I think this one's probably best suited for die-hard fairy tale retelling fans, or those who haven't yet read Meyer. Sorry for repeated references to the other series, but we do respond to books in the context of other things we've read, no? And unfortunately, for me, this one pales in comparison to The Lunar Chronicles.

I was drawn to the summary of Stitching Snow but ultimately did not finish it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I got accepted to review this book years ago, but unfortunately never got around to reading it. Apologies for this.

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

It was hard not to think of Cinder when I read this book, and I love Cinder better... Perhaps if I hadn't read Cinder I would have enjoyed this book more, but it just felt like a cheap knock-off. The writing style was good, and I liked the reimagining of Snow White, even though it's not my favorite fairy tale. I was amused by the names of the robots, and thought that it was cool that the mines got its own planet. It was also refreshing to learn it was a standalone, as so many books are series or trilogies these days. Overall, though, it left something to be desired.

Everyone was talking about this book when it first released and I had to get my hands on this story as well, sadly it didn't live up the hype.

Loved the sci-fi take on Snow White! A brilliantly crafted sci-fi world for a standalone which is hard to do with less space than a series. It was a cross between The Lunar Chronicles and These Broken Stars. Brilliant!
I also recommend her other standalone retelling Spinning Starlight.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO STITCHING SNOW BY RC LEWIS?
Stitching Snow by RC Lewis has a pretty bomb cover, am I right? BUT ALSO, a part of me assumed this would be a sci-fi retelling kind of like Cinder. Of course, that part of me was wrong. But still, I walked into the book all hopeful. I do like a good story about a princess in space though. What gets me the most? When the princess is reluctant and then there’s some double crossing. FRIENDS, SIGN ME UP. And of course, I went for audio because that’s kind of the main way I read books these days — you know me, whittling down my Netgalley queue thanks to Scribd, Overdrive, Audible, and Hoopla.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
Stitching Snow follows main character Essie as she is on this remote planet just doing coding and repairs with seven drones near the local mines. One day though, this guy named Dane crashes right by her home. So, she agrees to help him. Big mistake, huge. In actual fact, he brings her back to her old kingdom and she’s pulled into the drama that she ran away to avoid. Oh wait do you feel like you’re missing some pieces? WELL OKAY. So, Essie is actually Princess Snow. Her father is King Matthias. Her mother, the Queen is dead. So now her stepmother is Queen. Parallel to Snow White, is the fact that her stepmother is, indeed, quite wicked. So, there’s some royal drama up in here.

HOW DID I LIKE STITCHING SNOW?
I think I wanted to like Stitching Snow by RC Lewis more than I did. Please, however, do not assume I disliked this book. On the whole, I did like what I had read. However, I have read better, if that makes sense? I think though if I was one of those people who could not get enough of sci-fi royalty type books, I would enjoy this more. Granted, Essie was an awesome character. I also liked the chemistry in the romance within this book. As a reader though, I never felt all that invested in the outcome, if that makes sense?

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
Mia Barron narrates the audiobook. Meh, she’s okay. I know, how tepid is that response? But hey, I have my favorite narrates and I kind of think you have to be really, quite special to break into that crew. Would I dissaude someone from listening to Stitching Snow? Heck no! In fact, that’s a great way to have read this book. Will it end up among my favorites of all time? No. Will it end up among my favorites of 2018? No. But you know, I have zero regrets or complaints about the audiobook.

Unfortunately I didn't connect to this book and ended up not finishing it. I will not be reviewing it since my opinions aren't based on the entirety of the book and may therefore give wrong impressions.

Of course I loved this, I love this author. She has such a way with words. I will be highly recommending this book to others.

It totally sucks when two books that are very similar in concept come out at basically the same time, because the authors totally didn’t know that and it’s coincidental, but one of them is going to do less well because it’s not the other one. Poor Stitching Snow, the not Cinder. I’ve put off reading this ARC for so long because I worried it would be too similar to Cinder, and I wanted to give the book the best chance possible, and I’m probably not the only one on that. Stitching Snow‘s another clever sci-fi fairy tale retelling, only here it’s Snow White.


The blurb really totally gives the twist of this book away. Which, like, nbd really because we all know how fairy tales work, and most of us read Cinder, so it’s not like it’s surprising, but geez. I mean, “Princess Snow is missing,” and here we are hanging out with the mysterious Essie with the mysterious past. WHAT COULD IT BE, I WONDER, O SUBTLE BLURB WRITER????

Stitching Snow totally worked for me. Essie’s basically a boss programmer and mechanic, which is awesome, and she’s a cage-fighter, which is fucking intense tbh. She’s a badass and a hard worker. When a young hot love interest, Dane, crash lands nearby, she helps him get his ship running again, and there are feelings but then another totally not surprising twist, he was looking for the missing princess who is so totally not Essie at all nope absolutely not.

Dane and Essie have nice chemistry. They’re not a ship of ships (not like Cinder and Kai—don’t at me, they are the best), but the vibes here very much work for me, because hello hate to love and partnership and putting the world over their romancing and having feelings but being confused by those feelings and yes here for it yes. The plot runs a bit to the predictable space war stuff, but it works.

What I admired most about this book were the clever tweaks to the fairy tale. The fact that the heroine is actually a special Snowflake is the most hilariously meta thing, and poor Essie really getting saddled with that. Instead of dwarves, Essie has little robot companions, and they are the fucking cutest tbh. Total scene stealers. Spoilery clever twists I loved: View Spoiler ».

Unfortunately, this book suffered from not being The Lunar Chronicles, but it is very delightful. I’m totally keeping it and will likely reread someday. It’s Cinder meets Starflight, and that’s all good things.

Thanks so much for the ARC! I didn't enjoy this one as much as I thought I would, though.

What a deliciously written, skillfully paced novel! Readers are blessed with two leads that are absolutely beyond compelling and the plot sticks with you even after you're finished. Will be reading again!

*I never got around to reading and reviewing this book. I may do so in the future*

I will not be reviewing this novel at this time, but thank the publisher for the ability to read this in advance.

Since receiving this book my interests have changed. Also time constraints means that I'm limited to the amount of books I can read. I won't be able to give this title the attention that it needs and deserves. Therefore I will no longer be reading or reviewing this title. Thank you.