Kissing the Witch (Ariela Cruz)

1) My favorite story out of the book was, “The tale of the Rose”. I thought the language was extremely beautiful.The way the author uses metaphors and similes is in its own right “enchanting”. An example of this is when the “Belle” of the story says, “The sound of the pages turning was the sound of magic. The dry liquid feel of paper under fingertips was what magic felt like.” When I read the story, however, I was a little startled by the beast being a girl, primarily because I was always used to the beast being a boy. The second time I read it, I became more “accepting” of the beast being a girl. I thought that it was actually rather sweet that the girl found another girl who chose the same path as her and that they could become friends. The message that a girl can choose her own destiny and actually loves to read was also really great. The story I felt empowered girls and that’s why I liked it so much.

2) There are probably several reasons that the author entitles the book, “Kissing the Witch”. I think one of the reasons may be that in her tales there are many ideas that are presented that aren’t necessarily what everyone is used to seeing in a fairytale or even in women. Kissing a witch is something that isn’t seen as an “acceptable” practice and the authors ideas can be seen as unacceptable as well. Kissing a witch could also symbolize kissing the other “side”. In a sense it’s kissing a side to a tale that has not been seen or talked about.