The Golden Apple by Michelle Diener

Three things I love about this story: 1. It’s based on a Hungarian fairy tale, so it’s completely new to me and thus, interesting. 2. I love that instead of a princess sitting around waiting for a handsome prince to rescue her, she does the rescuing! 3. Love this heroine from the get-go. She takes control, even when she has very little, from choosing her own first lover to saving the man she loves’s brother.

This is a fantasy involving sorcerers with ill agendas attempting to use the princess and her now-betrothed to obtain magical items they want. It all starts with a glass mountain and a golden apple and takes us into a dark, eerie magical forest that is a dumping ground for the sorcerers’ spare magic. With nowhere to go, with no one to guide it, the spare magic does bad things, making the forest a dangerous place.

At times I had questions, like, “If you can manipulate this to your will, why not just make the cat normal size or do this or that…?” But more often than not my questions ended up answered. I can’t say much more about that without giving away cool happenings that occur.

But I love how this princess never gives up and strives to save the man she loves and though afraid, she manages to think and act in the heat of the moment. I wish American princesses were like this. It would make an excellent role model.

Much applause to the author’s imagination. I never would have thought of these cool creatures and happenings. The writing is superb: perfect balance of description, detail, character development. When the magic appeared in the forest, I would get tingles of fright and sometimes hold my breath.

Quibble: The story ended abruptly, leaving loose ends: a war started, a missing brother, a magical device in the wrong hands. It just ended. There IS going to be a sequel and that pleases me greatly, but the ending still bugs me because it's the kind of story that I will need to remember what happened in book one to enjoy book two. Thankfully, I don't have long to wait. I believe it's a fall release.

I look forward to it. Diener has quickly risen to the top of my list of favorite authors because I love her heroines and have a great appreciation for her imagination.

I received this via Netgalley.