DNFing at 20%

This review will be very brief. I stopped reading this book because it falls into a genre that I do not read. When I had originally requested an ARC on Netgalley, I didn't realize that it fell into these genres. While I personally have nothing against feminist and same-sex relationship books, they discuss morals that I do not practice or agree with.

Because I didn't finish this book, nor am I a reader of books with these themes, I'm not going to give it a star rating because I don't feel I can.

I'd like to point out that I really appreciated the idea behind this story, and how creative it was!

Anyways, it simply is not a read for me.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

Melissa Bashardoust’s Girls Made of Snow and Glass is intriguing Snow White reboot

GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS, by Melissa Bashardoust, Flatiron Books, Sept. 5, 2017, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult)

Melissa Bashardoust’s Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a reimagining of the Snow White fairy tale that pays homage to source material but makes a mark of its own.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass features two girls — Mina and Lynet. Both lose their mothers at a young age and both are deeply connected to their fathers, but in very different ways.

At 16, Mina finds herself the outcast of her town. Her magician father is cold and calculated, creating a natural barrier from Mina and the people who live around her. And then Mina discovers the reason her own heart is silent, why she feels no love for anyone. Her heart isn’t even hers. Her father cut the original, damaged organ out and replaced it with one of glass.

Love is limiting, her father says. But beauty, true beauty like Mina’s can get her places. When the two move to Whitespring Castle, Mina heeds her father’s advice and aims high — the king. If she marries him, Mina believes she will finally know love.

Lynet is 15 and looks just like her late mother. It’s a fact she can’t escape; she looks exactly like her. There’s a good reason for that. A magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, and he did it on the king’s orders. Lynet’s father expects Lynet to follow exactly in her mother’s footsteps, but just because she looks like her, doesn’t mean she wants to be the queen.

What’s the point of living up to memories of a dead queen when there’s a perfectly good one to learn from? Lynet would much rather be like her beautiful and fierce stepmother — Mina.

The two have a bond, an understanding that Lynet’s father can’t understand. In fact, it makes him nervous. But that doesn’t matter anyhow. Lynet is almost 16, and her father decides it’s time for her to become queen of the southern territories. The move displaces Mina and drives a wedge between daughter and stepdaughter.

Lynet can’t bear the thought of losing the only mother she’s ever known. But she never knew the anger and hatred Mina has been carrying inside. Lynet must make a choice — win back Mina or destroy her.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass has all the elements of a great fairy tale — magic, love, great quests, strange beings and characters that you want to root for. In fact, what makes Girls Made of Snow and Glass work so well is that the character of the evil stepmother is multifaceted.

The story is told through different time periods and alternating viewpoints that intersect later on. You come to realize how Mina became cold and distant, and that her apparent austerity has little to do with her glass heart. The lines between good and bad are nuanced and make for an intriguing read.

For the most part, Girls Made of Snow and Glass features strong plotting and world building. There was a part, however, about halfway though, where the pacing slows to a standstill. At this point, I almost put the book down for good. I’m glad I stuck with it because the book became much stronger later on. Tighter editing through that middle section would have made this a 5-star read. Instead, it’s just a 4.

Here is the review I have also posted on Goodreads:

I think Bashardoust's idea for this book was creative. I really liked the idea of a girl made of snow and a girl with a glass heart. And the powers that Lynet and Mina had were pretty cool. The way the huntsman is created is a unique take on that aspect of the fairytale. I also liked the girl-power aspect, with Lynet, Mina, and Nadia trying to define themselves and be their own person despite the role other characters may want each of them to play. That is an admirable trait.

However, I think the book's ideas could have been better presented; the pace of this book seemed very slow and felt dragged out. I think part of this may stem from how soon a lot of information was presented to the reader. Within the first few chapters, we already learn how Lynet is created and also what happened with Mina's heart. But then there is a very long period of time before we start to see something like Lynet learning how to use her powers - not until the halfway point in the book.

It was also difficult for me to relate to the characters. Mina seemed a bit shallow at times; her purpose for creating Felix was originally just to use him. She also appeared very desperate, throwing herself at Nicholas the way she did; her love didn't feel genuine enough. And it was hard to see her as fitting with either Felix or Nicholas because of the way she kept switching between the two. For most of the beginning, Lynet also seemed to act like a spoiled child, lashing out at other people for not telling her about the secret of her creation. And, because of social status, it didn't seem quite realistic how Lynet and Mina are able to just talk with Nadia freely; realistically, there probably would have been more barriers between a court surgeon and a princess and queen. Perhaps those types of rules could have been clarified more. But overall, the idea behind the story was creative. Perhaps other readers would enjoy it more.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

While, maybe not for everyone, given the slow pacing, I really enjoyed it. I prefer books that show the story from all angles where you can empathize and/or at least have understanding for both sides. I think "Girls Made of Snow and Glass" does that well. One thing I would have liked more of was the romance. A lot of times in YA, I feel, there is almost too much but in this case I wanted more. Overall, a beautiful, enticing, escape.

I was anticipating something aimed at older youth, but this felt much more like a middle grade novel from the beginning. Since that's not something I am interested in, I stopped reading it.

4.5 Stars

I don't know what it is, but Flatiron Books is seriously killing it with the YA titles they've been publishing. I can honestly say I don't think I've read one yet that hasn't been at least 4 stars. The latest novel, from a fantastic new voice, is another one to add to that list. The description "Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in a feminist fantasy re-imagining of the Snow White fairy tale" is certainly an apt one. While fairy tale re-tellings aren't something new, particularly in the YA world, there is certainly something special about this one in particular. Perhaps it's the heartbreaking origin of our not so wicked queen, maybe it's the fact that all of the women are positive role models for young girls, maybe it's how they're able to stand up to a male driven society, perhaps it's all of these things and more. The unique way that the story is told as well as the ability for the author to so seamlessly tie in the glass and snow metaphors into the story not only create a compelling story but one that is truly and utterly beautiful.

So excited to add this to YA collections and share it with teen readers.

****Big thank you to Flatiron Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!****

This was a very unique and creative take on Snow White and one that I really did enjoy especially with the minor F/F romance and feminist themes! However, there was just something not there for me to rate this any higher than 3.5 unfortunately.

Plot

My biggest complaint about this book is the extremely uneven pacing because it would have me turning pages eager to know more or I’d set the book down and not pick it up for days it was so slow. This is a problem for me since it’s harder for me to want to finish a book when it gets super slow after being so good! I have to say the end and the middle is where it slowed down significantly for me and thought the first 40%-50% was much better.

The story is told in two different POVs one is Mina, the Queen and stepmother, and Lynet, the princess. In this way Mina is the “evil Queen” and Lynet is “Snow White”. The story revolves around Mina wanting to keep her power as Queen so she can be loved even though her heart is made of glass and Lynet is supposed to take her place but would rather spend her time climbing the castle walls and spending time with the new surgeon. Personally I found Mina’s chapters to be much more interesting.

As I already mentioned this book is a little slower with the pacing since it’s a very character driven story and doesn’t have an action packed plot by any means. I really loved the overall themes of feminism, family not being only blood, and being accepted for you who are and not who you “should” be. I also thought the general retelling of the Snow White fairy tale was done very well here, very creative and unique, and I loved seeing the twists on certain elements such as the enchanted mirror, huntsman, and poison apple!

The writing was also very well done and compelling…just saying. It really was wonderfully written and helped set the atmosphere for a fairy tale retelling.

I kind of stated already that I loved the themes in this book and I really appreciated that this is a book that focuses on female empowerment and women helping and supporting other women. Instead of Mina and Lynet fighting each other for the sake of power and the whims of oppressive men they stood against that and helped and supported each other. And that’s awesome.

Characters

Now to the characters which were the best part and what drove the story forward!

Mina was by far my favorite character, I really thought her chapters and flashbacks were the most interesting parts of this story. Her character had so much depth and development throughout the book and we really see so many layers to her. She was raised motherless and by a father who constantly tells her that with her glass heart she cannot love or be loved. In her desperation for love she makes some bad choices but ultimately she is a very sympathetic character.

Lynet is the main character overall but she wasn’t as interesting to me as Mina, probably since she’s younger and there isn’t as much complexity to her character. She is constantly being compared to her late mother and instead of allowing herself to be groomed for the throne she would rather spend her time climbing and getting into mischief. I found myself really sympathizing with her though since she just wants to be her own person and not be a version of her mother like everyone wants. Lynet does grow over the course of the story significantly though as she learns she can use her power as queen to help people and help her kingdom.

The only other characters of any importance in the story would be King Nicholas, Mina’s father Gregory, Nadia the surgeon, and Felix the huntsman. King Nicholas and Gregory the magician were probably my least favorite characters since they’re both men trying to rule over and pressure our female characters Lynet and Mina (their daughters respectively). Sure King Nicholas doesn’t go about ruling over his daughter Lynet in an abusive way like Gregory rules over Mina, but he still tries to force her mother’s image on her. As for Gregory….he is straight up an asshole….just saying.

Nadia’s character was very interesting and she does play the love interest for Lynet which was a very slow-burn and sweet romance. Nadia actually develops quite a bit over the story even though she doesn’t play a huge role in it.

Felix plays the role of the huntsman and he is….adorable. I thought the take on his character was very, very creative and he actually grew a lot considering he’s more of a minor character.

Romance

The romance does not play a central role in this book at all but it is there! It’s an F/F romance between Lynet, our Snow White character, and Nadia. I really loved the romance here since it didn’t overtake the main plot line and it was a nice slow burn romance, it was also very adorable!

In Conclusion

I did really enjoy this book and think it’s a very creative take on the Snow White fairy tale but the pacing was something I had a hard time looking past while reading. There wasn’t much action which I understand but it would have been nice to have a little more and a few more complex side characters as well! Minor complaints those last two though.

What I Loved:

F/F, slow burn romance
Great feminist themes
Fantastic characters that were well developed
The writing was done well
Creative take on Snow White

What I Didn’t Love:

Not a whole lot of action
Very uneven pacing (most of the time a little on the slow side)
Would have liked a few more complex characters

Recommend?

I do recommend checking this book out especially if you’re looking for a good Snow White retelling or even just a book that has some great feminist themes!

3.5 Stars

I loved the feminist vibes Girls Made of Snow and Glass had. It wasn’t what I expected when people kept referring to it as a “feminist fairytale”, but I really enjoyed it. This book isn’t for someone looking for a steamy f/f romance, but it is for those that want to read about women loving women and going against what is expected of them. This is a good retelling of Snow White. It stays true enough to the story that you are able to definitely able to relate the two, without feeling like a copy of the original.

I wanted SO MUCH out of the relationship between Lynet and Nadia that I was disappointed when their relationship was more of the slow burn type with little more that handholding. I was placated some when I realized about 2/3 of the way through, that Lynet wasn’t even aware that women could be in relationships with each other. Her life within Whitespring had only shown her men and women marrying and then having children. She wasn’t aware that there was another option. But still, I wanted more.

On the other hand, I did love the relationship Lynet had with Mina. It was refreshing to see a depiction of a stepdaughter/mother relationship that isn’t full of animosity. The evolution of Lynet and Mina’s relationship is probably one of my favorite things about this book.

This book was spectacular, I really loved the way all the different aspects of the book combined.
In this book we follow two storylines of two girls and both kept me interested in the book.
While the characters weren't my favorite part of this book, I did like them even though they didn't really stand out to me.
I really liked this book for its story and it's treatment of female characters, while also being a fantasy retelling (which I love). In all, I felt this was a great book.

3 “Snow White meets Frozen” Stars

ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you, Flariton Books!

All I wanted from this book was a lot of Teen Snow and Queen Regina from Once Upon a Time being frenemies vibe.

And a lot of romance, because, yes, of course, I always want romance.

The thing is, while I got strong female characters, complex relationships and great feminist messages, these elements didn't make me feel half of what I expected to. Oh, and there was almost no romance.

The magic system was interesting and sort of unique, compared to what else is out there in YA retellings, so that's definitely a plus. But Girl Made of Snow and Glass was a slow, slow read, and I blame the pacing for my lack of overall connection with the story and the characters. Both Lynet and Mina had more than enough qualities to hook me and make me fall in love, but nothing seemed to happen for so long that I struggled to engage with them.

Overall, I think I'm slightly disappointed because I came into this book expecting it to have more action than it did. Or at least a lot more romance. Having said that, I'm in the minority here, and maybe if you go into it knowing you'll get a slow, character-driven story, you'll actually enjoy it a lot more than I did.

**Amazon review live**

I loved that this book was a retelling of sorts. I also enjoyed the fact that this book was a dual perspective because honestly I feel like if it hadn’t have been it would’ve been a weaker book. I loved the idea of the story and in the end I really found myself enjoying it…but…this book took so long to really get going and I felt like the vast majority of the book was a giant build up to something and it never really ended up going anywhere. It was just such a slow paced book that it made me not want to keep going back to it and picking it up. I did enjoy that it was full of really strong women characters.

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

I loved this fairy tale retelling!

One of my favourite things about this story, is that even though you can tell that it’s a retelling of Snow White, the story also has many original points. The story didn’t follow the typical plot of the Snow White story. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I won’t name them, but I liked that the story was unpredictable.

This is a modern, feminist story. The two main characters are Lynet and Mina, stepdaughter and stepmother. Again, if I say too much about the women in this story it would spoil it, but let’s just say there is a lack of a prince here (which enhances Lynet’s power and independence).

The chapters alternated between Lynet and Mina. At the beginning, it followed both of them through their teen years, jumping back in time to when Mina arrived at Whitespring. But halfway through, Mina’s story suddenly jumped many years and continued in the present along with Lynet. I liked the way it showed the ways these two different women acted during the same point in their lives at the beginning. But it was also important to give Mina’s perspective of the current events.

I loved this story! It definitely lived up to the hype for me.

Girls Made Of Snow And Glass
By
Melissa Bashardoust



What it's all about...

This book is a strange hypnotic version of Snow White. There are lots of similarities and lots of things that are not similar...at all. There is a stepmother...that would be Mina...with a heart of glass...who wasn't evil at first but gets more and more evil as the book rages on. There is a stepdaughter...that would be Lynet...who might not be really human because she was "made" out of snow and blood in the image of her dead mother. There is a mean maniacal father...Nina's father. There is a forlorn King...Lynet's father...who marries Mina but then regrets it instantly. Oh...there is a pants wearing girl surgeon who seems to want to enter into a love relationship with Lynet. There are lots of mean girls and a hunter and really cold weather. Everyone seems to get along until the King dies. Then hell sort of breaks loose!

Why I wanted to read it...

I really wanted to read this book just because it sounded strange and weird and fascinating. It was. I sort of muddled through parts of it...it's good but at times slow going. These people take a long time making decisions and Lynet spends much of her time watching everyone and trying not to be like her dead mother. And her relationship with the young doctor was interesting...

What made me truly enjoy this book...

The characters were unique...it's not a typical mean stepmother story.

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who enjoy fantasy should enjoy reading this book. I thought it flowed just a tad in the slow lane but I never wanted to stop reading it. The way it ended...there has to be a "next" book. I am in for that one, too!

This is a a feminist retelling of Snow White and the evil queen. I enjoyed the retelling portion of this book but I was not a fan of the pacing. I felt it took so long for the story to get going that I didn't care when things started to happen. I can see why people would like this book but I don't think it was for me.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust – 3.5/ 5 star

Girls Made of Snow and Glass started strong and had a wonderful dual timeline, but then the two timelines met and the book became more and more unbelieveable. Initially, the book has dual timelines, with Lynet (Snow White) in the present and Mina (The Evil Queen) in the past. I greatly enjoyed the backstory of Mina as it was relatable and gave her so much dimension. If the book had continued on this trend, then it would have been hands down 4 stars, if not 4.5.

However, at some point, both Mina and Lynet are in the present and the storyline becomes more and more unbelievable as it progresses to the overly optimistic ending. This book is touted as a feminist retelling of Snow White; yet this book seems to fail to understand that feminism does not preclude two female characters at odds with each other. Feminism requires strong, well-developed female characters who are three-dimensional and have their own agency. Mina and Lynet have these things and they were on the path set out for them in the original story. This was a good thing and in some ways, I have no problem with them veering off that path; it was just that it was hard to believe that these particular characters had enough compassion in them to overcome the incredible odds pushing them towards the original path.

Another problem I had with the book was with how many sections of the book dragged. The romance between Nicholas and Mina was discussed in much more detail than was useful, especially when it would have been preferable to develop other characters instead like Mina’s father, Gregory. If the courtship had led to useful information about Nicholas and why he treated Lynet like she was made of glass, then it would have been interesting. There should have been a stronger edit, ensuring that the book focused on the most important aspects of the story and developed all the characters who had a significant role to play.

Ultimately, whether you will enjoy this book will likely come down to whether you will like the ending. The ending was rushed and many significant plot points were barely given a page to explain. Add that to the ending being unbelieveable and not in line with who the characters are, and for me, I ended up with a book that start strong, dragged a bit in the middle, and then fell into some world in which the characters so well developed in the beginning were all of a sudden entirely different people making choices that the laid out characters would have likely not made.

If one goes into this book without strong expectations of how the story should go and is looking for a light YA read, then that reader may greatly enjoy the book. However, if like me, you went in expecting this to be a retelling and the kind of book where well-developed characters then make decisions which make sense based on who they are, then this might not be the book for you. I love fairy tale retellings. I love them even more when there is a lesbian twist to them. It is by far my favorite genre. But because I love them so much, I expect them to be well thought out, well written, and if they chose to retell the story within the context of the original story, to stick to the major points, or at the very least, don’t combine Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and the Snow Queen all into one. Pick one fairy tale, retell it, and be done – well done.

I received this book from Netgalley and publisher Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.

This was (almost) everything I could have wanted in a retelling.

I loved the premise of this book when I read the description. Elsa is one of my favorite Disney characters. The ability to show everyone who you truly are is hard for even the average person, but having an extraordinary ability makes it that much harder. You're looked upon differently, whether its with envy, awe or horror, nothing is ever the same again. Much like the characters in this story, hiding their true selves for fear of being seen as different.

Mina's one want in life is something that should come naturally. All she wants is to love and have that love returned to her. After learning that she has a heart of glass, those aspirations suddenly seem so far out of reach. With that feeling comes her natural instinct to survive. Biding her time until she can change her fate and put herself into a position of power.

Lynette was definitely my favorite character is this book. She is so vivacious and alive. While everyone calls her delicate, the woman that leaps off those pages is far from it. Seeking adventure turns into a nightmare for her though. Testing herself in ways that she never imagined. Hoping that one day people would eventually stop seeing her dead mother and see her, Lynette, for who she truly is.

An intriguing story filled with hope, love and deception. Characters that you will love to hate, love and just plain hate. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a little adventure. Besides, who doesn't enjoy a good fairy tale?

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was probably one of the best fairy-tale retellings that I have ever read.

It is told from alternating points of view. Lynet (Snow White), an impetuous 15 year old girl being raised to be exactly like her beautiful, fragile, dead mother, who will one day rule her father's kingdom and Mina (stepmother), Lynet's beautiful stepmother who has always been told she will never be loved for more than her beauty.

This one is definitely character-driven, so of course I loved it. I loved how all of the characters interacted and how complex all of their relationships were. I also loved how each of the female characters in this book become strong (or realize their strength) despite the men in their lives, not because of them. I don't want to say too much here for fear of spoiling it :)

I also really appreciated how romantic love was not the main theme here but the little romantic subplot was super sweet, and I thought that for a f/f romance it was done so well, and it was so cute!

I am very impressed that this is a debut novel and I would like to thank NetGalley, Flatiron Books and Melissa Bashardoust for providing me with an ARC. I will definitely be purchasing it for the library and look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I loved this book so much! Had such girl power vibes, with amazing female characters and LGBT+ aspects. Overall I think it was a strong fantasy novel and felt that it had me hooked from page 1!