I liked the focus and smaller story of this volume. The main series has gotten so big, the reader has to switch gears every 3 or 4 pages, which has come to frustrate me greatly. I had time to settle into the story with this.

I still think these folks reeeeally like to dress Cinderella up in sexy lingerie and see her fight, which is rather silly. The scene toward the beginning had me harumphing and rolling my eyes.

But I liked what they did in creating a plot based on what happened in the aftermath of the Cinderella story to the mice and rats. One of the ugly step-sisters even makes an appearance. A little too abruptly dispatched at the end, but I guess I was done with her being in the story by then.

Considering my recent cranky reviews, one might wonder why I keep reading books in the Fables series and its spin-offs. I guess this is the reason I keep reading them. Because sometimes there's still a good story, and I wouldn't want to miss out. ( )

[b:Fairest, Volume 4: Of Men and Mice|21532163|Fairest, Volume 4 Of Men and Mice|Marc Andreyko|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406933055l/21532163._SY75_.jpg|40860520]. In which one of the mice on that fateful night of glass slippers and dancing and pumpkin carriages ... never turned back into a man. And fathered thousands of half mouse, half human (in various configurations) offspring, which are now coming back to ruin Fabletown's lives.



It's a pretty neat story, if a bit bizarre at times. Plus, you get the standard craziness of the Fairy Godmother :D.



Fun times.

I enjoyed this story and have mostly been enjoying this spinoff in general. Onwards and almost donewards! ( )

Even though the Cinderella spin-off series was a flop I'm glad to see Cinderella's James Bond style antics and fashionable spygirl style back on center stage in the Fairest series. This time around her adventures are given a more integrated role in the larger Fables storyline as she goes up against a bunch of half-human-half-rat hybrid assassins, who are the offspring of one of her original mice-coachmen and under the control of Brandish - or so everyone thinks. It's actually Leigh Duglas (the former Mrs. Jack Spratt) who's behind the attempts on various leading Fables as we discover in the final pages. I'm not sure how she managed to get so much influence (she's now allied with the Huntsman, the mice assassins, and Cinderella's evil stepsister), but she sure does seem to have some nastiness planned for the Fable community. Whether it's long term jealousy against all the Fables for not valuing her service, a personal vendetta against Snow White, or revenge for the defeat of her lover Mister Dark, she seems to have plenty of motive and the brains to carry out her plans. Whether this will be a short-lived rebellion like we saw earlier with the "Animal Farm" storyarc or a prolongued seige of small battles fought in the shadows which culminate in a big showdown the results are sure to be dramatic as the Fables series is drawing to a close. ( )

This collection has secret spy Cinderella tracking down someone trying to kill Snow White. Turns out you get lots of back story on Cinderella since it turns out one of her coach mice stayed human after midnight when he told a woman he loved her. Turns out he has been having love affairs and getting mundys pregnant for centuries and releasing the offspring in the wild to take care of themselves. These offspring have been collected and being used as henchmen by someone with an axe to grind against Snow White. The upside is you get to meet an Indian god the downside is the baddie reveal does nothing to further the main line plot at all.



Digital copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley ( )

Description: Cinderella returns in an all-new epic! After an assassination attempt on Snow White, Cind is called back into service to unravel an age-old conspiracy that dates back to that fateful midnight ball! Can Cind uncover the plot and prevent a massacre in Fabletown? By critically acclaimed writer Marc Andreyko (MANHUNTER, Torso, The Lost) and legendary artist Shawn McManus (CINDERELLA, SWAMP THING), FAIREST VOL. 4: CINDERELLA - OF MEN AND MICE ties directly into FABLES!

Thoughts: Maybe it's because I read this so long after the Fables volume it ties in with or maybe because it's just gone off the rails, but I didn't get this installment of Fairest/Fables at all. What is the point? Why waste Cinderella on this story? Ugh.

Rating: 2.75

Liked: 2.5
Plot: 2.5
Characterization: 2.5
Writing: 3
Art: 3.5

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