ALL THE QUEENS' CURSES
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Sixteen-year-old Kit, who’s “prone to freckle under the dimmest sunlight,” has “murky hazel eyes” and is affected by a painful disability that reads like rheumatoid arthritis. She was a commoner until her mother married the king. Kit and her new sister, Catherine, who has pale skin and dark hair in ringlets, are dear friends, but Catherine is the target of Kit’s mother’s jealousy—and Kit has been victimized by the king since she was 14. After fleeing from their parents (and the consequences of a magical body swap), the princesses try to help the handsome northern island prince who’s afflicted by a selkie curse. Kind, brown-skinned Prince Idris discovers on his 18th birthday that his ancestor wronged one of the Hidden Folk (the “mermaids, finfolk, and selkies” who inhabit this alternate Scotland). Now, in a much-delayed fairy revenge, he’ll dance himself to death. Kit can break Idris’ curse but struggles with her shameful, secret desire not to swap back into her own body, which is the price of saving him. The source of this work, the Orkney folktale “Kate Crackernuts,” is feminist in the oral tradition; this modern retelling doesn’t change the original themes of empowerment. All in all, this is a solid, enjoyable entry in the well-established genre of moody, romantic folktale adaptations.



from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/oOLCd1l

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