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2.16k reviews by:
wordsofclover
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.
Snow has lived in a mental asylum ever since she was a young girl and attempted to walk through a mirror. When one day, Snow’s boyfriend Bale gets pulled through to another world by a mysterious stranger, Snow follows and finds out she’s a princess…with the power to control snow. And it’s up to her to not only save Bale, but the rest of her land from a crazy king.
It took me a while to get into this story and unfortunately this isn’t one I ever really felt myself invested in either. I had no connection with Snow and as a character, I didn’t particularly like her. She was very hard to warm to and I thought she seemed fickle, judgemental and oftentimes a bit cruel as well.Sometimes characters are so unlikable you end up liking them anyways but this wasn’t the case for Snow. She also had a major problem with thinking that everyone wanted to kiss her and deciding on what guy she actually liked.
There are a lot of fairytale elements in this book from the Snow White theme, to Alice Through the Looking-Glass and The Snow Queen. But even though I normally like all those kind of elements in books and how they take from the classic stories we know and love, this one ended up making me feel like I was reading a story I already knew about even though, realistically, I could tell myself this was a brand new story with some good twists and turns.
This book unfortunately just wasn’t one for me I think and it made me feel a bit slumpy sometimes and a drag to read. I do think it could be perfect for people who love fairytale-retellings, I think I just didn’t click with it personally as overall the writing was good and the story detailed.
Snow has lived in a mental asylum ever since she was a young girl and attempted to walk through a mirror. When one day, Snow’s boyfriend Bale gets pulled through to another world by a mysterious stranger, Snow follows and finds out she’s a princess…with the power to control snow. And it’s up to her to not only save Bale, but the rest of her land from a crazy king.
It took me a while to get into this story and unfortunately this isn’t one I ever really felt myself invested in either. I had no connection with Snow and as a character, I didn’t particularly like her. She was very hard to warm to and I thought she seemed fickle, judgemental and oftentimes a bit cruel as well.Sometimes characters are so unlikable you end up liking them anyways but this wasn’t the case for Snow. She also had a major problem with thinking that everyone wanted to kiss her and deciding on what guy she actually liked.
There are a lot of fairytale elements in this book from the Snow White theme, to Alice Through the Looking-Glass and The Snow Queen. But even though I normally like all those kind of elements in books and how they take from the classic stories we know and love, this one ended up making me feel like I was reading a story I already knew about even though, realistically, I could tell myself this was a brand new story with some good twists and turns.
This book unfortunately just wasn’t one for me I think and it made me feel a bit slumpy sometimes and a drag to read. I do think it could be perfect for people who love fairytale-retellings, I think I just didn’t click with it personally as overall the writing was good and the story detailed.
Over 100 years from now, society is separated into two groups - the Pures and the Dregs. The Dregs were created following animosity towards minority and ethnic groups, and now they’re the lowest of the low - living in slums and for some, forced to perform in the Cirque in which no-one survives very long. When Ben, a Pure, visits the Cirque and is instantly dazzled by trapeze artist Hoshiko, he is suddenly seeing clearly for the first time and realises the injustices in the world.
This was a really great dystopian - definitely one of the best I’ve read in a while. The world building of the Cirque was great and i really felt the dismal, tense atmosphere of it and how it was transformed into a gladiator ring come showtime. I definitely think that this is best dystopian-type book I’ve read that’s similar in style to The Hunger Games, while still being completely original on its own.
I do think there was insta-love between Ben and Hoshiko (I could have done without them actually saying the ‘L’ word by the end of the book. I don’t think they were there yet, considering they only spent about three hours together). The cirque was horrible, but captivating and so many parts of the story were really insane but were actually based on truths and things happening and being said in the world today. It showed the type of future that I never, ever want to happen.
I can’t wait for the sequel if there is one!
This was a really great dystopian - definitely one of the best I’ve read in a while. The world building of the Cirque was great and i really felt the dismal, tense atmosphere of it and how it was transformed into a gladiator ring come showtime. I definitely think that this is best dystopian-type book I’ve read that’s similar in style to The Hunger Games, while still being completely original on its own.
I do think there was insta-love between Ben and Hoshiko (I could have done without them actually saying the ‘L’ word by the end of the book. I don’t think they were there yet, considering they only spent about three hours together). The cirque was horrible, but captivating and so many parts of the story were really insane but were actually based on truths and things happening and being said in the world today. It showed the type of future that I never, ever want to happen.
I can’t wait for the sequel if there is one!
Tangleweed and Brine is a fascinating retelling of the childhood fairytales we all know and love, in which the female characters are stronger, darker and more complex than ever before.
I really enjoyed the majority of the stories and how the characters got a different kind of voice than I’ve seen previously. Each character is dealing with issues that that many other women can relate with (mostly).
I loved the twist on a lot of these fairy tales - the way Rapunzel looked at her mother’s reasons for giving her to the witch, and in Hansel and Gretel we saw the story of the ‘witch’ in the gingerbread house.
My favourites were probably Snow White for the really twisted, dark road that one took and a type of Snow White I’ve never seen before. The Frog Prince story was also wonderful and I would genuinely love a whole book set in the world.
I loved that the Bluebeard story was pretty much the only one that seemed to be an actual love story. I also liked Fair, Brown and Trembling mostly because I didn’t know much about the fairy tale at all so it was going into a brand new story altogether.
I really enjoyed the majority of the stories and how the characters got a different kind of voice than I’ve seen previously. Each character is dealing with issues that that many other women can relate with (mostly).
I loved the twist on a lot of these fairy tales - the way Rapunzel looked at her mother’s reasons for giving her to the witch, and in Hansel and Gretel we saw the story of the ‘witch’ in the gingerbread house.
My favourites were probably Snow White for the really twisted, dark road that one took and a type of Snow White I’ve never seen before. The Frog Prince story was also wonderful and I would genuinely love a whole book set in the world.
I loved that the Bluebeard story was pretty much the only one that seemed to be an actual love story. I also liked Fair, Brown and Trembling mostly because I didn’t know much about the fairy tale at all so it was going into a brand new story altogether.