Review: Loved the story, but the narratve style frustrated me
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 6, 2013
Honestly, this story deserves more than the three stars I'm giving it.  It was a great story.  It was original and interesting, and had some really important things to say about gender and sexuality.  It was also fun... and funny.  I got a few genuine chuckles out of it... especially in the last paragraph, when the King of Athena decides what he can live without, considering the alternative.Where I had problems with this book was the fairytale narrative style.  I know, I know, this is a fairytale, right?  So that traditional Grimms Brothers style is appropriate.  But I just don't like that style, and here's why -- it's too omniscient, and as a reader, I don't get enough intimacy with the main characters.  I’m told their thoughts and feelings, but I don't experience them firsthand.The main characters were exceptionally interesting: Alexendre the princess who is raised as a prince, no matter what she'd rather be, and strong-willed Princess Vexa, who is determined to rule the Kingdom in her own right.  These characters were just so intriguing - the omniscient distance from their internal struggles frustrated me.  And I really started to like King Magnus.  Yeah, he was a jerk (a murderous jerk), but he was a cool jerk.I also appreciated the age difference between Alexendre and Vexa, and I thought a closer third person narrative could have better explored that conflict.  Their intimacy was sweet, bold, and sexy, and could have been a lot sweeter and sexier if I was in the mind of a protagonist instead of a fly on the wall.I think my favorite part of this book was the negotiation of gender roles between Vexa and Alexendre.  It was such a great example of romantic couples actually negotiating their boundaries… so many lesbian fiction books do that badly.  But again... I felt cheated by the fairytale style narrative.So basically, (and I totally get that this is just my own opinion) I loved the plot, the characters, the conflict, and the romance.  I just hated the narrative style.