Title: The Merchant’s Daughter
Written By: Melanie Dickerson
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction/Fairy Tale Retelling
Recommended Ages: 13 & up
Introduction:
Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale. So when I realized this one was a retelling of that tale, I had to read it. This is my second time reading it, and I must say that it is better the second time through.
Characters: 1/1
Annabel was by far my favorite character, although Frau Eustacia was probably a close second. This story stayed a little more true to the original fairy tale than the first book in the series did, and that was interesting to see. Having a beastly human can be challenging and I was pleasantly surprised by how well Melanie set Lord Ranulf up to be both beastly and kind just like the beast.
Dialogue: 1/1
The dialogue was fitting to the story and the location it was set in. I enjoyed the miscommunications and misunderstandings.
Plot/Storyline: .75/1
This almost had a full star, but then I realized there was a plot hole at the end. So it got degraded slightly. Overall, however, Melanie did a great job creating a solid plot with many twists and turns. I enjoyed it.
Overall Writing Quality: .75/1
I am a bit more picky when it comes to traditionally published books, and this one, unfortunately didn’t live up to my standards. The formatting of the Kindle version was a little off here and there and I feel like it could have gone through another edit or two before publication.
Un-Put-Down-Ability: 1/1
Despite those minor details above, this book was almost impossible to put down. I kept wanting to know what would happen next. And am glad I had a day of down time in which to read the whole thing in one day.
Conclusion: 4.75/5
If you like fresh looks at tales as old as time (come on, I had to do it once), you’ll like this one. There is some violence that could be a bit much for some people, but for the most part this book is very clean both in the romance and violence.
Great review! We have this book in our church media center and I haven’t read it yet, but now it’s moved up on my TBR list! Thanks!
I read a review about More Than Meets the Eye and then left your page and then opened it back up and wrote this comment. Now I realize I wrote it in the wrong place! Yikes! But this book sounds good too!
Not a problem. I’m glad you enjoyed the reviews!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.