melanie earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Alabama and has been a teacher and a missionary. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Huntsville, Alabama.
- Find Melanie on her Blog // Facebook // Goodreads // Twitter
- Read my reviews of Melanie Dickerson’s other books: The Fairest Beauty // The Merchant’s Daughter
Disclosure: The author provided me with this book to review. This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
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