Review – Black As Night (Fairy Tale, Book 2) by Regina Doman (2/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 294 pages
Publisher: Regina Doman
Release Date: October 6, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0981931821
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd volume in the Fairy Tale series
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 2/5 stars
“Way after midnight in New York City, a girl runs down the streets, looking for someplace to hide … is there anywhere she can go to escape? Is there anyone who can help her… now?
This dark but fulfilling sequel to The Shadow of the Bear is based on a familiar fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” from the Brothers Grimm. Circumstances have placed Blanche Brier entirely on her own this summer in New York City while Bear is wandering through Europe and her family is on vacation. Blanche is fast becoming the focus of a terrifying play of evil forces. Even the refuge she takes among some lively Franciscan friars does not protect her from dangerous attacks. Rather, they continue to escalate as she struggles to persuade a sick and aged man from killing himself. Discovering Blanche’s disappearance, Bear and Fish cut short their European vacation and join up with Rose to begin scouring New York City looking for Blanche. But the same malevolence that is lurking over Blanche seems to be hunting them as well and drawing them all together into a death trap until it seems that all hope is gone. Yet during this time, the desires of Blanche’s heart are being clarified – and so are Bear’s.
A black night. Tested faith. Honest love.”
I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. This was mostly just boring. It’s kind of a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs set in modern day and with very heavy religious overtones. More than a fairy tale retelling it’s a mystery about a young woman being framed as a drug dealer.
The young woman, Blanche, seeks shelter with a bunch of Friars (the dwarfs in this retelling) who are trying to rebuild a community. There is quite a bit of “God will provide” and “This is happening for a reason determined by God” throughout the story. Waaayyy too religiously heavy for me.
The writing style is a bit awkward and unfinished feeling. The conversations between characters don’t flow very well. The whole thing feels kind of choppy and was hard to stay engaged in.
I didn’t read the first book in this series so that may be part of why I couldn’t engage in the story very well.
Overall I didn’t enjoy this and almost stopped reading it a number of times. I ended up finishing it because it’s a pretty short read and it’s be on my to be read pile for awhile…I wanted it to count towards my to be read pile reading challenge so I finished it.
I won’t be reading anymore of these Fairy Tale Retold books; there are much much better fairy tale retellings out there. I definitely would not recommend this to fantasy fans or fans of fairy tale retellings. If you enjoy light romance with a drug-based mystery and lots of preaching then this is for you.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge