Fairytale Keeper by Angela Cefalo (Gally copy)
267 pgs
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Wizard

Synopsis from back cover
"Snow White was a pet name her mother had given her, but her mother's dead now. Adelaide hates that name anyway. A rampant fever claimed Adelaide's mother just like a thousand others in Cologne where the people die without last rites and the dead are dumped in a large pit outside of the city walls. Adelaide's father is determined to obtain a funeral for his wife, but that requires bribing the parish priest, Father Soren. When Soren commits an unforgivable atrocity, he pushes Adelaide to her breaking point, but if she seeks justice against the cruel priest, she risks sacrificing everything: her father, her friends, her first love, and mabe even her life."

I liked the unusual nature of the fairytale retelling, where the protagonist, Adelaide, appears to be the source of all the Grimm's Tales. Cinderella, Snow White, and The Elves and the Shoemaker all make an appearance. Her father is the shoemaker, Adelaide is Snow White and her mother's beautiful cousin is the evil stepmother from Cinderella. It's a genuinely cool way to interweave more than one fairytale into your story. I did notice however that she also included the tale The Six Swans but there was no indication of that tale in the book. So I'm assuming that means it will appear in some way in the forthcoming titles in the series. The medieval Cologne setting was beautifully laid out and gave the stories depth and ambiance. I really liked the budding romance between Adelaide and Ivo. Ivo was hands down my favorite character in the book. I can so easily imagine him as any number of Grimm characters. It will be very interesting to see where he ends up. The corruption in the church was an intriguing thread in the storyline and I wonder if that will continue in the next installment.
I want to thank the author, Andrea Cefalo, for sending me a copy of this fabulous debut to enjoy and feature here on my blog.