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melbsreads 's review for:
Nameless
by Lili St. Crow
Trigger warnings: childhood trauma, death of a parent, abusive step-parent. The main character has a lot of scars from her childhood and she can't remember how she got them.
Soooo I picked this one up at work on a whim a month or so ago, and was intrigued by the cover and the fact that it's billed as a dark retelling of Snow White. And, like, it IS a dark retelling of Snow White. That's not the problem (one of the problems) that I had with it.
I'm just going to break this down into a list of issues I had, because it's easier. So.
1. The worldbuilding
More accurately, WHAT WORLDBUILDING??? You'r every much thrown in the deep end with this one. I still don't know if it's meant to be set in the US or in a fantasy world. The main character and her two best friends are OBVIOUSLY Snow White, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, but beyond that? WORK IT OUT YOURSELF, YO. There's never any explanation of this world. Of the paranormal species in it. Of how magic works. Of how its weird blend of magic and technology works. There's really no explanation of ANYTHING.
2. The writing
I...wasn't a fan. I can't even pinpoint what it was that I didn't like about it. I just...yeah. No.
3. The romance
A lot of people have talked in their reviews about how cute the "book, candle, Nico" thing was to help Camille when her stutter was really bad. And, like, yes. It was. It was a tried and true mechanism that she and Nico has worked out over the years.
That doesn't change the fact that a) she's 16 and Nico is 20, b) they've been raised as siblings over the past 10 years, and c) the book ends with them engaged???? SHE'S FUCKING SIXTEEN AND HE'S TWENTY. STOP SHIPPING IT JFC.
4. The retelling
Despite it being obvious that this little trio of friends was meant to be Snow White, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, the retelling side of things often got...lost...in amongst all the vampire-esque stuff. Like, I felt like Ellie was more obviously a retelling than Cami was, and she was a secondary character. So???
In short: this was a confusing hot mess.
Soooo I picked this one up at work on a whim a month or so ago, and was intrigued by the cover and the fact that it's billed as a dark retelling of Snow White. And, like, it IS a dark retelling of Snow White. That's not the problem (one of the problems) that I had with it.
I'm just going to break this down into a list of issues I had, because it's easier. So.
1. The worldbuilding
More accurately, WHAT WORLDBUILDING??? You'r every much thrown in the deep end with this one. I still don't know if it's meant to be set in the US or in a fantasy world. The main character and her two best friends are OBVIOUSLY Snow White, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, but beyond that? WORK IT OUT YOURSELF, YO. There's never any explanation of this world. Of the paranormal species in it. Of how magic works. Of how its weird blend of magic and technology works. There's really no explanation of ANYTHING.
2. The writing
I...wasn't a fan. I can't even pinpoint what it was that I didn't like about it. I just...yeah. No.
3. The romance
A lot of people have talked in their reviews about how cute the "book, candle, Nico" thing was to help Camille when her stutter was really bad. And, like, yes. It was. It was a tried and true mechanism that she and Nico has worked out over the years.
That doesn't change the fact that a) she's 16 and Nico is 20, b) they've been raised as siblings over the past 10 years, and c) the book ends with them engaged???? SHE'S FUCKING SIXTEEN AND HE'S TWENTY. STOP SHIPPING IT JFC.
4. The retelling
Despite it being obvious that this little trio of friends was meant to be Snow White, Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, the retelling side of things often got...lost...in amongst all the vampire-esque stuff. Like, I felt like Ellie was more obviously a retelling than Cami was, and she was a secondary character. So???
In short: this was a confusing hot mess.