callieash_ro's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this enchanting book. It was a little slow, but in a take-your-time-and-enjoy-the-views kind of way, not a boring way. McLemore uses words and descriptions beautifully. I love the way they intertwined Snow-White and Rose-Red with Swan Lake, magical realism, gender identity, young sexuality, class conflicts, family issues, physical abuse, new disabilities, and colorism. There was so much happening in this book but it all worked so well. The characters felt so real and I loved them all! I will definitely be reading another of McLemore's books :)
clauleesi's review against another edition
4.0
"The lie of who we were had killed who we might have been. It had buried us. It stripped us down into girls uncomplicated enough to be understood.”
Even though I loved it, [b:Blanca & Roja|36952596|Blanca & Roja|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516986822s/36952596.jpg|56020909] is going to be a hard book for me to review. It's probably because of just that love - because of the feelings this book so carefully plucked out from far inside my chest and laid it out bare for me.
This retelling of Snow-White and Rose-Red tells the story of two latinx sisters, Blanca and Roja del Cisne, whose family has been cursed to always have to give up one daughter to join the swans in the forest. The sisters have lived under this threat their entire life, not ever knowing for certain who would be taken, just that someone would. Blanca and Roja, who are as different as night and day, almost grow together and love each other more than anything, something that only makes their curse more unbearable - especially when they're pit against each other by the swans, two boys in the middle of it all.
First of all, this must be one of the most beautiful and unique retellings I've ever read. Not only was it extremely diverse and even used that diversity to strengthen the plot, but it also had the sisters relationship as it's core. Oh yes, we had romance (queer romance!!) and drama and mystery. But we always came back to Blanca and Roja being sisters, and what it meant to them and how hard it could still sometimes be; they were what everything centered around, and I loved that.
And let's be real, I certainly centered around Roja. I mean, wow.. What a fucking well-written character - almost an anti-heroine at times, but so real, so confused and complicated and human. I saw my messy self reflected in her, and that is not something I often do.
“I was a girl who would never exist in a fairy tale, not just because of the brown of my body but because of my heart, neither pure enough to be good nor cruel enough to be evil. I was a girl lost in the deep, narrow space between the two forms girls were allowed to take.”
I did struggle a bit with the first part. This mostly due to the fact that I was a bit nervous about the direction it was going, and also felt that the pacing was a bit slow. But as we progressed, I just fell more and more in love, and that ending just secured it for me. [a:Anna-Marie McLemore's|6434877|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1516319453p2/6434877.jpg] author note was also surprisingly beautiful, and as a latinx woman it was special to me on a personal level too.
[b:Blanca & Roja|36952596|Blanca & Roja|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516986822s/36952596.jpg|56020909] is a book that I'm sure will just grow on me. The writing is gorgeous, it's feminist and diverse as fuck, and I adored the sisterhood in it. Just beautiful.
Even though I loved it, [b:Blanca & Roja|36952596|Blanca & Roja|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516986822s/36952596.jpg|56020909] is going to be a hard book for me to review. It's probably because of just that love - because of the feelings this book so carefully plucked out from far inside my chest and laid it out bare for me.
This retelling of Snow-White and Rose-Red tells the story of two latinx sisters, Blanca and Roja del Cisne, whose family has been cursed to always have to give up one daughter to join the swans in the forest. The sisters have lived under this threat their entire life, not ever knowing for certain who would be taken, just that someone would. Blanca and Roja, who are as different as night and day, almost grow together and love each other more than anything, something that only makes their curse more unbearable - especially when they're pit against each other by the swans, two boys in the middle of it all.
First of all, this must be one of the most beautiful and unique retellings I've ever read. Not only was it extremely diverse and even used that diversity to strengthen the plot, but it also had the sisters relationship as it's core. Oh yes, we had romance (queer romance!!) and drama and mystery. But we always came back to Blanca and Roja being sisters, and what it meant to them and how hard it could still sometimes be; they were what everything centered around, and I loved that.
And let's be real, I certainly centered around Roja. I mean, wow.. What a fucking well-written character - almost an anti-heroine at times, but so real, so confused and complicated and human. I saw my messy self reflected in her, and that is not something I often do.
“I was a girl who would never exist in a fairy tale, not just because of the brown of my body but because of my heart, neither pure enough to be good nor cruel enough to be evil. I was a girl lost in the deep, narrow space between the two forms girls were allowed to take.”
I did struggle a bit with the first part. This mostly due to the fact that I was a bit nervous about the direction it was going, and also felt that the pacing was a bit slow. But as we progressed, I just fell more and more in love, and that ending just secured it for me. [a:Anna-Marie McLemore's|6434877|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1516319453p2/6434877.jpg] author note was also surprisingly beautiful, and as a latinx woman it was special to me on a personal level too.
[b:Blanca & Roja|36952596|Blanca & Roja|Anna-Marie McLemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516986822s/36952596.jpg|56020909] is a book that I'm sure will just grow on me. The writing is gorgeous, it's feminist and diverse as fuck, and I adored the sisterhood in it. Just beautiful.
eabanden87's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite. It was beautifully written but it seemed to meander a little bit too much for me. I love Wild Beauty by the same author but this one had too many point of views, to much going on, and the main crux of the whole book came very quickly and after a long, long time waiting.
HOWEVER.
The author had some wonderful things to say about the conflict of Latina girls in a white world, both those who don’t look the part and those that look juuuust white enough to be “special”. The meandering that I didn’t enjoy might have had more of an effect on a reader who is Latinx, or of mixed race, or even of any race not white. it would be remiss of me to not say that, at the end of the day, this is a story that was not written for me or for girls like me and that my opinion really shouldn’t count for much for readers for whom the story was aimed.
HOWEVER.
The author had some wonderful things to say about the conflict of Latina girls in a white world, both those who don’t look the part and those that look juuuust white enough to be “special”. The meandering that I didn’t enjoy might have had more of an effect on a reader who is Latinx, or of mixed race, or even of any race not white. it would be remiss of me to not say that, at the end of the day, this is a story that was not written for me or for girls like me and that my opinion really shouldn’t count for much for readers for whom the story was aimed.
arigibberish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
eli_b0204's review against another edition
4.0
I felt the pacing was a bit off, but the characters and themes of the book more than made up for it
demoluver's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
madtapa's review against another edition
4.0
This story is really beautifully told. If I'm honest, I got a bit lost along the way - many stories have a familiar enough shape that you have an idea where you are and what you're expecting, in a way I didn't really feel here. I don't think that was a bad thing, and it may just be a reflection of how much this book was about experiences that are not my own. I just felt unmoored for a while.
I'm a big fan of fairy tale re-tellings, which is what got me reading this in the first place, but this one was definitely more full of magics than most (and, somewhat contributing to my feelings of being lost, the characters appeared to have innate understanding of those magics that I lacked, though by the end I think I understood these understandings to be the analogy they probably are meant to be).
I was especially pleased that the author was really deeply invested in talking about and through (parts of) the Latinx (especially Latina) and trans experiences. The former was newer to me, so I have more to soak in and consider there, but both were handled with what seemed to me extreme care and thoughtfulness. Beyond being happy to see the representation, I was excited that these perspectives were discussed and explored in a way that didn't diminish them OR present them as unusual. We need these things so much more in our books and stories, but I think the author chose an especially good vehicle here.
I'm a big fan of fairy tale re-tellings, which is what got me reading this in the first place, but this one was definitely more full of magics than most (and, somewhat contributing to my feelings of being lost, the characters appeared to have innate understanding of those magics that I lacked, though by the end I think I understood these understandings to be the analogy they probably are meant to be).
I was especially pleased that the author was really deeply invested in talking about and through (parts of) the Latinx (especially Latina) and trans experiences. The former was newer to me, so I have more to soak in and consider there, but both were handled with what seemed to me extreme care and thoughtfulness. Beyond being happy to see the representation, I was excited that these perspectives were discussed and explored in a way that didn't diminish them OR present them as unusual. We need these things so much more in our books and stories, but I think the author chose an especially good vehicle here.
darquedreamer's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I don't know what I was expecting from this one, but what I got wasn't it. It was intriguing and different enough to keep me reading until the end, but there was so much about it that I didn't enjoy.
First of all, 4 points of view were way too many. Too much to keep up. Not enough differentiation between the voices, and it was just annoying.
Second, there was no differentiation between flashbacks and present time (I. E. Italics or timestamps), so most of those were confusing. A couple of them felt unnecessary. And, I always had to go back and reread them to make sure I understand that they were flashbacks.
Third, some of the writing just felt off. It switched between trying to tell the story, and trying to be poetic and flowery, and a lot of it was just awkward and didn't add to the plot. The author just tried too hard kn some places to create an atmosphere that just didn't need to be created, and I was honestly left wondering what the final plot twist was actually supposed to be.
And, last, but certainly not least because I'm tired of listing things, I just didn't connect with the characters at all. They fell flat and felt awkward and forced. I did not enjoy their stories at all, and I felt like they didn't either.
I wish I had loved this. I finished it because I wanted to know how it ended, but the ending was a big disappointment and didn't really make sense. The entire book was such a let down that I'm wondering if I even want to read the other book I have from the same author.
First of all, 4 points of view were way too many. Too much to keep up. Not enough differentiation between the voices, and it was just annoying.
Second, there was no differentiation between flashbacks and present time (I. E. Italics or timestamps), so most of those were confusing. A couple of them felt unnecessary. And, I always had to go back and reread them to make sure I understand that they were flashbacks.
Third, some of the writing just felt off. It switched between trying to tell the story, and trying to be poetic and flowery, and a lot of it was just awkward and didn't add to the plot. The author just tried too hard kn some places to create an atmosphere that just didn't need to be created, and I was honestly left wondering what the final plot twist was actually supposed to be.
And, last, but certainly not least because I'm tired of listing things, I just didn't connect with the characters at all. They fell flat and felt awkward and forced. I did not enjoy their stories at all, and I felt like they didn't either.
I wish I had loved this. I finished it because I wanted to know how it ended, but the ending was a big disappointment and didn't really make sense. The entire book was such a let down that I'm wondering if I even want to read the other book I have from the same author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Toxic friendship