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alyssa_hollingsworth's review
4.0
I think this is a book young!me would have absolutely gobbled up, so I'm giving it an extra star for that. This novella (or--at least, it's short enough to be a novella?) is a very interesting twist on Snow White, with characters that hook you in even though the story goes by fast. The setting and descriptions are often lovely. Like I said, I could feel 12-year-old-me bouncing up and down in constant delight through the whole thing.
Old!me is more annoying. As a reader, omniscient 3rd person just is not my favorite narration style, and there were multiple times where I felt the story would have benefited from a detailed, close point of view just from our two main leads (Keeva and Idris). Though the flowery language of the book didn't bother me most of the time, if I wasn't reading with younger!me's nostalgic filter the passive voice would have been very difficult to look past. The villain was at times cliched (especially at the end)--the hero at times too on-the-nose as a Christ figure. The pacing moved very fast for me, especially in the relationship department. Perhaps that's fitting for the length of the novel, though. I did believe in the romance, but think I would have shipped it more if I was given more time to feel the characters growing together. The constant shift in terminology (fey, faerie, fair folk, seelie) was sometimes perplexing. There were a few formatting errors (paragraph breaks missing or incorrect ellipses). Yadda yadda. Boring things brought on by an over-analytical mind.
So, in the end, I was entertained for a few hours. It made me smile and sometimes my throat got tight. If I was the book's editor, I'd probably write a dissertation of ideas--but as a reader who just happened upon the book, I was not disappointed.
Old!me is more annoying. As a reader, omniscient 3rd person just is not my favorite narration style, and there were multiple times where I felt the story would have benefited from a detailed, close point of view just from our two main leads (Keeva and Idris). Though the flowery language of the book didn't bother me most of the time, if I wasn't reading with younger!me's nostalgic filter the passive voice would have been very difficult to look past. The villain was at times cliched (especially at the end)--the hero at times too on-the-nose as a Christ figure. The pacing moved very fast for me, especially in the relationship department. Perhaps that's fitting for the length of the novel, though. I did believe in the romance, but think I would have shipped it more if I was given more time to feel the characters growing together. The constant shift in terminology (fey, faerie, fair folk, seelie) was sometimes perplexing. There were a few formatting errors (paragraph breaks missing or incorrect ellipses). Yadda yadda. Boring things brought on by an over-analytical mind.
So, in the end, I was entertained for a few hours. It made me smile and sometimes my throat got tight. If I was the book's editor, I'd probably write a dissertation of ideas--but as a reader who just happened upon the book, I was not disappointed.
flaffa's review
5.0
5*
What a delightful little story!
This was very interesting because it is a retelling of Snow White with swapped genders, but it can also be an allegory for Christ. Whether you are a believer or not, I think this made the book even better because it added a deeper layer to the story, as well as intertextuality. It's very clever.
The characters were complex and interesting, despite the short lenght of the book and the author did a really good job in capturing real goodness with her character, which ties in with the allegory present in this story.
This book was overall very well crafted. The story didn't feel too short or too underdeveloped. It was just right and I really enjoyed the writing style. This was beautiful and unique. It's a gem of a book and I'm glad I found it.
What a delightful little story!
This was very interesting because it is a retelling of Snow White with swapped genders, but it can also be an allegory for Christ. Whether you are a believer or not, I think this made the book even better because it added a deeper layer to the story, as well as intertextuality. It's very clever.
The characters were complex and interesting, despite the short lenght of the book and the author did a really good job in capturing real goodness with her character, which ties in with the allegory present in this story.
This book was overall very well crafted. The story didn't feel too short or too underdeveloped. It was just right and I really enjoyed the writing style. This was beautiful and unique. It's a gem of a book and I'm glad I found it.
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