Reality and Fiction

The book begins with the words "Once upon a time", immediately giving it a traditional fairytale feel. It quickly becomes clear that this will be a fairy story, but one with a difference. It will stay true to the darker side of fairy stories, in which fairies (called phaeries here) are malicious and cruel, and there are many monsters trying to kill the hero. It will also explore typical fairytale themes and clichés, but either subvert them or make them more realistic. For example, the evil stepmother is a common staple of fairytales. In this story Poison does not get on with her stepmother, but it is not because her stepmother is evil. Poison finds it impossible to accept a substitute mother figure, and Snapdragon, her stepmother, finds it hard to deal with Poison when she is being deliberately difficult. Snapdragon does not come across...