A review by eloiseinparis
Snow White and the Vampire by Marina Myles

2.0

This is the second book in the series, and unfortunately it suffers from the sophomore slump. The first book did a great job of grounding the characters in the actual social aspects of the time and then went wild with the fantasy, but this book required you to suspend all belief throughout the story. The ages of the characters made no sense. Dimitri was supposed to be about 28 and Alba 26. Dimitri was an uneducated Gypsy. He met Alba when he was 16 and she was 14. He taught himself to read. How he became a rich surgeon in 12 years in a foreign country is beyond me. I realize that medical standards of schooling then were not as stringent as they are today, but the amount of money and respect he earned would have taken longer than twelve years. Also Alba as a woman over 25 and a professional barrister would have been firmly placed in the category of spinster. So the fact that Teddy and his father were so eager for her to marry Teddy and this was never mentioned was odd. Especially by her mother’s friend Mrs. T who was also so eager for that match. Someone should have said how “lucky” she was to have such a fine suitor at her age. Another ridiculously aged character was a healthy, spry, and poor 90 year old woman. In 1888 London, I don’t think so.

I was also disappointed with the Jack the Ripper tie in. It was unnecessary. Snow White is a rich story, add in the a Vampire and there is so much to work with. The author got so caught up with the Jack the Ripper aspect that she forgot to include some of the best parts of Snow White’s tale. The wicked step mother was an after thought, there were no dwarves, no long slumber, and no huntsmen, even though there where characters there who could have filled those roles. I was also disappointed that Alba and Dimitri were fighting the exact same curse as Isabella and Draven. It was boring and anti-clamatic. I don’t see myself reading any more books in this series.