Allerleirauh
by Chantal Gadoury
Genre:Young Adult Fantasy / Fairytale Adaption / Historical Romance
Published by Parliament
Once Upon a Time…
In the Kingdom of Tränen, a king makes a promise to his dying wife that he’ll only remarry a woman who possesses her golden hair. In time, the king’s eyes are turned by his daughter. Realizing her father’s intentions, Princess Aurelia tries to trick him by requesting impossible gifts: dresses created by the sun, moon and stars, and a coat made of a thousand furs. But when he is successful, Aurelia sacrifices her privileged life and flees her kingdom, disguised by the cloak and a new name, Allerleirauh.
She enters the safe haven of Saarland der Licht, where the handsome and gentle Prince Klaus takes her under his care. Hoping not to be discovered by her father’s courtiers, Allerleirauh tries to remain hidden under her new identity when she finds unexpected love with Prince Klaus, even though his arranged marriage to the princess of a neighboring kingdom approaches. Risking everything, Allerleirauh must face her troubled past and her fears of the future along her journey to self-acceptance in this triumphant retelling of the classic Grimm Fairy Tale.
Review:
This book certainly brought me back to my childhood.
Let me explain, one of the earliest movies I can recall watching at the movies was called Peau d’Ane with the famous french actress called Catherine Deneuve.
The movie was made in 1970 and I was not even born then, so I watched the movie years later and I think though I could not recall the plot to save my life I remember her wearing the Donkey Skin and let’s face it that is the title of the movie. Never forgot the name of the movie but if you had asked me a month ago about the plot, I would have drawn a blank.
Plus, based on the fact that I was really young a lot of the more adult themes taking place in the movie flew way over my head.
As I was reading Allerleirauh, the movie name kept coming back to me and even with a very hazy memory, I kept associating the two in my head and enjoy it a lot more.
If I am not mistaken, both are based on the same origin story and no matter which medium you use on screen or in writing, something terrible happens.
For this reason, I need to warn you that we are dealing with incest and rape in the book. It is bad, but it was handled with sensitivity and I appreciated that it was not overly graphic and uncomfortable. There is no way to avoid it, but I wanted to warn those of you who might not feel that you could handle this part.
Fairy Tales, the real ones (not the Disney versions) are somewhat on the scary side of things and remember they were mostly used as cautionary tales for kids during those time periods.
This one is no different and I was feeling so sad for Princess Aurelia and the terrible parents she had to deal with. I really felt horrible and my heart went out to her. Even more so because even saddled with these people are parent, she turned out to be a really good person and someone you cannot help but care about.
Actually, this is even more intensified after what I will refer to as the Event and all I wanted was to kick the king’s ass! I am not a violent person, but he so had it coming!
I do not want to give out too many details, because I have already shared a lot; plus the story is so wonderful, you need to read every single word of it.
I did finish it in one go and it was a lot more slower paced that my usual books, but I do believe that this is what the story called for to be honest. It was really important to set the characters and the situation, it added to darkness of it and it was brilliantly done.
You know me, I love my fast paced books, but for once I did not mind at all the pace here.
I have really enjoyed Allerleirauh so very much and it made me want to dig in a fairy tales all over again. I am going to very highly recommend it.
I really hope you LOVE it as much as I did!
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4UjJoIdipA
Pre Orders are available on Amazon and iBooks
About the Author:
Chantal Gadoury is a young author who currently lives in her hometown, Muncy PA. She enjoys to paint, drink a good cup of coffee when she can and enjoys her favorite Disney classics. When she’s not busy crafting or reading, Chantal is dedicated to her family: A Mother, sister and a furry-puppy-brother (and sends a prayer to her Dad, who now resides in heaven.) As a 2011 college graduate from Susquehanna University, with a degree in Creative Writing, writing novels has become a dream come true!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cgadoury16
Blog: http://www.chantalgadoury.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chantalgadouryfans
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8059023.Chantal_Gadoury
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantalgadouryauthor/
Amazon Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/Chantal-Gadoury/e/B00MTLD0P0/
Parliament House Press: http://www.parliamenthousepress.com/
Parliament House Press Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theparliamenthouse
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