Format: Kindle, 375 pages
Release Date: September 20th 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Source: Publisher
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Retelling
First kisses sometimes wake slumbering princesses, undo spells, and spark happily ever afters.
Mine broke Bale.
Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.
Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.
Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.
Stealing Snow, by author Danielle Paige, is the first installment in the authors Stealing Snow series. Stealing Snow is apparently based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen. It is said to be source material for Disney's Frozen. Paige's version features 17-year old Snow Yardley who has spent a majority of her life interned at Whittaker Psychiatric Institute. Snow has web-like tattoos, and white streaks in her hair. Scars apparently came after trying to walk through a mirror. Mirror, Mirror on the wall.....
She's a pretty decent sketcher which keeps her from totally being like other residents of Whittaker. In order to keep things interesting, she even names her 7 pills after the Seven Dwarves. Each pill is equal to a separate emotion. After her boyfriend Bale, who she kissed and thought she broke, is taken away, she is visited by a new intern named Jagger. Jagger hints that Snow's pills are hiding who she really is. He also suggests that Snow find a way to escape and travel beyond the tree to a land called Algid.
Snow finds herself in Algid where apparently things are not as they might appear. First, there are a whole lot of people frozen. Second, she is the long long princess. Third, there are prophecies involving her future and that of the King of the land who just happens to be her real father. Things take an interesting twist with the introduction of Nepenthe, the River witch, along with Kai and Gerda. If you are one of the lucky ones who has actually read the Snow Queen, you will be familiar with Gerda's name. She is also a very unique character in her ability to shape shift.
Snow faces a dysfunctional family that wants to kill her. She needs to find a missing mirror that was broken into pieces by witches and may be the key to defeating her father, the King. She has to find a way to help Bale, or leave him behind. Especially since Bale has been caught up in his own hell. And, she has to deal with the fact that she has been lied to her entire life, and not that life needs to move in a direction that she will need to follow if she hopes to stay alive, and away from the real threat from her father and his followers.
Have to say that I am perfectly fine with reading retellings. I am perfectly fine with authors taking a bit of artistic twists and making them their own. I have not read Paige's Dorothy Must Die series. I will, most likely, in the future. I can say that I would have liked more world building. I would have like less of the romance, and more of Snow learning about her abilities and not just running off to a bunch of thieves called Robber Girls. The story itself is complex because you really need to understand what the story is based on. You could make comparisons to Snow White, but I haven't seen any indication of dwarves, except the pills that is. If you think this story will be easy, peasy for Snow, you totally need to read the last part of the story. Cliffhanger anyone?
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