Stray
Author: Elissa Sussman
Publication Date: October 7th 2014
Publisher: Greenwillow
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
“I am grateful for my father, who keeps me good and sweet. I am grateful for my mother, who keeps her own heart guarded and safe. I am grateful for my adviser, who keeps me protected. I am grateful for the Path, which keeps me pure. Ever after.”
Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.
When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.
But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.
After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?
STRAY is the first in a collection of intertwined stories, all set in a world where magic is a curse that only women bear and society is dictated by a strict doctrine called The Path. A cross between The Handmaid’s Tale and Wicked, with a dash of Grimm and Disney thrown in, this original fairy tale will be released October 7th, 2014 from Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins
You could say Stray is very Once Upon a Time-ish on most of
it, but yes in one major way that I am not amused with. I'd disagree mainly because there's a thin
line between good and bad, the good are flawed and the bad have good. Take
Regina, whose deliciously evil but she's well rounded and as it goes on, you
see the depth of her character. The bad characters in Stray? One sided. Everyone's
just out for poor, poor Aislynn, for no apparent reason, they look for things wrong with her, even if
she hasn't done anything at all, they look the other way when others do something,
or do or say something to Aislynn to get
a reaction from her, and then she gets told off for it. Poor, poor Aislynn, and
I say that sarcastically because to be honest, I didn't like her but I didn't
hate her. My point is, the wicked evils in
this story had no reason.
