100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

This is a fairy tale re-telling loosely based on the Norwegian folk tale of the Princess on the Glass Hill.  I love a good fairy tale re-telling and this one was great!  A very un-typical princess, magic, witches, some romance and a quest round out this tale. 

We meet Princess Kayla of Gaynor, she sits atop a magical glass mountain with a strange golden apple in her hand by the order of her father, the King, the first man who can reach the top of the mountain and retrieve the apple from the princess would become her betrothed and inherit half the kingdom. Kayla does not approve of this idea at all, but when Rane shows up, everything changes.  Rane needs the apple to save his imprisoned brother, he could care less about the kingdom and the princess.  There is an enchantment on the apple, however, placed there by Eric the Bold, a sorcerer. Now Kayla and her reluctantly betrothed, Rane must complete a quest together in order to break the enchantment.

I loved Kayla as a character, as she states "It was time to stop being a princess."  Kayla strives to take control of her own life and along her quest with Rane, she finds her own strength and her magical powers.  Kayla and Rane's relationship also progressed nicely, they weren't just thrown together and magically in love, but came to grow upon one another and see each other for their strengths and weaknesses as they completed their quest.  The Dark Forest was a wonderfully magical setting, turning from dark and fearful, to protecting and welcoming.  I seem to be on a witch kick lately, and this fed it wonderfully.  I'd love to find out more about Kayla's powers and the earth magic as well.  A lot of cliffhangers were left at the end, luckily the next installment of The Silver Pear will continue Kayla and Rane's story.

The Golden Apple was received for free in return for an honest review. 

There's no good category for this book in Spring Bookish Bingo, but I liked the book so much that I'm going to use it for my free space!  Now it looks like I'm getting somewhere.