The third book of Kirsten Fichter’s Once Upon a Twist Tales series is heeeere!

And if it’s not obvious, I’m a little bit excited. Okay, that was a lie. I AM OVER THE MOON, BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS, SCREAMING FROM THE ROOFTOPS EXCITED.

But wait! There’s moooore. Not just one Rapunzel retelling is releasing but TWO. The lovely, fairy tale enthusiast Kendra E. Ardnek is also launching a new Rapunzel retelling—a short story titled Misfortune. YES. SO MANY FAIRY TALES. I need them alll, precious!

Today I’m joining in on the blog tour for these exciting releases and reviewing Diamond. You can find the full blog tour schedule HERE. Fun interviews and reviews for both stories abound, so do check it out!

Now onward to me flailing and squealing about Diamond my review!

Synopsis

Diamond leads a quiet life with the woman she calls Mother. There isn’t much to pass the time save for excursions in the forest and one-sided conversations with her pet rabbit, Hobie. Men are cruel beings who care only for themselves and must be avoided at any cost. After all, Diamond’s own father gambled her away once. What other terrible fates might await her if people knew she existed?

Seth Stendahl is an alchemist with a middling proficiency in the Rohesian tongue. After growing up with and surviving six sisters, there shouldn’t be anything too difficult for him to master – except maybe breaking his leg and being locked in the top of a ruined watchtower.

This is Rapunzel with a twist like you’ve never seen it before.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | AUTHOR’S BLOG

Diamond is, as mentioned, a Rapunzel retelling (*squee*) novella and the 3rd book of Kirsten Fichter’s Once Upon a Twist Tales series.

Each book more or less stands alone, so if you haven’t read the first two yet, you CAN jump into this one. Though this one does connect pretty closely to book #2, Spindle Dreams. If you read that one and are still left dangling off the edge of that explosive cliffhanger of an epilogue NO FEAR. This story answers alllll questions. BUT if you’ve not read the previous two, I think you can still dive into this one without much trouble, as it follows a brand new set of protagonists.

• My review for Book #1 The Rose and the Balloon
• My review for Book #2 Spindle Dreams

THE RUNDOWN

These books are considered Kingdom Adventure (fantasy with no magic) with a slight steampunk twist. They take place in the cozy kingdom of Rohesia, where roses abound and the endearing royal family do their best to keep the peace.

Diamond hardly knows anything beyond her little cave home and the surrounding forest. Her strict mother assures she stays safe in their secluded hideaway where no one can hurt Diamond—like her father, who gambled away Diamond’s very life. But when Diamond comes across a man unconscious in the forest with a broken leg, she can’t just leave him for dead. Unfortunately, danger has followed this man, and Diamond’s quiet, secluded, safe life takes an upturn as she goes against everything Mother has taught her and tries to help him.

THE CHARACTERS

Endearing characters is this author’s trademark, and AAAAHHHHHH!!! The characters of this one! They may be my favorite set of Once Upon a Twist characters yet. (Although I feel like I say that about all of them. I JUST LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH.)

DIAMOND: The most preciousest of precious cinnamon rolls. Can I just adopt her and love her and hug her forever and ever please and thank you??? I am SOFT for cinnamon rolls. Those gentle, kindhearted, innocent souls steal my heart every. single. time. and it’s always so refreshing to find female protagonists like this. (Like, you can be “strong” while also being soft-spoken and kind. SHOCKER I KNOW.) Diamond has such an admirable, quiet grace about her. No, she doesn’t know much about the world, but that doesn’t mean she’s dumb and useless. In fact, the girl has a hidden spunk to her, and a drive to help those in need. I looooved when she chose to help Seth, even though she knows the risks. Despite her fear and uncertainty and shyness, she still chose to step up and do what she thought was right. And that is the type of protagonist I want to follow. She also had some wonderful growth and became more and more brave as time went on. I just absolutely adored this quiet, kindhearted, courageous woman!

SETH: Oh my gracious goodness, SETH. The man defines “adorkable”. He’s such a DORK. But in the most adorable way ever. First of all, the Rohesian language is not his first language. He stumbles over it quite a bit, and I thought it was so well-written how he kept falling back to his native language and struggled with Rohesian. (Huzzah for books that don’t have everyone magically speaking the exact same language!) Secondly, he’s just so good-natured. He tries to make jokes and lure Diamond into conversation, but she’s so shy and quiet, it just makes things more awkward. BRB DYING FROM CUTENESS OVERLOAD. But, the poor guy, has grown up with six older sisters, so he knows his fair share about how women work. And I loved that. I loved how he tried to figure Diamond out via everything he’s learned growing up with six girls. He’s also a nerd to the highest order, as he’s super into alchemy, which was a ton of fun! He was just so refreshing—good humored and awkward and Trying His Best™ but accidentally stumbling into so much trouble. Poor, poor Seth. XD Seriously, I can’t with this man. He was great!

And if you can’t tell, I ADOOOORED these two cinnamon rolls together. Their budding friendship was so innocent and sweet, with so many hilariously awkward moments and a good dash of squee-worthy ones. Diamond has literally talked to no one but her mother, so her trying to befriend someone who struggles to even speak her native tongue was just ALKJSLDJLJF. I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

The other characters were so dynamic too. Diamond’s mother was deliciously ruthless (and those who have read Spindle Dreams should recognize her *smile, smile*). Dalvira was another favorite. She’s basically the total opposite of Diamond, and I LOVED when they worked together. It was so much fun! Annnd there were quite a few cameos of some familiar faces from the previous stories which is always thrilling.

All these characters made me smile so, so much. Can I just shrink them all and keep them in my pocket??? <333

OTHER THINGS TO LOVE

ALCHEMY – Each of these novellas always has a specific steampunkish something to it, and this go round it was alchemy. It was sooo much fun how Seth used his alchemy knowledge to help save the day. Just because he was stuck with a broken leg didn’t mean he couldn’t be useful!

ALL THE RAPUNZEL THIIINGS (without magic) – One thing that’s so clever about these books is that they have zero magic AND YET still manage to always throw in sooo many elements from the fairy tale they’re retelling. This one had like ALL the Rapunzel things but, brilliantly, without using a lick of magic. I especially appreciated how there was an actual REASON Diamond had ridiculously long hair. (It always annoys me when Rapunzel retellings have a girl with long hair just…’cause.) But not only did this have so, so many Rapunzel elements, but they each had such a clever twist. Like the GUY being stuck in the tower! It was a delight finding all the clever Rapunzel references throughout. Definitely one of my favorite bits!

THE GENERAL COZINESS – There’s just always something deliciously cozy about this author’s writing style, and this story was one of the coziest. I loved the setting of Diamond’s little cave home, her gathering food in the forest, Seth’s hideaway in the watchtower—just all of it! It felt so homey and beautiful and sweet. Like, can I live in Rohesia??? It’s such a lovely place!

DID I MENTION THE CHARACTERS??? – I just love them so much, guys. I CAN’T.

CONTENT CAUTIONS

Absolutely nothing??? These books are always so refreshingly clean. The characters had a few injuries, so some blood is mentioned, but nothing was ever over detailed. And there was barely even any romance.

Though these fall under the young adult genre, they’d be great to read to younger siblings as well!

CONCLUSION

I was kind of having a bad day when I first started reading this, and it instantly lightened my mood. It just made me so HAPPY. It’s one of those stories that leaves you smiling and lighthearted after you read it.

I feel like right now we especially could use a good dose of something lighthearted and fun, and this novella is PERFECT for that.

As mentioned, though it does connect to the previous books (especially book #2) in some ways, it can be read as a standalone. So if you want to just jump into this one, GO FOR IT. (Though the others are 1000000% worth the read too.)

If you need a good magic-less, cozy, quick, fairy tale read THIS IS IT. With endearing characters, a lovely setting, an intriguing plot, and just so much fun and humor and heart, this novella is sure to bring a smile to your face.

. . . 5 out of 5 Stars . . .

LET’S TALK!

Have you read any of the Once Upon a Twist Tales novellas? Are you excited about this third one? Because you should beeee! And don’t forget to check out the blog tour schedule HERE! Huge congrats to Kirsten and Kendra on their releases!