Book Review: The Fairytale Collection

The Fairytale Collection by K. B. Hoyle (Owl’s Nest Publishers)
Book #1 in the series: Son of the Deep (2022)

If you feel the need of some enchanting escapism in your life, or a great new book series for a kid in your life, or both, K. B. Hoyle’s Fairytale Collection fills the bill beautifully. Each book in the series—there are three so far—presents a retelling of a classic fairytale, full of twists, absorbing writing, and wonderful characters. And all of them appeal to both kids and adults who love fairytales and fantasy.

(Full disclosure: I’m both a friend and a fan of K. B. Hoyle. You may remember my Q&A with her about her book The Queen of Ebenezer, and I endorsed the first book in this series, Son of the Deep.)

Son of the Deep is a gender-flipped version of “The Little Mermaid,” with a young man named Orpheo the denizen of the sea who falls in love with a human princess, Rose. The next book, Son of Bitter Glass, retells “The Snow Queen,” with a young woman named Eira setting out to save her kidnapped friend and prince, Isbrand. My favorite entry in the series—so far, because more books are coming!—is the third one, Son of Gold and Sorrow, based on a more obscure fairytale called “The Story of Pretty Goldilocks” (no, not that Goldilocks, a different Goldilocks).

Each story offers plenty of adventure, heroism, villainy, (clean) romance, humor, heartache, and triumph. And for diehard lovers of fairytales, there’s a lot of fun to be had picking out both the similarities with and the differences from the original stories.

The books are loosely connected, with several characters who appear as links between all three, but they can be read as standalones if desired. My favorite character by far is James, an ambassador’s son who is part of Rose’s entourage in the first book, ends up helping Eira with her quest in the next one, and finally gets his own love story in Son of Gold and Sorrow. James is sardonic, lovelorn, and self-doubting, with a carefully hidden heart of gold, so of course he won me over instantly and completely. (This is what comes of encountering Dickens’s Sydney Carton at an impressionable age—you’re destined to keep falling for the sardonic, lovelorn characters until the end of time.)

So I was over the moon to see James finally get to take center stage, stop pining for Rose, and meet his real match, Aurelia, and I tore through their story at breakneck speed. It was one of the most satisfying books I’ve read in quite some time.

The next book in the series, Daughter of Rage and Ruin, is due in September, and already I’m counting the months. Each book has been a storytelling experience to savor (yes, you really can savor a book even while reading at breakneck speed), and I’m eager for more of the same.

(Cover images copyright Owl’s Nest Publishers. Thanks to the author for the review copy of the third book.)

Book Links:

The Fairytale Collection on Amazon
The Fairytale Collection on Owl’s Nest Publishers (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3)

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualified purchases.)

Goodreads Reviews:

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