I was in the mood for a retelling and this one was a lot of fun. The writing wasn’t for me personally, but this would be something I would recommend if someone was in the mood for a retelling.

I have read from this author before so I was very excited to read this. I am also a huge fan of fantasy princess retellings. The cover itself pulled me in, and I must say I enjoyed this book more that I have enjoyed some of this author’s other works.

I wanted to enjoy this one so much but I ended up not finishing it. My main issue was how the book was paced. It felt all over the place.

I had a hard time getting into this one because the pacing was a bit slow for my liking. I tried reading it twice through audiobook to see if that helped with the pacing but it didn't. I do think that those who enjoy snow white would like this as well as fans of historical fiction.

Easy to read, cute, and fun Snow White retelling. The pacing was a little slow and uneven, but I would recommend for young adult readers.

A fun re-imagining of Snow White. The evil queen is misunderstood. The witch is trying to help the family. The dwarves are boys who are being forced to work in a mine. Snow White is used to living in a castle with all the privileges that come with it. When forced to flee that comfort, she learns survival skills and takes care of seven boys in a cabin in the woods. The story was a little slow going, and I kept thinking everyone was lying. But as I waited for the other shoe to drop, the story unfolded. Overall, the book was good but not extraordinary - a good retelling that fans of Snow White will enjoy.

It is 1621 and the widowed Duke of Bavaria is getting married again. It is an extra special event as the duke is also introducing his daughter, Sophie, to Bavaria high society. Sophie isn’t particularly excited about the event, but her tone changes when she meets Philip – a prince, heir to the throne in Spain. Philip doesn’t like these events much more than Sophie but his position requires he attends.

Sophie and Philip have a mutual, immediate attraction to one another and fall in love. But Philip is ordered to return to Spain by his father and king, where there is an arranged fiancé waiting for the prince. Heartbroken, Sophie turns to Claudia – her father’s new wife. But as she gets closer to her stepmother, Sophie begins to wonder if the rumors of Claudia working magic are true.

Philip returns and claims that he’s convinced his father that a marriage to Sophie is also good for Spain and that he was going to marry his love whether his father approved or not. This should be the end of the conflict and the beginning of a fairy tale life, but someone is out to kill Sophie and she must become a tough defender of all she loves.

It’s been almost a decade since I last read a book by Melissa de la Cruz and I thought I was time to try again and this retelling of the Snow White story was appealing to me.

The opening, with the establishing our main characters of Sophie and Philip was really nicely done. I got pulled in right away and I was looking forward to how their relationship was going to grow. It had strong YA vibes as Sophie seemed to be a pretty standard strong, young, female of privilege who has to grow beyond the expectations of the day. There’s also a nice little mystery established here as well.

But then we get more into the Claudia story and the book slowed down. The deeper we got into something dark and mysterious the less interesting it became. And let’s face it – that’s not the way a book should work.

Looking for a good book? Snow & Poison by Melissa de la Cruz has a great beginning, great set-up of characters and nice fleshing out these familiar, fairy tale figures, but there’s a story that doesn’t live up to the legend or the potential of the characters.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Love Melissa de la Cruz! Snow & Poison is a wonderful getaway for an evening. A great addition to the Disney novels that are out there! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Melissa de la Cruz has a gift for reworking fairy tales and turning them into something new. Snow and Poison is a charming Snow White retelling that mixes real world settings with a dash of magic. The best thing about reading Melissa del La Cruz’s retellings, is that you can’t use your past knowledge of these stories to try and figure out how the story will go. I loved the changes in this one, as it kept the story fresh and unpredictable.
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The story follows Lady Sophie, or Snow White, who is the daughter of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. Sophie makes her debut into society on the same night as her father’s wedding. There she meets Prince Philip of Spain and the two fall instantly in love. Alas, Philip’s father has arranged for him to marry a princess.
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Sophie has to deal with a new stepmother, gossip about her and Philip, and she has to get married to avoid a scandal. She’s saved from a loveless marriage, when Philip returns to propose to her. Soon she is facing attempts on her life, but she doesn’t know where these attacks are coming from. Is she being targeted by Philip’s family in Spain, or are the threats coming from inside her own home?
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I love this retelling with the historical facts mixed in. The author does take some liberties, but it’s still a fun aspect of the story. The magic in this book is low key, as the story is more grounded in reality than being a true fairy tale.
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What was kind of bothersome was how fast the main characters fell in love. I know it’s a fairy tale retelling, but it was just an odd part for me. This is a short book so I guess the romance had to be fast tracked. It still would have been nicer to have drawn that part out just a bit.
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Overall it was a good, fast read. Perfect for fans of Snow White and fairy tale retellings.

Ah! This is an absolutely must-read book!

I am a huge fan of fairytale retellings, an fairytales themselves, and this book was truly incredible! It was very well executed and quick pad. A very easy read to keep me turning the pages for days.

A great retelling, I would highly recommend it!

Loosely based on “true stories” behind the classic Snow White story, we find the tale of Bavarian Lady Sophia who meets and falls for Prince Phillip, heir to the Spanish throne and betrothed to another. While she wants to trust her father’s new wife, there are rumblings that she may not be what everyone hoped her to be. Sophia must discover the truth if he’s is to have any hope of happiness.

While I will continue to read anything penned by de la Cruz, this was not my favorite of hers. Unfortunately, the pacing didn’t hold my attention the way her stories normally do. I did very much appreciate this reimagining’s historical inspiration which made for a very different type of retelling than that of a Disney-fied version and look forward to more from this author.

A bit underwhelming for a retelling. While the dynamic between Snow and her stepmother was interesting, it ultimately did not impact the overall enjoyment of my experience.

*Thank you Penguin Randomhouse for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

A Snow White retelling that puts female friendship and collaboration at its center.

What if the evil queen was misunderstood? What if the witch was a good witch?

We follow Sophia, the daughter of the duke, who has come of age and needs to be married. Her new step mother is both sweet and kind, but also a little disconcerting with her beliefs in the old ways of witchcraft. When Sophia meets the Prince of Spain at a party, she is immediately smitten. Will their parents approve? Is her the new duchess sheep in lamb's clothing or does she have Sophia's best interests at heart?

This book was cute and fun. It didn't have crazy high stakes and it was nice to see all of the different Snow White aspects reimagined. I had a good time with it.

I loved this book but I. love the author. Melissa makes books that make you smile from the inside and this was no different than the others. That is in the sense that it was enjoyable. This was a great retelling and adding in the historical elements made it so much more thought out.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book.

𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: 🥀🥀🥀/𝟻 ᴇɴᴄʜᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ʀᴏsᴇs

𝒪𝓃𝑒-𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌:

𝒯𝒶𝑔 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝑒: The fairest and fiercest of them all.

𝒪𝓅𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝑒: The day had finally come.

Hug thank you to PenguinTeen for providing mr with an advanced reader copy!

I love all things fairy tale! I always jump on the chance to read a retelling especially when its swonnyworthy and twisty. And Melissa dela Cruz did not disappoint!

Snow & Poison is fantastic rendering of Snow White. It was well-paced and kept my interest. I recommend the story to anyone fans of lush, magical YA retellings.

ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ!
𝒜𝓈𝒽𝓁𝑒𝓎
ʙᴏᴏᴋsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ & ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ sɪᴛᴇ: ᴛʜᴇᴛᴀᴛᴛᴇʀᴇᴅᴘᴀɢᴇ

Snow & Poison by Melissa de la Cruz is read by Elizabeth Knowelden of you try the audiobook. I journeyed through both the digital and the audiobook. Cruz took a classic and fit it into a slice of history. She made it feel like THIS could be the true story that spawned the lore. Mixed with magic, action, feeling and a little love, Cruz and Knowelden made this absolutely phenomenal! I need to go read Cinder & Glass next. This is a total five star read for me.

Snow and Poison is loosely based on the Snow White fairytale, but there are plenty of adaptations to keep one guessing the outcome. Several characters are not what they seem and are often misunderstood. It’s fun to both enjoy the familiarity of the story and characters while also anticipating that there will be changes and being delighted as they unfold. In several of the versions of the Snow White story, Snow White seems to have little substance; however, in this version, she is strong, kind, smart and resourceful. She’s a fantastic character. Author Melissa de la Cruz is a wonderful storyteller and as a very well-written story, the plot will enchant readers from beginning to end. 

While the traditional story is typically intended for younger audiences, there are mature elements included in this retelling and parents are encouraged to read the provided content analysis. For that reason, Snow and Poison is recommended to young adults who enjoy fantasy novels.

I liked this book so much more than its Cinderella counterpart in this series. I loved the history in this story (to be fair, I also loved the history in the first book) and found the characters here to be a bit more mature. I also loved the step mother plot in this book. Step mothers are often tagged as “evil” in fairytales but I enjoyed the characterization of the step mother here.

I’d gladly continue this series and can’t wait to see which classic princess gets a historical story next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m a big fan of fairy tale retellings and always looking for another. I think this book did a good job of being different enough from the original while still maintaining enough that it felt like a retelling.

I think my favorite part was the dynamic between Snow and her stepmother. You were constantly trying to decide if she was good or not. The story also did pretty well at keeping some main characters of the original story but twisting their roles.

I will say I was waiting for a bigger plot point the whole time and it never really came. I still found it interesting, it just felt like something was missing to me for a while and I thought the book was going to take another direction.