Review - Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

 

 

Title: Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Author: Melissa Bashardoust

Pages: 384

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: 16th April 2020

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone. In fact, it has never beat at all, for her father cut it out and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image. Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina, but when her father makes her queen of the southern territories, Mina starts to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do - and who to be - in order to win back the only mother she's ever known . . . or else defeat her once and for all.

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My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

Mina lives with her father who is a magician. They are shunned by the local villagers and Mina leads a lonely existence. She has never known love and cannot love because of the glass heart her father put in her chest.

When Mina and her father move to Whitespring Castle where the king resides, Mina decides to use her beauty to capture the king’s heart and become queen in the hopes that she will finally know love. But marrying the king will mean becoming stepmother to the young princess, Lynet.

Lynet is always being compared to her mother, the late queen. When she’s fifteen, Lynet finds out why she resembles her mother so eerily – Mina’s father, the magician, created Lynet from snow using the dead queen’s image.

As Lynet learns the truth and events lead to strains in Mina and Lynet’s relationship, the princess must decide on her future and whether Mina is now her enemy.

Will Lynet take Mina’s place on the throne?

I was a bit hesitant going into Girls Made of Snow and Glass as I recently DNFd the author’s most recent book, but I ended up enjoying this one a lot more.

Mina and Lynet were both relatable and likeable protagonists who I felt sorry for – Mina because she grew up with a father who didn’t treat her well, and Lynet because her father was trying to mould her into her dead mother. Both of them had also been lied to. I was surprised that I liked Mina more and found her chapters more interesting.

I haven’t read many Snow White retellings, but I think this is my favourite as I liked the way the relationship between Mina and Lynet was explored and handled.

The magic was intriguing and I felt that there was just the right amount of it in the novel.

The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn’t gripped and I didn’t feel overly invested in what happened. I liked the way the novel ended.

The writing style was easy to follow and I didn’t feel confused at what was happening at any point.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

 

DNF Review - Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

 

 

Title: Girl, Serpent, Thorn

Author: Melissa Bashardoust

Pages: 336

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: 7th July 2020

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

SOMETIMES THE PRINCESS IS THE MONSTER

From the author of Girls Made of Snow and Glass, this captivating and utterly original Persian-inspired fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch is perfect for fans of Natasha Ngan and Naomi Novik.

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it's not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother's wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she's willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn't afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming . . . human or demon. Princess or monster.

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My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

DNF @39%

 

Princess Soraya lives an isolated life, removed from the rest of the royal court, even apart from her twin, the ruler, and their mother, for most of the year.
Soraya's touch is deadly, so she is hidden away, most of her people unaware of her existence.
Soraya gains an ally in a young man who isn't afraid to be near her and who wants to help her.
Soraya was cursed by a div, so when one is captured and locked in the dungeon she decides to talk to the div and find out if there is a way to get rid of the curse.
Soraya's quest to be free of the curse will strain her relationships with her family and may put Soraya on a path more suited to a monster than a princess . . .

Having heard good things about this book, and being intrigued by the Persian elements, I was looking forward to reading Girl, Serpent, Thorn. However, it unfortunately ended up not being for me.
Soraya was a protagonist who it should have been easy for me to sympathise with, given the way she was treated, but the more I read the less I liked her. I ended up finding Soraya rather frustrating and I couldn't connect with her at all. I actually felt more sorry for her brother, who was busy trying to rule, than I did for Soraya.
In the 39% of the book that I did read, barely anything happened and I struggled to stay interested in the little that did happen.
The writing style wasn't one of my favourites and I feel like it would have been easier for me to relate and connect with Soraya if the novel had been written in first person instead of third person.
In the end, I decided to stop reading because I wasn't enjoying the novel and I was frustrated by Soraya's actions.
This is a novel where the concept was intriguing, but the execution didn't work for me.

 

Unfortunately, this wasn't for me.