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A review by beesandbooks
Sneaky Snow White by Anita Valle
5.0
[Spoilers]
For the most part, this book was even more enjoyable than the previous one in the series. Of course, with the twist at the end of that one that Cinderella becomes the Evil Queen of Snow White, it was clear that the next book in the series would be a continuation on the theme of evil women raising evil daughters, so I purposefully avoided learning the title of the third book to keep some of the suspense. Nonetheless, by the end of the book I was able to figure out that the next installment would be Rapunzel from the tower clues.
I enjoyed the fact that Snow White's motivations were completely separate from those of Cinderella. I was a little worried when I realized that the evil stepmother motif was going to be repeated that this was going to be similar to the Disney Snow White where she is treated as a servant, not a princess, but I'm glad Cinderella's mistreatment of Snow White never resulted in her being exactly like the previous character. Additionally, by making Hunter Snow White's primary motivations, I was unable to see the twist coming that Snow White would not be the one put under by a sleeping curse. (Although, as soon as the godmother showed up and offered Snow a love apple I knew it had to be a poison apple, why else would she remind her to bite it first when that has never been mentioned before?)
The Dwarfs being instead burly hunters and thieves was an interesting change in pace, though I wish we saw more of them than just Cooper's brief interactions with Snow White. All we really end up knowing about them is that they value family enough to try to kill Snow White when harm comes to Hunter. That twist was a surprise, as well, which leaves me wondering if we'll ever get a resolution to Cinderella's sleeping curse.
Though it was clear that Snow White was never truly motivated to become Queen because her father never took the time to prepare her for those duties, always expecting a son eventually, I do find it a little odd that she so soundly rejected becoming Queen. Obviously, she was forced to flee the Dwarfs at the end so the political upheaval was more accidental than purposeful, but this leaves me wondering about the fate of the kingdom. Will Rapunzel's unnamed sister be raised as a princess and ascend the throne at a young age? Is there a next-in-line contingency plan? And if so, where was that plan when Snow White became de facto queen and seemingly nothing changed in the kingdom outside of the palace decor? When Cinderella was the primary character, I understood not delving too far into the political structure of the kingdom and how the prince could afford to just randomly choose a commoner as his second wife, because Cinderella was only focused on the idea of the title and power. Snow White, though, should at least be a little more aware of how the kingdom functions even if she doesn't care about her people or the wellbeing of the kingdom. This is a minor thing, though, that only took me out of the story when I thought about it, not during the actual reading.
I think the only event in the story that really left me saying "why" and took me out of the world for a moment was when Godnutter gives Snow White breastmilk so she can feed Rapunzel. If the reasoning was that she had to figure out a way to feed the child, I would have easily been satisfied with the same kind of disbelief that is required to determine how Snow White is going to find her own food while isolated in a tower. She's going to have to eat, I'm sure she can find milk while she's also finding food. The tiniest thing, but also the absolute strangest part of this entire fairy tale.
For the most part, this book was even more enjoyable than the previous one in the series. Of course, with the twist at the end of that one that Cinderella becomes the Evil Queen of Snow White, it was clear that the next book in the series would be a continuation on the theme of evil women raising evil daughters, so I purposefully avoided learning the title of the third book to keep some of the suspense. Nonetheless, by the end of the book I was able to figure out that the next installment would be Rapunzel from the tower clues.
I enjoyed the fact that Snow White's motivations were completely separate from those of Cinderella. I was a little worried when I realized that the evil stepmother motif was going to be repeated that this was going to be similar to the Disney Snow White where she is treated as a servant, not a princess, but I'm glad Cinderella's mistreatment of Snow White never resulted in her being exactly like the previous character. Additionally, by making Hunter Snow White's primary motivations, I was unable to see the twist coming that Snow White would not be the one put under by a sleeping curse. (Although, as soon as the godmother showed up and offered Snow a love apple I knew it had to be a poison apple, why else would she remind her to bite it first when that has never been mentioned before?)
The Dwarfs being instead burly hunters and thieves was an interesting change in pace, though I wish we saw more of them than just Cooper's brief interactions with Snow White. All we really end up knowing about them is that they value family enough to try to kill Snow White when harm comes to Hunter. That twist was a surprise, as well, which leaves me wondering if we'll ever get a resolution to Cinderella's sleeping curse.
Though it was clear that Snow White was never truly motivated to become Queen because her father never took the time to prepare her for those duties, always expecting a son eventually, I do find it a little odd that she so soundly rejected becoming Queen. Obviously, she was forced to flee the Dwarfs at the end so the political upheaval was more accidental than purposeful, but this leaves me wondering about the fate of the kingdom. Will Rapunzel's unnamed sister be raised as a princess and ascend the throne at a young age? Is there a next-in-line contingency plan? And if so, where was that plan when Snow White became de facto queen and seemingly nothing changed in the kingdom outside of the palace decor? When Cinderella was the primary character, I understood not delving too far into the political structure of the kingdom and how the prince could afford to just randomly choose a commoner as his second wife, because Cinderella was only focused on the idea of the title and power. Snow White, though, should at least be a little more aware of how the kingdom functions even if she doesn't care about her people or the wellbeing of the kingdom. This is a minor thing, though, that only took me out of the story when I thought about it, not during the actual reading.
I think the only event in the story that really left me saying "why" and took me out of the world for a moment was when Godnutter gives Snow White breastmilk so she can feed Rapunzel. If the reasoning was that she had to figure out a way to feed the child, I would have easily been satisfied with the same kind of disbelief that is required to determine how Snow White is going to find her own food while isolated in a tower. She's going to have to eat, I'm sure she can find milk while she's also finding food. The tiniest thing, but also the absolute strangest part of this entire fairy tale.