I have to confess that Snow White has always been one of my least favorite fairy tales because I could never get into the idea of one woman deciding she needed to poison another woman just because she might have taken her place as “the fairest of them all.”  That said, as soon as I heard that Melissa Bashardoust’s Girls Made of Snow and Glass was being advertised as a feminist retelling of the Snow White fairytale, it immediately became a must-read book for me.  I just couldn’t wait to find out what a feminist retelling would entail.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was everything I hoped it would be and more.  It’s a beautifully written, character-driven exploration of the relationship between two women who are doomed to be rivals.  Lynet is the Snow White character in the story.  She is the 15 year old daughter of the King of Whitespring.  Lynet is a free spirit who loves to run, climb, and have endless adventures.  She has no interest whatsoever in politics or in ever becoming Queen.  Much to her frustration, her father constantly reminds her how much she looks like her beautiful dead mother and how one day she will take her mother’s place and become Queen of Whitespring.  Lynet doesn’t want to hear it because she just wants to grow up to be her own person, not a mirror image of a mother she never even met.  If she had to choose to be like anyone else, she would, in fact, choose to grow up to be like her strong and fierce stepmother, Mina.

Mina is, of course, the stepmother/Evil Queen figure in the story, and she also very unexpectedly turned out to be my favorite character.  Bashardoust writes such a rich and intricate backstory for Mina that even though she eventually ends up on a similar path to the stepmother in the original tale, it’s easy to see how she ends up in such a predicament.  We meet Mina while she is Queen of Whitespring, but the story quickly takes us back to when Mina was about Lynet’s age and being raised by her father, a well-known, often feared, magician in the kingdom. Mina’s father is cold, controlling, and sometimes hurtful.  In a particularly spiteful moment, he tells Mina that she nearly died of heart failure at age 4, and that to save her, he used magic to replace her dying heart with a glass one.  He tells Mina that because she has no actual heart, she cannot love and cannot be loved.  He goes on to tell Mina that all she can hope for is to make people love her because of her beauty.

When Mina’s father uses his magic to help the King one day, the King decides to repay him by offering him a place to live on the royal grounds.  Once living there, Mina comes up with the idea that if she can make the King fall in love with her, she can someday become Queen and thus earn the love of all of those in the kingdom.  Mina’s plan starts to fall into place and she and her stepdaughter Lynet actually become quite close, that is, until Lynet becomes old enough to become a threat to the throne.  Even though Lynet swears she has no interest in becoming queen, the threat she presents to Mina, who is so desperate to be loved, still starts to drive a wedge between them.

Are Lynet and Mina truly doomed to be rivals or can they figure out a way for each of them to get what they most want?

LIKES

My favorite part of Girls Made of Snow and Glass is the complexity of the relationship between Mina and Lynet.  Their relationship is ultimately the driving force behind this story and it’s no simple battle about who’s the fairest of them all.  These two women, care about one another, and as Lynet grows up, have truly become like family.  When Mina comes to the realization that Lynet may be the greatest obstacle to her finding that love she is so desperate for, it absolutely guts her.  She doesn’t want to have to hurt Lynet in any way to get what she wants.  Their relationship is just beautiful and heartbreaking.

Equally glorious to the complex relationship between the two main characters is the magic!  Okay, so there’s no dwarves, no poison apple, and no kiss from a handsome prince to break a curse.  A bit of a bummer maybe, but the magic Bashardoust has given to her characters more than makes up for it.  It’s just so creative and well, for lack of a better word, magical, haha!

As I’ve already mentioned, Mina’s father used magic to save Mina by giving her a glass heart.  As you probably also gleaned from the book’s title and synopsis, if Mina is the girl made of glass, then there is another girl who is made of snow.  Lynet is of course that girl.  There’s a very good reason why the King keeps telling Lynet she looks just like her mother.  The King had called Mina’s father to him, desperate to save his Queen, who was dying.  Mina’s father was unable to save her, but at the King’s request, used his magic to create an infant girl in the Queen’s likeness.  Using snow, Mina’s father gave the King what he wanted, Lynet.

Mina’s father somehow transferred a portion of his magic to each girl when he used it on them, thus infusing both Lynet and Mina with powers of their own.  That’s all I’m going to say about the magic for now, but trust me, it’s important and it’s awesome and these two young women are just badass, especially when they start using these powers.

Another element of the story that was really a highlight for me was an unexpected f/f relationship between Lynet and a young female surgeon named Nadia.  The romance comes about and develops in such a natural, low-key way and doesn’t at all distract from the rest of the plot, and I just thought it was beautifully written.   

DISLIKES/ISSUES

I only had a couple of issues with this story, the main one being that the men in it are just so UGHHH.  The King was basically a good man and he meant well, but at a certain point, it really started to bother me how much he kept obsessing on how much Lynet reminded him of her dead mother and how she was destined to take her mother’s place someday.  I know he didn’t mean it in an incestuous way, but it was still a little creepy.

Don’t even get me started on Mina’s father.  If you’re one who likes to have characters to hate, he’s your guy.  Aside from the fact that he did save Mina’s life when she was a little girl, there’s nothing else redeeming about him. He’s just a selfish, manipulative jerk.  He also had a creepy obsession with Lynet since he “made” her.  I have to admit, I spent much of the book wishing something horrible would happen to him.

Aside from the horrid men in the story, I did think the pacing was a little slow early on in the story and that it took me a little while to get used to Mina’s narrative being told from a present-day perspective as well as one from when she was 16.  Once I got used to the way Mina’s story was being presented, it was no longer an issue for me.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Girls of Snow and Glass is a book I’d recommend without hesitation to anyone who enjoys stories that are character driven.  I’d also recommend it to those who love fairytale retelling and even to those who say they’re burnt out on retellings. Even though this story borrows the overall idea of a young girl being in the way of her stepmother, Bashardoust has crafted such a creative story that if I hadn’t known this was a Snow White retelling going in, I don’t know that I would have guessed it.  It’s a uniquely fresh take on a timeless tale.

RATING:  4 STARS

Thanks so much to Netgalley, Melissa Bashardoust, and Flatiron Books for allowing me to preview Girls Made of Snow and Glass. This in no way shapes my opinion of the book.

I unfortunately just couldn't get into this book, and I had to DNF it. Maybe later I will be able to get into it, but right now I can't see myself finishing it anytime soon.

Fantasy is not usually something I'm drawn to but when I heard that this was a feminist retelling of Snow White, I had to pick it up. I'm so happy that I did because this debut novel was phenomenal. 

Girls Made of Snow and Glass stars Mina, the 16-year-old girl looking for loyal followers and Lynet, the 15-year-old princess who's never left her kingdom. In a world that's divided into a perpetual summer vs. a perpetual winter, these two girls fight to figure out where they belong. The book does take place in revolving dual-POV, and Mina's POV takes place years before Lynet's story.

If you're wondering about how close of a retelling it is, I would say that it's not a typical retelling. I still call it a retelling though because it's clear that Mina, the stepmother figure, has a connection to mirrors and Lynet is meant to be the innocent princess who's never travelled out of her kingdom. The plot doesn't have the Seven Dwarves plot which I loved because I thought it'd be out of place if it was included. This retelling doesn't concern the plot but rather the characters, but even so, the interpretations of the classic characters is unique and wonderful.
The writing of Girls Made of Snow and Glass was also lovely, though it does take a bit for readers to really get into it. I loved the writing and even thought it was 3rd person POV, I felt like I really knew the characters. I loved that both Mina and Lynet were so well-rounded and I really related to both. Lynet really struggled to figure out who she was, after spending her whole life being expected to follow in the footsteps of her mother. Mina, on the other hand, really struggled to accept herself and channeled that struggle into working hard to make others accept her. Both characters were really unique and fleshed-out and I loved reading about them. 

There's only a minor romance in this one but it's between Lynet and her royal doctor (a woman her age who she quickly becomes entranced by) and it was the loveliest thing.

Overall, I highly recommend Girls Made of Snow and Glass even if you aren't a fan of fantasy or retellings because it's just a lovely well-written feminist novel.

I was super excited when I first heard about this book. I mean, it was pitched as a feminist Snow White retelling? Sign me the heck up!

I was not disappointed. Bashardoust's writing is absolutely gorgeous and evocative, perfect for a reimagined fairytale. (Plus, I legitimately felt cold while reading!) This was a truly unique retelling, and I loved what the author did with the story. It felt a bit slower at the beginning, especially with Mina's flashback chapters, but it wasn't too disruptive, and was certainly forgivable in light of the strong character arcs. The romance wasn't heavily explored, but what we did see on the page was sweet - honestly I could have used a bit more, and wouldn't mind a sequel to explore that. But I appreciate that the focus was more on the relationship/conflict between Mina and Lynet. Complicated family stories are my kryptonite, and I really enjoyed seeing it in a fantasy setting.

I just really, really enjoyed this, and hope we get to see more from Bashardoust in the future!

I 100% recommend this book if you love unique retelling with a chilling twist!

What can I say about this book? I had no clue what to expect.Firstly, there are no weak female characters here. It's kind of a feminist twist on the Snow White story, which I found surprisingly refreshing. It takes place in a world with neverending winter and is focused on two women, Mina, the daughter of a magician, whose heart is made of ice. Because she is told she can never love or be loved, she marries instead for power. And Lynet, who was created out of snow to reflect the image of her dead mother. One girl has no desire to be Queen while the other who wants it too badly. This story focuses on these two women as they struggle with eachother, the truth, and with love. I was excited to find f/f romance because it's so rare to find and honestly, I loved how easily the relationship flowed. It wasn't forced or abandoned; it was slowly and subtly built.

Simply put, I loved this book. I couldn't put it down and even when I did, I couldn't help but wonder more about this world and its characters. I highly recommend it!

I’ve come to enjoy YA retellings, especially if they are for some of my favorite characters, and Girls Made of Snow and Glass did not disappoint. In this debut novel by Melissa Bashardoust, two women learn the meaning of what it is to love and be loved.

Full review on my blog: https://thecleverreader.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/earc-review-girls-made-of-snow-and-glass/

This is a standalone YA Snow White retelling that impressively sets out to challenge a fundamental premise of the story, the female rivalry between the queen and the princess. Can both of these women be protagonists? And can their relationship be founded on love instead of jealousy? This feels like such a necessary revisionist take, and I loved so much of what the author did with the fairytale, but there were times when the execution felt sloppy and underwhelming.

In a kingdom where the north has long been cursed to eternal winter, Princess Lynet feels stifled by the legacy of her mother, and by her father's insistence that she will follow in the footsteps of the dead queen. She feels that her father doesn't see her for who she really is because he can't see past her superficial resemblance to a woman she never knew. In alternating chapters, we meet Lynet's stepmother Mina as a teenager coming to court from her home in the south when Lynet was still a baby. The socially alienated daughter of the feared magician Gregory, she is told that since he replaced her weak heart with one of glass, she will be forever unable to feel love or be truly loved in return. Though obviously untrue, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because Mina believes it. She learns to scheme and manipulate because she doesn't believe that any other road to happiness is open to her. Both girls owe their lives to Gregory's dark magic and are burdened by the weight of that knowledge, but it also gives them powers of their own that they may need in order to break free. Both are also damaged by the vastly different yet equally harmful actions of both the magician and the king, neither of whom understand their daughters at all. Bashardoust introduces her protagonists in a loving mother-daughter relationship, then shows piece by painful piece every trauma from the past and present that seems to doom them to be rivals. The long and tumultuous arc of this relationship is the consistent focus throughout, which is great since I love character-driven stories, but other aspects of the book seem to suffer from neglect in the meanwhile.

Neither the prose nor the dialogue come across as particularly strong, for starters. There is almost no attempt whatsoever at world-building or complex politics and intrigue, which I'm honestly happy without in a fairy tale story, but I need a stronger sense of atmosphere and narrative voice for that choice to make sense. Bashardoust's writing is middle-of-the-road at best, and I couldn't help feeling like the book needed something better.

The exclusive focus on Lynet and Mina also left several critical side characters woefully underdeveloped, most notably Lynet's love interest Nadia, who arrives at court as the new surgeon at the age of seventeen and promptly begins performing amputations and such (!!!!!). The super-skilled-teenage-doctor thing needed way more than the surface-level explanations we got in order for me to buy it, and it was especially odd to me that the characters in the book were more taken aback by her gender (when there isn't any other explicit sexism on display) than by her age. And Nadia is just one of several supporting characters from whom I would have appreciated a POV chapter or two (Felix, anybody?). Yes, this is Lynet and Mina's book, but as it delved deeper and deeper, I couldn't help but think that seeing how some other characters perceived the two of them could have actually added a great deal of clarity to their story.

In addition, there were a couple of bits that just seemed obviously sloppy to me. For example, there is a scene in which Lynet is being hunted down by a search party in a snowy wood, and though they come mighty close to finding her, there is no mention of whether or not she has been leaving footprints in the snow. Another similarly silly oversight is too spoiler-y to mention, but you get the general idea.

On the bright side, I don't think that the things I found lacking in the writing would have bothered me at all when I was a teenager myself, so I actually feel pretty confident in recommending this bold revisionist Snow White to younger readers who are, after all, the target demographic.

And yes, there are definite Frozen feels. And no, I don't consider that a bad thing at all. :-)

Absolutely amazing and spellbinding. Finished in one sitting. Melissa Bashardoust weaves a mesmerizing retelling of Snow White. The writing flows and the characters are crafted in such a way that you have to love them, even when you hate them. Mina and Lynet will capture your hearts. There stories are told in both the present and the past and intertwining together.

I was drawn to this book because I love fairy tales retold, and I heard there was a f/f romance. Snow White is a princess made of snow while the "evil stepmother" is a Queen made from glass. It was an interesting way to explain her heartlessness and my favorite part was that the two were fighting against their love for each other rather than hate for no reason. However, as the book went on I felt the conflicts were mere contrivances designed to hit certain story beats. The motivations seemed lacking and the King character was mean and uncaring for no real reason. I liked the plot a lot but it didn't seem to fit with the characters as written. The f/f romance was sweet but almost felt like an afterthought. Solid effort but nothing noteworthy here.

I went into this book with little to no actual plot knowledge. I knew it was a retelling of Snow White, I knew it was being marketed as having "feminist" elements, and I had an inkling that the Snow White character would be queer. These things are all accurate to the story, but they in no way to justice to the plot, characters, and heart of this book.

Lynet and Mina are remarkable characters. Princess Lynet has been forced every day to grow up an exact copy of the mother who died before they ever met; Mina has been an outsider her entire life, first in the village where she grew up, and then in Whitespring where she meets a King and hatches a plan to at least be respected, even if she could never be loved. Their relationship together is the driving force of every element of the story. The depth with which the mother/daughter relationship of the Snow White and the Evil Queen is dealt with is compelling and occasionally heart-wrenching.

On both a story level and a meta level, Lynet and Mina are characters whose ability to define themselves on their own terms has been taken away. On a story level, their fathers both manipulate and control their daughters to become who they are expected to be. But on a meta level, Lynet and Mina have become archetypes without any control: they are the Princess and the Evil Stepmother. But neither of them is willing to accept any of these definitions that have been put on them any longer. The story is deeply about agency and about self-definition, about relationships and the power to control your own connections to others in your life. Is is about, especially, the viability of female relationships and about how, even with the men in their lives trying to control how they relate to one another, the connection between these women has the power to go beyond that control.

I could honestly gush all day about how excellent and complex the mother/daughter relationships in this book are, but I'll try to talk about other stuff now. Suffice it to say, I sobbed through the final paragraph of this book because it just brought everything I've already explained to a conclusion incredibly well.

The other best part of this book, in my opinion, is the subplot of Lynet having a crush on another girl. Lynet spends a lot of the book confused about her feelings towards Nadia, the new surgeon in the castle. This is absolutely a subplot, not central to the story, but I thought it was handled remarkably well and I loved the twists they went through together throughout the book. I also thought that the power imbalance between them was handled in a way that helped make their relationship much stronger as the story went on. Beyond that, though they aren't named or in more than one scene, there is a very small scene with a wlw couple where they are clearly in a relationship in a public place and there is no mentioned homophobia or feeling that they are anything less than accepted by the community at large.

My only real problem with this book came with the pacing. There is a lot about this book that feels slow and peaceful, which I enjoyed a ton. So weirdly, my complaint isn't that this book needed to be faster but that it could have taken a bit more time with certain plot lines. I think there should have been more periods of time that were allowed to go slowly, especially later on in the story. I know that the plot has to constantly keep moving, but I think if those moments had been stretched out some of the reveals would have had more impact. Other than that, I thought this book was incredibly atmospheric and magical in a much more understated way.

This book was magical, complex, romantic, and fascinating. It was driven by female characters taking control of their stories and destinies and I absolutely loved it. Seriously, this book is not to be missed.

I love retellings so I am always excited to read anything new in this genre and I really enjoyed this one. There are two main characters, Mina, the Queen and Stepmother and Lynet, who is the Snow White characters and step-daughter and the story is told from their alternating POV, which I really enjoyed. Both of the main characters are unique and likeable. One of the most interesting parts about this book is that the characters do not hate each other and the theme of women helping other women is a great one. I did find the first part of the book to a bit slower, but that was mainly because it is introducing the reader to the background of both of the main characters. The rest of the book moves along at a fairly steady pace, although I didn't find that there was any huge problem that needed to be solved. In my experience with YA fantasy, there is usually some conflict or threat and there wasn't really in this book. I did really enjoy the author's writing and world-building and I do believe this is the first Snow White retelling that I have read. It was definitely an interesting retelling of this classic story and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Thank you to the publisher, Flatiron Book, for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had hoped, more than anything, that I would love Girls Made of Snow and Glass. I was promised a feminist f/f fairy tale retelling, but all I got was a slow, dull book where the LGBT+ themes took a backseat to…whatever the hell was happening.

I really really wanted to like this book. But I had to DNF it, which I always hate doing.

I thought the concept was awesome: a girl made of snow, and a woman with a glass heart. It was what initially pulled me to hit the ‘request’ button. But the alternating POVs with the time hopping (where Lynet’s POV was in the present, while Mina’s chapters were her backstory and leading up to her becoming the Queen) made it just a headache and a half.

It was part of the reason why it felt so agonizingly slow; by the time I finished a chapter and was properly attuned to that character, we changed timelines and everything was different. I had to remember what was going on in that timeline, who knew what and such and it was too much of a hassle. The intertwining of the past and present just flat out didn’t work.

As a result, I wasn’t connected to either character and had no desire to keep reading. I had to DNF it at a third of the way through the story, which is a shame, but I’ve learned a lot through book blogging: if I have to force my way through a book, then that book isn’t going to be enjoyable for me.

I’m afraid this will be a short review. I thought this book would get better as I read, but I found the more I read, the more I couldn’t stand it. The characters felt vapid and dull, the world-building flat, and the plot itself dull. I didn’t mind one of the main characters, Lynet, and I liked her fascination with the court surgeon, Nadia. It’s a nice f/f romance (I would assume it’s a romance since Lynet seems more than drawn to Nadia) but even when I stopped at 47%, there wasn’t a lot of development in that area. What could have been a promising, budding relationship was shoved onto the back burner.

I’m not sure if some point of the novel was to show the men in both Lynet and Mina’s lives as horrible, but I definitely thought so. Sure, Lynet’s father, King Nicholas, is protective of his daughter, but he soon becomes overbearing, and later, his odd wishes for Mina and Lynet’s relationship is hard to understand. Quite frankly, it seems downright cruel. The same goes for Mina’s father, Gregory. I mean, we immediately see him as a vicious man with plans to use his daughter to his own gain. I don’t disregard or unlike Mina’s dislike of him.

I didn’t care much for the writing. I was not enthralled while reading the first few chapters, and the desire to continue reading this book decreased each day. Soon, it became a chore, and at that point, I realized I couldn’t care less about the fates of these two women. But I won’t deny that their wish to break away from the path both their fathers (and Mina’s husband) had for them is admirable. Both desire to make their own way in the world they’re in, and we see them ever so slowly possibly going in that direction.

Unfortunately, this simply didn’t capture my attention, and I was both disappointed and saddened at the result.

<em>This review first appeared on http://fictionistmag.com/</em>

<em>Girls Made of Snow and Glass</em> is the Snow White I never knew I wanted. 

It follows the stepmother, Mina, and the princess, Lynet, in alternating points of view. Both are in third person, so it's not so jarring when the shifts occur, but there was also an element of time changing -- some of Mina's story was told in the past, but then it starts catching up with Lynet's chapters until both characters' POVs are firmly in the 'present.' This gets a little confusing if you think too much about it, but if you just read along and let the writing do its job, it flows well. 

The story itself starts out a bit slowly, placing our princess in a frozen castle in the north of her unnamed kingdom and painting her as a bored, spoiled child -- albeit a bored, spoiled child who dislikes her lot in life and liked climbing tall buildings. 

The story that unfolds goes a little differently than the one Disney told. I won't give anything away, as always, but the magical (and non-magical) touches added to this story make it infinitely more riveting. Plus, small (but not immediately plot-related) spoiler: There's an LGBT main character who falls in love. They don't hate themselves for it, they don't question it, and no one makes any disparaging comments about it; they just love someone of the same gender as they are. A+ from me in that respect -- that romance was adorable. A slow burn, too, for those who don't like romance getting in the way of plot.

Overall, the main characters were well-rounded (except Mina's evil father, Gregory, which honestly kind of bothered me), the story is enchanting, and the two Bashardoust pulled off the multiple POVs well. 

One of my only issues with the book was that, though it's only 384 pages, it felt like 600. At times, the characters seemed to go on and on and on about what they were thinking, even at times when it was heavily implied already. But even so, the plot and writing were well executed and I did want to keep reading. Especially near the end of the book, when I basically couldn't put the book down at all. 

An easy four out of five from me, with a definite recommendation for anyone who enjoys fantasy or fairytale retellings.

I enjoyed this story so much. It was such a refreshing take on a story we have all heard before. The author had such an amazing way of writing that I really felt that I was there inside the story. For most of the story the pacing worked really well for me. There were slow moments and then it would really pick up and then it would be back to slow moments which helped to really build up the suspense. I did find the beginning to be a bit rushed though which is why I took of half a star.

The author did such an amazing job with really developing the characters throughout the whole story and giving them such well thought out motivations for the actions. I love how strong both main characters, Lynet and Mina, were. They both came from such different places in life but their lives and stories are so entwined in such a beautiful way. This book did such an amazing job of showing the complexities of relationships, not only with others, but with ourselves.

I also thought that the romances were really well done. There was no insta love, instead everything really built up organically and nothing was over the top. In fact, all the relationships were so realistic and believable. For it being a Snow White, retelling everything felt fresh and new, which I wasn’t expecting at all.

Another plus to the story was the format the author chose for the story. The whole story was told from both Mina and Lynet’s perspectives. The majority of Mina’s part was in the past and told us the story of how Mina came to be where she was. There were a few times when Lynet and Mina’s parts concided and I thought those times really showcased what a brilliant writer Melissa Bashardout is.

As you can tell, I really loved this story. I loved it so much I preordered my own copy. I was going to get the hardcover but when I imagine myself rereading this I picture a nice floppy paperback so that’s the one I ordered. There is no date for that copy, but I will keep you updated on it when I find out. Also, I hope it is actually a floppy paperback, but now that I’ve said that it probably isn’t haha.

I absolutely adored this book. Undoubtedly, it’s one of my all-time favorite fairytale retellings. This book has heart that is as sturdy as glass yet innocent as snow. It is magical, emotional, and a true blessing to those who read it.

The relationship between Lynet and Mina was the most remarkable part of this novel for me. Their bond was truly beautiful and I adored their story progression. The pain each character felt in their separation was gut wrenching and I found myself crying at several points.

Lynet’s personal relationship with Nadia was so pure and beautiful I wish all YA novels could have the same feel. Nadia herself was a breath of fresh air in YA Lit. POC, lesbian, and a career woman. She is definitely an inspiration to me, just like she will be for many young WOC.

The world of this novel was also remarkable. Bashardoust created a great world with new magic I’ve never read about before. It was amazing. I loved the magic in this novel. It was unique and it made the book stand out.

I rate this book 5/5 stars. I can’t wait for my finished copy and I can’t wait for my preorder gift!

*Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for allowing me to read and review this book before release*

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This book follows the story of Lynet and Mina, two girls who are completely different and yet connected in a special way. It is a loose retelling of Snow White and the Huntsman, with Lynet being Snow White and Mina being the ‘evil queen’. I put evil queen in quotation marks because Mina has a strong character development throughout the story that changed my opinion of her greatly: but more on that later! I want to note that the cover is also absolutely gorgeous and I love the simplicity of it.

The story itself was rich, gripping and told in a very fairytale-like fashion. I felt like I was reading a new fairytale as I read this book and I found myself entranced by the language. It had a light feel to it and even when there was peril, I always felt a sense of hope. Lynet and Mina were two truly beautiful characters. The story is told from both points of view, some from the present and some from the past. This narrator style gave me the opportunity to see the development of each character from her own point of view, as well as delve deeper into the lives of each girl. Mina was my favorite character in this book. I felt like I was able to see why she became so bitter because of the background elements of her life as well as how her personality affected the character. My emotional connection was mainly to Mina and it was quite strong, which is hard for a book to do, for me. The magical elements in this book were so unique and I think that it is one of the things that sets the book apart from other Snow White retellings that I have read. There is life, there is death, and there is a certain air of impossibility around the magical storyline and it was something that certainly interested me from the start. The book started off right away with the plot and that is one of the things I appreciated about it: some books drag on in the beginning, but this one jumped right in and made me want to keep reading. I felt the magic through the pages and like I was in Whitespring, watching these events happen for myself because of the descriptive narrative.

There is not much I didn’t like about this book, as evidenced by my rating. I feel like the character arcs—mostly for Mina—were so well-done that I was mostly focusing on her and Lynet rather than the other characters. I did love the inclusion of Nadia, who was the court surgeon and ended up adding an LGBT element to the story. That is something I wish I had been included more during the book. I am such a proponent of LGBT themes and characters in order to foster representation and I found myself wanting more! Also, this book was marketed as feminist and I completely agree with that statement. I felt empowered for both Lynet and Mina, through their actions and their interactions with each other. Mina, especially, exhibited this when she was dealing with conflict and I admire her for that. All in all, this book was an absolute joy to read and I felt extremely satisfied after finishing this story.

I would recommend this book to those who are fans of fairytale retellings, but aren’t afraid for some extra twists to be thrown in. This is not your typical fairytale retelling and it becomes its own version of a fairytale through its narrative, characters, and wonderfully powerful morals.

*Review will be posted to Frayed Books: scheduled 8/22/2017*

I guess several people had mixed reviews on this one, but I ended up loving it. I loved the simplicity, the characters, and even though it's by no means a flashy story, it really grabbed me from the first page and I was drawn until the very end, which was very satisfying to me. But I guess that's the beauty of books, one person's trash is another person's treasure, and I'm grateful for that!

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is kind of a mashup of Frozen and Snow White. We have the typical cast, which are the two alternating protagonists. Mina, who is the "evil" stepmother, and Lynet who is the beautiful daughter of the king, who is the spitting image of her mother who died in childbirth. There are some surprise side characters, notably, Mina's terrible father, and Nadia, who I won't talk too much about but was a welcome surprise!

The whole book is a slow burn. Don't expect a rollercoaster ride, you won't get one, and at some points it almost seemed like it dragged. But what always rooted me to the page was both Mina and Lynet who were wonderful three dimensional characters making the best of a bad situation; their lives driven by patriarchial figures who maybe thought they were making the best decisions for their daughters, but ultimately restricting them into being not who they really were. This story was really about Mina and Lynet's relationship, love, and women breaking free of expectations. And I loved it. Maybe I was drawn more to it than others because I'm a mother, and there's just something about that relationship that had me turning the pages and tearing up seeing their exquisitely difficult but rewarding interactions. There were also a few surprises sprinkled here and there, which I appreciated, but if you didn't totally buy into the characters and story and themes, this book is not for you.

Overall, a magical and deep retelling of Snow White and Frozen that had me riveted to the page with its wonderful three dimensional characters.

Mina is the daughter of a magician who is only interested in expanding his own powers and influence, by whatever means necessary. Her father has no affection for her, but rather sees her as a posession, a pawn in his schemes. She lives in the warm South, but is lonely and shunned by everyone because of her father.

Lynet is from the cold North, where it is always winter, and is the pampered and spoiled daughter of the King. All the people adore her, her father most of all. However, he has placed unfair expectations on her, expecting her to grow up and not only take her dead mother's place as Queen, but to be exactly like her in every way, without giving any thought to what Lynet might want.

Two young motherless girls who seem to have nothing in common, but share the same sinister secret of their existence, find their lives intersecting. At first, their relationship is innocent, even touching, but soon becomes dangerous due to the actions and influences of others and events beyond their control. Are they destined to be ever at odds as long as they are both alive?

This story is described by many as a "feminist" retelling of Snow White. I'm not sure I'd agree with that, but I suppose that depends on your definition of feminist literture. It is conspicously devoid of the seven dwarfs or any hansome prince coming to anyone's rescue, and it does feature strong female characters who are fighting to determine their own destiny, rather be controlled by their fathers. Plus it has the same-sex attraction and romance that seems to be requisite in today's feminist literature. But there is no over-arching theme of fighting for all women's rights, they were strictly concerned with themselves and their own realities.

I would simply describe it as a unique and very interesting re-telling of Snow White, featuring strong female characters that were much more complex and multi-faceted than the original tale, with it's good versus evil simplicity, and handsome prince rescuing the damsel in distress. I was first intrigued by the caring, mother-daughter relationship Mina, representing the "Evil Queen", and Lynet, representing Snow White, had, and the genuine affection they each had for one another. Then enters Nadia, the young female surgeon who replaces the handsome prince and the dwarves from the original story, but also serves as a device to introduce conflict, and things begin to change.

The story moves along at a fairly decent pace, changing back and forth in both point of view and timeline in a carefully woven tapestry, and the characters are very well-developed over time. I almost quit reading, because I really didn't want to see the touching relationship between Mina and Lynet be destroyed as events along with Mina's ambitions seemed to be forcing her to become the Evil Queen. But I pushed on and, hopefully without giving too much away, I found that I was very pleased with the ending, and I think most readers will be, too.

While I had a little trouble buying some of the magic (a glass heart? really? how does that work?), once I got past that as the story drew me in, I found I really enjoyed it, and honestly can't think of anything I really didn't like about it. I would recommend this to fans of fantasy or magical realism with strong female characters, particularly those looking for something with themes of learning to be independent and standing up against others' expectations in order to be true to yourself and determine your own future.

Recommended for ages 13 and up.

I got this book through NetGalley to review. This book started a bit slow but picked up a lot around page 80 or so. I ended up being really drawn into the story. This is a retelling of Snow White that was done in a very smart and compelling way.

There are a lot of strong female characters in here but I loved how real they seemed. The majority of characters really aren’t good or evil they are just struggling to make it through their lives doing what they think is right.

The writing is beautifully done and makes it easy to imagine the surroundings and characters; it’s a very beautiful story. I also loved some of the twists to the story and how the ending was done; it had such a hopeful feel to it.

Overall this was a beautiful and complex retelling of Snow White. The story has a wonderful dark fantasy fairytale feel to it and the characters are amazing. Even though the story started out slow I ended up being really impressed by the end. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for books by Bashardoust in the future.