A Dress To Remember: A Fairy Tale by K.L. Small – Review by Ayla Phipps

A Dress To Remember: A Fairy Tale by K.L. Small
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read by K.L. Small, and I was very surprised. While the synopsis seemed interesting, I wasn’t sure if I would truly enjoy a juvenile rated book, I thought quickly vanished. Zarina, the youngest and most beautiful of the parents 13 children she is also the most selfish and lets it be known that she doesn’t care.
In two weeks, Zarina will officially have her Royal Advancement Ceremony and get her own chair in the grand room with her family. With recent reports of raiders attacking outlying homes and taking everything of value including food and clothing, the King decides to have a summit. Zarina’s birthday will be the biggest birthday event thus far, including a gala. Finally, she will be allowed to wear a true ball gown and not a little girls dress, only it must be “A Dress to Remember”. Having been told of a seamstress that has “magical” like abilities with what she can create with fabric Zarina ignores all her father’s warnings to get a one-of-a-kind dress. Like with all deals the hidden meanings in the riddles are what set Zarina on a great adventure to return to the castle. Quickly she learns that the subjects of her kingdom, whom she disliked looking at because they always looked so unhappy, start to inform her of how her father and the overseer treat them. She is informed by multiple people on her journey of them taking everything, beatings just because they looked like they might break a rule and told of being thrown in the castle’s dungeons. Venny, one of the men in the village as the scars to prove his claims, only Zarina can’t shake the feeling that she knows him, the slat of his nose the shape of his eyes, she once knew someone with those exact features, but the memory is fuzzy. Finally reaching the castle her heart quickly drops as something is wrong, the guards don’t bare her families royal seal, the banners on the turrets are missing, and the courtyard is filled with raiders.
Can Zarina go from a spoiled selfish girl to someone worthy of the peoples love and respect? What happened to her family? Will she be able to rescue Venny and save the village from the Overseer? The magic in her dress is limited, what will happen when the magic is gone, and her fate is determined? The world the author creates is truly like a fairy tale and yet feels realistic. I can envision the events playing out like a movie in my head and my heart racing that Zarina will succeed. I found myself glued to the pages having to know how it ends. Beautiful quick read with magic, personal growth, villains, and more trapped within its pages.

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