Four Kingdoms in Five Books

One of my girlfriends introduced me to The Four Kingdoms series several weeks ago. There are a total of five books and three novellas in the series, the novellas coming in between some of the full-length books. I just finished the last book, although I did not read the novellas. (I only have so much time in a day, even during this COVID-19 epidemic. 😉 )

First, I must say the covers of these young adult books are gorgeous! Kudos to the artist/graphic designer. Having such jaw-dropping designs is reason enough to buy the paperback copies rather than the ebooks, as “opening” and “closing” ebooks don’t afford readers the pleasure of drooling over inspiring covers.

Inside such beauty, you’ll find retellings of well-known and lesser-known fairytales, in which fairy godmothers work with a High King to foster and encourage unions based on true love. Those kingdoms that are ruled by true love matches, prosper. That may sound sappy to some when summarized, but the concept does not come off sappy in the books. I will say, however, that though a fairy godmother was mentioned in the first book (a retelling of The Princess and the Pea), the true-love workings of the kingdoms and the existence of a High King were not hinted at until partway through Book #2, which added to some unbelief I already had in that particular plot line (a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood).

Overall, I have enjoyed reading these books, as I love clean romance and fairytales and retellings, and there is always a nefarious plot to uncover, keeping the interest going. 

But I have found in these five books that, similar to how we connect with some people in real life and don’t connect with others, I have connected with some characters and couldn’t connect with others. Some reviewers of Book #1 complained that the plot line moved too slow, and while it does move slower than most of the others, I loved the characters and the kingdom and the plot enthralled me. On the other hand, Book #2 started out with such great potential as its protagonist had been Book #1’s antagonist, but it resorted to way too much telling, way too much repetition, and events and characters’ responses to circumstances left me in disbelief and rolling my eyes. I was tempted to skip over Book #3, as Book #4 is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, one of my all-time fave fairytales, but my girlfriend convinced me to give #3 a chance. I’m glad I did.

It’s a twist on Rumpelstiltskin, and I enjoyed it much better than Book #2…and one of the minor characters ran away with my heart. Seriously, William (the female MC’s brother) stole every scene he appeared in, so I was thrilled when I discovered he was the hero of Book #4! Be still my heart.

Yes, Book #4, with its witty banter, action scenes, too-fun hero, just-as-strong heroine, and the fact that Sleeping Beauty was only mentally asleep to the outside world, and thus could still interact with the hero…dreamy sigh. An excellent, unique twist on a beloved fairy tale. (The curse prohibits our heroine from presenting herself to others as the intelligent girl she is on the inside, except at night when she disguises herself as her alter-ego spy, Aurora.)

While it’s encouraged to read all these books to glean the most fun out of the series, you can read them as stand-alones…so if you only read one, I’d highly recommend #4. 😉

The one drawback in the series for me, as an author, is the plethora of “telling,” especially in Books #2 and #5, which is one of the reasons I liked those two the least. Thus, if you’re reading books to gain knowledge on the craft of writing, I would recommend you look elsewhere to learn how to implement showing vs. telling. The repetition of words, thoughts, explanations, concepts, and descriptions in some of the books (not so much in #3 or #4, but heavy in #2 and #5) were painful at times, and I resorted to skimming passages in Book #5 just to get to the end—because in the author’s defense, while I wasn’t invested in the characters in #2 and #5, I was invested in the plots, one of Melanie Cellier’s strengths. The plot lines are so creative, each character comes across as completely different from the next—quite impressive, since we’re dealing with a large cast of characters—we visit a new kingdom or new parts of a known kingdom in each book, and there are new dilemmas to unravel.

Even better: the younger siblings of the princes and princesses we have come to love over the course of five books kick off their own set of stories in the Beyond the Four Kingdoms series, which begins a couple of years after the events in Book #5. My girlfriend has her finger figuratively hovering over the “loan” button in Kindle, ready for when I text her, begging for Book #1 in the next series.

But first…I need to refocus on writing my own sequel. Aaaand there’s some cleaning I should probably get around to, since having so many people at home All. The. Time gets a house über messy, über fast! 😉

Happy reading and prayers for everyone’s safety!

And should you want to read the books in order, here they are:

• Book 1: The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the Pea
• Book 2: The Princess Fugitive: A Reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood
• Novella: Happily Ever Afters: A Reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red
• Novella: The Coronation Ball: A Four Kingdoms Cinderella Novelette
• Book 3: The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin
• Novella: A Midwinter’s Wedding: A Retelling of The Frog Prince
• Book 4: The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty
• Book 5: The Princess Search: A Retelling of The Ugly Duckling