About the Book
Book: The Star-Blessed
Author: Angie Dickinson
Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling
Release Date: March 10, 2026
Three legendary origins of power. Two royal bloodlines. One deadly curse.
The kingdom of Stelauris is slowly dying. A season of poison infects the air, earth, and water with increasing deadliness each year, and a deep love of gold and power infects the failing mind of the king. His only daughter and first in line to the throne, Princess Seren, lives in tightly controlled isolation. When she is suddenly thrust into royal society, she struggles to hide the strain of untamed magic awakening in her blood.
Seren’s newly appointed personal guard, Sir Corin, resents the exile of his people. As heir to a long-banished line of succession and the last of the land’s legendary protectors, he holds no loyalty for the current royal family and their history of unhinged cruelty.
As death steals over the kingdom and the schemes at court grow deadlier, the princess and the guard are forced to face their fears, their troubled pasts, and the cost of personal freedom.
The Star-Blessed is a reimagining and reinventing of two fairy tales: “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Cat-Skin” by the Brothers Grimm.
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Angie Dickinson is a lifelong lover of magical stories that point to truth, hope, and redemption. She is the author of Truth Cursed, a YA fantasy with Enclave Publishing. Angie especially loves to read and write historically inspired fantasy, mystery, and fairy tales. She enjoys Earl Grey tea, reading too late at night, and spending time with her husband and children at their home in the woods of Michigan.
More from Angie
If you’re like me, I suspect you can still remember the soft sounds and smells of the local or school library that you visited in childhood. You can probably remember the thrill of finding a book that you longed to spend time paging through in peace. For me, the greatest thrills came whenever I found a beautifully illustrated fairy tale. Fairy tale collections were always my favorite, and finding illustrated versions by talented artists made my heart sing.
Reading and re-reading fairy tales as a child eventually led to writing my own retelling as an adult. I began with an unusual tale that was very familiar to me via its illustrated retelling: “Cat-Skin” by the Brothers Grimm has been gorgeously retold (and mercifully sanitized) by Charlotte Huck, and illustrated by Anita Lobel. This picture book for children is titled Princess Furball, and is one of my old favorites that never left me. I chose this story and its original source for my retelling, lightening the darker original elements in my own way, but including the story beats, themes, and motifs that were so dear to me. I put my own twist on the tale, which surprisingly (even to me) included a subplot that was a retelling of its own: “Rumpelstiltskin.” I have loved many versions of this familiar story over the years, but my favorite is an illustrated retelling by Paul O. Zelinsky. I have read this one to my children countless times, and it has always set my mind whirring with the different ways that it could be told again.
For my retelling, I lovingly mined these two stories, “Cat-Skin” and “Rumpelstiltskin,” and worked them together into a foundation for a new fairy tale. The frame holds pieces of the old tales, but it’s wrapped up in something brand new. This is a story of a young woman and a young man whose paths cross and wend down a road marked by destiny, shadowed by grief, and lit by courage. Their story is a new fairy tale, reflected in gold and fortified by the faithful gleam of the stars.
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic, March 31
Devoted Steps, April 1
The Lofty Pages, April 1
Inspired by Fiction, April 2
Because Fiction, April 3 (Author Interview)
Lily’s Corner, April 4
Blogging With Carol, April 5
Artistic Nobody, April 6 (Author Interview)
Holly’s Book Corner, April 7
Guild Master, April 8 (Author Interview)
Tell Tale Book Reviews, April 9
Simple Harvest Reads, April 10 (Guest Review from Mindy)
Fiction Book Lover, April 11 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 12 (Spotlight)
To Everything There Is A Season, April 12
Vicky Sluiter, April 13 (Author Interview)
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Angie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a hardcover copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
My Thoughts
This is a magical and twisted story that had me so wrapped up I wasn't even sure what to think while reading. I am not familiar with many fairy tales so with this being a reimagining of two fairy tales I think I missed out a little bit on the similarities. Seren is a great heroine and I really enjoyed her perspective throughout the story. There is a very light romance but it is not the main plot at all and the overall feel of this story is pretty dark. There are of course lighter moments but it read as a darker read with much evil to overcome. There were more magical elements in this book than I was expecting. The middle of the story was a slow read and not much seems to happen. The last few chapters of course pick up and wrap up the story in a nice and exciting way. I found it to be overall a little predictable yet still enjoyable. This is the first book I have read by this author and I plan to read more from her.
Four Stars.
"I received a complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review."
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