Snow by Tracy Lynn

The book says "a retelling of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' ", so it's obviously a fairy-tale retelling. It's actually part of a series called 'Once Upon A Time', and I used to find them everywhere in bookstores. I bought Snow because I really really liked the story, and my family does like to wait while I re-read entire books.

In this retelling, Snow (White - but she's called Snow) is Duchess Jessica. The evil queen is still a step-mother and the absent father is a distant, absent father. At first, the step-mother (Duchess Anne), is actually pretty nice, but she grows crueler as the years go by - till one day, Snow has to flee for her life. That's when she meets the Lonely Ones, and well, I don't really need to tell you how the story goes don't I?

What I loved about this story are its characters. It's a really short tale (I can finish it in 15-20 minutes), but Snow is an awesome character. She's quite a tomboy, and has a heart of gold. My other favourite character is Allan, the fiddler/mirror (mirror frame). The 'dwarfs' of Lonely Ones were also interesting - I really wish the book was longer because I would have liked much fuller character sketches of them. It feels like the dynamics between them and Snow could last a book!

As for the magic, well, the book tries to meld magic with science. Maybe I should say 'psuedo-science', since it's a bunch of scientific-sounding talk with little scientific base (I think. At least, that's how it sounds to me). And anyway, the characters do call them "spells" and such.

This is a good retelling which, although it doesn't deviate much from the original story, still manages to somehow feel fresh. I suppose it shows that even plot can become archetypal, and have many variations of the same.

Note: This book was read for the Fairy-Tales retold reading challenge.