Review: Of Dreams and Desires

I signed up for ARCs of the upcoming Beyond the Bookery series of fairy tale retellings called A Twist of Tales. Of Dreams and Desires by Riley J. Perrie was the first one I received. This book is a gender-bent retelling of a lesser-known Brothers Grimm fairy tale called "The Raven." The story gets props for originality. It is the first adaptation I've seen of this particular fairy tale. However, there was some tonal dissonance between the narrative style, which was presented more like a Bridgerton gossip column, and the story itself, which was a whimsical fantasy, which made it difficult for me to follow as a reader.

Aruelia (not a typo even though I kept wanting to read it as Aurelia) enters a bridal competition to win the hand of her former beau, Prince Theodore, whom she grew apart from over the years. Meanwhile, Theodore is cursed to become a raven and must rely on having a successful competition to break the spell. One bride, in particular, is determined to win his hand and sees Aruelia as an annoying pest who poses little threat but seems to keep getting in the way at the most inopportune times. Meanwhile, Aruelia can't figure out why the talking raven that keeps following her seems so familiar.

The ideas behind this book are solid and have many elements that fairy tale readers love, including the bridal competition, magical transformations, and second-chance romance. It also contains lovely imagery that is reminiscent of animated fairy tales from a bygone era. However, the constant interjections of phrases like "dear reader" and "our noble heroine" kept making it read like a Lady Whistledown column from Bridgerton, forcing me to constantly reset the narration in my head, which made me miss a lot of details of the story.

Prince Theo's raven transformation was a lot of fun. I enjoyed his interactions with his companions who knew about his curse and with his beloved Aruelia, who didn't. It was sweet how he tried to help her win his hand even when she wasn't aware of his identity. It was easy to root for them to get together. That said, the dissonant narrative made it difficult to follow the conditions of the curse and the trials themselves. For most of the story, I was confused about how Theo became a raven, how he needed to turn back, and what Aruelia needed to do to win the bridal competition.

Overall, Of Dreams and Desires is a unique fairy tale retelling with an experimental voice that diverges from most stories in this genre. Though I found this narrative distracting at times, it could be a good option for someone who reads a lot of fairy tale retellings and is looking for something a little different. The magical imagery creates a lovely escape from the hardships of reality, giving the book a strong sense of whimsy.