A review by ceallaighsbooks
Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

“The Spring Fair was slightly improved that year. The forest folk were few, but they were there, and there were travelers from the lands beyond the forest. I saw the little hairy men of the forest cave buying and bargaining for pieces of glass, and lumps of crystal and of quartz rock. They paid for the glass with silver coins—the spoils of my stepdaughter's depredations, I had no doubt. When it got about what they were buying, townsfolk rushed back to their homes and came back with their lucky crystals, and, in a few cases, with whole sheets of glass.”

TITLE—Snow, Glass, Apples
AUTHOR—Neil Gaiman
ILLUSTRATOR—Colleen Doran
PUBLISHED—2019
PUBLISHER—Dark Horse Books

GENRE—fairytale retelling; graphic novel
SETTING—fantasy kingdom
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—snow white, witchcraft, romance, sex, vampires, folklore imagery, gorgeous illustrations

WRITING STYLE—🌕🌕🌕🌗🌚
CHARACTERS—🌕🌕🌕🌚🌚
STORY/PLOT—🌕🌕🌕🌗🌚

BONUS ELEMENT/S—The illustration style for this book is one of my favorite styles of art!

PHILOSOPHY—🌕🌕🌚🌚🌚
ILLUSTRATIONS/ART—🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

“Lies and half-truths fall like snow, covering the things that I remember, the things I saw. A landscape, unrecognizable after a snowfall—that is what she has made of my life.”

My thoughts:
This story was fine, I guess—I think I’m just still not in my Neil Gaiman era at all yet. The artwork was gorgeous though. I thought what Colleen Doran did with her illustration of the story was stunning. It reminded me a little of Helen Mask’s art, who is one of my alltime favorite artists (I have a print of her Star illustration on my wall). I’m definitely going to look up more of Doran’s work as well as that of her stated inspirations: Harry Clarke and Aubrey Beardsley.

I would recommend this book to readers who like grittier fairy tale retellings and don’t mind surface-level horror stories that are just about the ~vibes~. This book is best read slowly so you can enjoy all the gorgeous artwork!

Final note: Honestly waiting for my Neil Gaiman era to arrive tho. I feel like I could really get into it if I was… like… into it. 🤣

“They brought me her heart. I know it was—no sow's heart or doe's would have continued to beat and pulse after it had been cut out, as that one did. I took it to my chamber... I did not eat it. I hung it from the beams above my bed, placed it on a length of twine that I strung with rowan berries, orange-red as a robin's breast—and with bulbs of garlic… As long as the heart hung, silent and immobile and cold, from the beam of my chamber, I was safe, and so were the folk of the forest...”

🌕🌕🌕🌚🌚

Season: Winter

CW // g-word slur, sexual content & nudity, blood, cannibalism, torture (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—
  • A MIRROR MENDED by Alix E Harrow (Interestingly, Arthur Rackham’s illustrations are reproduced in this and have a similar vibe to what I’ve seen of Aubrey Beardsley’s artwork…)
  • THE BLOODY CHAMBER by Angela Carter
  • BOY SNOW BIRD by Helen Oyeyemi
  • THE SLEEPER AND THE SPINDLE by Neil Gaiman
  • HANSEL & GRETEL by Neil Gaiman
  • Harry Clarke’s artwork
  • Aubrey Beardsley’s artwork
  • Arthur Rackham’s artwork
  • Helen Mask’s artwork
  • Hogan McLaughlin’s artwork
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