The Charmed Wife poses an interesting question: what happens when the magic goes out of Cinderella's marriage? Feeling unloved and embittered by the false dream she has been sold, our main character seeks out a witch to cast a spell to kill her fairytale prince. Just as they are about to cast it however, the fairy godmother shows up and urges her to look back on her relationship and whether things are as bad as they seem.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this book. It has a dreamy, fairytale style sprinkled with humor and thought-provoking imagery. It takes an interesting look at what life for Cinderella would actually be like, and I particularly enjoyed the asides about the saga of her two pet mice. That honestly was my favourite part of it and I wish it had continued throughout the entire book.
Halfway through however, this book changes gear and here it got a bit less enjoyable for me. A lot of different fairytales start appearing and this was great at first but quickly became crammed and a bit tiresome. I felt like the plot had gotten away from the author and I wanted to get back to it. The ending I cannot discuss without spoilers so highlight the text to see: I think the decision to have it all be a potential delusion could have worked a bit better but it was woven in so messily into the multiple fairytale stuff that was going on, it didn't quite hit the mark for me. And personally I would have preferred to stay in the fairytale world as I found that more insightful and that it worked better as a metaphor. The final scene with the prince revealing he never got what he wanted either is very powerful, and it doesn't need the real world muddying the waters.
Having said that, this book was incredibly creative and I found myself very absorbed and invested in the story. It is unlike anything I have read before in a really great way, and I was completely enchanted seeing where it would go. It's definitely a powerful book and one I know will stick with me for a while.
Overall Rating:
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