I struggled to connect to the MC and the world. I think the bones of the story were beautiful but it felt like I, as the reader, was being kept at a distance and couldn't immerse myself.

DNF'd after chapter five. Five chapters in and nothing had really happened yet. Just a lot of confusing lore/vague backstory. I'm sure it would've all come together if I'd stuck it out (I found the lore in Where Darkness Blooms confusing until it all clicked, but at least in that one things were happening) but after slogging through the first five chapters I totally lost my momentum for reading this one.

Snow White is one of my favorite fairy tales and I typically love retellings, but this one really didn’t work for me. The author tried to give Snow more of a dark side and gave her magic powers which was cool, but she still ended up being the stereotypical damsel with the plot constantly happening “to” her, rather than her being an active participant in the story. Snow showed very little agency and was always in peril or being spoon-fed information about her new powers.

I loved some of the new magical elements introduced like the Mossfolk, but overall the magic system felt very muddled and like the rules kept changing.

I was also really disappointed with the romantic elements of the story. I thought the romance would be a much bigger subplot but the two love interests spend almost no time together and when they do, they just experience insta-love. I wish we had more opportunity to see them interact and grow their attraction over time. I think the romance just didn’t get near enough time devoted to it and almost wish it had just been cut if it wasn’t going to get fully fleshed out.

I am still interested in these characters and this world so if there is a sequel, I would like to read it, but I don’t think my expectations will be nearly as high as they were going into this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The biggest issue for me was I couldn't get over my dislike for the FMC. Snow has been asleep for 20 years, and she wakes to a world she doesn't recognize, so I was willing to cut her some slack. But for someone who's expected to save her entire kingdom, she annoyingly spends the entire book being whiny and having to be saved by others.

I also didn't understand the romance in the book. The book is touted as being a sapphic romance, but the scenes between her and the evil queen's daughter felt unnecessary and forced, and she had was more chemistry with her friend, Henrick.

The prose was a bit flowery for my liking at times. While I appreciate Hannah being descriptive, it often felt over the top from the 'syrupy juices' of the apples to the 'ballet-pink flush' of a girl's cheek, it sometimes felt like she was just adding extra words to meet some required word count.

A queer reimagining of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. However, this was not what I was expecting. Snow White is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. She is weak and whiny and there is definitely something wrong with her since she's having feelings for a truly evil queen. There's maybe a teeny tiny bit of growth in her character and I can infer from the ending that there will be a sequel.
However, as annoying as Snow White is, the story itself is pretty interesting and that is why I gave it an extra star. But I'm truly horrified that someone "pure of heart" could love an evil doer.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this digital e-arc.*

Snow White awakens from her glass coffin to find her kingdom, Roanfrost, in ruins. The land is decayed, and animals have mutated. After twenty years, Snow embarks on a perilous journey to restore her kingdom. She faces betrayal, forms new alliances, and battles the ruthless Queen. To save Roanfrost and Garedenne, Snow must become the Seasonkeeper and harness life-giving magic, all while resisting her darker impulses. Will she succeed?

This Snow White retelling was a lot of fun! I loved getting perspectives from both the Mirror and Snow, which gave a complete view of the story. The good versus evil theme was compelling, and Snow White's growth throughout her journey was well done. The side characters, especially Hennrick and Blueberry, added a lot to her story.

Although the book started off a bit slow for the first 40%, I was hooked enough to keep reading. The magic system was fascinating, and the twist in the story was great. The ending wrapped things up nicely, leaving room for a potential sequel but also tying up loose ends. Overall, I recommend this one if you like fantasy books and fairytale retellings.

Rating: 3.5/5
Spice: 0/5

Tropes:
Good Vs Evil
Fairytale Retelling
Nature Magic
Healing Magic
Magical Creatures
Enchanted Sleep

Thank you Andrea Hannah, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for a chance to read this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I thought that this was a really good retelling of Snow White tale. It was really interesting way to do the tale and I loved it. I also loved that it was a sapphic retelling.

I love Snow White and I love retellings of classic stories. It was nice to see some of the story from the Mirror’s perspective. But, nothing major stuck out to me as I read this book.

Thank you to Wednesday Books | St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC. The publication date is February 25, 2025.

I usually enjoy anything published by Wednesday Books, but this story fell a bit flat for me. As a huge fan of Snow White, I was disappointed by this retelling. I’m not sure if it was the author’s writing style or the overall plot and characters, but I struggled to get through it.

On the positive side, I appreciated the overarching theme of learning to trust your own heart. I also enjoyed reading from the 'mirror's perspective'; I thought that was a nice touch. Additionally, the cover is stunning.

Overall, I found it mediocre. I neither loved it nor hated it. I would say read the summary and if it seems like something up your alley, give it a shot! If all else fails, it would be a beautiful addition to your home library!!

As always, all thoughts are my own. 🖤✨

[arc review]
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Wildest Things releases February 25, 2025

2.5

In this dark retelling, Snow White wakes from a twenty year slumber in her glass coffin to a decaying territory with poisonous lands and mutated animals.
With the absence of a Keeper to perform the High Season ritual, Roanfrost has been devoid of its seasonal magic for decades, and will not last another year in its current state.

Hannah’s writing is fluid and straightforward, making for a bingeable read, though this also puts the story at risk of feeling more like a middle grade novel at times.

The strengths here lie within the imagery and descriptions; I especially liked the uniqueness of the mossfolk and the added gothic horror elements.

As for this being a sapphic romance, I feel a bit queerbaited. Yes, it’s implied that Snow White is attracted more to Iliana than Hendrick, but I expected a much larger romantic plotline. One forced brush of the lips (at 92%), which was used as a transference of poison to kill someone, does not hold enough weight in my opinion. I also wasn’t fond of the love interests being step-sisters.

cw: animal death

This was a fantastic Snow White retelling, it had that element that I was wanting from this type of book. I was engaged with what was happening and thought it used the Snow White element perfectly. Andrea Hannah was able to weave a strong tale and was engaged with what was happening. I thought the fairy tale element was perfectly done and was engaged with everything that I was hoping for. I can't wait for more from Andrea Hannah and enjoyed the fairy tale retelling that I was hoping for.

A new sapphic Snow White retelling in which Snow wakes up 2 decades after being poisoned only to find she has to kill the Evil Queen's daughter.... the one person she's in love with. Snow is the poisoned and finds herself waking up to her kingdom in complete decay, the land is rotting and the animals have mutated... something is wrong with nature. Snow knows she has to find a way to undo it and to face off against everyone she once called a friend while trying to make new allies as after 20 years... things have become twisted. She realizes that she must kill the Evil Queen's daughter... who happens to be the one girl she loved..... can she undo it and still save her beloved? This one was so odd to me, the story felt so slow, the romance felt nonexistent, and the characters were lacking in actual depth. I felt myself being yanked out of the story constantly and just couldn't really ever enjoy it. I wish I did like it more, I love fairytale retellings, especially queer takes, but this one just felt like a miss for me.

Release Date: February 25, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. DNF. I will not be finishing this novel. I’m not invested in what’s happening. I’m only rating and reviewing so it doesn’t hurt my feedback ratio and because it makes me.

DNF at 60%. At this point in the book, I didn't feel connected to the characters, or feel any kind of romance brewing.

Unfortunately this was not a win for me. I loved the cover and the concept on the book but truly could not bring myself to care about Snow. The pacing was also slow. Thank you for the opportunity!

Thanks to the publisher for the early copy.

I love retellings and was quite excited to read this, but the execution left me feeling frustrated.

I enjoyed the setting, especially the horror elements that were more prevalent than I was expecting. A spooky forest filled with creepy mutations of normally cute forest animals was a fun way to tell a Snow White story.

The fact that this was mostly advertised as a sapphic romance is confusing to me. The two hardly had any scenes together, and their draw mostly seems to stem from finding the other pretty. After what the evil queen was doing and how reprehensible Snow found her, her obsession with her didn’t really make sense.

Which brings me to my main complaint with the book. Snow’s actions in general usually didn’t make sense to me throughout the story. She was going places and doing things without really having a reason why or a solid plan, so the plot felt really contrived. Her actions often came across as random to me, or completely at odds with what we were told she was like. For example, she kept going on about how she wasn’t a naive princess anymore, and yet continually trusted everyone she met and was surprised to get betrayed over and over. She felt like a really inconsistent character to me.

Overall, the plot contrivances and character inconsistencies make it so that I can’t really recommend this book.

I love Snow White retellings, and this one had a unique, dark twist that kept me invested in what would happen next. The concept was fascinating—Snow awakening after twenty years to find her kingdom in ruin, with a land plagued by corruption and strange mutations. The world-building was well done, and I appreciated the fresh take on familiar elements.

That said, the pacing felt slow at times, particularly with the dual POVs. While The Mirror’s chapters provided important context about the Evil Queen and the history of the world, they also bogged down the momentum. I found myself more engaged with Snow’s journey and wished the story had focused more on that.

Despite the slower parts, the ending hit hard and left me with a whirlwind of emotions. While this wasn’t my favorite retelling, it was still an intriguing, atmospheric read that will captivate fans of dark fairytales. If you enjoy a slow-burn fantasy with rich lore and morally complex characters, this might be worth picking up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Sapphic? Snow White? Give me 10 of them right now. I ADORED The Wildest Things. The setting was fresh and unique, and I honestly loved how much I hated some of the characters. I'm interested in seeing where everything goes for book two though, because I feel like we might get a few details we were missing here. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

This was described as a horror, sapphic Snow White retelling and all I got from the 36% I fought through was a whiny and pampered teen who literally can’t do anything but scream and cry, and gets insta-lusty with her enemy queen. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I don’t know what made this book out to be so bad for me because the writing itself was great for a fairytale retelling and the idea itself sounded fantastic but the execution of it all . . . I was just bored and frustrated out of my mind. 😫

Maybe this’ll work for others but for me, sadly it didn’t click. Shout out to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review. I wish I could’ve enjoyed this more. 😔

Publication date: February 25

Overall: 1.75/5 ⭐️

I don’t usually love retellings, but I love sapphic books, so I decided to give this one a try. I’d say it’s a 3.75 rating rounded up. Hopefully the romance and characters will be more fleshed out in book 2!