I really enjoyed this take on Snow White. There is enough of the familiar to be clearly recognizable as Snow White while bringing plenty of new elements that kept things interesting, it was fun to see what twists were used as familiar elements popped up. The magic system of the kingdoms is super intriguing and seeing how the magic of nature tied into the curse and Snow's magic was well done. I also liked seeing how the other character's magic manifested and how that fit with the expectations of good and evil. The theme of balance in nature and the magic was so cool throughout the book. I did think some of the pacing was a little off and while it makes sense that a girl that just woke up to find everything changed while she slept for two decades would be confused for a while the pace really picked up as Snow not only figured out more of what was going on but also became a more active character. This worked so well for her character arc and her understanding her magic but it did also slow things down at the start of the book. That it appears that there will be another book, and if so I am really excited to see where her journey continues. The setting was creepy, wild, and fun and while it did require more exposition it was also so cool learning about the other kingdoms and the blighted forest really set the vibe for the curse and magic system. Overall its a great read particularly if you're a fan of fairy tale retellings,

2.5⭐️

This was marketed as a sapphic Snow White retelling and if you squint I guess you can see that? This takes place after Snow White 'comes back from the dead,' but instead of waking up to true love's kiss, she wakes up to the kingdom in ruin, the animals half rabid, and the land of Roanfrost decaying from a mysterious plague. The current Queen, who is the daughter of the evil Step-Mother. Is trying to take over the role as nature's advocate that maintains the balance of magic.

Overall this just left a lot to be desired. Snow didn't seem to have strong convictions about anything, which I guess is kind of typical for a Disney Princess. In fact, a lot of her actions were just contradictory from one another. This book also just spent so much time info dumping that the story felt very choppy.

The 'romance' also felt very odd. The sapphic side of this romance is Snow and the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen is the daughter of Snow's step-mother and the man she married after Snow's father died. I guess that technically does not make them related but the whole thing feels weird. Every time the Evil Queen tries to defeat Snow it's by kissing her to take whatever powers she thinks Snow has. They had no chemistry and there wasn't really a relationship. The other possible love interest is the Evil Queen's brother, Henry. Snow ultimately had more chemistry with Henry and even that was strained given that she had been 'dead' for 20 years and she still thinks they're the same age. She knows nothing about the plague taking over the land but still makes decisions like she's in charge.

Thanks Netgally and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC to me!

This book is incredible! It honestly doesn't even feel like a retelling, that's how good the world-building is!

I loved Snow and Illiana's character arcs. This book was so good!

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah is a dark, creepy, and complex fairy-tale retelling that has left me eagerly anticipating more from this author.

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah had an intriguing premise, but the execution fell flat. I was especially excited for the eerie Snow White retelling, but it never fully delivered on its potential. The atmospheric writing and haunting forest setting had promise, yet the story meandered without clear direction, making it difficult to stay engaged. The protagonist’s emotional struggles felt repetitive rather than compelling, and the pacing dragged, diminishing any real sense of tension. While the book aimed for a haunting, introspective tone, it ultimately lacked the depth needed to make the characters or their journey truly memorable.

I knew The Wildest Things was going to be another 5 star read from Andrea Hannah, and I was right. She has this way of telling a story that sucks you in from the first few words and keeping you captivated until the very end. There was never a dull moment.

The world building is incredible. I could imagine every place where the characters visited. She did an amazing job at creating scenes where the senses were included. It felt as though I was there with them. The descriptions of the forest, the cottage, the castle, and the characters themselves were all phenomenal.

I found myself laughing, nearly crying, and angry. I felt their tender moments, their joy, and even the betrayal.

I love Andrea Hannah's work. It's female-centered, and shows how strong women are in the face of adversity. In the face of men trying to control them and the world around them. She shows her readers that women don't need men to survive, and that perhaps, it's the other way around.

DNF. Just about as dull and forgettable as the author’s last book, And worse, this was mismarketed…the sapphic “romance” is barely present in the bit I got through, and apparently isn’t all that prominent at all, based on other reviewss,

The Wildest Things is a dark Snow White retelling. Snow wakes up in a shattered glass coffin to find that the world has changed. She soon discovers that she has been asleep for twenty years and a blight has overtaken the land, causing the vegetation to rot and the animals to become deformed. Snow must find a way to eliminate the blight and restore her kingdom.

Based on the synopsis, I thought there was going to be this relationship between Snow and the Evil Queen’s daughter, but they don’t have any interaction until the end of the book. They hardly have any interaction at all.

I couldn’t get into this story. The pacing felt too slow and I was not interested in what was happening. I didn’t like any of the characters and there were animal deaths that made me sad.

Overall, this was not the book for me. You might enjoy this story if you like dark fairytale retellings.

I generally love fairy tale retellings, especially LGBT ones. However, this was a bit too gruesome and creepy for me.

I was all-in based on the description of this one: a Sapphic retelling of Snow White? Yes, please.
But it fell so totally flat for me. The story starts with Snow waking up in her coffin and then goes on to a lengthy and rather boring world-building without much character development. Were we supposed to know who she was as a human based on the fairy tale? But the dwarves were actually trees? And the few that were left when she awoke turned against her?
And don't get me started on the chapters written from the magic mirror's perspective. Ugh. I really tried.
This one just fell really didn't do it for me. But I much prefer character-driven stories. You may enjoy it if expository world-building is your thing.

I received this ARC from @netgalley and publisher @stmartinspress. The opinions are my own.

The Wildest Things will be released on February 25, 2025.

Fairytale retellings will never get old for me, especially if they're sapphic, and the magic in this book was so cool!!!

This is a "retelling" of Snow White, but really it just takes the concept of Snow White and creates a new story from there. The book starts with Snow White sleeping in the glass coffin and then waking up. Some of the background of what happened before the glass coffin are changed from the "original" story, for the reader to find out along the way. But you do not need much background to understand what is happening from the get go.

This book was advertised as having being a sapphic retelling and it felt like a marketing ploy. In this book, Snow White spends a significnant amount of time with Henrick, a man, who would have been a much better love interest than the Evil Queen's daughter. Not because Henrick is a man, but because we spend time with him and we get to know him. There is nothing about the love interest (whose name I do not know) that makes her likeable other than she is (apparently) very beautiful. I would like to think that people fall in love for reasons other than that. It was actually angering when the love interest remained the love interest at a certain point, because there is no misunderstanding to her evilness or power grabbing, she is purely a character we should hate and there is no reason for us to see otherwise.

The plot of this book was... nonexistent. There were people trying to attack/hurt Snow, and she was trying to avoid them. But I didn't know what they were trying to DO other than get away from them. I was bored, and it didn't help that Snow wasn't a very likeable main character. This book ended in a way that suggested there might be a sequel - I will not be reading it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone knows the tale of Snow White. Poisoned by an apple given to her by her evil stepmother. Then laid to rest only to be awoken by true love's kiss. But this is a different kind of story. After 20 years of laying in her glass coffin Snow White finally awakens from her poisonous slumber. But the land she left is not the same one she wakes up to. The blight has taken over. The kingdom of Roanfrost is filled with mutated animals and plants that could kill. On top of that the Evil Queen’s beautiful daughter will stop at nothing to have and keep her power. It’s up to Snow and Snow alone to leach the poison out her land and recover what she once lost.


Regrettably, I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to. The premise had me. A gothic, dark and sapphic retelling of Snow White? Sign me up. However, I felt like the book I wanted to go into was not the same book I read.

To start, I couldn’t stand Snow White as a main character. I could understand she was asleep for twenty years and that she woke up to a world she didn’t know. Of course she would be afraid and off balance but all she did was whine, cry and have other characters fight battles for her up into the end. She made it hard to have compassion or empathy towards her. Secondly, I didn’t like the pacing. Ultimately, I felt like I was trudging through mud to get to the last 75% of the book where all the action happened at once.

My main gripe with this book was that I wanted a sapphic romance and didn’t get one. Snow had more chemistry with Henry, her “best friend” than she did with the main love interest - the Evil Queen’s daughter. They barely interacted until the last twenty-five percent and even then they were barely interacting with one another. I understand that this is not a romance book but I feel like it is mismarketed as a sapphic romance when there isn’t really one at all.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed. I liked the dark and gothic elements but wasn’t too impressed with the plot or the characters.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Wildest Things Is a Beautiful Beginning to a Dark Retelling. I loved Snow in this book. She is still the sweetest, fairest of them all, but she is tougher and smarter. She will help the Land she has always loved, now ravaged by a plague. She will face off with a new foe. Here, there is some confusion for me. This may not be the sapphic romance I was expecting. Yes, the vibe is there. Yes, they do share kisses. I don't know if there was enough in this book for it to be a romance. That said, the Fantasy aspect was perfect. I love the Forest! This is a series that will get better with each book. As more Characters are given, the Spotlight and their Stories come out. I want to know more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St, Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an Honest Review.

Overall enjoyed the book. Love a good Disney retelling. Would recommend to the right audience. It was whimsical, entertaining and so fun

Andrea Hannah’s The Wildest Things is a hauntingly beautiful exploration of nature, grief, and the raw edges of human emotion. Set against an untamed wilderness, the story follows a protagonist grappling with loss and finding solace in the untamed forces of the natural world. Hannah’s lyrical prose captures both the beauty and danger of the wild, mirroring the emotional journey of her characters. A poignant and atmospheric novel for readers who crave introspective and deeply evocative storytelling.

This one was not for me.

I found the information dumps to be quite a slog, I think the world building could’ve been done a little better. I found the characters to do things that were so out of character from what we were told about them, and a lot of it just didn’t make sense.

This was a great retelling of Snow White! After waking up from eating the poisoned apple, she discovers that the forest is completely changed by a blight. I loved the moss folk and their connections to nature (instead of the seven dwarves). The world building was amazing and I loved how the mirror also had a POV in the book.

I loved the way this story started, from the pov of the magic mirror giving us some history and worldbuilding. It was a unique way of being introduced to this world, it’s politics, and it’s magic in a way that absolutely nailed the fairy tale vibe.

The writing was a strong point for me. It was beautiful and descriptive and captured that feeling of the original Snow White tale; beautiful and ethereal but with a dark, sinister undertone. I love the feminist themes that the book explored, from ageism and inflating beauty with moral virtue, to the trap that is being a “good girl”. I really love nature body horror (think House of Hollow) and this story had great elements of that.

I struggled to get through this one. The idea is an interesting take on Snow White, but it just dragged on so much for me despite not being a terribly long book. I didn't feel any attachment to the characters, and the romance was based on nothing except a passing attraction which made it feel like it came out of nowhere. And then the book ends without really resolving much of anything while also creating a cliffhanger for an entirely new plot.