Title: Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Author: Melissa Bashardoust
Pub. Date: September 5th, 2017
Genre: YA Fantasy/Re-telling/LGBT
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 384
Formats: eGalley
*Opted to leave out the Goodreads Synopsis this time as I usually do whenever it’s too spoilery. With so many unique twists, this is one you’ll enjoy unraveling yourself sans the blurb š
Girls Made of Snow and Glass is THE modern Snow White re-telling I’ve been waiting for since the day I realized I didn’t need a Prince Charming to come rescue me on a horse. When I started questioning fairy tales & the incompetence of Kings all the while they had a kick a** intelligent Queen sitting on the sidelines. With an almost entirely female cast, GMOSAG gives the classic fairy tale a unique and fresh spin that will leave you feeling empowered by the very last page. Perhaps most importantly it shatters the clichĆ©d belief that women in leadership roles cannot co-exist. In our cast we get a new Queen to a widowed King, a female Surgeon in service to the King, and a court council run by women. The men in this re-telling play the role of secondary characters.
Told in third person POV, we get both Mina (new Queen) & Lynet’s (King’s daughter) stories in past and present times. Mina’s story unfolds in an earlier time when she first met the King at the age of 16 & decided she wanted to be Queen. Living in a village with her Magician father has been no easy feat, feared by the townspeople in the South for her father’s abilities. Mina herself is walking talking proof of his abilities. Having died & been brought back to life with a heart made out of glass, Mina has been raised by her father to believe she neither has the power to love or be loved & that her beauty is her only asset. Mina however proves to be resourceful & intelligent, always observing human behavior. She studies the King and soon realizes that his daughter is all that he cares about. Never once did she expect to get attached to the Kings young daughter Lynet or what that could potentially spell for her future as the present Queen. We follow Mina as she helps raise Lynet from toddler to young adult all the while thinking that their future rivalry is inevitable.
Each of these characters came to life on the page. Well fleshed out, complex, and flawed they rope you into this cold tale of love, loss, grief, and ultimately defining what family is to you…
Mina- I love my villains, they often bring the most meat to a story & such is the case with Mina. She comes from the South where everything is warm and lush with life & the transition to Whitsespring castle in the North is the total opposite. This however doesn’t stop her from fulfilling the role of Queen & stepmother to young Lynette. Although she lacks a beating heart, a part of her wants so badly to feel loved. Her marriage to the king isn’t what she expected but she never once takes it out on Lynette. I don’t want to give away too much but this is one character I really enjoyed seeing develop. She isn’t the evil Frost Queen we all come to expect from fairy tales but I can appreciate that since women in power are already thought of as Frost Queens in real life & I can do w/out that in my books š
The King- My least favorite of the characters for oh so many reasons! but the biggest one being that he’s down right selfish. Yes, he’s a wonderful doting father but once you read this book you’ll see a man who just couldn’t let go.
Lynet- Besides Mina, I actually really enjoyed Lynet’s character. She knows her father sees her late mother in her & that he’s raising her to one day be Queen. Trying to fill her mother’s shoes however isn’t something she wants. Far from it, Lynet enjoys scaling castle walls & s spying on people…particularly the new Surgeon *smiles* there’s also more to Lynet than meets the eye but that would be spoilery so I’ll leave you to find out that interesting secret on your own š
Nadia- new surgeon in service to the crown, Nadia spends her days in her laboratory poring over her books. The friendship to romance progression with Lynet was on point! I was rooting for these two all along š
The Magician aka Mina’s father- Adding this guy to my list of most hated villains of all time! I’m beginning to see a trend with Magicians being this nefarious. This man seriously takes the prize though! playing all his cards close to his chest, he is one to keep an eye on.
Girls Made of Snow and Glass is easily one of my favorite Snow White re-tellings of all time. I was the kid who had no interest in Prince Charming. No, my interest was more with ingenuity…always asking why the princess had to wait in the tower instead of finding a way out. This is the Snow White story that I’ve been waiting for with messages of female empowerment & Queens that don’t need saving. I LOVED the fact that this was a mostly female comprised cast & that we got LGBTQIA+ representation. The only reason I docked GMOSAG 1 star is because of the very slow pacing all throughout. There aren’t fast paced action sequences, this is a story told primarily through dialogue and stream-of-consciousness. That being said, I was invested in these characters til the very end. The last line in this book is PURE PERFECTION!
*HUGE Thanks to Flatiron Books, Netgalley, and Melissa Bashardoust for the eGalley of Girls Made of Now and Ice in exchange for an honest review.
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I’m so glad that you love this book, Lilly! It’s the first time I’ve heard of it, too. I am completely with you about realizing at a young age I don’t need no prince to save me. I can save myself.
You mention that this is a Snow White retelling at the top of the review and a Sleeping Beauty retelling at the bottom of the review. Is it both? If so, is one more prominent than the other?
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First I just want to let you know how hard Iām laughing at my blooper! ššš and Iām not surprised cause I always mix up Snow White and Sleeping Beauty š¤¦š»āāļø thank you for pointing that out Jackie š
I did love this story, such a fresh approach in every aspect including the Stepmothers role. Hope you give this one a go, highly recommend āŗļøš
I had recently heard that the author is planning a Sleeping Beauty retelling next, I think in NPR…maybe thatās where I went wrong lmao!
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I didn’t realize it was a blooper, so that’s something worth celebrating! I read Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle last year, and it’s a combined retelling of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. I just wasn’t sure! It’s cool that the author is working on a Sleeping Beauty retelling next. I love it when authors continue down a path which works for them so well. I’ve definitely added this to my TBR. š
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OMGAD I LOVED THIS BOOK TOOO ā¤ !! š So happy you liked it as much as I did! š I don't think there's a SNow SHite retellign as mesmerizing as this one
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Right?!?! Ugh! I love me a good fairy tale retelling and Iām so glad to have found this one. Loved it!!!šš¼šš¼šš¼ & I completely agree, hooks you into their world. Enchanting šglad to hear you also enjoyed it! š
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This books sounds amazing. Loved your review and will definitely be looking out for it.
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Thank you Charlotte š hope you enjoy the read when you get around to it š
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So glad to see another positive review for this!! I love retellings – even more when they have LGBTQIAP rep – so this definitely needs to be on my TBR! Great review, as always š
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Thank you Kourtni! āŗļøšit was def a slow burn, nothing rushed so that was also a +šš¼ hope you enjoy it as much as I did š
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Wow this book sounds amazing Lilly. I’ve been seeing some amazing reviews for Girls Made of Snow and Glass and I am so so so tempted to pick it up now. In fact I may actually have to go and pick it up the next time I pass a Waterstones! š I love fairytale retellings, and from the sounds of your review this one is going to be a favourite of mine. Both Lynet and Mina sound like incredible characters, and oh the things hinted at and you’ve left out of this review, like the blurb, have made me so curious! š
Great review as well. š ā¤
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I’m so sorry I missed your comment Beth! this happens when I read my comments on the train & lose service only to forget to re-open the app *sobs* I reallllllllly want to visit Waterstones, it is TOP priority when I make it to the U.K. lol. If you enjoy feminist re-tellings, this is def worth a read! I have yet to see this spin, refreshing & unique I LOVED IT! There’s a ton I didn’t mention because it’s such a treat to the reader to discover š
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That’s all right. š I end up missing comments sometimes as well and there are odd occasions it takes me a while to get back to them.
Oh definitely, and make it the Piccadilly Circus Waterstones because that one is the best of the best.
Well that’s settled it, I need to get this book now. I can’t wait to read it myself. š ā¤
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Great Review! I’m not a fan of snow white retellings but this one sounds pretty interesting! I’m glad you loved it! I might give it a shot! š
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Thank you Raven! This would def be the one to try out, it really is itās own thing if that makes any sense lol. So unique with hints of Frozen mixed in ahhhhh! So good! But slower paced so Iād only pick it up when in the mood for some epic story telling š
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Great review! Adding to my list!
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Thank you š! š
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Great review! you just convinced me to get it (:
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Thank you Lourdes! OMYGOSH, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did š
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I’m glad you liked this one bc I’m eager to read it. Great review, Lily!
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Thank you Stephanie! I really hope you enjoy the read when you get around to it, it’s a dark & very unique one I think you’d really enjoy š
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Yes, I think we share very similar book interests so I’m looking forward to it. They could have done so much more with the cover, sadly.
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Agreed š & I think they took the minimalist approach lol. It has elements of the movie Frozen so thatās possibly where they were going with that haha!
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Ooo! Definitely looking forward to this one now. It’s just waiting for me ah!
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Haha! It was so different than your typical re-telling & the ending was so powerful šš¼
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