Title: Bewitching (Kendare #2)
Author: Alex Flinn
Genre/s: Young Adult, Fairytale Retelling, Fantasy, Romance,
Synopsis:
Bewitching can be a beast. . . .
Once, I put a curse on a beastly and arrogant high school boy. That one turned out all right. Others didn't.
I go to a new school now--one where no one knows that I should have graduated long ago. I'm not still here because I'm stupid; I just don't age.
You see, I'm immortal. And I pretty much know everything after hundreds of years--except for when to take my powers and butt out.
I want to help, but things just go awry in ways I could never predict. Like when I tried to free some children from a gingerbread house and ended up being hanged. After I came back from the dead (immortal, remember?), I tried to play matchmaker for a French prince and ended up banished from France forever. And that little mermaid I found in the Titanic lifeboat? I don't even want to think about it.
Now a girl named Emma needs me. I probably shouldn't get involved, but her gorgeous stepsister is conniving to the core. I think I have just the thing to fix that girl--and it isn't an enchanted pumpkin. Although you never know what will happen when I start . . . bewitching.
My Thoughts:
If you read my previous review of Beastly and Lindy's Diary, you would probably know who Kendra was. She was the witch who turned Kyle into a monster and also helped in breaking that curse. So in this book, Kendra told her story of how she became a witch and some stories of the people she ruined helped.
I love Kendra ever since Beastly and so I was really excited to know that this was her story. Well, she wasn't the focus of this book entirely, though but I still loved it. I'm now a fan of Alex Flinn. She made fairytale stories feel like a part of history when she incorporated historical events and people in it.
Kendra's story of how she became a witch was the retelling of Hansel and Gretel story. It was a sad story for Kendra because she discovered her ability a bit too late. Her younger brother is the only relative she saved from the Great Plague. And at the end of the story, she had to let go his brother for him to live a normal life and she can't have that. She's immortal and the realization of her ability finally sinks into her that "a witch’s life is a lonely one." Anyway, from that day onward she vowed that she will only use her powers to help people.
She then introduced Lissette and Emma's story. At first, I wasn't sure whose fairytale retelling it was because it was told in a different perspective. But when I reached the middle part, I finally understood it. It was a retelling of Cinderella in the stepsister's POV.
It was definitely a new version of Cinderella and I think, it was more believable than the original. Think about it, why is it that in fairytales the evil ones are always the ugly people and the prettiest are always the good ones? It's really discriminating and it's really not what's happening in the reality. In reality, it's always the unattractive ones that is being ostracized and bullied. I salute Alex Flinn. She is brave for admitting that fairytales are sometimes wrong and for showing the ugly truth(no pun intended) in our society.
Anyway, Emma and Lissette's story was really amazing. I really love Emma even if she's trusting too much. She's a really great girl and I'm glad she have a happy ending because she totally deserved it. I'm also glad Kendra finally have a true friend. I'm not going to say who it was, though. You have to read it for yourself.
Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to everyone who loves witch, fairytales, and happy endings.
My Rating
