Monday, November 17, 2014

Review: Stitching Snow

STITCHING SNOW
R.C. Lewis
Young Adult/Fairy Tale Retelling
336 pages
Disney Hyperion
Available Now
Source: BEA

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back-but that's assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane's arrival was far from accidental, and she's pulled into the heart of a war she's risked everything to avoid.


MY THOUGHTS
Stitching Snow is a beautiful combination of serious and sweet, moments full of lightness and levity alternating with darkness and gravity to keep us riveted to the pages from beginning to end. Ms. Lewis’s version of Snow White is no damsel in distress, instead she's a young women with smarts, technological know-how, and an ability to fight down and dirty when the situation calls for it. In place of dwarfs Essie is surrounded by drones of her own making, each with a distinct personality (especially Dimwit and Cusser – both hilariously aptly named) that adds both poignancy and humor as Essie finds her way back home to reclaim and rebuild.

Essie is a joy of a heroine, the dark past that drove her to Thanda something that defines who’s she’s become but yet she never lets it be all that does so. She resolves to never go down without a fight, even if it’s one she knows she can’t win, and we can’t help but situate ourselves firmly in her corner and refuse to budge. When the truth about Dane is revealed, her anger matches our own, but instead of lashing out and seeking to cause the same harm his deception has caused her, she simply grants herself permission to feel as she does without taking those feelings out on anyone else. She’s understandably wary of Dane for majority of the book, but she doesn’t hold a grudge or allow herself to be so blinded by what he’s done to her that she can’t understand the why’s of his decisions, and thus the broken trust between them creates a stunningly tense foundation for their eventual romance.

The romance itself is exceedingly well done, moving at the perfect pace given trust is not an easy thing to rebuild once it’s been destroyed, and by the time Dane actually makes his first move our anger at him has receded along with Essie’s. Just when the two of them find themselves on more solid footing with one another however, they’re thrust back into the nightmare Essie escaped from all those years ago, facing monsters of the human variety who show us that a poisoned apple from an old hag is nothing compared to what the royal house of Windsong is capable of.
 

Overall, Ms. Lewis delights with her retelling of Snow White and her seven companions, giving us true villains to hate and flawed heroes to root for, all the while charming us with enough silly banter between Essie and her drones and romance between reluctant royals to keep the darkness from overwhelming. Entertaining every step of the way, Stitching Snow should be on everyone’s must-read list.

Rating: 4/5


Find R.C.


This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review
I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

50 comments:

  1. Snow White is one of my favourite fairytales so I'll give this one a try, Jenny, especially because Essie isn't a damsel in distress. Her drones sound awesome. I totally need one (but not Dimwit or Cusser because I don't think they'll be very helpful)!

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    1. No, you definitely want Dimwit and Cusser Z, they are AWESOME. They'll make you laugh every day:)

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  2. Ah I was so curious about thisone and I'm happy you enjoyed it but i think all the mixed reviews had me and I'm not sure anymore now...

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  3. I liked this one too, and was happy that the romance wasn't the main thing. It was nice, and more subtle. Ha- yes, Cusser and Dimwit, gotta love them.

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    1. They just made me happy Christy. Dimwit especially. I wanted to hug him:)

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  4. It does make me think of Cinder...still not but still yes

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    1. It has a Cinder vibe to it for sure, but there were a lot of differences and I just loved it as a whole:)

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  5. eep i love the way you write!! <33 especially that paragraph on essie and dane... I WANT TO MEE THEM. LIKE NOW. can't believe that i never realized this was a Snow White retelling (duh alicia, look at the freaking apple), now that changes everything. thank you for the brillaint review, jenny, i can't wait to read this!!

    alicia @ noverly things

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    1. Thanks so much Alicia! I can't wait to see what you think:)

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  6. I love retelling book they always make me excited while reading ... i have this one on my TBR pile ... i really want read it soon :) lovely review :)

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    1. I'm such a huge fan of retellings as well Alreem, I can never get enough of them:)

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  7. I love the cover and this sounds like an awesome book
    GREAT review, deary
    Your reader,
    Soma R.
    http://insomnia-of-books.blogspot.com/

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  8. I have heard so many mixed reviews about this one and after each one I find myself shifting from the "give it a try" to the "no thanks" camp and once again I'm firmly on the "give it a try" one after reading your review!
    Thank you Jenny!

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    1. YES PILI! Give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed:) We seem to like the same things!

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  9. Whee! More fairy tale retellings. The Lunar Chronicles has whet my appetite for them. :)

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  10. I'll be honest, I was never really interested in this book and then the mixed reviews bolstered my decision, but I have to admit that your review has changed my mind. This does sound interesting and the characters sound well-developed with flaws and strengths. I'm going to have to see if the library has a copy.
    Lovely review, Jenny!

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    1. I really liked this Nick! It was darker than I expected in one particular area, and I liked that she caught me off guard. I'm definitely looking forward to more by her:)

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  11. Oh boy. I had come to the realization that this book probably isn't for me... then I read THIS! Now I want to read it again!! Oh, such a dilemma!! :)

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    1. I thought it was really great Lisa, and a quick read, so I think you could be through it in no time!

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  12. I'm not a big fan of Snow White, although admittedly R.C. Lewis' version sounds much improved over the original. LOL! I'm worried that the drones might be a little too Sci Fi for me, but otherwise I'm tempted by the story.

    Carmel @ Rabid Reads

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    1. You will LOVE the drones Carmel! They're hilarious. Definitely one of my favorite parts:)

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  13. I kept hearing mixed things about this one so I ended up not ordering It from my library but I love how you mention in your review that the romance wasn't the focus of the story yet it was still good! Okay, maybe i'll give this one a shot than, Jenny!

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    1. I loved how the romance played out Lily. It just progressed so perfectly. I'm a bit of a grudge holder, so I was irritated with Dane for a long time, but the great part was Essie was too, so we were both given the time we needed to get past it:)

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  14. I am so glad you liked this Jenny. I have seen some not so great reviews for it but I really want to read it so the fact that you liked it leaves me excited to start it.

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  15. I usually go for books with flawed characters, unfortunately they're far and few inbetween with retellings.

    I've got this one on hold at my library, can't wait!

    Amber Elise @ Du Livre

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    1. YES TO FLAWED CHARACTERS!!! They're the very best kind:)

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  16. I'm glad you liked this one, Jenny. I got this one for review and was worried about some of the mixed reviews this book received. I do like the sound of this one and will give it a go.

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    1. I feel like a bit of an outsider now since everyone is saying they've read such mixed reviews, but it just worked really well for me:)

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  17. I really enjoyed this one but wanted more SPACE. I mean, it's scifi...SPACE seems like a necessity. Instead, it felt more like a fantasy set in space versus a scifi. Still, enjoyable.

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    1. Haha yes, not as much space as one might expect, BUT given I prefer fantasy to sci-fi that actually worked out better for me:)

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  18. I have this on my TBR...sounds like I should bump it up a bit :)

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  19. I debated on this one. I love retellings but have wondered if the market was going to be saturated and so we usually get watered down versions of retellings (did that make sense? Anyhoo...) I'm SO glad to see that this is not the case here and I'm so glad that this one is well done. Adding it to the wishlist! You pushed me over the fence!

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  20. I like some retellings and some I don't, so I can't say one way or another but I've also heard good and bad things about this one.
    I think I'm going to give it a try because the people I trust seem to really like it!

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    1. I really hope you like it Kristi! It was hugely entertaining and definitely one I couldn't put down:)

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  21. I wavered on this one. I like the sound of it after reading your review. I especially like that Snow White has some smarts.

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    1. Essie is fantastic. I loved that she was way more technologically savvy then I could ever hope to be, but she's also a badasss - getting into cage fights with men to make a little money:)

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  22. I'm not usually one to read retellings, but this books sounds too good to pass up! I love the sound of how Lewis makes the romance slowly work its way on you and how cool do the drones sound too? I didn't have this book on my tbr, but I'll be adding it for sure now!

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    1. I want Dimwit and Cusser Jasprit. I WANT THEM!

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  23. I read another review that wasn't so complimentary so now i am very conflicted. Guess I will have to give it a try for myself.

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  24. Whoa, you made this book sound wonderful Jenny! Now I really need to read this!!!

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  25. I really enjoyed this one as well Jenny! Essie is such a great heroine, not a damsel in distress and those drones - Cusser and Dimwit are so adorable. I'm glad you enjoyed the romance in Stitching Snow as well, I thought Dane was a great balance to Essie :)

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  26. YES! This is totally me. I must read it!

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  27. I love a good retelling story! And this one sounds like it has an amazing main character which will keep me happy, and then enough of a plot to keep me on my toes as well. I have this on my TBR and have a feeling this is one I will enjoy reading a lot as well ^^

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