Girls Made of Snow and Glass

                Hello happy readers.  Don’t forget to check out my giveaway it is open until Saturday night.  I hope you all have fantastic plans this weekend.  I’m working so there is that, I’m also working day shift for the weekend which basically means I’ll be functioning on 99% caffeine and no sleep.  That said I hope to get some reading/reviewing done.  Today I’m excited to talk about a new release that I received an ARC of thanks to NetGalley, Girls Made of Snowand Glass by Melissa Bashardoust.  Originally I had planned to finish and review the week of Irma but it got pushed back but I am so happy to get to it now.  This is a stand-alone fantasy/retelling.

Rating:  5 Stars

                This is a story of two girls and how their lives are entwined.  Mina the beautiful daughter of the feared magician and a heart made of glass.  When she is moved to Whitespring Castle she meets the king and is eager to win his broken heart and finally know love from the king and the people as their queen.  This would also make her a step-mother to little Lynet the kings’ pride and joy and spitting image of the late queen.  That is by design as she was made by Mina’s father by order of the king.  Though she is supposed to be just like her dead mother she finds herself wanting to be more like Mina and when her father decides it is time for Lynet to take her place as queen.  They are destined to be rivals for the throne and as power starts to sway and secrets are revealed, loyalties are tested.  Who will rule and at what cost? 

                This was a version of Snow White that I had never thought of before.  It gave me some Once Upon A Time feels which I adored.  I loved that while there is a small amount of romantic love in the story the real focus is on the two leads and who they are and develop into through their journey.  Mina is told with her glass heart she is incapable of giving or receiving love, that’s a hard thing to grow up with.  With Mina seeing both her past and her present really showed depth into who she was and how she came to be.  I love a well-developed character, especially a flawed one.  Lynet is treated as such a fragile thing, always expected to be the perfect copy of a mother she never knew and never really allowed to experience life.  I loved seeing her grow up, as like Mina it gave the reader insight into who they became and the choices they will have to make.  I really understood them and their motives.

                This story takes on many different aspects but I really enjoyed the magic.  The magic is there and ever present in the story, a driving force really, and it’s done beautifully.  Still it all comes down to the characters and their motives and emotions.  I enjoyed how the magic was there to enhance the story and give it a unique flare but it wasn’t the main element.  I loved how Mina struggled with herself and her actions.  She didn’t want to be evil or do harm she was just a girl who wanted nothing more than to be loved and when that is denied to you it takes a toll on the soul.  Lynet is naïve and unsure but she grows to have faith in herself by making her own mistakes. 

                Bashardoust managed to create an entire world for the reader to fall into that felt both familiar and completely new.  I love the turn on the characters and how each character had depth and not intrinsically evil.  You want Mina and Lynet to each have their own happy ending even if you know that would be at odds with one another.  I enjoyed the dual POV and getting to know them both so well the good and the bad.  The only tiny thing I could think to mention is the magic and how I wish I knew more about how it worked and what the limits were.  Nothing negative I really grasped the world and it didn’t hinder my reading experience just that it was fascinating and I would love to learn more.  While this functions perfectly as a stand-alone I would be open to reading more in the world and what other magic is there.  I really enjoyed the story and look forward to more by the author.

                Until next time.