thepaige_turner's review against another edition
4.0
check out my review here: http://thepaige-turner.blogspot.com/2012/01/snow-by-tracy-lynn.html
raemelle's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Kind of silly. Tries to explain magic with “science” by making vague references to tools and medical theories that the author obviously didn’t bother researching much. Weird, quick, uneven ending.
But somewhat entertaining to read.
Oh, and the Kindle edition is horrifying. Whatever process they used to transfer the text over left the book full of strange spelling errors and weird symbols.
But somewhat entertaining to read.
Oh, and the Kindle edition is horrifying. Whatever process they used to transfer the text over left the book full of strange spelling errors and weird symbols.
pechareads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It was fine enough, and I enjoyed certain parts, but none of it was extraordinarily gripping or new, and the relationships did not feel particularly fleshed out.
sbbarnes's review against another edition
3.0
Snow by Tracy Lynn is part of a larger Simon Pulse fairy tale retelling marketing gimmick. This gimmick is basically a series of unconnected fairy tale retellings. I love it. Especially Cameron Dokey's deliciously cheesy entries in it. That said, I don't necessarily think they're good. This one is a good example of that. I read it in about three hours, and I enjoyed reading it a lot, but I have read a lot of fairy tale retellings I enjoyed a lot more.
Snow is originally called Jessica, is the daughter of a Welsh duke, and her stepmother is desperate to have children of her own. So desperate she reaches through what science there is at the time straight through to magic. The science is super vague and weird - a fiddler named Alan is enchanted via a necklace that resonates with his brainwaves, so, science? idk. Jessica is mostly ignored and occasionally taught until she hits puberty and then BAM, rape threat from a visiting count that leads to Jessica being shamed forever and forced to work.
Here, my issue is that this whole sequence of events has very little to do with anything - it would have been neater to just stick with the original notion, that the stepmother is threatened by her and tries to hide her in plain sight. Alan, who is friends with Jessica, realizes that her life is in danger and helps her escape to London, where she joins a group of half-animals called the Lonely Ones. This is, uh, weird-ish. It's not terrible, actually. I was expecting vampires based on the name Lonely Ones, to be honest, but half animals works for me too I guess. She cooks and cleans for them and they become friends and whatnot.
Her stepmother shows up again, and in an interesting and somewhat frequent twist on the original, Snow seeks her out. I find this very believable. Why would she keep letting her stepmother in if she didn't want to on some level? It seems like a natural step to say that she sought out that contact, that she knew the danger, that she wanted the resolution too badly. I think that relationship is the most interesting part of this book, especially because the stepmother doesn't seem to actually hate Snow but rather just be a little weird and deranged. In that sense, the ending, in which the stepmother's spell on Snow bounced back and she lost her own memory, was kind of lame.
issues:
-setting. Allegedly Victorian, but kind of...eh. I think they just went for the steampunk aesthetic and then realized it was supposed to be historical.
-the Clockwork Man sequence is almost a literal deus ex machina. It comes right out of nowhere, solves the major plot issue, and then vanishes again into nothing.
-the magic-science relationship. I am all down for a world in which both exist, but the mixture to me is just kind of muddled here
-Uhhhhhh isn't Raven Snow's half-brother? Because I mean the stepmom may have been making freaky animal babies but uh p sure Snow's dad was still the sperm donor?
Snow is originally called Jessica, is the daughter of a Welsh duke, and her stepmother is desperate to have children of her own. So desperate she reaches through what science there is at the time straight through to magic. The science is super vague and weird - a fiddler named Alan is enchanted via a necklace that resonates with his brainwaves, so, science? idk. Jessica is mostly ignored and occasionally taught until she hits puberty and then BAM, rape threat from a visiting count that leads to Jessica being shamed forever and forced to work.
Here, my issue is that this whole sequence of events has very little to do with anything - it would have been neater to just stick with the original notion, that the stepmother is threatened by her and tries to hide her in plain sight. Alan, who is friends with Jessica, realizes that her life is in danger and helps her escape to London, where she joins a group of half-animals called the Lonely Ones. This is, uh, weird-ish. It's not terrible, actually. I was expecting vampires based on the name Lonely Ones, to be honest, but half animals works for me too I guess. She cooks and cleans for them and they become friends and whatnot.
Her stepmother shows up again, and in an interesting and somewhat frequent twist on the original, Snow seeks her out. I find this very believable. Why would she keep letting her stepmother in if she didn't want to on some level? It seems like a natural step to say that she sought out that contact, that she knew the danger, that she wanted the resolution too badly. I think that relationship is the most interesting part of this book, especially because the stepmother doesn't seem to actually hate Snow but rather just be a little weird and deranged. In that sense, the ending, in which the stepmother's spell on Snow bounced back and she lost her own memory, was kind of lame.
issues:
-setting. Allegedly Victorian, but kind of...eh. I think they just went for the steampunk aesthetic and then realized it was supposed to be historical.
-the Clockwork Man sequence is almost a literal deus ex machina. It comes right out of nowhere, solves the major plot issue, and then vanishes again into nothing.
-the magic-science relationship. I am all down for a world in which both exist, but the mixture to me is just kind of muddled here
-Uhhhhhh isn't Raven Snow's half-brother? Because I mean the stepmom may have been making freaky animal babies but uh p sure Snow's dad was still the sperm donor?
thenovelgirl's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first of the One Upon a Time series I read and it was how I found the rest of the books. This is also one of my favorites as it is more modern than most of the others and instead of the twelve dwarves Snow has the mutant outcast whom I find to be delightful. In this version of Snow White there is no prince to save her, but instead a mutant who is not even the prince type and is a bit unstable which makes this version more of a favorite of mine than the original.
carolyn_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
My second favorite "One Upon a Time is Timeless" series so far. This story really takes time to build up the character's backstory and stretches beyond the fairy tale plot to make for a more mature telling.
dvester's review against another edition
3.0
Okay so I found this book interesting but also boring. I just felt there were some parts that wouldn’t have made a difference if it were out of the story.
What’s interesting is it’s like Snow White but completely different which I loved. Instead of an apple and the step mother being a witch the Stepmother is a scientist, which is pretty cool even if some of it was a bit crazy. She is trying to make a son since she is past child bearing years and the duke needs a son because women just can’t rule, it’s not allowed. The assistant/fiddler boy helps snow escape before the duchess is able to kill her. She believes eating Snow’s heart will help her create a son. While she’s in hiding in London, Snow is taken in by this group called the Lonely Ones who we find out later were actually created by the Duchess while she was trying to create a son. There are 5 of them and they’re all half human half animal, so they only make appearances at night.
I was really hoping she would end up with Raven at the end, the ending kind of hints that they are together just not officially married. They end up taking a tour around Europe in the end.
What’s interesting is it’s like Snow White but completely different which I loved. Instead of an apple and the step mother being a witch the Stepmother is a scientist, which is pretty cool even if some of it was a bit crazy. She is trying to make a son since she is past child bearing years and the duke needs a son because women just can’t rule, it’s not allowed. The assistant/fiddler boy helps snow escape before the duchess is able to kill her. She believes eating Snow’s heart will help her create a son. While she’s in hiding in London, Snow is taken in by this group called the Lonely Ones who we find out later were actually created by the Duchess while she was trying to create a son. There are 5 of them and they’re all half human half animal, so they only make appearances at night.
I was really hoping she would end up with Raven at the end, the ending kind of hints that they are together just not officially married. They end up taking a tour around Europe in the end.
klmvdk's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I liked this book way more than I thought I would! I loved how the villain had so much depth beyond just vanity, and the mysterious nature of her power. I was not expecting the romance to play out how it did, but I’m so glad with the direction it went in. I was kept on my toes throughout the book, which is not easy to do with a re-telling of a fairytale. It was excellent!