Title: The Healer’s Apprentice
Written By: Melanie Dickerson
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction/Fairy Tale Retelling
Recommended Ages: 13 & up

Introduction:

I read this book once before and remember enjoying it. This is a Sleeping Beauty retelling. It doesn’t have any magic and there are quite a few differences from the original tale, but it is a very enjoyable read and I loved all the nuances in the book.

Characters: 1/1

Rose, Wilhelm, and Rupert were all great characters as were all of the side characters. Melanie did a great job setting each character up and have each of them grow in different ways.

Dialogue: 1/1

The dialogue fit the location of the setting and though I’m sure it didn’t technically fit the time period since they talked very differently back then, it was easy to understand which is more important. The dialogue fit the book and each of the characters perfectly.

Plot/Storyline: 1/1

I love the German setting and all the changes Melanie made to the Sleeping Beauty tale. This one is much better. I love the intricacies she wove into the story and the love triangle she put in there. I don’t always like love triangles, but this one worked well.

Overall Writing and Production Quality: .75/1

Melanie’s writing was quite good. I can’t give it a full star, however. I hold traditionally published books to a higher standard than indie published ones because I know they go through many more extensive edits. This book I thought could have had a few sentences restructured that were fine as is, but could have been made more clear with a little extra thought.

Un-put-down-ability: 1/1

I read the entire book in less than a week. For a full-length novel, that is rare. It helps that I was not feeling well for an entire day and read about half the book that day, but that’s beside the point. I didn’t ever want to put it down. Just ask my husband…

Conclusion: 4.75/5

If you like fairy tales, but don’t like the magic, you’ll enjoy this series. A lot. The romance is also sweet and not even very mushy like so many. There are a few kisses, but they description lasts a few words rather than paragraphs or even sentences. ****SPOILER**** There is a man who tries to force himself on Rose a couple of times, but he does not succeed ****END SPOILER**** If not for that, I would say this book could be read by the entire family. Either way, I think it is a good read and would be appropriate for teens and older.