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A review by sistermagpie
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
4.0
Ugh. Can't believe I just accidentally erased the review I wrote for this!
Anyway, the first thing I always Anna-Marie McLemore's books, having read 2 now, is color. Rich, brilliant but soft color that's so clear you can almost taste and smell it as well as see it. Their books are truly sensual experiences where each sense seems to carry meaning beyond that, like a spell.
This style is perfect for a fairy tale, like this is. It starts with the Snow White, Rose Red idea, but goes in its own direction. The girls in this story have a seemingly impossible dilemma: one of them will be turned into a swan. They've spent their lives hoping to avoid this curse. That pits them against the swans themselves, who are ready to pit them against each other to get one or the other.
There are two boys in the story too, one connected to the bear of the SW/RR story, and the other, I just realized, to apples (duh!) like in SW. But these boys have their own stories, and bring different meanings to apples and bears.
At its heart it's a fairy tale about love, and I found myself appreciating the parent/child love moments even more than the romantic or sibling ones.
Anyway, the first thing I always Anna-Marie McLemore's books, having read 2 now, is color. Rich, brilliant but soft color that's so clear you can almost taste and smell it as well as see it. Their books are truly sensual experiences where each sense seems to carry meaning beyond that, like a spell.
This style is perfect for a fairy tale, like this is. It starts with the Snow White, Rose Red idea, but goes in its own direction. The girls in this story have a seemingly impossible dilemma: one of them will be turned into a swan. They've spent their lives hoping to avoid this curse. That pits them against the swans themselves, who are ready to pit them against each other to get one or the other.
There are two boys in the story too, one connected to the bear of the SW/RR story, and the other, I just realized, to apples (duh!) like in SW. But these boys have their own stories, and bring different meanings to apples and bears.
At its heart it's a fairy tale about love, and I found myself appreciating the parent/child love moments even more than the romantic or sibling ones.