Novel Bakery

“The faint aroma of apples filled the air, and the lingering stain of rot smeared the teeth of those who smiled at Irina.”

The apples in this book never sounded appealing. For a non-apple recipe that Loralei and company could have taken on the road, click here.

3/5 stars

The Story:

A Snow White re-telling with a few twists, though it stays fairly close to the classic. After the Evil Queen overtakes her kingdom, Princess Loralei becomes a fugitive determined to win back her crown.

I liked this book more than I expected to. It was an entertaining, quick read. I did dock it a few stars for gaps in the plot, a deus ex machine, if you will…. …though I suppose anyone being saved from death by true love’s kiss is a deus ex machina? Mostly, I was disappointed with the Evil Queen’s characterization. The effort was there, but no follow through.

There may be spoilers below. Tread carefully.

My Take:

Fairytale re-tellings are sticky. An author is expected to be original while also maintaining the classic feel of a beloved and well-known story. It doesn’t help that this is a very popular genre right now, some done better than others. Snow White is an especially popular re-telling for whatever reason and one that keeps popping up for me, such as this sci-fi re-telling I recently read and loved (and no, it’s not Marissa Meyer).

In addition, fairy tales (rightly so) have a bad rap on the feminist front. I recently watched Snow White and the Huntsman (boo) for the first time and despite the two main roles being female, the dialogue and plot were male dominated, the women in the movie speaking about 10 lines collectively. I prefer retellings that give female characters more autonomy and characterization.