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.

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.

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!

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was easily one of the best retellings I've read this year. Melissa Bashardoust worked magic in creating this story that was at once immediately recognizable as the classic fairytale while also spinning a narrative entirely its own. There were unexpected depths to this story that made it utterly enchanting. I'm definitely going to be picking up a finished copy of this beauty!

While I could be wrong, I believe that this book is based off both Snow White and The Snow Queen. Lynet is a princess made of snow and blood, built as a replacement for a Queen who died too soon. Mina is her stepmother, a queen with a glass heart, left unable to love by the process that saved her life. Girls Made of Snow and Glass chronicles Lynet and Mina's stories, from their respective childhoods to the ultimate conclusion. The story shifts back and forth between the present and the past, slowly revealing the entire story.

I was surprised by how character-based this story was. At first, it was a little too slow for me but then I was swept away and would have been entirely happy if it had been longer. I loved Lynet's journey, I could really relate to her struggles to define herself outside of other's expectations of her. Mina also went through a similar journey and there were moments when my heart broke for her. Both of the main characters were beautifully written and I absolutely adored them. Lynet's snow magic and Mina's glass magic were marvelous additions to the story, adding just the right touch of enchantment to the story.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was a wonderful feminist retelling of two of my favorite fairytales. This fantastic debut combined magic, love, and family to make a story that was both captivating and relatable.

Did you ever not realize you were missing something until it was handed to you? Well, you are missing this book from your life and you don't even know it. I've been in a reading slump but I devoured this gem overnight. What's not to love? Powerful women, a familiar plot line with fresh life breathed into it, and witty writing. It's seriously fabulous.

The beauty of the relationships in this novel is worthyhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2055454039 of a special note. Whether it is manipulation, curiosity, or struggle, the relationships are deep and complex while maintaining realism. The resolution of the book had silent tears streaming down my face in the middle of the night.

If you're looking for a satisfying read to keep you interested, characters you can identify with and care about, and just plain fun author style, look no further!

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is quite an outstanding debut. It is a fantasy retelling of Snow White with a dash of Frozen added in for good measure. There are plenty of strong feminist elements, as well as a queer romance. What more could you want in a YA fantasy? The writing is so lush and beautiful, it feels as if you're in a dream. The characters are well-developed and feel real. Oh and that romance will make your heart swoon. If you are looking for an original, character-driven fantasy, be sure to check this one out.