A gorgeous 1920's retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, I do love the ways Cat always twists and turns her tales. The language was gorgeous and rich, and the breakdown of the gorgeous span from far past to present to distance future was lovely. I advise it to anyone who loves Cat's work or that of revisionist fairytales. ( )

DNF. This was 100% slang exposition and was very difficult to read. ( )

I am going to exalt an Unpopular Opinion, which I’m sure in Internet will interpret as hate. If you would be so kind, blame my English lit background — if I cannot unpack something, what’s the point of living?

Speak Easy is, as foretold by the back cover summary, a mixture of Twelve Dancing Princesses with the origin of Zelda Sayre (here Fair) with F. Scott Fitzgerald (here Frankie Key) love story with a dash of "The Great Gatsby" thrown in, "Flappers and Philosophers" and "The Jazz Age" as finishing touches. Which seems awesome, right? This is my time period! My people! I’ve been an amateur expert of the Fitzgeralds for years and have read damned near everything written by/about them, yes, even Zelda’s book, Save Me The Waltz. So I feel a titch qualified to unpack here.

Much like the Austen vs Bronte debacle, there is an argument F. Scott stole Zelda’s inspiration/writings for his books. Strangely, I sit on the fence about this argument as I can see both sides. With that being said, if the argument is to be made Zelda is plagiarized, which this book asserts and to be righted in Speak Easy, it would behoove someone to think Zelda is a fully formed character. But she’s not. She’s a parody, a pastiche of her truthiness and how Valente think of her and how she should be. Yes, yes, it’s a reimagining fairy tale, I know, I know. But I expected — more? Even more specifically, from Valente. It just feels lost and full of filler rather than making the story bloom. More did come, but much later, and not enough to save the book. Valente really gets rip roaring in the last third of the novella. Why couldn’t she have done this in the first 2/3rds?

Valente is telling a story in 100 pages which could easily be condensed into 50. The use of overly-flowery language is too much here! My allergies are overzealously asking for Benadryl. e.g. “Zelda Fair rolled back in the tub, water breaking over her tummy, rolling down her throat. She called him with one crooked finger and the boy in the silver meringue suit skedaddled over on the quick. She crooked her finger again. He bent down. The reek of gin snaked up his nose - she was swimming in the booze supply. Her pearly dress stuck like an oil slick to her breasts; the drying liquor on her shoulders made her skin prickle.”

Yes, Valente is a beautiful writer. Yes, she has an imagination. Yes, she’s got a way with words, but this? This? It just seemed to be a cheap imitation of her talent.
Pros:
- Told in third person omniscient point of view
- Concept of the origin story between Zelda and F. Scott
- Time period / location
- Last half was really well written, engaging, and thought out

Cons:
- First 2/3rds is messy; the crux of the story (fairy tale origin story) was lost in the beginning, felt disjointed and half-assed. It’s like she swallowed a metaphor dictionary and vomited up what worked.

While the pros definitely outweigh the cons, sorry kittens, if the story is the meat and if the meat is full of gristle, down goes the rating. ( )