Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem

Originally reviewed at Witchmag's Boekenplank

*I received a free copy through Netgally in exchange for my honest opinion*

This was one heck off a story fairy-tale. Is it just me, or are there a lot more of these old fairy-tale retellings lately? Not that I mind, I always loved my bed-time stories ^^ It’s just that some aren’t as enjoyable as the original one. If you write about a specific fairy-tale, please let it show in the story! Sorry, just read a book I wasn’t that happy with. Won’t tell names though ;)

Anyways, that last ranting wasn’t meant for this book, oh no. Here it was clear which story was used and it’s a great addition to the retelling genre. I almost liked it better than the original. It has this delicious show more sinister and dark twist and instantly reminded me of Snow White and the Huntsman. Not because the stories are alike (not at all!), but because it’s also filmed with dark colors. So you could feel the misery and sadness all the better… Nevertheless, it’s also a book I finished in no time. It was that captivating.

This was partly because of the way the story is told, it’s like someone reads the story to you. Just like my parents did with Snow White when I was young. It was a bit nostalgic and fit the book perfectly! Besides it’s not just anybody who tells the story, it’s the evil queen’s mirror! THE magical mirror that has to answer the same question every day: Who’s fairest of them all? And one big question of mine gets finally answered: what exactly is the mirror? Is it even a real mirror, or is it a person? I won’t spoil the answer, so just go and read the story ;) Just let me say I was quite satisfied with the answer and how it was used in the story ^^

Only disadvantage of having a story read to you is that you don’t get to know the feelings a character really feels ones. You won’t be able to feel how friendship slowly turns into love. You’ll miss the moment they realize they are in love. You won’t experience the tense moments, just before that first kiss. This is just me talking: i’s a love story and I didn’t have my romance time. I can get cranky without it. But this time I was too absorbed in the story to notice it. Till I finished. Then I grumbled a bit. In the end it wasn’t that important. This time.

Talking about characters, what would Snow White be without her Seven Dwarves? In this story too, they play an important role. And the difference! These were not the “Disney” dwarves I grew up with, but real people. Born with a genetic defect. We even have a Siamese twin! Although the youngest was once again my favorite. He warmed my heart and made me love him in a single heartbeat. I sincerely enjoyed the time I spent in that little house in the woods ^^

And now Snow White herself. She too was way different from our Disney Princess. Not afraid of anything that’s thrown her way, not afraid to speak her mind. Way different from the princess who was scared and running in the woods. The one who was a real damsel in distress and needed to be rescued. That’s not who Kat is. She’s the one doing the rescuing and saving instead ^^

Although I said I liked that Kat saves the day. Even though this is an incredible story, with surprising twists and turns. There was still something I missed greatly in this retelling of Snow White. The poisonous apple. Where is my apple? Isn’t that a very big deal in Snow White’s life? So why was it missing? Isn’t the apple essential? Every version of Snow White I’ve read always had the apple, even Snow White and the Huntsman! So I was a bit disappointed that it was left out. For me it’s something that needs to be in a story about Snow White, even if the rest of the story is too amazing for words.

Conclusion

4 HEARTS. This is an amazing fairy-tale about a whole new Snow White, even with a missing poisonous apple. It has many twists and turns, so you’ll never know what to expect next. With every word I read this book became better and better. It was very refreshing to have the story read to me and I finally found out what The Mirror is! However, it made me miss my “romantic time,” but the story was great enough that I didn’t feel this as a loss. The characters make more than up for it. With adorable “dwarves” and a strong and kick ass Snow White, I can highly recommend this book to every fairy-tale lover out there. And I’m now off to re-watch Disney’s Snow White. Again. show less

I received a copy of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a clever re-working of the Snow White fairy tale that skillfully blends the familiar and the surprising to create a story that truly captivates.

Told from the viewpoint of the Mirror (with a lovely little twist at the end that I didn't see coming), the narrative is a little old-fashioned in a completely charming way. There's no poison apple, but there are seven dwarves - of sorts -, a deliciously wicked Queen, and no shortage of princes.

I love good reworkings of fairy tales and this one is by far one of the better ones.

Whenever I read a retelling of a famous fairytale, I expect certain things to be in order; I want to be able to recall some a lot of elements from the original tale, I want the main character to stand out and be special and I want the story to be its own, but still make sense as a retelling. Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem did not live up to my expectations.

The story is told from the POV of the Mirror which does not work AT ALL! It means that the story is retold instead of being told, because the Mirror tells the reader what he sees and you end up with a lot of ‘then she said’ and ‘then he did’. It makes the story boring and I never got to feel for the characters because I never got to really care about them – the Mirror show more did that for me. It just ends up as a retold retelling!

Kat is unusual in one way only: she is so darn forgettable! She is like a doll being guided through the story – in no way alive and interesting, but just so indifferent. She has no independence and no empowerment and there is absolutely nothing new about the Snow White character. It feels like Melissa Lemon tried to change the story about Snow White without actually changing the character Snow White the least. Kat is one of the most boring MC I have ever read about!

Unfortunately, it was not just Kat who was forgettable. The Dwarfs have so little personality that I had a very hard time telling them apart and an even harder time remembering their names. Jeremy (not a Dwarf, but the love interest) was the only one with a hint of personality, but his backstory was so weird and I didn’t fully understand it until the end – frankly, by then I just did not care anymore.

It seems like the story is made up along the way. Like whoops-we-need-this-to-make-that-and-that-fit-together and it makes for some weird twists and turns along the way. I did, however, not figure out most of the twists beforehand, but by then I did not really care anymore anyway. (Except from the Mirror – I am so glad that his behavior was explained, because it was weird and creepy!). show less

This book is a beautifully told tale that youth readers will love. It is very simple and charming. POV is creative. I figured out the twists in the plot at the same moments that I think the author wants you to. Lemon leaves great foreshadowing to the unraveling of her mysteries. A classic tale of a happy ending, though I do wish that maybe some of the surprises weren't all unraveled at once. I think an appropriate tale for 10 and up. Lemon's writing style is to the point, which makes it an enjoyable easy read. Definitely a fresh take on Snow White, and I enjoyed it.

What a fantastic new take on the Snow White fairytale! Everything in this story is seen and told by the mirror and I have to admit at the beginning it was a bit different and hard to get into. But soon after you get into the rhythm and understand how the tale is being told it is quite enjoyable.

One of the interesting things about this book is the evil Queen who wants to kill the young princess is actually her mother and not her stepmother. Even the seven dwarves are different than all the previous tales we have read before. Things like this make this a very enjoyable tale to read!

There are several twists in the story that I was not prepared for and I liked out things turned out. Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem is one of the best show more fairytale retelling I have ever read and I look forward to more by this very talented author. show less

Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon
5 STARS

Melissa Lemon took one of my favorite story and gave it a fresh new look that did not disappoint. It had many of the same points but they were a little different. It is a clean read.
Queen Radiance and King Fredrick had a daughter. King Fredrick loved his daughter but
Queen did not. She even tried to drown her but King rescued her. Queen Radiance was the power in her kingdom. Her husband could not stop any of her mean plans.
A servant new that either the King or thier daughter would be killed the next day and warned the King. King Fredrick dressed like a servant took his daughter and left the kingdom of Mayhem.
King Fredrick rode into the next kingdom and asked his Uncle Barney to show more take his daughter that her life was in danger from her mother. Soon after leaving his Uncle's apple orchard and band of thieves robbed and murdered Fredrick. They left a bloody mess and animals finshed.
The executioner found the King and reported back to the Queen that they were dead.
The Queen had a magic mirror that she had cast a spell on to make the sorcer in to tell the truth. The Sorceer could tell partial truth and he showed her the mess of King's body and that they were dead.
Barney took care of Kat but would never let her off the orchard. He taught her how to take care of the trees and animals. But never gave into her about leaving the orchard he told her it was too dangerous. Everything was going fine till Barney woke up to being blind. Then he hired someone to help Kat take care of things. First person that Kat met.
Jeremy Simkins arrived to work the orchard and they worked hard together for years.
Jeremy came from a family that everyone hated. Thier were lots of kids to feed. 5 slept in one bed.
I did not want to put the book down till I had finshed it. I would like to read more from Melissa in the future. Some twists in the story I guessed right others I had no idea of. The characters are ones I loved, some I hated and others I laughed with. Even shed a few tears with. The story I liked. The dwarfs were thier but they had different names but some of the same attidutes.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest reviews from Netgalley.
December 11th 2012 by Cedar Fort, Inc. 288 pages ISBN 1462111459 (ISBN13: 9781462111459) show less

I'm debating between giving this an actual star rating (of 1 star), or just leaving it. I can't decide if this is a "it's not the book, it's me" situation, but the problems I'm having with this book are begging me to just give up on thinking I'm coming back to trying to finish.

I really wanted to like this, but I'm giving up: the Kindle app tells me I'm at 23%. That's enough of my life, when I could have been reading something more enjoyable to me.

It's entirely possible that the issues I'm having with this book will get resolved as the story goes on, so I won't comment about the plot and characters, since I'm not going to finish.

I will say, though, that what I've read so far is, in my opinion, not very polished. It reads more like an show more outline of an idea, rather than a fleshed out novel. Too much tell, not enough show.

And the premise of having the story told by the Magic Mirror was bizarre at first (because you didn't actually know that's what it was...), and then, after I did know, it was interesting for maybe a chapter and then it felt forced and awkward.

If you like fairy tale retellings, I'd give a sample a try before you actually spend money on this one.

{I received a copy of this from Netgalley.} show less