Review: Myths of Mish by Katie Hamstead

Title: Myths of Mish
Author: Katie Hamstead
Series: Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles #2
Genre: Retelling/Sci-fi/Fantasy
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Publication Date: March 28th, 2017
Edition: Kindle Edition, 252 pages
Source: Received from Publisher for Review
Purchase/Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis:

Hansel and Gretel Herrscher survived the witch in the woods, but the experience has made Hansel paranoid for the past ten years. He sees dark magic at every turn. When Gretel has a marriage arranged to a much older man, and Hansel discovers he's about to be sent halfway across the galaxy, he knows something sinister is afoot. 

Wilhelmine Nordon has plenty of experience with Hansel's quirkier side. So when she catches him and Gretel running away in the middle of the night, she follows to keep them from getting killed. The siblings have never left the capital of Mish on their own, so they need a babysitter. Except when she's discovered, Hansel gives her his usual cold shoulder, and Gretel secretly begs her to take them back. 

The problem is, Hansel's paranoia turns out to be well-founded, and they're all being hunted.

**********

This book took a tad longer for me to get into. But not much. I am really loving this series. I hope there are more than three books. So far, it seems that these books are going backward in time. In book one Hansel and Gretel are mentioned briefly as long dead leaders of the planet, and this is the story of how they became leaders on the planet.

While this was basically a Retelling/continuation of Hansel and Gretel, there were also elements of the Little Mermaid. The two tales being drastically different on their own were woven together in a very interesting and entertaining way.

I really liked Minna as a character but felt that she could have been more assertive sooner. She allowed Hansel to be a jerk longer than she should have. All his bad attributes aside, I also really liked Hansel as a character. He did come across as paranoid, but I was pretty convinced early on that something was way off with their stepmother, but I also know the "original" tale, so I already knew that the stepmother was evil. But, I wasn't expecting her to be what she was later revealed to be. That was a nice twist.

Gretel was the character that I had the hardest time liking, in general. She's supposed to be 17, but she often acted like she was much younger. Closer to 14/15. I also understand that she was pretty sheltered, mainly by Hansel and his obsessive over-protectiveness of her. But she was really annoying most of the book. I just wish she had more of a character arc, the way Hansel and Minna did.

This book had loads of action and many interesting side characters that popped in and left after a couple chapters but they weren't pointless, they still had an impact on the story. I am really excited to read the third book, and I really do hope there are more books to come. This world has a pretty indepth lore to it, and I want to read all the tales.