Letters to Zell
Publication: 1st July 2015
Publisher: 47North
Pages: 336
Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriate: Young Adult
Buy It: Amazon
Everything is going according to story for CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White), and Rory (Sleeping Beauty)—until the day that Zell (Rapunzel) decides to leave Grimmland and pursue her life. Now, Zell’s best friends are left to wonder whether their own passions are worth risking their predetermined “happily ever afters,” regardless of the consequences. CeCi wonders whether she should become a professional chef, sharp-tongued and quick-witted Bianca wants to escape an engagement to her platonic friend, and Rory will do anything to make her boorish husband love her. But as Bianca’s wedding approaches, can they escape their fates—and is there enough wine in all of the Realm to help them?
In this hilarious modern interpretation of the fairy-tale stories we all know and love, Letters to Zell explores what happens when women abandon the stories they didn’t write for themselves and go completely off script to follow their dreams.
In this hilarious modern interpretation of the fairy-tale stories we all know and love, Letters to Zell explores what happens when women abandon the stories they didn’t write for themselves and go completely off script to follow their dreams.
My Thoughts.
I've always been a big fan of fairytale retellings, especially when they're done really well and with a little something extra to let it stand out, and that's what you get with Letters To Zell.Zell (Rapunzel) has left Grimmland to run a Unicorn Reserve with her husband and kids, and this is where the different takes on these famous fairytales begin, the stories of CeCi (Cinderella), Bianca (Snow White) and Rory (Sleeping Beauty) are told through letters to Zell.
Things aren't as great as we would be led to believe after all the happily ever afters, CeCi is under pressure to produce an heir, neither her nor her husband Edmund (Prince Charming) wants kids, and there's also her dream of becoming a chef, she also has her Stepmother and Stepsisters still living with her.
Bianca doesn't want to be Queen, isn't in love with her future husband and would rather live in the 'Outside' (our world) where on a visit with CeCi and Rory met Rachel whom she has developed feelings for, the problem she has is she must complete her story otherwise her world will cease to be.
Then we have Rory who is unhappy with her life, after her true first love was banished from Grimmland she got stuck with Henry, a serial cheater, and while Rory sort of has a clue about his extramarital affairs she turns a blind eye, desperate for a child of her own.
Through the story CeCi, Bianca and Rory will take matters into their own hands and create their own happily ever afters, their own endings, and the lives they've always wanted, except for one who will find that her life hasn't improved through no fault of her own.
Letters To Zell is at times humorous, adventurous and entertaining especially because of a certain Snow White, an antithesis of the character we're used to reading about, a swearing, finger flipping, bisexual who has no problem telling anyone and everyone exactly how it is.
Certainly nothing you would expect here from a retelling, but that's what makes it so different and exciting to read.
One of the best fairytale retellings I've ever read, and I've read quite a few.
If you're in the mood for something so unexpected from these characters then be sure to pick this book up, it's highly delightful.
I give this 4/5 stars.
About
Camille Griep lives just north of Seattle 
with her partner, Adam, and their dog Dutch(ess). Born in Billings, Montana, she moved to Southern California to attend Claremont McKenna College, graduating with a dual degree in Biology and Literature.
with her partner, Adam, and their dog Dutch(ess). Born in Billings, Montana, she moved to Southern California to attend Claremont McKenna College, graduating with a dual degree in Biology and Literature.
She wrote her way through corporate careers in marketing, commercial real estate, and financial analysis before taking an sabbatical to devote more time to her craft in 2011.
She has since sold short fiction and creative nonfiction to dozens of online and print magazines. She is the editor of Easy Street and is a senior editor at The Lascaux Review. She is a 2012 graduate of Viable Paradise, a residential workshop for speculative fiction novelists.
I'm glad to see that you enjoyed this so much! I've been curious about it, but haven't seen any reviews until now. I'll definitely be reading this.
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