Above all, do it for Honor.
Of Secrets and Slippers is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and follows the story of Honor, a character fans of this series have been eager to get to know. Honor quickly became one of my favourite characters in the series, and Hahn has saved one of the best best stories in the series until last.
We learn a great deal about Honor from the start of the novel, but she is a complex character with a genuinely interesting and unique secret. Of Secrets and Slippers clearly portrays the different upbringing Honor had from her sisters, and Hahn writes her as an outcast in a refreshing way. We learn so much about the kingdoms, the history of even more of the characters, and the magic that is amazingly present in each story. Hahn's writing in this book is so cleaver in her world building, twists and turns, and an epic villain that I did not see coming. There has not been one book written by Hahn that I have not enjoyed, but her storytelling seems to just get better and better with each novel and I can hardly contain my excitement for whatever she has planned next.
This pain is nothing compared to the pain of being without you. You may not need me, Honor, but I will always need you.
I found Honor's story to be different in a number of ways to the other stories in this series, but it is just as enjoyable, if not more so. I liked the love interest in Of Secrets and Slippers, but he did not feel as though his role was as important as the love interests in the previous books until the last 50 or so pages. I do not think this is a bad thing as he is still very well written and I really enjoyed the bigger focus on Honor's past and secrets, and the secrets of the history of the kingdoms, and the characters that set the Daughter's of Eville on their paths.
The connection with the Twelve Dancing Princesses in this book is absolutely incredible. The way that they travelled through the painting is one of my favourite things from this series. I wish we could have learnt a bit more about each of the sisters, but I struggle to see how this would have been relevant to the plot, thus overall they were well written and fit into the story incredibly well.
Of Secrets and Slippers had a more devastating plot to the previous books. We see the end (or do we?) of some incredible characters. While this book provides readers with scenes full of humour, there are definitely some heartbreaking moments too.
This is not our story. You must write the conclusion.
The reunion between the sisters was incredibly sweet and wraps up their stories perfectly. Readers will find it incredibly satisfying to see the seven sisters finally reunited and happy. Of Secrets and Slippers, is a heartwarming end to this series. There are so many fantastic tropes in this book including swapped/mistaken identities, huge secrets, long lost families, and forbidden love. I rated Of Secrets and Slippers five stars, and highly recommend it to all YA fantasy lovers.
