I have to say I was really disappointed with this book. I absolutely loved the first book, and enjoyed the second book, but this one just wasn’t for me. The pacing was too slow, although the ending felt rushed, and the romance was also very rushed. It didn’t feel realistic to me. And while I like the characters well enough, I couldn’t really bring myself to care about them. But I did like the take on the fairytale.

I wasn’t too fond of Snow.

She’s an interesting character, sure. She grew up on Calcus with seven dwarves, after she was almost killed. She hasn’t met a human since then, so she’s excited when a human shows up on Calcus and shows an interest in her. She’s not shy to tell him exactly what she feels, and she’s good at helping Timothy get out of his shell. So far, so good. But, she’s a little too much damsel-in-distress for me to be able to like her. She’s just always waiting for someone to save her, and she lets everyone else deal with her problems, which just bothered me.

Then there’s Timothy.

I have mixed feelings about him. He’s really shy, and gets embarrassed very easily. I thought he was cute, but again, I didn’t really feel that much about him. His voice just wasn’t relatable, and I struggled to follow both the characters. He’s protective of Snow, which is understandable, but I think he takes it a bit too far sometimes, and that bothered me.

The romance felt way too rushed.

Okay, so Timothy comes to Calcus to meet Snow, because she works at his father’s company there, and when they meet, sparks fly. Not that I felt any. But they were definitely interested in each other from the start. The problem for me was that they fell in love pretty much overnight. Their relationship evolved way faster than what’s realistic, so I didn’t really like it.

The plot was a bit slow.

For a big part of the book, the most exciting thing was to follow the villain’s thoughts from time to time. Now, she’s interesting. But, back to the point, nothing really happened through most of the book. Then a lot happened at the end, which made it feel rushed.

But the twist on Snow White was great!

The thing that makes me give it two stars is that as a retelling, it’s good. It feels fresh and new, even though I know the fairytale by heart. It keeps the basic structure of the original story, but twists it enough that it feels original and unpredictable.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book. Definitely try the first one, because it was amazing, and the second one, but this one just didn’t live up to my expectations. I wanted to like it so much, but I just couldn’t really bring myself to care about the characters, and the pacing really didn’t work for me. But it’s a unique take on Snow White.

We are not. The eternal loves that bloom at first glance I could appreciate them when I was a child and I did not understand many things but now as an adult I can't stand them except on rare occasions. The plot itself was not bad and I liked the fact that the male protagonist this time was a clumsy and shy man with a lot of glasses, not the usual perfect super cool, but apart from that I think I can't save much of this novel. For the most part, it got me nervous. I found everything too superficial.

Snow Sabbia works and lives in Calcus since she was only a thirteen year old girl fleeing from a bad hunter. Calcus is a planet of mines where dwarves live and it will be one of them to save her live and to adopt her together with his brothers. One day, on a business trip, comes Timothy White, a young and shy scion of one of the richest and most popular families in the galaxy, and it is immediately love between him and the beautiful Snow. They attend for a few weeks, his father arrives to meet the future daughter-in-law (yes, he already knows that his son has married her despite having known her for less than a month) and accepts her immediately. And so let's start the engagement party where, by pure misfortune, her stepmother's new husband fall in love at first sight of Snow - I assure you that it is simpler than Beautiful - and he becomes a kind of stalker while the girl will have more serious and dangerous problems to face as the return of the hunter and the hatred of the stepmother.
Icing on the cake, the girl thought that by marrying Timothy would be safer but let's face it, putting a noose around her neck saves no one from any murderers. It isn't the bond that could protect her from her stepmother, but perhaps the security resources (which I did not see much) of the White family. Instead, the dwarves will be more to get busy, and the courage as a lion that Timothy has found God knows where. At least this is perhaps due to marriage.

Snow is undoubtedly a lively girl, full of life, a real earthquake that loves to run with her beloved old car but that hides fears and insecurities. While Timothy is practically her opposite: reserved, studious and insecure. He believes he does not deserve a beauty like Snow and that she marries him for money - in fact it is a logical thought - but the girl always reassures him that she loves him for what he is and she will succeed in making him a better, safer man.
They were not very credible characters, though. I can say that I preferred more the dwarves who, in spite of their rough and insensitive appearance, have touched me with their attachment to Snow.

In short, unfortunately it did not go as I hoped. In the first volume of the series I was able to please me the immediate love between the two protagonists, but not really here. Too many repetitions, too many useless paranoia that made the reading really unnerving. I'm sorry to say that because the Hamstead is an author that I think has great potential only that it should make the most of it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Curiosity Quills Press for giving me this book to review.

Dwarves of Calcus is the third book in the Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles, based of Snow White, but it is my least favourite so far. It was fast paced and really well written, but the story did not grab me, and the romance was way to fast, as one second they meet, the next they feel in love.

Snow is a good character and I liked how confident and smart she is but with normal faults like body image issues. My favourite character is Timothy as he was so sweet and awkward which made him so endearing, but I did not like it when he started to change and grow more confident about a third of the way into the book, firstly because it pushed the idea that the only way people can gain self-confidence is though a relationship, and secondly, it made him into another forgettable YA hero do doesn’t have any unique qualities.

While this is not my favourite in the series I am still looking forward to reading the next book, Sisters of Mahkba, when it comes out. I would recommend Dwarves of Calcus to fans of the first two books in the Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles.

Movie over Mario and Princess Peach! There is a new Street Racing Queen coming you a planet near you! A street savvy Snow White! Oh, YES! I think I am in love! This author did a fantastic job reimagining the classic fairytale! Even in the outer reaches of space, Snow’s Step-Mother seeks to ruin the good reputation of her innocent charge and have her murdered! What she didn’t expect was Snow to fall in with magically inclined Dwarves! Because yeah why wouldn’t they have superpowers? Pff. There were so many twists and turns in this wonderous storyline that I thought I was on a Mario Kart track with Snow zooming at lightspeed!

After her stepmother tries to give her the preverbal ax, Snow finds comfort on Calcus with her seven dwarves and does the mining 9 to 5 with them at White Enterprises. So, there should be no surprise that sparks flew when the heir to the White Corporation shows up for an inspection and really drives home the Fairytale Romance. Snow does not have the normal skill set of fighting or defense, but she does own a sweet souped up Earth automobile that she uses against Dwarf hovercrafts! (Omg! Dreams do come true!)
Of course, the evil Step, Geneva, would not leave well enough alone and sent the Huntsman back out to finish the job as well as the new husband. Her third husband! (Not sayin’ she is a Black Widow but hey! You can’t fight love! Right?) Coincidentally, Timothy Snow and Hubby 3 have to be lifelong rivals to drive the plot and inject humor! I am not even mad! It was great!
Wonderous setting. Imaginative plot and character development. Fast ‘N the Furious Space style racing? Umm… whats not to love!?!
I would recommend this book to anyone that loves retellings of their favorite fairytales! Or those who loved the Lunar Chronicles!
I had not read the other two books, but I do not feel I missed out on anything and I just purchased them because how can they be bad?!!!!
GO BUY THIS SERIES AND THANK ME LATER FOR IT WHEN YOU COME UP FOR AIR!
Thank you, Netgalley and Curiosity Quills Press for allowing me access to the title and thank you Katie Hamstead for writing the best retelling I have ever had the pleasure to read! You are now on my priority author list!

We’re back to the Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles and this time it’s all about Snow White. Katie Hamstead has managed yet again to take another classic fairytale and spin it in a way I’d have never imagined. The tale of Snow White gets an all new, completely inventive reimagining in this book and I can say that I enjoyed every minute of it!

This book was a super fast-paced read. From the get go we’re thrown into Snow’s life and it doesn’t slow down from there. Switching between the character’s was a great way to keep everything going but each character still had their own personality, which is sometimes hard to achieve. I liked the way Snow was written as being a pacifist so she used her wits and brains to get through more difficult situations. Snow was an extremely likable heroine, funny, kind to others and bold in her own unique ways. Her relationship with the dwarves was so sweet and heartwarming, you could almost feel the love emanating off the page.

Snow’s romance with Timothy was a whirlwind for sure and at first I’ll admit I wasn’t too fond of that just because I usually like the slow-burn or at least longer developed romances, but in the end their quick coupling worked into something really adorable. The way it progressed over the book helped grow them as a couple and as individual characters and it was so wonderful to read. It came across as so pure and charming like a true fairytale. Plus it was refreshing to see a book couple stay together from the start of a book through to the end.

Timothy’s character was probably the most enjoyable out of all the characters in the book. His adorable awkwardness and occasional humor were so endearing and his growth over the story was lovely to read as he’s coming into his own being with Snow and growing in confidence.

It was interesting too getting to spend more time with the villain of the story and I’m glad that there wasn’t any kind of redemptive plot for her, sometimes the villain just needs to stay the villain. As creepy as some of the stuff Geneva did was, it was also cool to see how the story of the Evil Queen would fit into the already developing narrative, and it turned out so great. I especially loved how everything ended up with the enchanted mirror, again, while super creepy, that was an awesome way to end things.

The dwarves were so fascinating and it’ll be hard to watch the Disney movie and not want to picture them differently now, but I like the semi-modern spin that Hamstead puts on all of these books. It makes everything easier to imagine, but yet still fantastical enough to be exciting. I enjoy finding out more about the places in these books like Calcus, where the dwarves live and Yenolia, where the leprechauns are. Of course I wish I knew every little detail and Hamstead is good about leaving just enough unsaid so that there’s plenty of mystery still surrounding this world she’s created.

So overall, another fantastic addition to the Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles. I look forward to reading any further additions in the future!

This was a very interesting retelling of Snow White. It was entertaining, but almost too complicated.

Author Katie Hamstead has done it again; shared with us a solid futuristic fairy-tale re-telling. This time, the storyline centers around Snow White and her seven dwarves, while alluding to other characters and plotlines in her Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles.

As expected, Snow’s evil stepmother arranged for a huntsman to kill Snow when she was a young teenager, and she successfully ran away and fell in with some dwarves. Being that this is the Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles, the dwarves have magic abilities. Snow lives with them on their home planet of Calcus, working for the mine owner, White Enterprises. When the heir to the White corporation visits, the relationship that develops between him and Snow is nothing short of a charming fairy-tale.

Like our Sleeping Beauty, Apolline, Snow is a smart, resourceful, and spirited heroine, though she is a pacifist and has no fighting or hunting skills to speak of. She does, however, enjoy the thrill of street racing in her fixed-up ancient Earth automobile against dwarf hovercrafts.

While ‘Dwarves of Calcus’ was not combined with any other fairy-tale that I’m aware of, Hamstead incorporated original and creative plots and characters into the traditional story of Snow White. The dwarves each had personalities and their interactions with each other, the humans, and other magical beings provided some comedy. Additionally, not only does the evil stepmother, Geneva, send the huntsman back after Snow, she also unwittingly sends her current husband (husband #3) to Calcus, which creates some humorous scenes. Though Snow’s charming Timothy White and Geneva’s current husband were boyhood rivals, this is the magical world of Katie Hamstead’s fairy-tales; nothing remotely close to resembling a love triangle occurs.

Perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer’s ‘The Lunar Chronicles’!

Thanks to Curiosity Quills Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

‘Dwarves of Calcus’ will be available on March 6, 2018 as part of the Kindle Unlimited program!

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