webnovel
bluescarabbeatle
bluescarabbeatleLv144yr
2020-06-29 02:37

If you’re on the fence about reading this story, just go for it! This is possibly one of the most well written stories on Webnovel. The writing style is fantastic, story is intriguing and will keep you wanting more, the characters are three dimensional with their own flaws and strengths. I’m not even close to finished with the story, but I know it will probably be one of my favorites to come!

Liked by 13 people

LIKE
empty img

No replies. Be the first!

Other Reviews
Maromar
MaromarLv2

Alexa, a woman of many secrets, submits herself to a tale of beyond-mortal peril when she decides to befriend Cordelia, a plain woman bound for marriage into the Holstein royal family. The wisdom of her decision in the face of political strife, the charming yet vexatious Prince Magnus, and the harrowing echoes of souls long dead is revealed within The Mischievous Maiden and the Sleeping Prince. The piece opens in medias res, teasing readers with prospects of a plot that turns out to be a tad more complex than your typical historical romance with a dash of fantasy. Even if they aren't hooked by the image of a panicked and injured protagonist dragged away by royalty in a foreign land, MizA’s style is strong enough to ensnare readers with smooth text structure. The paragraph variation, in particular, lets one’s eyes slide from one scene to the next without much exhaustion when binge reading. Another strong point lies in the exploration of the title’s genre. Where others tend to tack on the fantasy tag as window dressing to provide easy setpieces to drown shippers in, The Mischievous Maiden and the Sleeping Prince gives the more esoteric elements appropriate consideration. The plot feels very much alive past the romance. The characters are palatable overall. I only found slight issue with Magnus and much of the reason for my weariness was put to rest before too long. In the beginning, it felt like he was going to be one of those romantic interests that get portrayed as perfectly attractive and acceptable despite legitimately abusive behavior. I’m glad to say that his faults and actions were recognized by both Cordelia and Alexa and dealt with in a manner that seemed internally consistent and appropriate given the context. The story doesn't fetishize or romanticize maltreatment despite a few beats implying that pairing up with the right woman could smooth out such a tract in a man. If there was one outstanding gripe I have about him, it’d be that he seems over competent in tests of strength and skill. The issue isn’t so bad as to make him the solution to every conflict, however. Reading through the interactions and developing relationships between Alexa and even minor characters brought more than a few smiles to my face. There are enough humorous and heart-touching moments for the work to leave a lasting impression. On the mechanical side, the writing is strong compared to your average piece found on Webnovel. That isn’t to say that everything is perfect. The story often uses epithets in place of the characters' names. In some cases, it can provide information while saving up on words, but here it’s done too often and in a way that makes the scenes stutter a bit. It draws attention to description where readers are trying to process actions. Consider the use of so many bland words like “I” “said” “the” “he/she” etc. A character's name or a single, consistent epithet can be counted among their place. These common bits don’t look pretty, but they are essential for coordinating the text. Think of them as transparent strings on a puppet. When you replace lengths of them with material of different colors (a unique one for each epithet if you want to maintain this analogy) you risk distraction, or worse. While MizA does a good job of making readers feel as though they are at the center of things, there are places where the text feels distant. You can catch the odd instance of someone trying to remove a hood rather than lunging for it. I yearned for more vividity in some scenes due to a reliance on adverbs, plain/chunky text, or redundancy. Some of the adverb usage even feels like a crutch or worse, signposts implying that readers can’t discern the air of a scene. An early example takes place where Cordelia begs Magnus to not accost Alexa, interposing herself between the two. We already know that such an action could be conceived as brave, it isn’t necessary to say that she bravely held on to Magnus’ arm. There are also instances of passive voice that can turn some people off. It weakens the text but isn’t there in a way that rouses too much of an issue. I suspect that some people who are sensitive to it might even pass it by unawares due to MizA’s neat flow. Places where I hit a snag and had to stop reading for a moment were scarce but usually occurred when the above issues were found bunched together. Another point worthy of consideration is the story’s word choice. It can be very hit or miss. Sometimes the text dips into extremely rare, awkward words rather than ones that are simply uncommon. I understand that some of this is due to an effort at painting an in-period picture, but other options would be understood immediately by a general audience while maintaining the effect such as “direful” or simply “dark” rather than “tenebrous”. A good trick is to seek out words using the more common prefixes/suffixes that were nonetheless left behind in the graveyards of eras long past. All that aside, I truly enjoyed reading The Mischievous Maiden and the Sleeping Prince. So long as you keep your wits about you and aren't terribly frightened by shades, I’d say that the trip to Holstein is one well worth embarking upon.

The_night_Owl
The_night_OwlLv12
Related Stories

Farm Girl's Manor

[Farming]+[Space]+[Heartwarming]+[Prosperity]+[Defeating Scum] Mo Yan, reduced to ashes by an explosion, was reborn in ancient times, becoming a little farm girl on the run from famine! Above her, a kind and handsome Scholar father - not bad! Below her, a lively and adorable pair of younger siblings - very good! But really, she felt like dying all over again, you know? On the run, going without food, drink, or shelter was one thing, but to always guard against bad guys who might capture her to fill their bellies was another! Luckily, her upgradable Space from the previous life followed her, but what the heck - that amazing Space with mountains, water, and meat to eat had been formatted! Faced with a desperate situation, Mo Yan reignited her fighting spirit: So what if it's formatted, I'll still make a fortune and build my wealth right at the foot of the Imperial City! Carving out mountains, planting orchards, buying shops, building houses... not one less! But... there are so many green-eyed troublemakers! Your farm is yours? Here, I'll trap you to death without discussion! Want to be my stepmom? Fine, I'll send you a bunch of widowers! Mother looking for you? Here, take the divorce papers, keep them, don't thank me! ... What? A handsome man is proposing? Uh, this... should I throw myself at him? PS: 1. Insist on farming without wavering + atypical domestic skirmish + no palace intrigue 2. The writing style is fairly serious, and values are normal (not excluding the occasional whimsy of the author) Links to completed works: [Abandoned Farm Girl: A Beautiful Countryside] Link: http://read.xxsy.net/info/527965.html [The General's Legitimate Daughter Not to be Messed With] Link: http://read.xxsy.net/info/473776.html

Dusk is cold · History
4.0
1414 Chs

Farmer's Wife Has Magic Skills

Chu Qingzhi, a modern cultivator, went down to earth to experience love. She was forced to transmigrate into the body of a peasant girl in the ancient past. Her family had a total of nine children. She had no choice but to shoulder the burden of supporting the family. She used spells to tame a tiger as her mount, a black bear as her guardian, a wolf as a helper, and a monkey as the pathfinder. They went hunting together. She then sold ice cream, which she made using an ice spell, on the streets. She planted herbs for medicine, offered clinical diagnosis and treatment to patients, and attracted princes and nobles who fought over her. Even the emperor addressed her with a respected title. To become immortal, she supported her family while searching for a husband. *** Ever since the poorest family in the village brought their daughter home, they thought their lives would only get tougher. To their surprise, they started building a house and buying land... They didn't just bring their daughter home, but they brought the God of Fortune home! *** A general, who even the princess refused to marry, returned to the country to rest for some time. Suddenly, he married a peasant girl. Just as everyone waited for them to be ridiculed, dignitaries came to visit one after another. The empress dowager held Chu Qingzhi's hand. "Qingzhi, will you be my younger sister?" The emperor looked Chu Qingzhi up and down. "My lady, are you willing to join my harem?" The crown prince grabbed Chu Qingzhi's sleeve. "Qingzhi, I want ice cream."

Beyond the Moon · History
4.5
1054 Chs

The General's Wife Wants to Leave

Experiencing a suffocating marriage with the man whom she was arranged to marry made Joanna want to leave him. But it was a failure as she died as the wife of the man who abandoned her and her son before they divorced. On the verge of her death, she made a wish to not encounter him again if there was a next life. She wished for the end of their fate only in this lifetime. She wanted to forget everything about him. However, when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the room of the mansion of the man she just married. She was awakened by a dream that seemed to be a nightmare of her past life. She didn’t remember completely everything that had occurred in her past life and the dream was fragmented. But deep inside her heart, she only felt one thing. She was adamant about leaving him, to be far away from him. Therefore, she left his mansion just before she met him in person in the present lifetime. However, what she didn’t expect was that the so-called husband pursued her, not allowing her to leave him. Would Joanna be successful in leaving the man in this lifetime? Would fate play the same tragedy as her past life? --- As he pulled his finger away from her soft, warm lips, he said, “It is good you stopped winding up, Joanna. Otherwise, I would have used the other method to make you stop blabbering over the same, boring topic endlessly.” When he noticed the stubborn woman was about to prove herself to be stubborn, the man leaned forward in a swift movement, facing the woman’s stupefied face which was an inch away from his. “Continue to blabbering, don’t blame me if I apply my other method right now,” the man murmured above her breath, trailing his gaze from her quivering eyes to her lips before moving it back to her now widened eyes. --- *Cover doesn’t belong to the author. Credit to the artist/owner.

g_ara · History
Not enough ratings
282 Chs

THE Knight’s Hidden Princess

A princess's duty is to be beautiful, quiet, not loud, to be seen and not to be heard, which was how Dahlia lived most of her life. Bound by the expectations of her title, she spent years trying to prove to her father that she was more than just a princess and capable of being more than an ornament in his court but each time she never got the chance. Instead, she was forced into a marriage of convenience with the bravest knight in all the kingdom, Reagan Hawthorne. Dahlia thought she would use this marriage to escape the brutal crutches of her father and glide out of her cage but Reagan’s cold disdain was an unexpected prison of its own. While he waged wars on distant lands, she stayed behind, holding his household together and protecting the people he seemed to ignore. But Dahlia carried a dangerous secret. By day, she was the perfect wife. By night, she became the "Black Knight," a masked vigilante fighting for justice in the shadows. Reagan returned, ready to focus on his personal mission: avenging his father’s death. To him, Dahlia was just another pawn in his plans—a spoiled princess he needed to tolerate. But as cracks began to form in her perfect façade, Reagan couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to his wife than met the eye. Now, with enemies circling closer and their secrets threatening to collide, Dahlia and Reagan must confront the lies they’ve told themselves and each other. But when masks fall and truths are revealed, will their fragile bond withstand the storm—or will it shatter beyond repair? One wound. One secret. One night that changes everything.

DA_Aloera · History
Not enough ratings
180 Chs