Melissa Bashardoust (pronounced BASH-ar-doost) received her degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, where she rediscovered her love for creative writing, children’s literature, and fairy tales and their retellings. She currently lives in Southern California with a cat named Alice and more copies of Jane Eyre than she probably needs. Girls Made of Snow and Glass is her first novel.
Title: Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Genre: YA Fantasy
Author: Melissa Bashardoust
Publisher: Flatiron
Publication: September 5th 2017
Cover Rating: 4/5
It is finally time for me to sit down and write me review for Girls Made of Snow and Glass. I have been sitting on this review for a few weeks now and I think I am finally ready to brave it.
Lynet is our first main character. She is the sixteen year old daughter of the king of Whitespring Castle. A place where is it always cold and snowy. Lynet's mother died during child birth so the only mother she has ever known is her step-mother, Mina. Lynet loves Mina with a fierceness but what happens when her step-mother can't love her back? And what happens when your father couldn't bear to live without his wife so you were made to be her likeness.
Mina is our second main character. We get to see flashes of her life from before she became queen and that helps us learn about her story and why she is the way she is and why she does the things she does. Her father was a great Magician when she was a little girl and this got her shunned by the towns people. People would call on the magician to help solve their problems but after he was done they would go back to shunning him and his daughter. Fear is a mighty strong force, my dear readers. But Mina's story goes a lot deeper than just fear. It contains agony, betrayal and, worst of all, emptiness.
There is a little bit of romance in this book. The relationship is F/F between Lynet and a court appointed doctor. The relationship is pretty cute and there are a ton of obstacles for the girls to get through but in the end, things end up where they should be. I really loved how they empowered each other. I also love that Lynet offered to send the doctor back to her home area because she didn't like Whitespring. It showed a huge level of maturity on her part.
So, instead of the normal Snow White retellings, we get this magical story of bravery, feminism and the ability to forgive someone even when they hurt you the most. It shows us that even if your heard is made of glass, you can still love. And even if you are just a clone, made of snow, you are still a person, you are still you.
I think the only part of the book that I didn't enjoy was what happened to the king. I know what happened to him was probably just going along with the original fairytale but there really was no need to bump him off. Him and Mina didn't have the best relationship as he could not let go of his dead wife, but he didn't need to be taken out of the picture entirely.
In the end, I truly, truly, truly adored this book. It had a happy ending for both the villian and the heroin and you never see that. Ever. I loved the strong, empowering female vibes and the diversity of not having a prince to come save the day. I hope the author writes more feminist fairytale retellings. I would definitely read anything she would write.
Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.
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