Last night as I picked up a pizza I drove past the movie theater near us, and noticed that the parking lot was full and overflowing. Perhaps due to the release of the live action Beauty and the Beast movie? Fairy tales never fade, it seems, they simply reinvent themselves, and this Snow White re-imagining is proof of that!

I confess that I debated whether to put William and the Witch’s Riddle in the spotlight–but not for long. When I find myself reading a book I’m not head over heels in love with it, I usually use the marker of how much the book makes me finish it as the deciding factor of whether to spotlight or not. In this case, the book definitely made me finish it. And as an added bonus, the characters from the book stayed with me, and became part of my internal landscape even weeks later. So, into the spotlight it goes!

The story begins with William and his kid brother, Pinch, stranded on top of a mountain in their tiny house, running out of turnips and the last of the weathered apples. Their Pa disappeared and hasn’t come back, and his reason for leaving was to look for their Ma, who disappeared even longer ago. Worse, there’s a witch at the door.

*spoilers below–though not too spoilery since they’re introduced early in the story and/or easy to guess*

As the story unfolds we learn that–despite their very humble circumstances–William and Pinch are part of a bigger story that began with Sleeping Beauty, except in this world the curse was put off, and has been hanging over their family’s head for generations. Unfortunately, the first person to fully fall prey to the curse is Pinch and William’s mother. Because William’s father has failed to finish the business and do as the witch asks, she’s here for William. And if he won’t do, she’ll take Pinch, instead.

The plot is a bit thin, with very few twists and those twists that exist more an inverted loop that goes nowhere than an actual twist. The Rules of Magic, or World Building, also seemed a bit iffy at times, without the solid sense of structure behind it which I personally prefer. And (if all that weren’t enough) the story-telling was itself more dour than I like, without the sense of magic or wonder to it I like. All that said, the book simply would not let me put it down, and it’s rather impressive that the characters stood out crisp and compelling in my mind for so long after. William was highly relatable, and felt like any kid would if he had the seeds of heroism planted in the soil of his love for his family, and fertilized by desperation. The companions he meets and befriends were equally memorable, and highly unique! And while Morga herself was more interesting than compelling as a bad guy, and her riddles were a bit transparent, she did the job and was satisfying in the end.

Now let’s see what Apricot-kitty has to say:

“Do you really need to ask? Of course those kittens, Lirian and Heldor, were my favorite. You’ll notice that they were about or involved at pretty much every crucial turning point in the book, yes? Dragons are all very well, and do nicely if cats can’t be found, but it’s felines who really provide the magic in these tales.”

Ah yes, the dragon. I really enjoyed the tiny yellow dragon, Squarmy, and wasn’t overly thrilled with the way his story is resolved. However, if it turns out that Ms. Crum has a second book in store for us that will be Squarmy and Tuli’s story, all will be forgiven.

What are you reading lately? Have you discovered any great fairy tale retellings or mashups lately? Since that’s one of my favorite genres to write, I read them compulsively whenever I’m not working on my own book, and would love to discover some I haven’t uncovered! Tell me your favorites in the comments, and while you’re looking for books, stop by Shannon Messenger’s blog for the full Marvelous Middle Grade Monday roundup!

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