First, you have to know that this book literally is being marketed as, and I quote, "a fantasy feminist fairy tale", and if you think that wasn't enough to sell me on it, you are DEAD WRONG.

✘ PLOT
In the wintery wonderland Whitespring, Princess Lynet is nearing her sixteenth birthday, and her father expects her to come into her own as Queen. Unfortunately, Lynet has never wanted to be a Queen - she just wants to climb trees and towers and learn more about the mysterious new surgeon, a girl named Nadia who makes her cheek flush every time she smiles.

Meanwhile, Lynet's stepmother, Mina, has only ever wanted to be Queen; with a heart made of glass and an upbringing that told her she was unworthy of love, she has decided that power is the next best thing. What will she do when the King decides to crown Lynet Queen earlier than expected, and takes that power away from Mina, leaving her with nothing?

✘ WRITING
I always try to go into debut novels with optimism, and this book was no different. Unfortunately, the biggest drawback for me of this entire book was the writing itself. It felt a bit young, as though it would be more suited for MG writing than YA. Many incidents that should have been earth-shaking, if not entirely traumatic, were simply breezed past by the characters within a few short sentences, leaving the entire plot to feel very rushed. I didn't think passage of time went very realistically in the story.

That said, the writing is very whimsical and paints a beautiful setting. I loved the descriptions of Whitesping as well as the Southern lands, and I thought the characters were sculpted magnificently. I will absolutely be first in line for Melissa's next book, because I think she shows uncanny amounts of potential!

Also, the chapters switch perspectives between Lynet and Mina, and for the bulk of the book, those perspective changes also include changes in time, with most of Mina's chapters being set several years in the past. Those transitions were flawless, and I never struggled to keep the perspectives separate, as they felt like distinctly different narratives.

✘ LYNET
Lynet is really the primary "main character" in this story, and she is a fun narrator. She has grown up constantly being compared to her late mother, the former Queen, but all she wants is to be recognized as her own person. She would rather spend her days climbing trees than learning how to become the next Queen, and she wants nothing to do with politics until she learns that she can help people instead of only ruling them. Her blossoming relationship with Nadia is sweet, but very slow-moving and unacknowledged for the bulk of the story.

✘ MINA
Despite being cast as the "evil stepmother" of this fairytale, Mina was probably my favorite character, if only because my heart ached so much for her. She was raised with no mother and a loveless father who constantly told her she was not only unworthy of receiving love, but also incapable of giving it. She carries a heavy burden of self-loathing and shame, but is a profoundly kindhearted character at times. She makes some awful choices, but I felt like she redeemed herself thoroughly by the end of it all.

✘ NADIA
I really expected Nadia to be a huge aspect of the story, being Lynet's love interest, but I was stunned to see how little "screen time" she actually got. We learned very little about her and her character underwent minimal development, so I couldn't even formulate a solid opinion on her.

✘ FINAL VERDICT
I love fairytale retellings for their whimsy and magic, and this book didn't let me down in those avenues. I was especially fond of the way the magic worked, such as how Mina's glass heart gave her a way to manipulate glass into becoming other things and people.

Ultimately, I'm a sucker for stories where the "villain" is really just a misunderstood, wounded soul, and Girls supplied that in no small measure. Almost every character in the story has undergone genuine traumas that explain the ways they behave, for better or worse.

All in all, while it wasn't everything I hoped it would be, it mostly fit what I wanted, so I'm happy to give this book 4 stars. It was a fun read that I didn't really want to put down, and I'm eager to see what else Melissa Bashardoust comes up with!

Thank you so much to Flatiron Books for the ARC! All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Girls made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust is the re-envisioning of the classic Snow White tale. Told from two perspectives, Lynet (the Snow White character) and Mina, her stepmother (the Evil Queen character). Lynet is the spitting image of her mother who died when she was born and everyone treats her with kid gloves as if she was so fragile, she would break. Mina came into her life when she was a young child when her father, Gregory, a magician and alchemist, came to live at the castle at Whitespring from the south. Lynet’s father, King Nicholas, marries Mina and she and Lynet become close as a mother and daughter. Until a terrible secret is revealed to Lynet and everything she believes to be true is all a lie. Who can she trust now? When a promise is broken to Mina and a tragedy occurs, Lynet and Mina are pitted against each other. Will they become bitter enemies? Or will they join forces when a greater enemy reveals itself?
Girls made of Snow and Glass is an excellent story with a new twist on Snow White. Lynet and Mina are both strong character who aren’t the typical female characters. They are both a bit of damsel in distress and strong females who don’t need a man to rescue them. It was filled with action and surprises at every turn. I could not put it down. There were a couple questions that came up that I feel the story doesn’t answer. However, the book is a great story and young adult and adult readers will enjoy this new Snow White story. I recommend Girls made of Snow and Glass.

Girls made of Snow and Glass
will be available September 5, 2017
in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is an old story: a brittle, aging stepmother grows increasingly jealous of her husband’s kind, beautiful daughter, the kingdom’s beloved successor to the throne. Mina is the daughter of a magician, a stunning woman with a heart of glass whose sole ambition is to be a queen. Lynet is the perfect replica of her dead mother, a fact her grieving father and his devoted court members won’t let her forget. Both desire what seems unattainable. Mina wants to love and be loved, though her heart is forever silent in its cage. Lynet takes endless risks—climbing trees and hanging from towers—in an attempt to prove she’s not the delicate beauty her mother was. Inevitably, their struggle to overcome their limitations sets them in opposition.

In her debut novel, Melissa Bashardoust sets out to breathe life into the Snow White story and she succeeds remarkably well. I’ve always loved fairy tales and her feminist retelling had me at the proverbial Once Upon a Time. Whitespring, with its unchanging snow-globe world and its garden of shadows, drew me in immediately. The Southern part of the kingdom—a land of color and warmth, laughter and endless bloom—is just as vivid, much like the two protagonists in this tale. I loved Mina and Lynet’s attempts to find their identities, as well as the peripheral LGBT element, and the imagery throughout the novel was fantastic. Told from alternating viewpoints, the novel reinvents the evil stepmother/good daughter trope and creates a fantasy that resonates in “real” life. How many of us try to escape the power other people’s beliefs hold over us? As difficult as it is to defy society, challenging the expectations of those we love can seem impossible. That’s where this novel falls a bit short for me, especially at the end. It feels, in a sense, like a work of glass created by a magician: gorgeous but also fragile, like Mina’s heart. Which, I suppose, is what makes all fairy tales so beautiful. Girls Made of Snow and Glass isn’t meant to recast this world’s grim reality but rather to offer us a glimmer of magic—and, ultimately, hope.

Much thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At sixteen Mina was being raised by her magician father after her mother had passed away and as much as Mina saw herself as normal she was anything but. Mina’s father had replaced her heart with one made of glass to keep her alive so when she moves to Whitespring Castle she forms a plan to learn to love even without a real heart so that she can win the heart of the king and become the queen of the castle herself.

Years later fifteen year old Lynet is being raised by her father the king and her stepmother, Mina. All Lynet ever hears though is how much she resembles her mother that died giving birth to her so much so that Lynet wishes to get out of her shadow. One day though Lynet finds she has something in common with her stepmother Mina when she learns that Mina’s father the magician actually created her out of snow at the wishes of the king after her mother’s death.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust is a young adult fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairytale. I’m always a fan of retellings if the story brings something new and different to the table and doesn’t seem like the author simply reworded the original. With this book the story certainly changed quite a bit and took on a whole new life of it’s own but still had those twinges of the original to bring back the nostalgia. If comparing this to anything I’d say it reminded me a bit of Cinder by Marissa Meyer in that regard that the story felt fresh and full of new ideas while reading.

The story is told by switching the point of view back and forth between Mina, the stepmother, and Lynet in Snow White’s roll. Mina’s chapters begin with flashing back to her teenage years and tell the story of how she was brought up, how she met the king and how she eventually becomes Lynet’s stepmother leaving the two woman doomed to rivals. Lynet’s story picks up the present and eventually the entire story entwines bringing the reader to the lives and relationship of the two woman. If a fan of retellings with some new and original ideas I’d recommend checking this one out as it was certainly different.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I don't even know how to write a proper review for this.

This was everything I ever wanted. The writing is gorgeous, the characters fantastic, and everything was perfect.

I wasn't sure I would love it since I'm not a big Snow White fan and this is a retelling, but it's perfect.

Lynet and Mina have my heart forever. I loved being in Lynet's story in the present, and her stepmother's, Mina's, in the past and was beyond thrilled when the story converged to continue switching POV in the present for both characters. This is officially one of my favorite retellings ever. I want more women saving themselves and more novels about all the different types of love--familial, romantic, friendship--and how those loves, or lack thereof, can shape and mold us.

The narrative of the power of men on women's lives--fathers, specifically, on daughters--is blistering and heartbreaking. Mina's has a heinous relationship with her father while Lynet loves her father, but lives under the shadow of her dead mother. Both struggle with breaking away from their father's views of them and must discover if they can find a way to each other.

Wow, was this a delightful ride. The first half is slow but it’s slow for a reason. It really gives a great foundation to the story. It connects you to our heroines and helps the second half of the book really pack a punch.

I really loved the dual points of view for this book and they flowed nicely into each other. They never pulled you into a boring or unnecessary chapter.

The magic in this book was so interesting. I loved the idea of a girl with a heart of glass and another made of snow. I always love when magic in books can surprise me, sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all.

This was all about two girls finding their place in the world. Finding out who they really are in the face of expectations of who others think they should be. Expectations, even if you’re not royal, can feel smothering. I connected with both of them on their confusion of who they really are and who they think they should be. This was definitely a sort of girl power novel. The focus was on the girls and their struggles, which was so refreshing. And can we talk about the girl romance? It was so cute and refreshing, just two girls falling in love. I loved the inclusions of an LGBT romance in this book, I mean if a girl can have a heart of glass why can’t queer characters to exist?

I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a refreshing fantasy book.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is Melissa Barshardoust’s first novel and her assured confidence and brilliant reimagining of the classic Snow White fairy tale has me already anticipating her next.

Lynet is approaching her sixteenth birthday when the story begins. She is overwhelmed by her father’s expectation that she will step into her mother’s shoes as Queen someday. Her uncanny resemblance to her mother seems to obligate her to sublimate her own wishes and ambitions to honor her dead mother’s legacy. Certainly her father is unable to see her as an individual separate from her mother. The only person who seems to see her as an individual separate from her mother is her stepmother, Mina and the new surgeon Nadia whom she is falling in love with. This all falls apart when Nadia reveals the terrible secret of her creation.

Mina came to court at sixteen, unloved and isolated by people’s fear of her magician father, she was determined for once to be on the inside looking out instead of the outside, looking in. To do that she set her cap for the King, determined to wed him and with his power, finally be accepted and loved. She succeeds at the former and fails at the latter, in large part due to her father’s interference and the King’s infatuation with his grief. However, she does become close to her stepdaughter Lynet, despite the King’s disapproval. Like Lynet, she carries a terrible secret.

Lynet is destined to be Queen, but that would displace Mina whose self-worth and identity is defined by her position. Lynet of the Snow and Mina of the Glass are set at odds by fate and fear and their struggle sets the stage for the familiar story of Snow White. There is even a Huntsman, though he is a far more important and complex character in this story. In many stories, women are set at odds with each other, demanding the destruction of one for the survival of the other. Lynet and Mina know that is what is expected of them. The question is whether they can change their fate.



I loved Girls Made of Snow and Glass. Even the magic of the story is innovative, this frozen land cursed by a Queen’s suicide, the magic of glass and snow, and the completely authentic emotional struggle at the heart of the story. It reminds me a bit of The Wizard of Oz, of the seekers desperately seeking what they already have, if they only realized it. There are real lessons to learn here, about not allowing others to define your capacity or limitations, not accepting outside judgments, and of believing in yourself.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass falls solidly within the traditional fairy tale tradition of telling stories of real traumas and fears that young people may face and providing a vehicle for working through them. There is loss, violence, thoughts of suicide, alienation, infidelity, and parental malpractice from too little and from misdirected love. This story is often grim, despite the beautiful and fanciful settings. That is what the fairy tales are for, for working out and through our fears. In this story, though, love is redemptive.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass will be released on September 5th. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass at Flatiron Books, Macmillan
Melissa Barshardoust author site

I've seen and read a lot of retellings of Snow White over the years. I think this was my favorite.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This. Book. Was. So. Dull. Like, mind-numbingly boring to read. I find Girls Made of Snow & Glass quite difficult to review, because while I didn’t hate this book– I have more of a total apathy towards it– I simply do not understand the amount of hype around it. I got almost 2/3 of the way through the book before deciding to DNF it and, like… nothing happened. The characters are two-dimensional and have no personality or discerning voice whatsoever. The magic is predictable and overdone. I was bored pretty much from the first page, and absolutely no action of interest happened in the 64% of the book that I read. This book is pitched as a feminist retelling of Snow White, but the retelling felt so lacking in originality. Plus, I just didn’t get feminist vibes from this book at all. It wasn’t anti-feminist, per se, but I also didn’t feel like it added anything new or needed to feminist YA lit. There were hints of an f/f romance forming– which, as you guys know, is MY JAM, always– but even that relationship wasn’t interesting enough to make me finish this book. Part of the reason Girls Made of Snow & Glass was such a huge letdown for me was because all of my friends who have similar reading tastes, as well as almost all the reviewers I trust, have adored and raved about this book. That makes me think my dislike of the book is an “it’s not me, it’s you” situation. So, if you enjoy fairytale retellings, maybe give this one a shot! I simply found it utterly boring and unoriginal, and I don’t plan to ever finish it.

This book was a DNF for me. I didn't realize it was pro-LGBTQ+ when I started reading it. Being a conservative Christian reviewer, I couldn't finish it due to that content.

This book was not for me. I didn't like the characters and the story was very slow going. I did like the feminist aspects though.

I thought this was a amazing take of snow white and its awesome because I've never read or seen anything on snow white! it was a really creative elements of the classic and the women in the story were awesome and I LOVED how there was no woman hating. Though the plot wasn't that strong to me I really enjoyed the characters.

I enjoyed much of this book. It's a fresh, feminist take on a tired shopworn story (Snow White) that confronts some classic fairytale conflicts in unexpected ways. I enjoy the LGBT+ angle. That said it was a little uneven, LOTS of character development, but very little plot.

A beautiful re-imagining of Snow White and Rose Red with an intriguing relationship between Mina the Stepmother and Lynet, the Snow White of the story. With magic and the true meaning of love holding the story together. Hard to put down. A definite must read!

This is actually everything I’ve ever wanted in a retelling, but for some reason not all of it worked for me. Still, to be honest, as someone who never really loved Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, I actually thought Girls made of Snow and Glass was actually a delightful book.

It definitely is very character-centric though, and without Mina and Lynet’s relationship it wouldn’t have been nearly as heart-wrenching. I thought the world-building was mildly good, as that too seem to be centered around the characters. The setting itself was a bit thin.

Although the book included aspects from the original fairy tale, there were still several twists that made the story its own. The plot, unfortunately, was probably the weakest part of the story. It did feel like a fairytale, with some of the atmosphere of the original, but my biggest problem with this book was probably the pacing. Usually fairytales are shorter, and because this was a fully fleshed out book, it was really slow and it felt dragged out.

I actually enjoyed how the perspective switched between Lynet and Mina and how their stories actually took place on different timelines, but it seems like most of the book was actually background knowledge about how they got to where they were. The climax was not only underwhelming, but also felt too simplistic compared to how long and detailed the setup was.

This has been described as a feminist and queer book, and although there are several aspects of the latter, I liked that it was quite subtle. However, I felt like Lynet’s romantic plotline was a bit unexplored and though I like the characters separately we didn’t get to see enough of them together. Mina was probably my favorite character of the entire book because she was understandably flawed, and yet she had that aura about her that made her almost similar to an antihero.

Overall I did really enjoy the characters and the premise of this book, but because of the slow pacing and the fact that the twists weren’t all that “twisty” I felt like I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as I wanted to. Still this was quite an enjoyable quick read, and I would definitely tell anyone who enjoys retellings to add this to their tbr!

Well, I have happy tears in my eyes after finishing this. I loved it. Yes, I am a sucker for fairy-tale adapts, but this was something special. Magic, love, choice, strength, power, the damage that abusive parenting can do, the damage that not being seen for who you really are can do, acceptance....

Mina is the queen who believes that she is incapable of love or of being loved because her cold magician father replaced her dying heart with one made of glass. Lynet is her stepdaughter, formed by the magician out of snow for a grieving king. Both women have been hurt, and lied to, and pushed away, and dismissed as weak and useless. Mina has been told that her beauty is her only value, and that being queen is her only purpose.
So many stories pit women against each other, especially when it comes to beauty and power. These two find each other despite the men in their lives, and find themselves.

Oh, and not to mention the beautiful gay love story! Forget handsome princes! How about a tough, smart, vulnerable young woman willing to betray the magician to save the princess that she has come to love. A different kind of awakening.

This is my favourite Snow White EVER

Adored this book from the word go. I almost want to pick it up and read it again immediately. It's the best thing I've read all year!

Once upon a time in a castle stuck in a forever winter lived two women - one made of snow, another made of glass.

You know how history is usually written by the winners? The tale changes, and it’s never quite as we know it. Well, this was the Snow White story that I believe was real. The one that actually could’ve happened versus the one we know where there are seven dwarves, a wicked stepmother, and a lot of narcissism. Not as dramatic, but more realistic.

The two leading ladies of this retelling are Mina & Lynet, the story alternating between Mina’s past and Lynet’s present. These women were destined to be rivals, but what is truly is stronger - love or power?

At sixteen, Mina moves to Whitespring Castle in the forever frozen northern part of the kingdom. Her mother is dead, and her father a heartless magician who replaced her heart for one made of glass when she was a child. She’s never known love, but she craves it. So when Mina sets eyes on the newly widowed king, she is determined that she will find it with him. Only problem? She’ll have to become a stepmother if she wants to become queen and win over the king’s affections.

Fast forward to the present, and we meet fifteen-year-old Lynet, the king’s daughter. Made of snow in her mother’s image, she’s never felt comfortable in her skin. She doesn’t want to be a dead queen’s memory, but someone fierce (like her stepmother Mina). Only problem? The king just made her queen of the southern territories (her stepmother’s turf), and she’s about to lose the only mother she’s ever known.

Add in a huntsman made of glass, a f/f relationship with a young surgeon, and a complex family relationship, and you get Girls Made of Snow and Glass.

This book is all about character building - Mina and Lynet were great protagonists. Both had more going on that what people took them for, loved each other from the start, and there was no fairest of them all drama. Both women were beautiful, noted this, and moved on to other problems that were a little more pressing. You know, like Mina nearly losing control over her beloved southern homeland and Lynet hoping she wouldn’t turn into her mother incarnate.

I wish there had been a little more world building. The story is so rich in relationships, but very light on the foundations. I really didn’t get a basis for the kingdom (other than the cursed weather). It could have been because the character perspectives were limited. Lynet acted like a child and fragile (because she had been treated as such), and looked at the world with naivety. Mina didn’t give us a great perspective of her own homelands (despite the people being in love with her as queen). Some details like that didn’t quite align from what we were told/shown.

At the end of the day, this is a mother/daughter, leading lady tale. Not a story about the kingdom, the castle, or the king who couldn’t let go of his wife’s memory and made her duplicate out of snow. It was a little slow, didn’t have a lot of plot, but definitely is a story worth checking out. I loved how the author entwined elements of the original Snow White tale, but still made it her own.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass: 4 stars

I’m going to be really honest with you, I was never a fan of Snow White. I never really enjoyed the movie and I didn’t think Snow White was a particularly engaging princess. I can say that Girls Made of Snow and Glass surpassed all of my expectations. This book is so much more than a Snow White retelling. It’s a story of love, family, discovering your inner strength and power, and making your own choices. We follow Princess Lynet as she nears her sixteenth birthday and discovers truths about herself and her mother’s death that she isn’t ready to face. We see Mina at sixteen, trying create love and happiness by becoming Queen. We follow Lynet and Mina as they begin to drift apart, and desperately cling to their own hopes that their relationship isn’t broken.

Things I Liked :
Lynet and Mina’s relationship was my absolute favorite part of the story. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and completely original. This isn’t a wicked stepmother who is jealous of a younger, more beautiful daughter and vows revenge. This is the story of a broken woman, who thinks she is incapable and undeserving of love. Combined with her daughter who is now unsure of who she is and who she can trust, while still greatly admiring her stepmother. It’s a deeply complex and emotional relationship that is a joy to read.

I loved the different fantastical magical elements in the story. I love that the characters have magic that is unique to them. It made the magic more personable and accessible for the reader. It wasn’t a vague concept, but smartly grounded with our characters.

I love that we got to see Mina when she was sixteen. I think these chapters were my favorite parts of the story. (I did slightly prefer Mina over Lynet). We really get to see her develop as a character. She could never only be the evil stepmother, because she is so well developed especially in these background chapters.

The story is such a fantastic retelling. The characters are reimagined beautifully, the relationships are well established. The story is uniquely crafted and distinct, while still feeling familiar.

Things I Didn’t Like :
There was very little world building in the story. We get to see a bit of both the North and the South, but we don’t really get much history about Whitespring, their culture, or customs. I would have liked to know more about this fantastical world.

There were two instances of miscommunication or assumptions (both by Lynet) that really frustrated me. Miscommunication and assumptions as a plot device is one of my least favorite things, it’s always frustrating and usually makes me like the character a little bit less. I can understand where Lynet was coming from and why she acted rashly, and didn’t want to hear any explanations. But as the reader, we know more than her, we know she should stop and listen, so it was mildly frustrating that she didn’t.

I don’t think I can properly articulate how utterly captivating Lynet and Mina’s relationship is. Everyone should read this just to get all the feels from all of their interactions. This is such a breath of fresh air in the world of retellings - you get more than you expect and are left completely satisfied. Girls Made of Snow and Glass is an alluring tale of family, friendship, trust, expectations, and love.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was everything I have ever loved or dreamed of in a fairy tale (retelling) and more. Just when you think that it couldn’t get any better, more precious, or moving, Bashardoust surprises you. To say I loved this book is a drastic understatement. To say I am looking forward to the next one, is even more of an understatement. I’m waiting here, with my calendar open, waiting for the announcement so I can pencil it in.

Mina’s father is an infamous and deeply feared magician who pays her little to no attention. Announcing his decision to move them both to the court of Winterspring is the exact opposite of what Mina wants. No more warmth, only coldness and a court life surrounded by those who are prejudiced against her. However, Mina finds out more than she ever wanted to know on this day: the day her father tells her that her heart is one of glass, one without a heartbeat. Upon arriving at court, Mina resolves to be loved and to win the heart of the grieving king. But winning the heart of the king also means becoming friends and stepmother to his daughter, Lynet – a perfect replica of her dead mother.

Forever being defined in the boundaries of her mother’s shadow, Lynet wants to be free to be herself. Taking comfort in her stepmother Mina’s compassion, Lynet begins to wonder about what a life of her own might look like. But before her desires can get away from her, she finds out a terrible truth: that the same magician who replaced Mina’s heart created her out of snow with his blood to be the perfect image of the dead queen. Unable to move on from his dead wife, the king deposes Mina and replaces Lynet as the ruler of the South and pits the two against each other – each the only family they truly have.

What results is a battle as old as the classic fairy tale of Snow White, because only one woman can be queen. Will it be the woman made of glass or snow and can they figure out a happy ending for them both?

That is normally much longer than the summaries I write for the book, but it is all the information I had going into the story myself. Based on that synopsis, I knew I would love this. Described as Angela Carter meets Frozen this book delivers on that promise and so much more. The world is detailed, as if we’ve stepped through a looking glass into their world: the North’s freezing cold and bitter eternal winter as opposed to the warmth and vivacity of the South.

Mina and Lynet are everything and more. Lynet is endearing on so many levels. She is compassionate, brave, and intelligent. Her spirit is admirable and her romance story line is truly precious. Her history, being trapped by her own mother’s shadow, makes Lynet compelling, because I think, in a way, we all feel trapped by our history when growing up. For Lynet, this challenge is even more disturbing. What do we do when we cannot escape our own shadow? Lynet is the fairy tale heroine I have been searching for and only now seeing within our society. Mina is even more special to me because too often are ‘stepmothers’ in fairy tales given a stereotypical and ‘villainized’ role. However, Bashardoust takes everything we thought we knew about the fairy tale stepmother and complicates it. Making us question every other fairy tale stepmother.

By telling Mina’s past, while events unfold in the present, Mina’s character is given more personality and depth. She is complex, intelligent, and vulnerable. Painfully universal is Mina’s desire to be loved. We are able to see exactly what made Mina this way, who told her she was incapable of love, and exactly how fiercely she craves its warmth. It reminded me of all the times we are told that we can only receive the love we think we deserve. But is that correct? How do we see the love within ourselves? Additionally we catch glimpses of Lynet’s early childhood, her spirit, and the way that these two women connect to each other – bound by a desire to follow their own paths in the shadows of their male creators.

Thematically, I was enthralled by so many narrative choices. Having studied fairy tales in university, I am aware of their power and tropes. Bashardoust’s manipulation of these conventions is superb, elevating this tale from one of a beautiful and touching story, to a tale that actively redefines the definitions it works against. True Carter-like work here. Among my favorites was the fact that both Mina and Lynet are created by the same man. (This plot thread alone is absolutely poignant as something that not only connects them, but also mirrors their journeys). This evoked images of male created ‘monsters’ such as Frankenstein and made me wonder about the power of the female spirit for creation. Bashardoust takes up this challenge as well. There is also a beautiful intertextuality within the story that picks up threads from other fairy tales, for example the reference to the Juniper Tree.

But what truly charmed my heart was the interaction between the character and the plot – the way that Bashardoust builds upon the framework of the original story and gives it a vibrant life of its own. Even more so, Bashardoust gives us a fairy tale for the 21st century, modern and complex. There are so many beautiful elements and touches within the story whether it be a side character’s plot, or a twist of phrase. Embracing all the power only a fairy tale holds, we are invited to question the narratives of the past, to imagine a new future in which the success of women can be rid of its competitiveness, where women can make their own destinies, and where they can heal their own hearts.