Book Review: The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith

Self Published
Published Oct 2. 2013
155 Pages

The day before her daughter’s wedding, Snow White cannot find it in her to be happy. No matter how clean the castle is or how beautifully smooth the preparations are going, Snow is in mourning. Charming is dead and the Queen has been in an endless depression for over a year.

Desperate to get away from the joy she cannot feel, Snow climbs the forgotten tower and comes face to face with the mirror that her Stepmother once stood in front of. 

Is she willing to look in its reflection and see what it holds for her?

You know I’m a sucker for retellings. So when this was offered to me by the author, I couldn’t say no. My first thought when I began this book that it was really poetic. The words moved like water from beginning to end. This was a hit and miss because it made the short book feel longer than what it actually was. Did this ruin the book? Not at all and here is why.

The take on Snow White’s happily ever after is interesting and it pushed the novel through. The idea of her facing her past and future alone is creative because one would think everything she deserves and wants comes well. . . happily. I love the idea of her facing the mirror after all these years. It is really an untapped idea in the retellings of Snow White.

What I didn’t like about this book was the lack of intensity. It could be because of the poetic writing style but I didn’t feel the fierceness when things began to pick up. I also didn’t like the monotone emotion. Even in its better times there was still this sadness lingering between the lines.

 

Beyond this I enjoyed the story because of the imagery, the details and the creativity. I would recommend this.

Overall.

3 Pickles

Book Review: Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis

Disney-Hyperion
Published Oct. 14, 2014
338 Pages

With her home planet filled with corruption and violence, Princess Snow has gone missing and King Matthias and his wife will do nothing to find the ones that took her. 

Essie is use to being cold and living on the planet Thanda you either get use to it or you leave. She spends her days repairing seven drones that help the miners in the mine. 

When a mysterious boy named Dane crash lands near her home, in order to avoid attention, Essie decides to help fix his ship. Quickly Essie realizes that Dane’s accidental crash is nothing accidental and Essie is forced into something she has been avoiding all these years. 

Essie must come to terms about her past and her future.

I was extremely surprised when I began this book. I am not big on dystopia nor science fiction but this was a retelling so I had to give it a try.

Essie is an amazing character. She knows how to defend herself and kick full blown ass. She knows all this stuff about electronics and repairs. She also has common sense and she is book smart.  She has no experience with men/boys and that is okay because she has a lot of emotional baggage that she doesn’t want to involve someone in.

I also liked Dane. He was blunt when it called for it. He had a double motive but it was for an extremely good reason. I also loved the fact that he knew what he wanted. It wasn’t a back and forth game between Dane and Essie.

But my favorite part of this entire book the subtle reference to the original fairy tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” It is there without the constant reminder that this is a retelling. This story is completely original and if you didn’t know about the original fairy tale you wouldn’t even think of it.

I loved the ending; how you got the happily ever after but in the most realistic sense possible.

Overall, a wonderful, surprising, detailed, creative read.

5 Pickles.