No Happily Ever After (The Fairytale Diaries #1) (19 page)

Hint List: Fairy Tale References

Here is a handy key that tells which stories were retold in each section, and all the specific hints within my tales that reference the original tales.  This section is provided so you can check if you were right after you read the book.  So no cheating; don't read the hint list first!  See if you spotted any other hints that aren't listed here.

Section One: Just Right (Goldilocks and the Three Bears)

* Title is a reference to Goldilocks

* Zoe Locke's name is a nod to Goldilocks

* She has long golden "locks"

* The Bar family, a father, mother, and son, represent the three bears

* Zoe sneaks into their home and trifles with their porridge and chairs

* When she escapes the home of "the three bears" she breaks her leg

* A police officer named Hook questions her, representing Captain Hook from Peter Pan

Section Two: Kiss the Poison Apple
(Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

* Poison apple reference in title

* Cailyn Pure has snow white skin, raven hair, and crimson lips

* Cailyn's father is involved with "the wicked queen" in an extramarital affair

* The mistress's email address, [email protected] hints to the wicked queen in Snow White, and her obsession with the mirror

* Aliah impersonates others to trick Cailyn into interacting with her, just as the wicked queen tricked Snow White by impersonating an old woman

* Cailyn babysits her seven small cousins who represent the seven dwarves

* Cailyn Pure adores snow

* Aliah Joiner is obsessed with apples

Section Three: Desperately Seeking Rescue (Cinderella)

* Thelma Dark and her twin daughters represent the evil stepmother and ugly stepsisters

* Ella sleeps near a fire place and gets dirty because of it

* Nicholas Monarch is Prince Charming

* He is treated like a "royal guest" by the Dark women to further hint who he is

* He calls Ella "princess" a lot

* Ella refashions items belonging to the Dark twins into her own dress, as Cinderella does

* Ella receives a sort of "glass" slipper to wear to a school dance

* One of the Dark twins slices off a part of her foot, which is a part of the original version of Cinderella

* Ella's dress is torn by a Dark twin

* Ella thinks Cailyn has a snow white face

Section Four: Eternal Slumber (Sleeping Beauty)

* Aspen Briar is a reference to the original name of the sleeping beauty: Briar Rose

* She is moved around a lot to keep her hidden from a foe that is not known to her

* Aspen's Aunt Melanie is the wicked fairy, Maleficent who wishes her harm

* Though they have a plan to elude Aspen's aunt on her 16th birthday, the Briar family does not escape.  They fall victim to a gas leak and die, hinting of the one hundred year slumber in Sleeping Beauty

Section Five: Who's Afraid (Little Red Riding Hood)

* Kimberly Crimson's name references the color red

* A police chief named Jiminy is mentioned in this section, hinting of the kindly cricket in Pinocchio named Jiminy Cricket

* Kimberly has an ailing grandmother whom she visits frequently

* She dreams of a wolf

* Her grandmother is murdered by Mr. Bar, who plays multiple roles throughout the tales, including the wolf

Section Six: Bad Hair Day (Rapunzel)

* The name "Rampion" refers to the flower from the original tale which was consumed by the queen who gave birth to baby Rapunzel

* Stella's parents have difficulty conceiving

* Because she has over protective, strict parents, Stella is never allowed to cut her hair, so it is extremely long

* Her braid is cut off, as it was in the original tale

* Eric (Rapunzel's prince lover) falls out a window and gouges his eyes out, which is a moment from the original tale

Section Seven: Ugly (The Ugly Duckling)

* Josh is born into a huge family of "normal" siblings where he is perceived as ugly and different

* He is cruelly ridiculed by family and kids at school, including consistent beatings from his father

* The only person who is ever kind to him is his mother

* He goes to live with the Dark family (foster mother) who also give him cruel treatment, just like the old woman and her jerky pets in the original tale

* He runs away on his own

* In the original tale, he sees a flock of beautiful swans and throws himself on their mercy, just as he meets the beautiful circus performers who rescue him from his ill fate

Section Eight: Adrift (The Little Mermaid)

* Jennifer's last name is "Tide," which of course, refers to the ocean in Little Mermaid

* She lives with a grandma and five sisters in both the original tale and mine, as well as a "king" for a father

* Grandma has an ear piercing rite of passage ritual, as in the original tale where her fins are pierced with jewelry

* Jennifer loves a boy named Eric, which is a nod to the Disney telling of Little Mermaid

* In the original story, the little mermaid is suicidal over her prince marrying someone else.  Similarly, in my tale Jennifer becomes suicidal because she cannot have him, since he has disappeared

Section Nine: Lost (Hansel and Gretel)

* The names "Hanley and Giselle" closely relate to the names Hansel and Gretel, and the characters are twin siblings

* Their stepmother is an abusive witch who tries to get rid of them by sending them alone into the woods

* In the end, Giselle cuts Mrs. Bar's throat, just as she sliced off the head of their evil witch captor in the original tale

Section Ten: Coat of Many Colors (The Pied Piper)

* The Pied Piper wears a coat of many colors, as does my character, Detective Piper

* In both tellings, the character plays a magical flute
* In both tellings, the character is drafted to rescue children from a plague on the town.  In the case of my tale, the plague is a family of psychopathic serial killers

* In both tellings, the town stiffs the character after he performs the job he says he'll do, so he recaptures the children.  In my telling he is unsuccessful in killing them, whereas in the original tale he murders them

Part Eleven: Spinning (Rumpelstiltskin)

* Benjamin Bar, who also plays the part of Baby Bear from Goldilocks, plays the role of Rumpelstiltskin here, he is a childish, impish weirdo

* In the original tale he makes a princess spin straw into gold all night long.  In my telling, he makes Ella Cinder spin in circles until she vomits

* In both tellings, the character plays senseless games with his victim/s

* In the original tale, he throws a violent tantrum in which he breaks in half from stomping his feet so hard.  In my telling, he breaks his leg from stomping his feet, and then one of his captives rips his face practically in half

Amanda Gatton
is an Ohio author of young adult suspenseful fiction.  She spends her time with husband Adam (the guitar player), son Jacob (the inquisitive), daughter Carmen (the jokester), and Sophie (the moody cat.)  In addition to writing, Amanda loves art, singing, bicycle riding, and sunshine.

Gatton also writes adult fiction under the pen name
M Jet.

About the Artwork

All the artwork for this book was created by the author, Amanda Gatton.  Gatton is a mixed media artist and graphic designer.  Coloring pages of some of the artworks accompanying each section can be printed from Amanda's website.  "The Fairytale Diaries Art Journal" is also available on Amazon.
The digital coloring book can also be obtained free of charge by
subscribing to Gatton's newsletter
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  In addition, you can find art prints of Amanda Gatton's for sale on
Art Pal
and
Deviantart
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