Cameron Dokey

Sunlight and Shadow by Cameron Dokey is the retelling of the operetta “The Magic Flute” by Mozart. The book is quite short so there isn’t much depth to this retelling, but there are musical references such as the bells that can bring you your one true love and, of course, the magic flute.

It is the story of a young girl, Mina who is the daughter of estranged parents, the Queen of the Night and the Mage of the Day. Mina has lived with her mother for sixteen years but now her father has claimed her and plans on picking a proper husband for her. But Mina arranges to have her true love come to her through the magic of the bells and he is a prince who happens to have made a magic flute that can put his love into music. Of course her father doesn’t approve and sets trials that they must complete if they want to be together.

One thing that I didn’t care for with this book is that the POV changed almost with every chapter which I thought was rather excessive for such a short story. But overall this is a light and simple tale of romance and magic and how fate unfolds to the satisfaction of all.… (mer)

This one pretty closely follows the plot of the original Beauty and the Beast, with the most notable difference being the addition of Belle’s woodcarving hobby that she picked up from her father. When she goes to live with the Beast at his enchanted estate, she encounters the legendary Heartwood Tree which, when carved, will reveal the face of one’s true love. The Beast insists she take on the task, believing that it will help him break his curse.

I felt like it had a lot of good potential that it just didn’t deliver on. The beginning seemed to be setting up an exploration of what true beauty is, but that theme was dropped by the time the curse broke. There were also a few other themes and character studies that were introduced and would have been really interesting if they had been followed through, but they weren’t, or at least not to the extent I would have liked to see.

Overall, still a nice story and a decent retelling, but with the potential to be amazing if the author had delved a bit deeper.… (mer)