I'm a huge fan of fairy tale retellings, and this one didn't disappoint. I will say that it's not a traditional fairy tale, in that there's no magic involved. However, the story was just as captivating as if there had been magic, and the world that Dickerson creates is exciting and full of life. Gisela is a likeable character, one who has had to make it on her own for a long time. Her attachment to her father's horses was almost a bit too strong for my taste at first, but as the story moved along, it made more sense. I also like that the "Prince Charming" (Valten) character is a good man, but not necessarily good with the ladies. Gisela and Valten are two sweet, imperfect people who need one another, but just can't seem to be in the right place at the right time in order to hold on to each other. I really appreciated that the story is clean. I also enjoyed how the characters' faith was woven into the story. The only thing that really bothered me was Valten's nearly superhuman ability to keep fighting when he was physically injured beyond repair, but that's really a minor detail. (I mean, he IS meant to be Prince Charming after all.) That said, I loved the fact that there were multiple fight scenes period in this story. Overall, I fell in love with the main characters and their love story. It's uplifting, page turning fun to read this book. The Captive Maiden is the retelling of Cinderella. It was a romantic story with a great leading man and the beginning had some cute parts. The writing is a little choppy and juvenile and has lots of repeaters. I love it when they take a familiar fairy tale and twist it. This one was predictable and way too close to the original story except the end that dragged on way too long. I just didn't connect with these characters and I just felt bored most of the time:{ But I did finish it and it did keep my interest. I think my teen would really like it. This is a clean romance with some references to God but not a specific religion.
Do You like book The Captive Maiden (2013)?
A Cinderella story, with a good knight, bad knight, ugly step sisters and wicked step mother.
—nuria1989
Cute, fun, easy read! Read it in one sitting. I'm not a big fan of retold fairy tales.
—CTK29
