I was provided with an ARC of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everly just wants to protect her sister. But their entire life has been a lie, and she must return to Enchantia to set things right.

But nothing is what it seems, and she and her sister become players in a twisted, macabre version of Snow White. There are shifting loyalties, clouded intentions, and ambivalent characters. And a fierce, tattooed Prince Charming that makes her pulse race. She becomes his prisoner, because she is prophesied to be the Evil Queen - but nothing is what it seems, and she has to use all of her gifts to get her happy ending.

This was a wild retelling that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Posted to Goodreads: Everly Morrow has always known that she is different than everyone else, none of her classmates will talk to her, her twin sister is perfect, and she has an odd connection to mirrors but Everly could have never guessed how different she was. Everly is from the magical world Enchantia. Her mother brought Everly and her sister, Hartley, into the mortal realm for protection when the king ordered them dead as infants. Now, Everly must return to the realm of fairly tales to take her destined place. Everly is prophesied to be part of "Snow White" but she's not the beloved princess, Everly is the Evil Queen.

This book was frustratingly disappointing. The premise is awesome and had potential to be a great book but the story never really grabbed me. The characters and the plot never felt completely developed. The world of Enchantia was never got to the point that it felt real. The only good part of the story was the interaction between Everly and Roth but those parts were not very limited. The book is over 500 pages long and it was not worth the time it took to read.

I wasn’t sure if this would be any good going in. To be honest, I’m kind of getting bored with so many fairy tale retellings...it is hard to determine which ones will be worth reading and which won’t. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It was an adaptation of Snow White, but you never quite know which characters are which and what is going to happen next. I really liked the characters and truly felt the development and growth of Everly throughout the story. This was a long one, but when a book is good, the longer the better. I have not read anything about this book or future books that might come later, but I am hoping that there will be more from this world and possibly even other fairy tales explored...based on the mention of other fairy tales throughout this one. I will be purchasing and recommending in my high school library.

What happens when your fate is tied to a fairytale and you are one of its characters? What do you do when you don’t know for sure which character you are or you don’t want to be the character everyone thinks you are? This story was a good read, but I felt it was getting too sexual for a middle school audience which is the only reason I would not recommend it for my students.

I was hooked on this story from page 1! Now, I had to lower the rating by one star because of the beginning being very slow. It didn't start picking up until around the 30% mark. I really enjoyed this book! It definitely gave me "Once Upon A Time" vibes and I loved that! I haven't been this hooked on a book in a very long time! I cannot wait until book 2 comes out!

I love fairytale retellings. Mostly because I love fairytales but I enjoy seeing how an author puts a new spin on classics. Some are amazing and others? Not so much. The Evil Queen is going down as a new favorite. The story is all about prophecies based on the original stories. Even better is the fact that there are so many different characters that take part in the prophecies. You only follow the main characters point of view so it's easier to keep track of the characters and their roles but you follow them in a unique way.

The Evil Queen is the first in a series and it finishes up in a way that leads to a sequel but it doesn't have a cliffhanger ending. I can't wait to see how the story is going to continue and if other fairy tales will be brought in.
I feel like this is the perfect book for older teens both because of the hidden messages and because it's a more mature version of all the childrens books and shows that are doing retellings. It's also a good story for people who are going through once upon a time withdrawal.

I highly recommend this book for other fairy telling fans and I'm excited for what is next.

Holy poisoned apples! The Evil Queen is the kind of book that "consumed and devoured [the reader], lighting a fire inside" that cannot be quelled. You can't exactly label this book either, just like you can't claim to be good or evil.

You can try and say it's a fairy tale (Grimm style; not Disney). You can say it's a suspenseful mystery. You can call it a glorification of the villians. You can call it a love story. An adventure. A quest. A dystopian novel. All are wrong and all are right. Welcome to Schrödinger’s mind games.

Gena Showalter has zero remorse. I can tell by how many times she brought this full grown adult to tears. This novel is timeless and though it is YA, it is enough to make even the staunchest adult crack a smile, fly, and even believe in Peter Pan.

The Evil Queen is an incredible journey that proves actions are louder than words. With so many incredible quotes that I'm dying to share, I know that it's not only an adventure you will never forget but it's an inspiring journey that will shape your thoughts and change your views.

Evil...such a dark and depressing word. It conjures up very specific images in the minds of every person. The images vary but the meaning is the same. However, Gena Showalter shows us the truth. Evil is a choice.

The Evil Queen is a spectacular story. A genuinely awe inspiring story with so many characters to steal your heart, so many beings to capture your imagination, and too many feels to process.

I am forever going to need a place in Enchantia. Perhaps I can convince some of my new friends to give me a permanent home. Though I suspect I'm going to want to further research (read the rest of the series) before settling. Wish me luck in my relocation, I'm going to need it.

P.S. I'm totally getting a unicorn!

First, I’d like to get the genre of this book out of the way. It is a YA book, but I’m listing it for older YA and also giving it a rating of NC-17. Not for violence or sex, although the characters get themselves into both situations. Not enough to tip it out of the R rating though. No, there are some VERY serious themes in this story. While I cannot get into it all without spoiling the story too much, I want to say that if you are buying this for a teen under the age of 17ish, read the story yourself first. I’m sure there are plenty of younger teens that would be fine reading this book, and there are plenty of 20 years old people who would be disturbed…we’re all different. I’m just saying to judge for yourself before gifting this one to a younger YA reader.

On to my review…

I love this author’s writing and I’m a huge fan of her Lords of the Underworld series. (Definitely NOT in the YA genre.) When I saw she had a YA story coming out I jumped at the chance to read and review an ARC. While I’m not huge into the princesses, I’ve always love Snow White. This seemed perfect for me. And when it comes to Gena Showalter’s writing talent, I have to say she came through big time on this one.

Here’s where I’m not going to do the thing so many people do. I’m not going to give this story a bad review or rating just because it ended up not being my cup of tea. Like I said, the writing is spot on. The storyline is intriguing and the main characters are fleshed out and sympathetic. This book made me realize that I have issues with “retelling” stories. Quite a few years ago I read Wicked by Gregory Maguire and couldn’t figure out what my problem was with that book. Again, I gave it a pretty good rating since I could see how it was a great book. Now that I’ve read another retelling type of story, I realize that my brain has a hard time staying on track with these books. I’m constantly looking for clues to who is who and what it all can mean. To the point that it’s distracting me from the story. Throw in the fact that there is a prologue in this book (which I don’t generally have a problem with) and my brain was being torn in too many directions. All the while I’m thinking to myself, “this is an amazing story and I think so many people will love this book.”

Everly is, by turns, easy to love and hard to love. But even when she was being difficult, I found myself rooting for her. Then there’s her connection to Roth. Everly and Roth have phenomenal chemistry and I was immediately rooting for them to become a couple. As with Everly, Roth is often hard to love. Probably harder to love than Everly at some points. But you just know his heart is in the right place, just as hers is. You can’t help but hope he gets his head out of his rump!

There are so many things happening in this story, and the author does a great job of keeping the story linear and cohesive. At the same time, with all of the characters, there’s anticipation of what other stories are going to be told in this series. Some I’d love to see get a HEA, some I’d love to see get their comeuppance, and maybe some will even be atoned.

While this is not the type of story I, personally, am able to read quickly and easily, I’m still curious as to what will happen next. When the next book comes out, I’ll just have to remember that I’ll need more than a day or two to read the whole thing. In the meantime, I’ll be recommending this story to a lot of people I think will enjoy the fairy tale retelling.

I knew right from page one that I was going to fall in love with this book. The characters were well written and the plot was complex. It was not your traditional fairytale and I loved that.

As a big fan of the Alice in Zombieland series I was pumped for this twisted Snow White retelling. For the most part it lived up to expectations. I would've like the story to start differently I think. That was my biggest problem. The first 100 pages or so felt kind of random to me. They definitely followed plot and served their purpose correctly but it just didn't feel like it quite flowed right. I still can't put my finger on why. Maybe the story didn't need the prologue? I don''t know. But I loved Everly's character. Even when I was slightly bored in the beginning I loved her. She embodied her destiny a little too closely for comfort but I actually found that to be a positive. Why should we be comfortable with the Evil Queen? Watching her story unfold, I really couldn't look away. All of the characters made me feel something--good and bad--and I just wanted more. More! From a 500+ page book! I love a good, lengthy book and yes I would've read it even if it was another 200+ pages. The only reason this is not a 5 star review is because the beginning started so slow. Gena Showalter fans should rejoice because she did it again.

I've enjoyed Gena adult novels and was excited to see a YA by her. This novel is a retelling of the classic Snow White. It centers around Everly and her twin Hartley. Everly is an outcast and misfit but her character was relatable. Throughout the story Everly had the best character development. I felt there was a ton of telling instead of showing how characters felt/ reacted. I also wanted more backstory to better understand the overall relationship between the characters.
Thank you to Netgally for the advance copy

The premise for this book is so engrossing. I love a good dark fairy tale retelling as much as the next person but wow, this book felt like a complete mess. I'm confused about how it made it this far with the vast amount of typos and errors on almost every page. I felt completely lost and muddled by the story. I had to stop reading at 25% because I simply had a hard time figuring out what was going on. And not because the story is complicated, it's not, but it is heavily over-written, the tenses change from past to present repeatedly, the timeline jumps around at warp speed, and much of the writing is extremely heavy exposition. Everything is told and not shown. There is also a lot of extra information that turns out to be unnecessary. This felt very much like a rough first draft of a book.

Gena Showater has an unique ability to write stories that are so engrossing, so entertaining, that you never want to put them down. Once you start them, you are hopelessly trapped in the imaginative worlds that she is able to create. Worlds that are so far out there, so far fetched, you can't help but fall in love with them and want to go there and visit them yourself.

Add irresistible characters that are completely relatable (even the bad guys) and you can see what I mean about not being able to put one of her books down as soon as you start it.

I am always irrevocable transported into another world and darn if I don't want to escape it.

This time Showater transports us into the very heart of a fairy tale, but this time, it isn't your classic retelling. Nope. With twists and turns and things you will never see coming, Showater adds not only a new twist on an old tale but blows it out of the water and makes it completely her own.

Where nothing is black and white or what it seems to be. When you can't help but care for those you never thought you would and despise those you shouldn't. Showater once again creates something unlike any retelling I've read before. Totally engrossing, totally enchanting, and completely hard to put down.

This memorized me and held me captive from the first page down to the very satisfying last.

I couldn't of asked for a more perfect, twisted tale of love and passion and wrong and right and overcoming and rewriting destiny until it fits what you want to be. Who you were always meant to be, good or bad, devil or angel.

From the first sentence of Chapter 1, I was hooked and could not put the book down. The Evil Queen is a masterful, contemporary retelling of The Snow White fairytale (Grimm and Disney) and has appeal to its intended young adult audience as well as an adult audience who appreciates fairy tales in all their incarnations.

What I Loved:


The story took a fundamental good versus evil tale and made it multi-layered and complex, reflecting reality more accurately. Though the characters in the novel are destined to be characters from Snow White, by story’s end they discover that each of them holds part of Snow White, the Evil Queen, the Huntsman, and the dwarves within and that life is made up of choices, some of which reflect our good qualities and some of which reflect our less than noble proclivities .

The novel is an exciting look at nature versus nurture debate. Are people born inherently good or evil or does their environment influence what they become? If the Evil Queen had been the daughter of Snow White rather than the stepmother, would she have turned out differently? This is always an interesting debate, and the novel explores it in an enlightening way for the YA mind who is learning that the world is full of different shades gray.

Building a new world for readers takes a great deal of vivid imagery, and The Evil Queen delivers. Enchantia is a multi-faceted world full of fantastical creatures as well as ones the reader is more familiar with, and I loved every nuanced descriptor contained within the pages. Based on reviews I perused, some readers felt that there was too much description to the point of boring them, but I felt like I could see, hear, and smell the enchanting world of Enchantia and it made me love the novel even more.

Everly Morrow is a complicated teenager full of angst, devotion to family, and cynicism about the world around her. She is Everygirl. I would be happy to read book after book to experience how Everly grows and develops into the woman she is meant to be. In this novel, she is a normal teen girl plagued by typical teen girl problems that translate in an exciting yet surprisingly fun way to the fairy tale world. This approach enables the reader to see a classic tale through new and knowledgeable eyes and brings a whole new layer to even the original story from which the novel is based.

What I Wish:

I wish I had not tripped and stumbled when reading the prologue. It is out of context, which makes it confusing and in worst cases experiences, off-putting. Once you get past the prologue though, the book reads fast and is gripping to the point you will read so much at one sitting that your eyes will go bleary.

The teenage jargon had not been used. The dialogue does not flow well with it, and teenagers will not feel a kinship to the book because of its use. It makes the novel read as less than genuine, whereas the issues are legitimate and should be given proper respect by the reader.

To Read or Not to Read:

The Evil Queen will enthrall you, entertain you, and make you believe in fairy tales once again. This novel should be a must read on your summer list!

This book was phenomenal! Showalter's abillity to so masterfully weave such an intricate story and bring Everly's world to life was breathtaking! Each part of the story felt well thought out and was very detailed. Some people get bored by the all the details, and it seems like some reviewers may have here too, but they actually engross me into the story more. I thought she did a fantastic job of providing great detail, but not too much.

Everly lives with her twin sister, Hartley, mother Aubrey, and step father Nicholas. Everyone at school does not like her and fears her because they think she is odd. The one boy who paid her any attention only did so in private because he worried about what others would think and eventually dropped her. She has a rather pessimistic view of life in general and people, besides her sister Hartley, whom she adores and protects at all cost. I found her negative attitude in general to be a bit annoying and hard to connect with at the beginning. She has a family that loves her dearly and she treats the people who treat her badly pretty terribly too so I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her. However, I realize she is a teenage girl whose emotions may be a little unstable at that age.

The girls find out they are princesses and have unique powers and eventually end up in Enchancia, the dimension their mother came from in order to save them and herself when they were just babies. Everly is separated from Hartley and meets some individuals along the way who become central to the story. The adventure they have together is extremely engaging and I found I could not put the book down. As Everly realizes they are all tied to the Snow White prophecy, like her, she continually tries to place each character depending on their actions and characteristics at that point in time.

The prologue was actually from the end of the book, which kind of threw me for a loop and gave me some preconceived notions about the main character. I did not care for her from the start and everything she said seemed snarky or cynical. However, as I continue through the story, my views on her changed and I felt the she was more and more relatable. It was really quite ironic because I formed these opinions of her from the supposed ending of the story, however, they weren't accurate and people constantly do this to Everly throughout the story! They all assume she is the Evil Queen and she is shunned and treated horribly by all but a select few. Yes, she makes some poor decisions, but so the supposed heroes of the stories! However, their choices are deemed necessary to defeat evil while when she makes the same choices to save herself or loved ones, it is seen as evil.

This quote from the beginning and ending of the story really sums it up:
"Every hero is a villian, and every villian is a hero. It just depends on who you ask." In part, much of the prophecies came to fruition because of their obsession with it and trying to convict Everly of crimes she had not even committed. By no means did she commit the worst crimes that were committed in the book, but some of her parallels with the Evil Queen lead most to assume it is her and the she must be dealt with. They forget that they all have their free agency to choose with they can do and be and deem the prophecy as already being written in stone. Tragically, her own mother shunned and ordered her execution because of this. As time passes, Everly realizes that perhaps they are not just each assigned to one character, maybe they all act the part of various characters at different points in the story.

As far as character development in the story, I was really impressed with Everly. While she still kept her snarky and somewhat brash personality, she learned to feel and acknowledge her emotions and to learn from her mistakes. She gave into her dark side in the heat of the moment, but she also realized the error of her ways later and how emotions had blinded her. Yet, her emotions and feelings also gave her strength.

Roth, Everly's love interest from their first meaning, is a very interesting character. He is said to have a somewhat icy demeanor but we don't see much of it as it seems to thaw almost immediately for Everly. He is sweet and caring, but also brave and fearless. The chemistry between Roth and Everly is palpable and I found myself rooting for them from beginning to end, even when it seemed against all odds. He is not afraid to fight for what he loves and cares about and it is adorable when Evely is at the center of that trait.

There are many other vital characters to the story, some of which I loved, and some of which I despised. However, the remarkable writing and plot line is what drew me in enough to feel such strong feelings either way. The story keeps you guessing up until the very end! I can't wait to see what the next book brings! This is going to be a series I will be coming back to again and again!!

From the moment I read the summary of the book, I felt like this was going to be the next best thing, and I am really glad that I wasn't wrong about it. Especially considering the fact that I didn't really enjoy Firstlife, I was a bit skeptical and I didn't have high expectations, but I'm glad The Evil Queen had nothing to do with the other series written by the author.

Because to me, The Evil Queen was something like Forest of A Thousand Lanterns meets Once Upon A Time, and if you've been following me for some time now, you probably know that I can't say no to a good retelling.

Before going any further into this review, I would like to thank Lia Ferrone, the publicity assistant at Harlequin Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this beauty.

So first things first, the main idea of seeing how the Evil Queen came to be was truly fascinating to me. I loved how the book took us straight into action, straight into this fascinating new world, straight into the mind of the Evil Queen herself. What I loved even more is that in this book, or at least at the beginning of it, Prince Charming wasn't in love with Snow White; he was in love with the Evil Queen!  Now, that's a twist I would've never seen coming!

On to the story itself, at the beginning, it felt a bit confusing that we were taken from Enchantia and straight into the modern world, but I really enjoyed seeing the plot unfolding through Everly's eyes. I really enjoyed learning about her as a character, how she always wanted to protect her sister, whatever the costs, and how hurt, betrayed even she felt when everyone in her family admitted they believed that she would end up being the Evil Queen.

It was really fascinating to me (and truth be told, I always feel that way) to see how the actions of a character cannot always be determined as good or evil. There are so many grey shades and the complexity of the antiheroes never stops to bewitch and mesmerise me.

Another thing I truly loved about this book is that it talked a lot about familial love, it had complex, human relationships and interactions mentioned throughout the story, it had references about racism and sexism, which is always something like a wake-up call, and as for the romance, this one added to the story as a whole.

What I didn't like though is that sometimes the dialogues felt a bit cringy and few of the characters felt underdeveloped, at least in my personal opinion. But it's a good thing this series gets a sequel, because this is where I will manage to see them evolve and become who they're supposed to be.

Overall, I enjoyed this YA thrilling fantasy novel so very much, that I ended up rating it with 4 out of 5 stars.

Everly has been living a normal teenage life when she begins to communicate with mirrors. She doesn’t know if what she sees is real or not, but some of the images shake her to her core. She soon finds out the truth … she is from another realm and destined to become the Evil Queen. Or is she destined to be Snow White? No one seems to have the final answer, but Everly is determined to find out. She travels to Enchantia to confront the prophecy head on, even if it means she must push through her internal battle between good and evil.

The Evil Queen is the first book in The Forest of Good and Evil series. Showalter has taken many beloved fairy tales and has included some modern day twists. Since most readers are already familiar with fairy tales in general, it appears that Showalter decided to spend only a minimal amount of time on world building. That is great for us because there is more story for us to enjoy. I am a huge fan of fairy tale re-tellings and this one was a fun example. I recommend this book and look forward to the next volume in the future.

WOW! This book is a big one and may not be for everyone but I LOVED it! As per usual Gena Showalters whitty writing helps you to really connect with the characters. I laughed, I cried, I screamed. I will absolutely be recommending this to all my friends. This particular re-telling was so unique and I loved the complexity of the characters, it made the story unpredictable and kept me hooked. I am really hoping she does more re-tellings as they are mentioned to be taking place in this universe. I will be posting a full review on my blog soon!

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. The Evil Queen is the first book in new The Forest of Good and Evil series and I loved getting to meet Everly Morrow and Roth Charmaine. This book was just so easy to get lost in and I felt so much for these characters. I had so much fun learning more about each character and all they had gone through. I can’t wait to see what’s next for this author.

Just finished it and loved it. Read it in two days. I will come back with full review..

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*