CELESTE’S POV
Fairy tales have a tried-and-true recipe: poor, mistreated, desolate sweetheart with sunshine in her eyes and a dream in her heart meets handsome prince with a staggering net worth, bearing salvation.
Despite the challenges of her past—an abusive family, suppressed potential, cruelty, the works—she finds love; she slays her demons; she reaches her full, magnificent potential.
And they live happily ever after.
That was what readers turned pages for, what audiences bought tickets to see.
Each character fit perfectly into curated boxes, and they received the affection they deserved—you adored the protagonists, laughed at and with the comic relief, mourned with the tragic figures, and wished a thousand painful deaths on the antagonists.
There was no love for the ugly stepsister, no tears shed for the sea witch, not a thought spared for the evil queen.
Because they were villains, and villains deserved to be punished.
