Girls Made of Snow and Glass is an absolute must-read for anyone who enjoys fairytale retellings or reimaginings. Along with Heartless by Marissa Meyer, this is the best one I’ve ever read. What author, Melissa Bashardoust, does in this book that is really cool and different from other reimaginings is that she gives the story some major feminist twists and makes the two main characters (the Snow White and Evil Queen characters) so dynamic that they are barely recognizable by the end of the story.
Lynet is sick and tired of being told how much she looks like the dead Queen, her mother. She is even more tired of her father, the King, making her stop climbing trees and playing too rough because she is supposed to be delicate like her dead mother. Lynet doesn’t want to be like her mother; she wants to be like her strong and confident stepmother, Mina. Mina and Lynet have something very special in common, something that has been kept from Lynet. When she is fifteen, the secret is revealed to Lynet - she was not actually born of her mother. Two weeks after her mother’s death, the King had a magician create Lynet out of snow in the exact likeness of his dead wife. Gee, that’s not creepy at all. What does this have in common with Mina? Mina’s father is the magician and he created Mina out of glass, in much the same way he created Lynet. When a throwdown to see who will become Queen seems imminent, life at Court becomes increasingly dangerous and the use of magic, downright deadly.
Our heroine is definitely more Kristen Stewart Snow White in looks and manner than Disney Princess Snow White.
Stuff from Disney’s Snow White that you WILL find in Girls Made of Snow and Glass:
the snow (it gives Lynet her power),
the poison (it’s a bracelet, not an apple),
the mirror (of sorts),
the Huntsman (Mina created him),
Stepmother vs. Stepdaughter.
Stuff from Disney’s Snow White that you will NOT find in Girls Made of Snow and Glass:
I need a man to save me,
I need to be a pretty, pretty princess who is precious and always kind,
I need to fall in love with a MAN from a noble family (pref prince),
Stepmothers and stepdaughters are natural enemies and have no chance at a close, familial relationship.
Dwarves.
At its heart (pun intended - you’ll see what I mean when you read
it), Girls Made of Snow and Glass is the complex story of a mother-
daughter relationship. There is little action and not a lot of plot,
but the writing is beautiful and magical, and the story is completely character driven. Bashardoust gives an absolute master class in
writing character development.
Bonus points for Lynet falling in love with a girl of lower birth and the fact that the girl isn’t a noble is the only thing that’s a big deal. I highly recommend listening to the audio of this book, perfectly narrated by Jennifer Ikeda (well known for her narration of the Discovery of Witches series and A Court of Thorns and Roses and many, many others).