Review: Blood by Sarah Pinborough (Tales from the Kingdom #5)

My Five Word TL:DR Review: Don’t Miss This Wonderful Series

Blood reads like a conclusion to the series but I’m not absolutely sure if that’s the case, it certainly has a fairytale style ending.  That being said I would happily, nay ecstatically, pick up more books from the Kingdom.  If anybody can give me the lowdown then feel free to update me in the comments.  I’d actually love to be wrong.

I have to say first and foremost that this series is wonderful.  I’ve absolutely loved reading these fairytales reimagined.  They’re well written, they’re sassy, they have such twisted characters, everything is on it’s head and you can’t make any assumptions.  Disney characters these are not.  At the same time there are good characters where you least expect, plenty of magic, castles, dragons and thorny hedges.

If you love fairytales and you enjoy retellings then this series is for you and with a new first book in series (Magic) and this new conclusion it feels like the stories are now complete.  Pinborough has pulled the rabbit out of the hat by tying all the stories together, bringing in mysterious characters just barely hinted at previously and giving them all the ending they deserve.

I can’t really say too much more without giving away spoilers so this review will be necessarily short and sweet (much like these little gems).

In conclusion.  I’m sad to have read the final book.  I’d love to go back and reread the whole collection one by one.  These stories fulfil my fairytale need whilst putting a smile on my face.  They’re a breath of fresh air filled with creativity, great writing and a little sexy punch.

Highly recommended.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating – 5 of 5 stars for a fantastic series

Now, here are all five books in order, their covers and my reviews:

Book 1: MAGIC
Book 2: BEAUTY
Book 3: POISON
Book 4: CHARM
Book 5: BLOOD

7 Responses to “Review: Blood by Sarah Pinborough (Tales from the Kingdom #5)”

  1. Susy's Cozy World's avatar Susy's Cozy World

    This is a great review, thanks for sharing it! And obviously I have already added this series on my TBR (and it’s all your fault!! 😂)

  2. Tammy's avatar Tammy

    I’d love to read this series, but I need to check to see if it’s available in the US. Also it’s been a while since I’ve read a book by her, and it’s time😁

    • @lynnsbooks's avatar @lynnsbooks

      These work really well for me -I love SP’s sense of humour and the way she turns things onto their head a little. Plus they’re all kind of dinky bite size reads and although I don’t usually fall for shorter stories (these are mostly 200 pages ish) I think it does work well for fairytale retellings.

      Lynn 😀

  3. pagesandtea's avatar pagesandtea

    How have I missed this series?! I think I’d better add the first book to my wishlist quickly 😀

    • @lynnsbooks's avatar @lynnsbooks

      I hope you give them a shot. We usually cross over quite a lot with our reading taste so hopefully these will work for you too.

      Lynn 😀

  4. Unknown's avatar BLAME IT ON THE COMMUNITY! #11 – The Road To Hell Is Paved With Books

    […] today: Magpie Murders, which I discovered thanks to Zezee‘s review, Magic is here thanks to Lynn’s review and The Rainfall Market, which I discovered thanks to Ellie, from Curiosity Killed The […]

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