Cheri Schmidt

I think, at base, Fair Maiden is an interesting treatment of the "Sleeping Beauty" storyline. But the book itself is in dire need of an editor...or, really, an entire con-crit group's feedback.

The characters are flat---a purely evil villain, a beautiful, angelic (if vapid) heroine, a beautiful, charming (if occasionally controlling) hero, none of whom really grows or changes in the course of the book. Plotholes litter the pages, as do historical inaccuracies, and while the writing isn't bad, it definitely feels lazy at times. The result is an uncomfortable, often boring read humming with unmet potential.

I think if Fair Maiden, and its author, had been challenged to provide stronger storytelling, a broader variety of detail and diction, and more complex characters, it would have been a truly engaging book. Perhaps that's something to hope for in Schmidt's future endeavors.… (meer)