Hi friends! It’s going to be a bit of a different post today because I’ll be talking about the Ever After High trilogy by Shanon Hale! And mostly this might just be me fangirling over the books – you have been warned.

If you haven’t heard of Ever After High, it’s a series that started as a line of dolls and short cartoons by Mattel, leading to a series of tie-in books. I loved the series’s take on fairytales and the idea of the kids of fairytale characters going to the same school to prepare for their stories, and I remembered enjoying the first book when I read it in 2013. So I was super excited to read this trilogy, especially since it’s by Shannon Hale, who also wrote The Goose Girl and the Books of Bayern series!

The books in the trilogy are:

• Book One: The Storybook of Legends – this one is actually an expanded version of the animated series, but goes into more depth as to character motivation. Here, you have Raven Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen struggle with her destiny to become evil because she’s not evil! And then you have Apple White, daughter of Snow White, who cannot wait to launch into her story and needs Raven to be the Evil Queen for that to happen.
• Book Two: The Unfairest of them All – Taking place right after Book 1, both Raven and Apple are grappling with the effects of Raven’s choice on Legacy Day. But when Madeline Hatter (Raven’s best friend and the daughter of the Mad Hatter) faces banishment for something she didn’t do, Raven and Apple must work together to save their friend.
• Book Three: A Wonderlandiful World – Book 3 shifts the narrative focus to Cedar (daughter of Pinocchio) and Lizzie Heart (daughter of the Queen of Hearts). When a Jabberwocky casts its magic on Ever After High, the only ones in relatively human form are the Wonderlandians and Cedar. Together, they have to team up to save the school and their friends.

Now, why should you read this trilogy?

Reason 1: The books go into much more detail regarding character motivation and characters in general

Why does Raven Queen not want to be Evil? Why does Apple White want to follow her story so closely? The book delves into the family life of these two characters (and others), making their decision to be Royal or Rebel so much more understandable. Because the original episodes were so short, the series never got to go deep into character motivation – the books remedy that.

Plus, we get to realise just how smart Apple is. The series hints at it, but the books make it much more obvious.

Reason 2: Amazing characters!

This may be related to reason one but I need to give it a section because I want to talk about the the non-Apple and Raven characters. Book 3 doesn’t focus on Raven and Apple, and it ended up being my favourite book – the book does a fantastic job delving into the feelings of Cedar and Lizzie Heart, portraying Cedar’s longing to be a real girl and Lizzie’s feelings of homesickness and how she’s trying to be a queen that her mother would be proud of.

There’s also a great section in book 2 where Apple White goes around trying to talk to various rulers on how to solve the problem of the Rebels in Ever After High. She realises that they don’t have useful advice, but what I realised as the reader is that Apple is serious about being a good queen. It’s not just about following her story.

Reason 3: Fun Narration!

The book has “narrators” and they are actual characters too! Maddie talks with them A LOT in book one and two, and everything is ramped up in book three where the narrators are also affected by the Jabberwocky magic. I thought the way the fourth wall was broken and re-imagined was very clever and I really enjoyed how the story was told in book three! I rarely see books play with the idea of “narrators” this much and this was carried out very well!

Reason 4: Fun Story!

This is kind of obvious but I really loved the stories here! And the play on stories – this is a book that appreciates all the fairytales and isn’t afraid to subvert them! Book one follows the original animated story pretty closely, but I think book two and three are mostly original and I love them so much! If you love fairytales, you are going to appreciate all the references here.

The only thing I need more of is the Dexter and Raven romance which was more obvious in the animated series but a lot more subtle here (although it’s obvious they like each other). I think in general, the books have less romance, and I shock myself by saying that I wanted more of it.

Reason 5: Destiny vs Choice

The book doesn’t really bash you over the head with this because it is fiction (aimed at younger readers, at that!) but this question is the core of the trilogy: should you follow your story or carve your own path?

I really appreciated the fact that the book doesn’t paint it as a black and white choice – both Apple and Raven (as well as people on various sides) have good reasons to choose the way they do. Cedar’s struggle, in particular, was very striking: she wanted her fairytale ending to be a real girl, but she also supported her friend’s right to choose.

Overall, Ever After High is an excellent trilogy and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves fairytales. Don’t let the fact that it started as a way to sell Mattel dolls put you off because these stories have great characters and a lot of heart in them, as evidenced by the fact that I just spent a thousand words talking about why you should read the books. There is one more book by Shannon Hale that combines Monster High and Ever After High, so once I get that I will read it and report back!