Girls Made of Snow & Glass by Melissa Bashardoust | Mini Review

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Release Date: September 5th, 2017

Pages: 384

Goodreads Review: here

Goodreads synopsis:

Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale

At sixteen, Mina’s mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, 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, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

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M I N I    R E V I E W

I was really expecting to like Girls Made of Snow and Glass. Unfortunately, this was not the case at all. I would be involved and captivated in sections and in others, I could feel myself itching to take a nap instead. The story just wasn’t vibrant enough to keep my attention. I’m sure this is a book someone else would love and find themselves in, but I just couldn’t care about Lynet and Mina during their separate plot lines.

Both girls have their trials and tribulations, the earlier trials that Mina goes through I actually enjoyed. I was really looking forward to some vindictiveness, but I don’t read blurbs so this may be my own fault.

The title is to be taken literally, not metaphorically. I was taking it metaphorically, so I was pretty confused when information was revealed to the audience. I was shocked. I was expecting a Snow White retelling with a twist, instead, I just got twists that left me bored. I believe the story fell apart around 50%, where the climax occurs but it’s not where the plot takes off. The plot actually comes to a standstill and the mystical sense of the story makes it difficult to really push the story further.

I’m not sure how to describe it, it just fell flat.The characters are bland as well, in my opinion. Both Lynet (Snow White) and Mina (the Evil Queen) were flat characters. They both read the exact same way, with no substance and just decision-making that ultimately never occurred. I don’t really have much to say on them, either. The romance fell flat as well. Around 50% (when I just completely gave up and skimmed the book) the romance hadn’t even formed. There were hints but there was absolutely nothing. Overall, the writing was magic, the plot was

Overall, the writing was magic, the plot was non-existent and the characters were bland and way too similar to distinguish voices among. I went in expecting a Snow White retelling where the prince was going to be a girl (aka a super amazing f/f romance) but that is not what this book is unfortunately.