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Except the Queen

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 517 ratings · 130 reviews

From award winning authors Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder comes a tale of two worlds-and one destiny...

Sisters Serena and Meteora were once proud members of the high court of the Fairy Queen- until they played a prank that angered her highness. Separated and banished to the mortal realm of Earth, they must find a way to survive in a strange world in which they have no pow...more

Hardcover, 371 pages

Published February 2nd 2010 by Roc Hardcover

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Aug 13, 2011 The Holy Terror rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone that loves the stories of the fae and/or is looking for a darker fantasy story

Shelves: borrowed, fairies, color-green, color-yellow, stand-alone, dark-fantasy, 2010

A wonderfully unique and dark tale, the likes of which I rarely come across.

This book tells the story of two fairy sisters; Meteora and Serana. Meteora sees something she isn't supposed to and also lets the secret slip to fellow fae with looser lips than her own. As punishment, she and her sister are banished from the realm of faery to live with mortals. They've also been stripped of their youth and beauty and forced to live alone and far away from each other. They have to rely on the kindness...more A wonderfully unique and dark tale, the likes of which I rarely come across.

This book tells the story of two fairy sisters; Meteora and Serana. Meteora sees something she isn't supposed to and also lets the secret slip to fellow fae with looser lips than her own. As punishment, she and her sister are banished from the realm of faery to live with mortals. They've also been stripped of their youth and beauty and forced to live alone and far away from each other. They have to rely on the kindness of others and their own wits to survive in the strange human world.

This book was such a pleasant surprise. It's so much darker than I thought it would be and the tone really works for the story. It was also fascinating to see how the sisters would adapt to their strange surroundings. I liked how this showed the fae trying to survive in the human world and how everything was strange and new to them.

There are also many humorous misunderstandings and assumptions that the sisters make. As an example; Serana and Meteora spend a great deal of time sending letters to each other by way of pigeons and other birds. They tie the letters to the birds' legs and speak to them so the animals will know where to go. At one point Serana sees the symbol for the post office on a mail box and she thinks an eagle would take letters much faster. So she asks a lady how she can send an eagle letter and how to find the place of mails. Once Serana gets to the post office, it gets even funnier:

So I did the turnings she suggested, and found the place of mails with the big eagle sigil on the wall. I did not see any of my sister's men in blue, but there was a lady behind some bars-caged like a farmer's cows-who told me to put the letter into an envelope and seal it. The lady behind the bars promised me it would reach Meteora in two days.

"Two days? Complaint edged into my voice. "But I thought this is eagle mail. The dove can do it in that time and for nothing more than some honey water and bread."

This kind of thing happens to both sisters throughout the novel and their almost childish innocence and wonder with regards to the world is both refreshing and endearing.

That's not to say everything is all fun and games for them. There's a malevolent force at work that the sisters have to figure out how to stop. They have to use their knowledge and cunning and learn how to survive anew, having their magic and strength stripped from them. The most important lesson that they have to learn though is how to rely on their own selves now that they're forced to live apart.

I really loved this book. I love stories about the fae, especially when a great deal of research has been done. I actually purchased The Fairy Bible: The Definitive Guide to the World of Fairies so I could have a visual reference for all of the fae that are present within this novel. This was certainly a well-researched and well-crafted novel and I hope the two authors work together again in the future!(less)

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Apr 20, 2011 Erika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally reviewed here: http://jawasreadtoo.wordpress.com/201...

Meteora and Serana enjoy the eternal summer lands of the Greenwood and the magical blessing of glamour that masks them in perpetual youth and beauty. Whatever they desire rests at the whim of their fancy—food, drink, sex, these sisters only need to desire and their wishes are granted. It would seem the only rule they must never break is the one they breach quite unintentionally: spread rumor (whether true or false) against the Que...more Originally reviewed here: http://jawasreadtoo.wordpress.com/201...

Meteora and Serana enjoy the eternal summer lands of the Greenwood and the magical blessing of glamour that masks them in perpetual youth and beauty. Whatever they desire rests at the whim of their fancy—food, drink, sex, these sisters only need to desire and their wishes are granted. It would seem the only rule they must never break is the one they breach quite unintentionally: spread rumor (whether true or false) against the Queen’s carnal indiscretions. The punishment comes harsh and cold as the two find themselves banished from the Greenwood and thrown unceremoniously into the mortal realm of the merely human. As the sisters suffer under the bitter reality of their sudden and aged mortal bodies, they can’t help but wonder why a harmless bit of spying has become such an egregious offense.

This is the first book I’ve read by either Jane Yolen or Midori Snyder. Since I’m not familiar with their writing styles, it’s difficult for me to even guess at who wrote which parts of this book, but the prose read smoothly, much to my delight. The story opens to several short chapters from multiple points of view vaguely depicting the event Meteora and Serana witness. With a few disconcerting tense changes, there were brief moments when I wasn’t even sure what was happening, though. Admittedly, I was as confused as the sisters were when they are ultimately banished from the realm, but think other readers may pick up what I did not. Despite this, I liked having the narrative elicit that response from me. If intentional (and by now I think it was, at least in part), it was a clever way to have the reader identify with the pair and therefore, be a bit more invested in wanting to discover why they were punished so harshly.

I say this because readers will hopefully already be engaged in the overall discussion of aging brought to the narrative as the sisters deal with a difficult and awkward adjustment period. It wasn’t enough for them to be forced from their home, they also lose the reassuring familiarity of their appearance—something they’ve come to rely on, something that’s become integral to their identities, something that speaks for how today’s society constrains and ostracizes women past a certain age. Except the Queen is essentially a consideration of aging for women in contemporary society. It’s an unexpected theme, especially since the sudden and literal reversal or fortune is unrealistic. However, as a metaphor it works brilliantly. People don’t just suddenly wake up, aged. They do, however, frequently wonder at how their bodies begin to show signs of decline when their minds are sharper than ever. It’s one of life’s cruelties that we don’t often notice that we are aging until one day, our bodies remind us we can’t do certain things as well as we’d like to anymore.

I’m still fairly young so I have little to no experience with this, but I can certainly approach this topic from witnessing the double standard that exists for women as opposed to men who age, specifically and most poignantly as it pertains to films (when is a woman over 50 seen with as much sex appeal on screen as a man of a similar age and not turned into a desexualized or batty old woman?). Yolen and Snyder tend to reduce the situation in this novel a bit by stripping the comparison to youths that do drugs, listen to loud music, curse, are thieves, liars, and are disrespectful. While I don’t think the polarizing effect is completely fair, it does drive home the point written quite eloquently throughout the novel that elderly women are often overlooked. It’s that type of environment Meteora and Serana try to adjust to. I found this quote particularly touching:

They looked through me—old age being better than a Cloak of Invisibility—and did not see me at all.

Except the Queen, hardcover edition p. 198

It makes the unsung heroine of the novel more awe-inspiring. Baba Yaga (a witch similar to the one in the tale of Hansel and Gretel) has seen fame from Bill Willingham’s Fables graphic novels and proves she’s a force to be reckoned with once again in this particular incarnation. She’s neither good or bad, but a neutral—and here, you’ll have to pardon my language—badass. Her pet of choice is a sweet pit bull named Lily, and her profession? Renter and Landlady to a slew of constantly changing college students in Wisconsin. What she doesn’t do is resign herself to any limitations of age. Instead, she takes advantage of her environment, wits, and magic. True, Meteora and Serana don’t have magic anymore, but in Baba Yaga there is something to be admired. As Meteora finds out, she’s also someone to be emulated, if only to discover one’s inner strength (I don’t think Yolen or Snyder are advocating the less appetizing qualities of Baba Yaga like luring small children deep into the woods to eat them. There is, however, something to be said of resourcefulness. Baba Yaga is nothing if not resourceful.)

Baba Yaga has a strong narrative presence, despite only making appearances at the beginning and end of the novel. I mention her here with such relish because she’s really quite awesome and I wish there was more of her (for those interested, might I suggest Baba Yaga Laid An Egg by Dubravka Ugresic for an in-depth look at the Baba Yaga myth?). W While Serana and Meteora’s immediate story—being banished to the mortal world and their struggle to return—wasn’t entirely appealing, it was made much stronger because of the broader dialogue their age dynamic created. I wasn’t too interested in Sparrow or Robin’s storylines, which are a major, less subtle, part of the book. The slow pacing with their stories were, however, tempered by the frequently tender prose and the curiously delightful situations the sisters find themselves in as they navigated their new bodies and surroundings. Baba Yaga stressing the importance and power of curse words, Serana learning the concept of and very quickly becoming addicted to cellphones, and Meteora referring to the US postal system as “eagle mail” are only some of the entertaining adjustments to read about.

The story benefits from each of these additional elements. It’s a book of dichotomies (age vs. youth; the Greenwood vs. mortal realm; good vs. evil), of choices, and the glue that holds it all together: Baba Yaga. She is a more subtle element for the duration of the narrative, but I don’t mean to overshadow the protagonists. They are wonderful women who must undergo a strange and harrowing journey disconnected by age. I think it’s this journey that is the most interesting rather than their involvement with Robin and Sparrow. It’s definitely a much more powerful and profound one, especially since the real payoff comes at the very end of the novel when Meteora and Serana realize how much they’ve grown.(less)

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Dec 20, 2011 Sonia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Chi ha voglia di una bella fiaba?
Ogni tanto, a qualunque età, fa bene leggere o magari farsi raccontare una fiaba: fa bene al nostro cinismo sempre in esercizio, al nostro romanticismo troppe volte spento, al nostro pessimismo regnante.
Fa bene al cuore.
E allora, dai, facciamoci raccontare questa fiaba senza storcere troppo il naso quando sentiremo di fate, mondi fatati, eroi cacciati via, nemici diabolici, e prove da affrontare.
Mandiamo indietro il nostro cuore - e il nostro umore! - a quando av...more Chi ha voglia di una bella fiaba?
Ogni tanto, a qualunque età, fa bene leggere o magari farsi raccontare una fiaba: fa bene al nostro cinismo sempre in esercizio, al nostro romanticismo troppe volte spento, al nostro pessimismo regnante.
Fa bene al cuore.
E allora, dai, facciamoci raccontare questa fiaba senza storcere troppo il naso quando sentiremo di fate, mondi fatati, eroi cacciati via, nemici diabolici, e prove da affrontare.
Mandiamo indietro il nostro cuore - e il nostro umore! - a quando avevano 5/6 anni e le fiabe avevano il potere di incantarci, ammaliarci, spaventarci ma soprattutto renderci felici.
E' questo il tentativo di Jane Yolen e Midori Snyder, due autrici prolifiche ma del tutto sconosciute qui in Italia, con Except the queen, purtroppo tradotto nel commercialissimo titolo Il diario delle fate...
Le due autrici ci raccontano la storia di due sorelle fate, Serana e Meteora, cacciate dal loro mondo dalla regina, come punizione per aver assistito ad una scena che non avrebbero dovuto vedere, e averla poi riportata anche ad altre persone. Le due sorelle si ritroveranno nel mondo umano, separate, in due città lontane, e improvvisamente vecchie, perché all'ingresso nel mondo relae perderanno tutto il loro incanto e i loro poteri.
La loro non sarà una vita facile, alle prese con una quotidianità di cui non avevano mai sentito parlare e a cui non è facile adattarsi, ma riusciranno a cavarsela e a trovare il modo per mettersi in contatto. Seguiamo le due donne nelle loro complicate vite, che conducono in maniera provvisoria, come se fossero sempre convinte che prima o poi qualcosa cambierà riportandole da dove sono venute. In realtà quella provvisorietà assume sempre più dei toni definitivi, e poco alla volta le due donne inizieranno a inserirsi nella vita che si sono ritrovate a indossare.
Quando però tutto sembra assestarsi, quando la prova del cambiamento e dell'adattamento è ormai superata, entrano in scena nuovi fattori, nuovi personaggi che creeranno scompiglio e recheranno nuovi interrogativi, nuovi movimenti.
Chi sono gli amici, e chi i nemici?
Ci sarà una conclusione degna di ogni fiaba che si rispetti?
Le sorelle potranno riconciliarsi e vivere per sempre felici e contente, nel loro mondo?
Non sta certo a me dirvelo, vi toglierei ogni curiosità, ogni sorpresa.
Se avete voglia di vivere un piccolo sogno, senza bisogno di ritornarepiccoli , questa è la storia che fa per voi. Una fiaba non per bambini, ma per adolescenti e magari per qualche adulto che non ha voglia di raccontarne ma di farsele raccontare; una fiaba che in alcuni momenti non sarà così magica e incantata come ci si sarebbe aspettati, ma più dura e difficile da affrontare... eppure non è così la vita?
Vi auguro una buona lettura in compagnia delle due sorelle!

qui:
http://cuoredinchiostro.blogspot.com/...(less)

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Nov 23, 2012 Mardel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh my god. There are fantasy book, fairytales, and then there are Fairytales. This is one hell of a story. Told by two writers, with two main characters and at least a few more important secondary characters, this story is one of the more interesting and intricate contemporary fairytales I've read.

Except the Queen begins in the court of the light fey - with two very close sisters, members of the high court witnessing something the queen has done. Unfortunately, though they tried to keep it locke...more Oh my god. There are fantasy book, fairytales, and then there are Fairytales. This is one hell of a story. Told by two writers, with two main characters and at least a few more important secondary characters, this story is one of the more interesting and intricate contemporary fairytales I've read.

Except the Queen begins in the court of the light fey - with two very close sisters, members of the high court witnessing something the queen has done. Unfortunately, though they tried to keep it locked away, after a time it comes out - accidently it's slipped out, and there are whispers and laughs about it throughout the court. The queen has to act, and is very angry, because she cannot afford to lose face with her subjects. She banishes these sisters - beautiful and magical Serena and Meteora. They're banished to the world of humans, separated and each ends up in a huge city far away from each other with no magic. Not only are they stripped of their magic, but of their beauty and immortal youth. They must live as aging women, with all the aches and pains and weaknesses of elderly women.

They have to start out with nothing - not even clothes. One ends up on a train with the legendary Baba Yaga, and the other wakens in a hospital, weak and taken for a homeless woman. Each of them are fortunate to end up in a place - one has to take care of Baba Yaga's house, and the other is set up in an apartment by a social worker. The book is told in alternating points of view - Meteora's story, then Serena's, then Meteora's etc. And once in a while the narrative cuts to the evil one, or to this kid who lives parttime as a dog, and parttime as a human - resisting as best he can his father's strong magical call. It's put together very well.

At first it seems they have only to live and survive, but slowly, they learn that there is a great danger coming from the dark fey. Even though they have been stripped of their magic, living in a modern world affects them, the metals hurt, the noise and pollution bother them and they have to learn to get along in a modern human world. They find that though they don't have magic, they are able to recognize certain magics, work with herbs and talk to animals, etc. Each of them gradually comes to terms with being separated and with their loss of magic and begin to learn how to deal in this new modern world without the other by their side.

Each of them makes friends and comes across evil until everything comes together in a huge threat to the world. Except the Queen was written so well, with so many legendary fairytale like characters popping up that this was a very interesting, compelling read. Though the women were suddenly in older bodies (instead of getting to gradually grow old like we do) and were so devastated by their losses, they ended up with loves, friends, and allies and managed to help others. A very well written dark fairytale with traditional characters and modern characters. The journey from the two being thrown into the modern world with nothing to their learning to live, to support themselves and to eventually make a difference in a major threat was inspiring and fun to read. These two authors should think about writing another book together, Except the Queen was a great read.(less)

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Feb 10, 2011 Chocoholic rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

This is very different from what I've been reading in YA literature in terms of the complexity of the writing styles. The authors piece together or weave their story and nothing is a given. You have to continue reading and file each chapter away in your little store of knowledge until enough of the fabric is woven together that you can put the story together. It sounds confusing, but it is quite brilliant. The chapters are written in different voices with some reading like poetry. I found myself...more

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Oct 22, 2010 Thara rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love Yolen's work, so I was eager to read this collaboration. The blurb on the back of my copy said that it was "...a great deal of fun," so I was unprepared for the tone of the book. It is not a humorous book, although there are humorous situations. Sorrow pervades the first third of the story, as the queen suffers through her betrayal, the sisters are banished from their home, and the younger characters deal with the violence of their own lives. It is an incredible vision of how archetypes m...more

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Jul 12, 2010 Eva Mitnick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, ya, grown-ups

Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder is marketed as an adult fantasy, but this would be a perfect choice for teens, especially fans of Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, and Holly Black. Two fairy sisters, blithe and beautiful, are cast out into the mortal world after they witness - and blab about - their Queen's dalliance with a mortal man.

Separated in a strange and sometimes hostile world, no longer glamoured to look young and gorgeous (and so appearing to be old women - or at least m...more

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Feb 07, 2010 Kate Coombs rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay, let me just point out that I'm TOTALLY behind here in Goodreads. My excuse is that I spend my book-talk time writing my own children's book review blog, Book Aunt. But I'm still reading, so I'll try to pop in here every so often, especially to talk about grown-up books, like this one...

I was only a few chapters into Except the Queen when I got the feeling I'd read it before. Turns out it's a reprint, I think from 2005. This is a little frustrating, since I thought I was getting something b...more

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Mar 10, 2010 K. Bird rated it 4 of 5 stars

Midori Snyder and Jane Yolen are huge presences in the fantasy world, and I admire both of them greatly.

I couldn't wait to get my greedy little hands on this book, and as a result, high expectations are the glasses through which I viewed the story.

Meteora and Serena see the fey queen with her human lover and baby one day, and as a result, are banished to their "normal" appearance (old) to the human world.

However, things are not as clear as they seem, and their separate fates tied together throug...more Midori Snyder and Jane Yolen are huge presences in the fantasy world, and I admire both of them greatly.

I couldn't wait to get my greedy little hands on this book, and as a result, high expectations are the glasses through which I viewed the story.

Meteora and Serena see the fey queen with her human lover and baby one day, and as a result, are banished to their "normal" appearance (old) to the human world.

However, things are not as clear as they seem, and their separate fates tied together through their letters brought by doves and their bonds of herbal lore and sisterhood slowly come together as friends and foes draw them into a fey political mess surrounding the queen's daughter.

On one hand, this is a lovely, poetic, loving tribute to the kind of fey that is earthy, herbal, and chillingly and unapologetically cruel. One of the bad guys is a highborn fey masquerading as a tattoo artist who cruelly torments and bloodlets young human girls while making them love him.

On the other hand, this is about how people see themselves and others, and what kinds of treasures we can find underneath unconventional exteriors.

One of my main issues with the book was that while we switched between the two sisters' points of view, their voices and circumstances were so similiar (both find human men who care for them, wastrels to take care of, herbal lore, and suffer ignorance of human ways) that I had a hard time keeping track of who I was reading about.

There was nothing new for me in the depiction of the fey sisters or the characters they meet, I felt I'd seen them all before, but what stood out for me was the quality and immense care, almost loving touch, given to the sisters and their friends. Read this book not for novelty or a twist, but for a comforting immersion in the warm pool of European fey myth in the hands of two masters of that domain.

This Book's Food Designation Rating: Macaroni and cheese made with good cheese and hint of garlic and pepper for the comforting, homey, familiarity of the story with a touch of spiciness for the evil.(less)

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May 01, 2011 Bibliotropic rated it 5 of 5 stars

When Meteora and Serana get cast out of the faerie realm of Greenwood and shoved into aging mortal bodies in the modern world, you've got you expect that things will be interesting, not just for the characters but also for the reader. Banished from their home not even for a prank but for knowing too much about the Queens secrets, they have to do their best at making their way in a life that's difficult for those who have been brought up to it, let alone those who are used to something quite diss...more When Meteora and Serana get cast out of the faerie realm of Greenwood and shoved into aging mortal bodies in the modern world, you've got you expect that things will be interesting, not just for the characters but also for the reader. Banished from their home not even for a prank but for knowing too much about the Queens secrets, they have to do their best at making their way in a life that's difficult for those who have been brought up to it, let alone those who are used to something quite dissimilar.

Naturally, this leads to a whole host of humourous misunderstandings, both linguistically and culturally, made worse by the fact that they aren't plunked into this world together but instead sent cities apart. Aside from having to adjust to the annoyances of aging bodies that don't work half as well as they're used to, the sisters experience shocks at the way people will casually fling about vulgar curses without a care, misread "Co-op" as coop and wondering why there are no chickens running around, and send letters to each other by pigeon until they discover the baffling system of postal service, which they refer to as "eagle mail." You can't help but chuckle at what they get themselves into and how they misinterpret all the little things we take for granted.

But this book isn't all fun and games, and it takes a look into the darker side of the faerie realm and fey natures. Interwoven with Meteora and Serana are the stories of Sparrow, plagued by nightmares and unknowingly marked by an UnSeelie fey as part of his blood tithe, and Robin, son of and slave to an UnSeelie fey who's spent his life at his father's beck and call, thinking himself no better than a dog. Their stories weave in and out and around each other like ribbons on a Maypole, making the story rich and intriguing, and brings everything together at the end in a convincing and satisfying way.

Which, is we discover, is exactly how it should have been all along. It goes without saying that things aren't always as they appear, especially when you're dealing with the fey.

The style and pacing of this book is flawless, fascinating, and as an introduction to these two authors, I can safely say that my curiosity has been piqued enough to make me want to check out what else they've done. If it's even half as good as Except the Queen, I think I'm bound to enjoy it. With its dark background, mythological interest, and sense of humour, this book is highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy and faeries.(less)

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Sep 19, 2010 Jimmy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely fell in love with this book from the very beginning. Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder give it a skillful and talented hand of Wicca, herbal, and fairy lore knowledge and influence. Thankful that I have read other supernatural books with fairy characters, either main or mentioned, it made reading about the characters in ‘Except The Queen’ familiar to me, especially the Dark Lord and his Hunt, and Baba Yaga, the Great Witch.
Having witnessed the Queen’s indiscretion with a low mortal, the...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Mary Catelli rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-contemporary

Once, two fairies came upon the queen of fairy cavorting with a mortal. They laughed and ran off, but some time later, one of them let it slip. The enraged queen sends them packing into mortal lands, transformed into old women, and they have to try to live in the modern world. They get some help, but they also find the fairy is loose in the world, and these are the -- ehem -- Good Folk out of folklore.

It's an interesting point-of-view set-up, with each chapter in its own POV, which is probably w...more

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Jun 07, 2010 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

So many things to like about this book!

How great to read a book that recognizes Faerie as a dangerous place with plenty of folks in it who'd like to eat you (or at least bleed you dry). When did people forget this? Even Tinkerbell was a fierce warrior!

This story of two sisters banished from the fey and their journey of discovery in our world is appropriately magical and fun. Think of all the things that are normal for us that would defy description for most other people - mailmen and mailboxes,...more

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Mar 01, 2010 Liza rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

I actually read all of this title. For 90 percent of the book there really was not a big reason to put it down, even though I wasn't really jazzed by it.

Basically, two young-looking and pretty sister fairies see the fairy queen romping with a human. When one of them spills the beans, the queen banishes them to New York and Milwaukee. Oh, and the queen curses them into being fat senior citizens with bad clothing. I'm not kidding.

Other odd characters weave in and out of the narrative, which change...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Unwisely rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, fantasy, wtf, kept-me-up-too-late

Picked this up because I needed something to read and remembered I liked Jane Yolen. This book was definitely strange, but another book that I found hard to put down.

There are fey folk, musicians, and cities but it wasn't exactly a Charles de Lint vibe. The protagonists manifest as old ladies, which I found a refreshing change. There's Baba Yaga (I feel like I've read a lot about her lately), threads that take a while to come together, and things that aren't ever quite explained (and I had to go...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Vicki rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, fantasy, young-adult

I love Jane Yolen's work - she is the master fantasy storyteller - and I was excited to find something of hers I have not yet read. It did not disappoint.

Two sisters are cast out of the Faerie realm and into the brutish mortal world for witnessing the Faerie Queen's indiscretion with a mortal. Not only have they been separated from each other, they have lost their magic and their faerie glamour and must find a way to survive in unfamiliar bodies in an unfamiliar world with the darkness rising a...more

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Mar 03, 2010 Kelly marked it as dnf

In Except the Queen, two faerie sisters, Serana and Meteora, accidentally learn a scandalous secret about the faerie queen and let it slip. For their transgression, the two women are separated and banished to mortal Earth to live among humans. They are completely adrift in this new world, and if that weren’t bad enough, their new human bodies are old and overweight.

I think Except the Queen is meant – at least in part – as an exploration of aging. Most of us don’t get magically zapped into older...more In Except the Queen, two faerie sisters, Serana and Meteora, accidentally learn a scandalous secret about the faerie queen and let it slip. For their transgression, the two women are separated and banished to mortal Earth to live among humans. They are completely adrift in this new world, and if that weren’t bad enough, their new human bodies are old and overweight.

I think Except the Queen is meant – at least in part – as an exploration of aging. Most of us don’t get magically zapped into older bodies overnight, true. But I think most of us feel sometimes like our aging bodies, with their aches, pains, and gray hairs, aren’t really our “true” bodies. We still feel like the same person we were at 16, 18, 20, so who is this stranger in the mirror with the crow’s feet? And I think we all feel disconnected, sometimes, from the new generation of young people: their slang, their fashions, etc.

Unfortunately, in Except the Queen, this alienation sometimes seems to tip over the line into “Kids These Days”/”Get Off My Lawn.” Kids these days use the F-word and the S-word. Kids these days party too much. Kids these days get tattoos! I’m not sure, at 32, whether I’m supposed to side with the older women against the young hooligans or whether I’m supposed to feel like a hooligan myself.

I’m also disappointed that the Latino character’s Spanish is wrong. I don’t mean slang. I mean using ustedes to refer to a singular person, that kind of thing. It’s strange, because this would have been pretty easy to research and get right.

Most problematically, the plot just doesn’t have a lot of forward momentum, at least for me. The prose is beautifully crafted, but the story is not keeping me turning pages.

This is really a “DNF-for-now” rather than a “DNF-forever.” I’ve greatly admired both Jane Yolen’s and Midori Snyder’s work in the past, and on the strength of that work and of the lovely writing in Except the Queen, I think I’ll probably give it another shot someday. Maybe the second time will be the charm.
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Mar 12, 2013 Nereia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: women-challenge-2013

C'è un motivo se il titolo originale non è Il diario delle fate

Il motivo per cui il titolo originale di quest'opera non è Il diario delle fate è abbastanza chiaro già dalle prime pagine. Non solo non c'è un diario di mezzo, e vabbè ma non vogliamo essere così pignoli, ma non c'entra proprio nulla! Il titolo dell'edizione italiana, colpa anche e soprattutto della copertina, suggerisce un romanzo completamente diverso. Serana e Meteora non sono le classiche fate dell'immaginario comune, quelle bel...more C'è un motivo se il titolo originale non è Il diario delle fate

Il motivo per cui il titolo originale di quest'opera non è Il diario delle fate è abbastanza chiaro già dalle prime pagine. Non solo non c'è un diario di mezzo, e vabbè ma non vogliamo essere così pignoli, ma non c'entra proprio nulla! Il titolo dell'edizione italiana, colpa anche e soprattutto della copertina, suggerisce un romanzo completamente diverso. Serana e Meteora non sono le classiche fate dell'immaginario comune, quelle belle, buone e un po' romantiche come La fata turchina. No, Serana e Meteora sono sexy, provocanti, libertine. Quindi questa tipa in copertina chi è? Una fata presa in prestito da un'altra storia, è evidente.
Ad ogni modo, trovo che nemmeno il titolo originale "Except the queen" sia poi così azzeccato, ma questa è solo la mia opinione.
Serana e Meteora sono due fate sorelle che, un bel giorno, aggiungono ai loro divertimenti anche quello di spiare la temutissima Regina del Boscoverde mentre è in alcune faccende affaccendata. La Regina, però, non è mica temutissima per niente, e infatti ad un certo punto si accorge di essere spiata e, per "punizione", decide di esiliare le due sorelle e spedirle tra gli esseri umani, privandole non solo della loro magia ma anche della loro giovinezza. Così, le due anziane signorine si ritrovano nel bel mezzo di un mondo che conoscono solo perché, ogni tanto, si divertivano ad osservare dal loro bosco incantato.
Divertente, all'inizio, vedere come Serana e Meteora si sforzino di comprendere e imitare i comportamenti degli umani, le loro usanze. Poi, però, proseguendo nella lettura del romanzo, cominciano i primi problemi costituiti dalla varietà dei punti di vista e dai repentini cambiamenti di prospettive.
Il lettore si ritrova a doversi barcamenare tra: la prima persona singolare della narrazione di Serana e Meteora, la seconda persona singolare della narrazione della Regina (poi, un giorno, mi spiegherete perché la seconda persona singolare), la terza persona singolare dei capitoli su Sparrow e di quelli su Robin, la prima persona singolare della narrazione di Falco. Non so, volevamo mettere anche il punto di vista delle autrici? Mancava solo quello! Se, per un motivo o per un altro, ero costretta a interrompere la narrazione del capitolo e riprenderla il giorno dopo ci mettevo un po' per capire chi stava dicendo cosa.
Troppa confusione, troppa. Ingiustificata, soprattutto. La trama è così semplice e lineare che, sul serio, non erano necessari 6 punti di vista differenti. Nessun colpo di scena, nessuna suspance, nessuna curiosità per capire come mai Serana e Meteora siano state spedite tra gli esseri umani. Tra le altre cose, non credo di avere un'intelligenza di parecchio sopra la media nazionale e internazionale, per cui, se io più o meno a un quarto del libro avevo già capito il motivo vero dell'esilio può arrivarci davvero chiunque.
Un romanzetto semplice che si può anche benissimo non leggere senza perdersi nulla di importante nel panorama dell'urban fantasy. Devo, però, spezzare una lancia a favore de Il diario delle fate: non è uno young adult banale e stupido dove c'è una stupida donzella bionda dotata di super poteri che che si innamora di uno stupido mortale. La storia d'amore c'è, ma fa solo da sfondo alle vicende delle due sorelle. Per fortuna.
Interessante e ben riuscita, strano ma vero, la crescita interiore delle due protagoniste principali che, da ragazzine immature e superficiali, si trasformano in sagge e premurose "nonne".
Un romanzo che, se fosse stato costruito un po' meglio, avrebbe meritato una valutazione leggermente più alta.

Recensione tratta dal mio blog: Recensione Il diario delle fate (less)

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Jan 19, 2012 Patrick Burgess rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: elf-struck, NOT crack-heads, anyone who enjoys lyrical prose + sexy middle-aged fairies (rar)

Shelves: reviewed

Despite the juvenile cover (well, I thought it was juvenile), Except the Queen is beautifully written and unconventionally imagined. The first few chapters made me think it was going to be another romancey pink-magicky story about supernaturally pretty fey girls, getting kissy-faced with some hormonally-repressed mortal floppy-haired teens (strangely, these were real visuals, straight from my real brain) BUT *screeches and smell of burning rubber/underpants*

it wasn't at all like that. Frankly, i...more

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Mar 16, 2010 Madeleine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Madeleine by: lib journal reviews

Shelves: speculative-fiction, things-we-believe

"Branching outside of my usual reading tastes," meet FAIL. This book is CREEPY. If you like creepy, and you like fantasy, perhaps you will like it. Myself, I am mostly just creeped out, and I am going to have nightmares about Baba Yaga and "Seelie Things" now. And little goblins.

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Jul 25, 2010 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars

A huge disappointment. I'm a big Jane Yolen fan but "Except the Queen" must have been something she tossed off while suffering high fevers.

The opening chapters are confusing with multiple narrators including the Faerie Queen who speaks in second person which is always off putting. Serena and Meteora are fey sisters but might as well be one person, so interchangable are they from each other. They're also unlikable, which is pretty much the case for every other character in the book.

Even the world...more

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Oct 29, 2011 eleonora - rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Vi ricordate la mitologia, quella mitologia che amavate da bambini? Quella fatta di streghe, fate, troll, folletti? Ecco. Se come me avete passato gli ultimi anni a sentirla stravolta di qua e di là da tutti i possibili young adult, questo libro è un ritorno alle origini.
Ci sono fate, c'è la Baba Yaga, ci sono i ragazzi lupo, ci sono i personaggi cattivi cattivissimi e quelli buoni. Ci sono persino delle mani, proprio come quella della famiglia Addams!
Jane Yolen è stata definita la Andersen ame...more

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May 22, 2010 Gus rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of dark faerie fiction

Shelves: fantasy-paranormal, urban-fantasy, faerie, read-2010

Finally, a book that I liked! I just gobbled it up :) It was pretty dark for the fae books that have been around lately, but there was some humorous parts as well. It was really interesting seeing how the faerie sisters interacted with humans and how different their world was from the mortal world. Baba Yaga (remember her?!) was my absolute favorite character from the book. I kept reading to my husband things she said and did! The reason I give 4 instead of 5 stars was because it was sometimes c...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Kelleya1 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, feminist-novels

Really enjoyed it. Jane Yolen describes what happens to two fairy sisters evicted from Fairyland and then must live in our world. Helpers are the unexpected--Baba Yaga houses one sister in her house (remember her moveable house that is on chicken legs from Russian fairy tales?)acting as the building manager for landlord Baba Yaga, who is traveling, while the other is in a different city, saved by a social worker, working as an herbalist in an organic grocery. It is amusing to watch the sisters d...more

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May 02, 2012 Jessica McReaderpants rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an very nicely written fairy tale, I very much enjoyed the Fairy lore (stones with natural holes in them, salt, wearing your clothes backward, spot on) It was a bit confusing at first because it tells the story from 4 or is it 5 different peoples perspectives. It was way more adult than I thought young adult should be but what do I know? I enjoyed a lot of the concepts in this book how they modernized the fairys. I also liked how the sisters relationship was. All in all a good book and...more

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May 28, 2010 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-ya, fantasy-fiction, maybe-reread-sometime, cover-faceless-female

Maybe more like 3.5.

I put this on my YA shelf with great trepidation. Mature YA readers (and adults, of course) only.

Anyway, this was one of those books I was starting to feel the "Do I want to keep reading this?" itch in the back of my brain about. It's not well-homogenized at the beginning, but a few chapters in the synergy kicks in.

In the past Jane Yolen has been hit or miss with me. In this one, though, I would say she is very much on.

For my reference: Serana is Jane Yolen's, Meteora is Mido...more

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Mar 30, 2010 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm pretty picky about my fairy tales, and this one didn't really work for me. Told in alternate chapters, two fairy creatures are exiled to our word when they see the Queen of the fey in a compromising situation. They are separated and forced to live as mortals - specifically fat old ladies. As they entangle themselves in the lives of those around them, they also seek to find each other again, and find a way back to fairie. The sisters' voices were not distinct enough for me, although there wer...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Denise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Except the Queen reminded me of why I read fantasy. The fascinating justaposition of magic upon the "normal" world, the adjustments that Serana and Meteorea must make when thrust into the real world are beautifully laid out. Helpers, great and small, step forward to aid the sisters and enable them to grow beyond what they once were. The convoluted reasons for their exile from the Greenwood are like layers of an onion and peeled away with movements sometimes gentle, sometimes harsh. I was entranc...more

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May 08, 2012 Annie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars, fantasy

Members of the Seelie Court, sisters Serana and Meteora are banished to the mortal realms for telling the Seelie Queen's secret - that she had a mortal lover. Stripped of their illusions of youth, the majority of their magic, and separated from each other, the two must learn to survive in an unknown environment.
There Meteora, now known as Sophia, finds shelter in Baba Yaga's house. There she also discovers Sparrow, a young woman with deep secrets.
Serana is taken in by the authorities and renam...more

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May 30, 2010 Carla rated it 3 of 5 stars

A hard read to get into at the start. Several different narrators, jumps in time and location. Once I was several chapters into it though I started to enjoy it. Not on the YA shelf at my library, which is fitting I think. As an adult I enjoyed the perspective of the formerly young and impish faye turned "ugly" and old making sense of the world.
I enjoyed pondering over each sister's separate voice, wondering if the two authors each narrated one exclusively.
I've always been a Jane Yolen fan, now...more

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About Jane Yolen

Yolen was born at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin and Will Hyatt Yolen. She and her family moved to California when she was young but returned to New York a few years later. After her younger brother was born, her father joined the army and served on the European front during WWII. Yolen spent her childhood taking piano lessons, ballet dancing and writing a neighborhood news...more

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Dragon's Blood (The Pit Dragon Chronicles, #1)

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Quotes from Except the Queen

“Shit is another useful word. Also very common. For example, pleasantly surprised? You say 'No shit?' You think someone tells you tales, you scoff 'You're shitting me.' You find something you like very much, you exclaim 'That's good shit!'
-Baba Yaga” — 16 people liked it

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