For Such A Time As This (Bible/ Fairy Tale Novella book review)

As many of you may know, I've written a fairy tale called Fur Slipper, a retelling of the original Egyptian Cinderella story combined with the Biblical Esther story.

After writing this novel of mine and learning some about comp titles I realized I hadn't ever read any other biblical/ fairy tale combinations. And I have plans to write more — I wondered if this genre might be unique to me, or if I could possibly find other stories similar to mine.

And so when I heard that the Magic Mirrors blog tour had a few Bible fairy tale retellings I was beyond thrilled to read and review! I got a bit confused with the schedule, sadly ;/ This post should have been done this early morning. But I didn't even realize this until last minute. I hadn't even read the book yet . . . So I've spent much of today reading For Such A Time As This. 

Even though I read the novella hurriedly, I enjoyed it immensely.

My Thoughts:
I love how this story is obviously both Snow White and Esther. I was extremely curious to see how the author would combine these two tales. I LOVE how she did it. And I loved how it felt like a Bible story, yet had that unique dystopic side.

Some examples of this blend of all the story is can be expressed in these quotes:

"Oh, the king was a fool! Everyone in the palace knew that his title "the Valiant" was a poor fiction. Like a decorative chamberpot, it attempted to disguise the ugly truth about the king's character."

"Vashti studied her reflection in the glassy computer monitor."

I found the story a very interesting fairy tale retelling and enjoyed my somewhat rushed reading of the story ;) And I loved all the author's imaginations of the Biblical characters. I really loved what the author did with Vashti and Haman. They were my favorites to read about. Caleb was great fun, too.

The story had a lot of telling, but I actually liked how it was done, though I'm sure many readers will find that annoying or a sign of poor writing. I find it . . . nice. And I loved many of the word combinations the author used.

What I didn't like (spoilers):
I felt like Benjamin was an unnecessary character for the story. He was mentioned, but we really never met him. It was like he was meant to be more of the plot, but then the author had Esther work through some thoughts about him and he no longer mattered. Even though he'd never even mattered to me as a reader as I never saw him.

I both liked the dragons and didn't like them. They were important for the plot. And I liked that they represent dwarves — nice twist. But they seemed very distant and sudden at first.

I also thought that the king's character was sudden. At first we were told only bad things about him. Suddenly Mordecai liked him. And the king changed for no real reason. His repentance just felt forced for the plot.

At times Esther cried too much.

While I found it interesting, all the backstory about women's roles in the world and their inability to pursue anything outside of homemaking felt forced. Also, I thought Esther's thought about mothering being a great think a forced thought. I didn't necessary disagree with any of the sentiments expressed in these passages. But I didn't quite like them either, in how they were expressed.

Now, this is silly. But I found the dog a bit out of place. I didn't really like him. But maybe that's because I was thinking that in Biblical times most Jews considered dogs to be like pigs — unclean and unholy.

Overall, I loved this story. It was very clean. It stayed true to the Bible story and the fairy tale very well, adding a bunch of fun imagination. I would recommend this story to friends for a fun retelling. I give For Such A Time As This ✰✰✰✰ 4 stars.

For Such a Time as This
Queen Vashti the Fair is not only the wife of King Xerxes, she is also—secretly—an enchantress. But thanks to Haman’s flirting she now has a new distinction: deposed. While Vashti loses perks like her holographic trousseau, Haman continues to enjoy his position as second in command, much to Vashti’s vexation. 
Mordecai was once a soldier in the king’s private guard, but has since carved out a self-sufficient life for himself and niece Esther. Although citizens are required to have an identity chip for governmental transactions, he and Esther live off the grid and out of big-government’s greedy reach. 
Or so he thought. 
When Mordecai’s old nemesis, Haman, turns up demanding Esther’s participation in the king’s upcoming beauty pageant, Mordecai arranges to have her transported to the Vale of Seven Dragons for protection. But not before Esther’s charm makes her a target on Vashti’s radar, as Vashti seeks to undermine the outcome of Xerxes’ hunt for a new queen. 
Esther is caught between loyalty to her uncle and fear for her future—whether in the care of dragons or in the palace of the king. Will she be brave enough to embrace her destiny, wherever that may be? 

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Award winning author Heather L.L. FitzGerald writes from her home in Texas, while dreaming of being back in the Pacific Northwest, where she grew up. She is drawn to stories that become good friends--friends you want to revisit--the kind you wish to keep close. Those are the type of novels Heather aspires to write, ones worthy of delicious coffee and a lingering relationship.

The Tethered World was a finalist and The Flaming Sword won the 2017 OCW Cascade Award for Speculative Fiction. So far in 2018 The Genesis Tree has become a finalist for a Realm Award, Selah Award, and an OCW Cascade Award.

Heather's a member of ACFW, Manent Writers, and CAN. Find her online at: Website || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter || Newsletter || Instagram || Amazon

Do you like fairy tales or Bible stories? Does this novella sound like something you'd love? If you'd like to see other books on this blog tour and enter in a Giveaway for all of these books follow this link.