Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem
By: Melissa Lemon
Cedar Fort, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9781462111459
Stuck in her family's apple orchards, Kat's got plenty of work to do and only pesky Jeremy to help. But when Jeremy convinces her to run away, Kat will discover that nothing---and no one---in her life is quite what it seems. Wonderfully reimagined, this is the magical tale of Snow White as you've never read it before!
Review
One thing that I hate more than ANYTHING is a misleading synopsis. It's a good thing that I didn't read this one before I read the book, because it is totally misleading! Katiyana is the Princess of Mayhem, but she has grown up in hiding at her Great-Uncle Barney's apple orchard, with no knowledge of her identity, or the fact that her Mother tried to have her killed before her Father saved her (and died in the process). But Barney went blind when Kat became a teenager and with that blindness came anger, alcohol and violence. Now the only person that Kat can rely on is the hired hand, Jeremy Simkins, who is rejected by everyone but her because of his family name. When he convinces her to run away until he can marry her, Kat is taken in by seven dwarves, who come to love her. But the Queen's magic mirror (which has a real person trapped inside) slips up and the Queen learns Kat is alive. Will he be able to find a way to warn Kat of the Queen's evil plan to get rid of her once and for all? And is the assassin sent by the Queen really all that he seems? This was definitely different from any other Snow White re-telling that I've personally read! I did like that the story was told from the magic mirror's point of view, and his connection to Kat was an interesting turn. But Lemon didn't use that device to the fullest. The mirror never really describes anything for us, but just gives us the barest insights into Kat's feelings and actions. It's annoying and somewhat boring to read basics. One of my favorite characters was Pokole, the dwarf, but really even he was two-dimensional as a character. The romance with Jeremy was flat and the almost romance with the assassin (who has a secret identity) was so barely there, it isn't even really worth acknowledging. The ending has a few great plot twists and reveals, but I felt like the so-called 'battle' with the Queen was too anti-climactic and very disappointing. Overall, the twists at the end are the only thing saving this book for me as a reader, at all. One thing I will say, is that for such a mediocre book the cover is beautiful.
VERDICT: 2.25/5 Stars
*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published on December 11th, 2012.*
Aw, sorry to read that this was disappointing! I saw the cover and thought it looked so pretty and it seemed like a promising synopsis. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI was sad that it didn't live up to my expectations, but I'm still glad that I gave it a try. That's how you find the good ones! :)
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