The Golden Ball: A Frog Prince, Swan Lake, and Cinderella Retelling by Erika Everest (Tales from the Kingdoms of Fable book 2)

The League of Princesses is worried. Aurora has fallen into the enchanted sleep and Odette is missing. As Rose and Sienna focus on helping Aurora, Natashya goes undercover as a servant to ferret out what has happened to her young friend, Odette. What she finds has her questioning everything she knows about truth, magic, and men.

““The avalanche is powerful, but each snowflake is fragile.”

This was a really fun mashup of three stories — the Frog Prince, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. The plot mostly follows that of Swan Lake, but Natashya’s story is that of the Frog Prince, with lots of Cinderella hints throughout. (I have to say, I think the “pumpkin” part is one of my favorites.)

I love this series, and it just keeps getting better with every book. We start getting more hints about the world and what happened to all the girls in the past.

I do wish the magic system was a little more clear. Some aspects seem to come out of nowhere with no lead up or explanation.

It’s not explicitly stated, but I believe Natashya is autistic. Everest does a remarkable job portraying it.

Four and a half roses
Minor injuries
Swoony kisses