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.

Top Ten Tuesday: Retellings Everyone Should Read!

                Hello everyone!  Top Ten Tuesday is just how it sounds, a topic is picked and we put our Top Ten for that in a post and share and check out everyone’s answers.  Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

The top today is:  Books every fan of retellings/reimagining's should read

The ShadowQueen by C.J. Redwine (review)- Snow White

A Court ofThorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (review)- Beauty & the Beast

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (reviews: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, & Winter)- Cinderella, Red Ridding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White

Dorothy MustDie by Danielle Paige- Dorothy

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge (review)- Beauty & the Beast

The Wrath &the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (review)- 1,001 Arabian Nights

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes- Alice in Wonderland

Asleep by Krystal Wade (review)- Sleeping Beauty

Thorn by Intisar Khanani (review)- Goose Girl

The Goddess andthe Rose by P.C. Cast- Beauty & the Beast

  

                 Tell me what you think of my list in the comments below.  Which would you recommend so I know which ones to get first?  Also please link back to your Top Ten as well so I can check out your list and see what I missed!

The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1)

                Hello happy readers!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I worked this one but I did get some sleep and some OTC stuff and my sinuses are back to their normal irritating levels.  I also had a chance to finish some great books and one I’d like to discuss today is The ShadowQueen by C.J. Redwine the first book in the Ravenspire series.  I previously reviewed the Defiance series (Defiance, Deception, Deliverance) if you'd like to check them out.  Clearly I went in a fan of her writing and ready to see what new fantasy was coming to life. 

Rating:  5 Stars

                For those who don’t know The Shadow Queen is a Snow White retelling of sorts with the evil queen and the innocent princess and rightful heir wanting to take back her crown and save her people.  Lorelai, the princess and fugitive, has one mission:  killing her step mother and evil queen Irina before she completely destroys their land.  They have one thing in common, magic.  Irina has been using her magic for longer than Lorelai has been alive and is known as the most dangerous sorceress any has ever known.  So when a neighboring kingdom Eldr, a land of dragon shifters how cool, find the war in their land with invading ogres has taken a turn they are not equipped to take on, their leader Kol will make a deal with the queen to save his land.  Bring the queen Lorelai’s heart and the ogres will be stopped; the only problem is Lorelai is on her own mission to save her people and not a damsel in distress. 

                First side note that adds to the book love, how pretty it is.  The cover is simple and perfect, even more so as you read, but the naked book…those end pages in the bright red map!  OH I was so excited for them. 

               Now moving on to what is important, what’s inside the lovely book ends.  I was in LOVE with this book from the start.  The Shadow Queen starts off with a bang for sure and in the first 50 pages I was entranced and didn’t want to put it down.  First Irina is evil incarnate and pretty badass, I can admit when someone is a good villain, while I never rooted for her I respected her power and her level of crazy.  Lorelai was just endearing from the start in her Robin Hood type moves to try and help her people and build herself up.  Plus her interactions with Leo and Gabril cemented the familial bond and I just adored them.  And while I’m not personally a fan of feathered creatures in real life, hey fears run deep, still I loved Sasha and the conversations about "gifts" brought me up every time.  Kol was very similar in several ways.  I found him charming in the best of ways not only because of the obvious charm but for his humor and his strength of conviction to what is right and to his people.  No matter how flippant he may seem in the beginning as soon as things get serious he steps up.  And while he may do anything to save his people he still struggles with his decisions and find a way to continue to be honorable. 

               

                The world we are thrown into is one of magic both good and evil and so much more.  I felt like I understood the world, though I still have much more to learn.  This is after all the first book in a new series and the map has lots of other places on it….just saying.  Plus we spent pretty much the whole time in Ravenspire and I look forward to seeing more of Eldr and the other lands.  Some of the magic has yet to be expanded upon but again more books.  The story moved along very quickly and there was a ton of action from chases to fights both normal and magical with never a dull moment.  When you're a fugitive you can't sit still too long!  We also have some romance happening and while this is a surprisingly short book it didn't feel rushed to me, it felt natural given the pacing and events in the book.  Blending foes and friends and finding the right path.

                Basically I loved it and think you should pick it up if you're in the mood for a face paced magical retelling that will keep you hooked from the start.  I can't wait to see where Redwine takes the series next.  I know throughout the book I was constantly trying to figure out what would happen and while some aspects I pegged others came about in such a different want than I expected.  I'd love to hear your thoughts below on the new series in the comments below. 

                Until next time…

~Waiting on Wednesday~ The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

                “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  Basically books that are not yet out that we are dying to get our hands on.  This week’s pick is:

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

Out:  2/23

From Goodreads:

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission:  kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father.  To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic.  She'll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol's father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly giving the responsibility of saving his kingdom.  To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai's heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king.  Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen.  But Irina isn't going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose. 

Why I’m Waiting:

                I am finding I just adore fairy tale retellings and I fell in love with the Defiance trilogy so it stands to reason I'd want to check out her other work.  Also the cover is rather stunning, dark and devious no doubt.  I had the chance to meet C.J. Redwine back in June and she was so much fun to talk to and we chatted for a good bit about her books as much as I could anyways as I hadn't finished the series and she had some amazing things to say in one of the panels she was on about world building.