Book Review: 'The Fairest Poison' by Lauren Skidmore

Title: 'The Fairest Poison' 

Series: 'What is Hidden' Book 3 

Author: Lauren Skidmore 

Genre: Fantasy; Fairy Tale Retelling 

Age: Young Adult / Adult

I've really been enjoying the 'What is Hidden' series by Lauren Skidmore.  In the first book, 'What is Hidden', you have a mystery/fantasy retelling of Cinderella; with book two, 'What is Lost,' we were given a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.  And now, with 'The Fairest Poison' we have a Snow White retelling.  The series is all in the same world and does build off one-another so I will try and not give away too major of spoilers if you haven't read the previous two books.

The story follows Bianca whom you met (or will meet) in 'What is Lost' and picks up when she returns home to Venesia after the events of the previous book. Upon coming home, she finds her parents are dangerously (and suspiciously) ill.  Shortly afterwards, attempts are made on her life and her brother, the prince, starts going into over-protective mode. After arguing with her brother, she sets out to find the Chameleon (villain) from book one (who is also the focus of book two, and, no I will not tell you their name) to help them find out who is trying to kill her, and, of course, stop them before it's too late.

Now this is where I will stop telling you the plot-line and tell you what I thought of it. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but I didn't like it as much as the first two. Everything about book one grabbed my attention and held it.  It had all the right elements of its fairy-tale mixed with a beautiful blend of (light) romance and mystery. Book two, was surrounded with mystery.  Up until the very end, you had more questions than you had answers and, while you might have started to guess the reveal at the end, you still keenly felt the main characters shock.  Here though, that grab-and-hold you mystery isn't there.  Yes, there is a mystery of who is behind the attempts on Bianca's life, but it's just not as engaging as the previous two books.  There is also a measure of insta-love on the side of one character, and eventual reciprocation from the other that just wasn't as well developed as it should have been. I knew going into the book that those two would end up together, but I just didn't feel their connection as well as Evie's (the Cinderella character from the first book) in book one.  I also felt it came about too fast with very little detail given as to why they liked each other.  It was simply there.

So while I enjoyed it, for me, the story was a bit blasé.  However, I do really hope she continues this serious as I'd still love to read more!  I just don't think this was her best.

Confessions of a Library Clerk: eBooks

I have a bit of a confession to make, I used to dislike ebooks. Yes, I know, it's unimaginable.  How could someone not like ebooks?! Well, at the time, (apart from when traveling) I didn't see why someone would want an ebook when they could have a real, in-the-paper book. (Sorry, all you ebook lovers, but while I have now seen the light and must acknowledge that I've now been bitten by the ebook bug,  they will never be able to replace the glorious feeling of having a real hardcover/paperback book in your hands.) However, you will be relieved to know, I have now repented of my ebook blasphemy (so please put your stones away, they will no longer be required). 

What changed my mind? Well, it started when I was given a free copy of 'The Cinder Crown' by D.R. Stokes to read and review (and if the author is reading this, I am reading it! I just ran into some technological glitches.) I thought I'd be able to read in on my laptops Kindle app. Well, turns out I was wrong. Many months later, I was able to get a tablet and was FINALLY able to start reading that ebook.  

This is when my interest in ebooks began, but it was still pretty weak. Then came my Kindle Unlimited Subscription.  In combination with my Goodreads account this further grew my interest in ebooks.  You see, I had, to my frustration, discovered that a great many of the books in my ever growing Goodreads list (it's now up to 1,026! Woohoo!) were only available as ebooks, or, if they did come as hardcover/paperback, no library in the state of Michigan had them available.  This is truly frustrating! To have so many fascinating books you wanted to read, but couldn't get a hold of them! But once I got that tablet a whole new world was opened up to me. I realized that many of them were offered on Amazon as free to-read with a Kindle Unlimited Subscription, and with a camping trip coming up and me being bereft of library books it was the perfect time! 

Ah, bliss, to at last be able to read some of the books that had been calling to me from Goodreads! It was beautiful, but, alas, with Kindle Unlimited you do not get to keep them, and as a part-time library clerk and student I could not (though tempting as it may be) afford to use my pay-check to purchase ebooks (*sob*). Thus began my quest, were there places that offered free ebooks? I had to know. And it was this quest, and desperation for more books (because who can ever have enough books?!), that led to my fully succumbing to the ebook bug. 

In the span of just a few months, my ebook collection has grown to over 200 (over 300 if you count that some of these are actually collections of multiple books). How did I do it? Where did I go to find all this ebook goodness? Turns out there are many great websites out there designed to help you find free or on sale ebooks! These are the ones I've currently found: 

1. BookBub
2. FreeBooksy
3. ManyBooks
4. BookSends
5. TheFussyLibrarian
6. eReaderIQ
7. EarlyBirdBooks
8. SweetFreeBooks
9. eBookSoda
10. SmashWords
11. DigiLibraries
12. Amazon Kindle eBook Store

This is just a few of the sites out there. There are many, many more! Now Amazon may be a surprise to some of you, but if you go to ebook bestsellers there are lists of the top selling paid and free ebooks (and it's updated hourly so don't just check once and never come back!).  Some books are up for free permanently on Amazon, while others are just free for a limited time.  You can find other free ebooks on Amazon by remembering to sort your search results as 'price: low to high.' 

Happy searching!