Book Beginnings + Friday 56: The Storyteller's Daughter by Victoria McCombs

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and asks you to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and share a non-spoilery sentence or two.

This week I'm featuring a fun Rumpelstiltskin retelling, The Storyteller's Daughter by Victoria McCombs.

About the Book

His shadowed face lit by flames,
Rumpelstiltskin is my name...

For as long as anyone can remember, every child in Westfallen has been born with a Gift, and these Gifts defined them.

Then Cosette is born, Giftless.

An attempt to hide her misfortune brings her before the King, who entraps her to use her Gift as a pawn in his war.

Caught in a lie, Cosette desperately searches for a power strong enough to free her. Intrigued by whispers of an old king and a dark curse, she calls upon Rumpelstiltskin and finds him trapped in a magic deeper than she bargained for. Now, Cosette must fight to reclaim her freedom from the King and break Rumpel’s curse. When time runs out, she’ll lose more than her heart. She’ll lose her life.

THE STORYTELLER’S DAUGHTER is a Rumpelstiltskin retelling that will satisfy fans of Gail Carson Levine’s ELLA ENCHANTED, as well as Jessica Day George’s DRAGON SLIPPERS and PRINCESS OF GLASS, and Cameron Dokey’s THE WORLD ABOVE.

Book Beginnings

If I could choose my Gift, I'd want it to be practical like making bread or shoes to provide for my family.

Friday 56

I spent most of the night in my family's company as I helped out at the tavern. It was strange, how much I used to despise working there and how much comfort I found in it that night. It was nice to feel something normal again.

What have you been reading lately?