Review: "One Bad Apple" by Rachel Kovaciny

Hello, and welcome to the Bookshire stop on the One Bad Apple blog tour! I'm really excited today to give you...a review!

When a wagon train of Black pioneers rescues the seven orphaned Dalton cousins from the side of the trail, it seems like an answer to their prayers. As they roll west toward Kansas, fourteen-year-old Levi Dalton is dazzled by the beautiful Mrs. Mallone. She's a healer, and her knowledge of medicines and herbs inspires Levi to want to become a doctor. Maybe then he can stop people from dying of fevers and illnesses like his folks did. 

But Mrs. Mallone's stepdaughter, Hopeful, warns Levi not to become too attached to the healer. Levi dismisses her warnings and his own misgivings until the day he sees something dreadful. 

Levi knows he needs to tell someone what he’s seen before it’s too late. But will anyone believe the story of a fourteen-year-old orphan? Will anyone stand up to evil, no matter how beautifully it’s packaged?

Worldbuilding/Writing Style

I thought Rachel did a good job of portraying the West realistically. The small details were what really made me feel like I was in the story--the dust, the necessity of making lunch at breakfast time, the hardness of the ground, and so on. I really appreciated the incorporation of realistic diverse characters in that time period, as well! The POV was also excellently done (I'll talk about that more in a second.) I also really enjoyed the small parts with the herbs, since herbal medicine is something I'm interested in.

Plot

I liked how Rachel made the plot stand on its own, and not be exactly like Snow White...it did of course have similarities, and they were fun to spot (and now would be a good time to note that it took me forever to figure out who the dwarves were? I was not at the top of my critical reading game), but it was not predictable! Also, the specific placement of the prologue in the story was *chef's kiss*. (Please read the prologue, guys. Always read the prologue). The concept of retelling fairytales without magic is SO CLEVER, especially since a lot of the fairy tales have gotten a little bit stale from SO many retellings, but this is a really fresh take! Now I really want to see her do a Beauty and the Beast one! There were a few places that dragged a little for me, but nothing major. (I was also really tired when I read it...so maybe take that with a grain of salt!)

Characters

Levi: I really appreciated Levi as the main/POV character. His point of view was excellent--he sees things as a child, and doesn't understand more than his age, although his older self who is telling the story chimes in occasionally with things that he might have missed. Interesting and well done. 

Levi's siblings and cousins: I loved that, while they weren't shown a lot, they all had separate personalities! 

The Villain: Was delightfully creepy; her magnetic personality and the way people tended not to see underneath were actually rather scary. I thought she was a well-written and realistic villain, for sure. 

Hopeful: Hopeful was a lovely character, and a nice change from all the characters who were either naïve or evil. :) (Okay, that's a false dichotomy, but Hopeful was refreshing for sure!)

Wallace: Wallace's turnaround from *highlight for spoilers* bad, or at least supporting the bad guy to good *end spoilers* seemed a bit quick...

Romance

There's a little bit, but mostly "off-stage". It seemed a wee bit underdeveloped, but the story wasn't really focusing on the characters who were falling in love, so it makes sense. :) 

Content

Death, attempted murder, suicide, and evil people who don't seem evil at first (not sure if this counts as content, but it's kind of creepy, sooo...)

Overall Rating

I'm a bit on the fence about this rating, so I'm going to be capricious and go with 3.75 stars! (What can I say--I'm a very tough reviewer! That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, or that I don't recommend it!) This book was interesting and a lot of fun! I look forward to reading more by Rachel, for sure (especially if she does a Beauty and the Beast retelling 😉). 

Some important links:

The Author's Blog

OBA's Goodreads Page

Amazon Purchase Page

Giveaway Page! 

Thank you so much, Rachel, for giving me a chance to read the eARC and be part of the blog tour!

Have you read any other fairy-tale retellings without magic? Do you think it's a thing we should do more often? Do you want to help me pressure Rachel into doing Beauty and the Beast next?