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Black as Snow

2.83 of 5 stars 2.83 · rating details · 92 ratings · 20 reviews

Sebastian Black is gorgeous and charismatic ? and he's telepathic. So when his prophetess mother, Kitty Black, declares him ?New Man, ? their tiny spiritual movement mushrooms. But when disciples die and Christian militants declare war on this ?false messiah, ? Sebastian runs, seeking refuge. On his journey, he meets ?common? people with unforgettable histories: an aging l...more

Paperback, 376 pages

Published August 30th 2011 by AmazonEncore

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Sep 27, 2011 Elisa Ramblings added it

In comparison to the previous two novels by Nick Nolan I have read, especially Strings Attached, where I had immediately caught the connection with the fairy tale they were loosely inspired by, with Black as Snow I had some more double check to do, and in a way I’m still missing some “characters”. Sure, Sebastian Black is SnowWhite (Black/White), his mother Kitty is the stepmother/witch, and I think I even matched two dwarfs in Tess and Libby (Grumpy and Doc), even if I didn’t arrive to 7. Ramon...more In comparison to the previous two novels by Nick Nolan I have read, especially Strings Attached, where I had immediately caught the connection with the fairy tale they were loosely inspired by, with Black as Snow I had some more double check to do, and in a way I’m still missing some “characters”. Sure, Sebastian Black is SnowWhite (Black/White), his mother Kitty is the stepmother/witch, and I think I even matched two dwarfs in Tess and Libby (Grumpy and Doc), even if I didn’t arrive to 7. Ramon is probably another one, and Reed is the female version of the Prince Charming. And yes, I didn’t commit a mistake since even if there is a gay subtheme, this is not actually a full gay novel, it’s more a novel about modern society, and there is everyone, gays, lesbians and straights.

There is a lot of gay references throughout the novel, Tess and Libby B&B in Big Sur has each room devoted to a LGBT classic author, like Paul Monette, and the lesbian couple is reading a copy of Double Bond by the same Nick Nolan. One of the supporting character helping Sebastian find his way back to life (another reference, also SnowWhite was running away from her world but then she went back), Ramon, has a gay son who he deeply loves, unconditionally, like probably Nick Nolan would like happen to each young gay boy on his coming out.

But in the end the main element of the novel is the searching of a new religion than in the end is simply the acknowledgment we are not alone in the world, that you are not an isle and that you cannot live by yourself without considering what your actions, or even simply words, will do to whom is around you. As I have always found SnowWhite to be a bit too much naïve, so is Sebastian; he is not against his mother ideas, maybe he doesn’t like how she is realizing them, but more or less he believes what she is telling him. Sebastian is living in a crystal ball, detached by real life, programmed to believe he is so much better than other people he can do practically everything.

But Sebastian will learn a taught lesson: no matter how much you try, no matter how much you believe it, at some point you have nothing to do if not surrender to life, and the only think that remains to do is to love even more who is still there with you.

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Sep 09, 2011 Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Sebastian Black has known he was different from a very young age and with his mother Kitty’s guidance went from strange kid who heard voices to Telepathic Evangelistic Susperstar. He’s rich, he’s handsome and he has fans literally throwing themselves at him on and off stage. Kitty sees nothing wrong with this and has in fact encouraged it, so much so that Sebastian has throw away one night stands at every venue. After a tragedy at the ripe old age of nineteen he’s having a crisis of faith, in hi...more Sebastian Black has known he was different from a very young age and with his mother Kitty’s guidance went from strange kid who heard voices to Telepathic Evangelistic Susperstar. He’s rich, he’s handsome and he has fans literally throwing themselves at him on and off stage. Kitty sees nothing wrong with this and has in fact encouraged it, so much so that Sebastian has throw away one night stands at every venue. After a tragedy at the ripe old age of nineteen he’s having a crisis of faith, in himself, in Kitty and in what he believes. In his search for answers he comes across people willing to give him solace and sanctuary, he’s found links to his past and hints at his future but the closer he gets to the truth he’s also unbeknown to him getting in the crosshairs of a fanatic religious group out to put an end to his ministry and his life.
This is described as loosely based on the story of Snow White in my opinion the focus has to be on the loosely, because Sebastian is no innocent flower. Our author has given us a tale of a misdirected youth who leaves home for soul searching and self discovery. He does this with legible and understandable dialogue and an narrative that is strikingly colorful and animated. And although at times that dialogue tends to limp it doesn’t disturb the reading enjoyment. He gives us characters who will run the gamut from girl next door to lesbian couple to ex-drug addict, to overbearing cigarette smoking mother, in other words eclectic to the nth degree, but they will never the less reel you in and keep you turning pages to learn the outcome of this twisted tale of Snow White the dwarves and the evil Queen. His characterization of Sebastian will make you hate and love him, mourn and curse him for his more than apt humanness and for his piety warring with his depravities. The other characters both minor and major are definitely worth getting to know and you will because Mr. Nolan intimates us to them all.
This is a coming of age story, it’s a love story, it’s a dysfunctional family drama, it’s a story about friendship about diversity about tolerance and about intolerance. It’s a morality tale, a good vs evil story and a lesson in compassion and kindness that we could all use a little more of.
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Feb 17, 2012 Wonderkell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction, literary-fiction

Black as Snow is a modern day retelling of the Snow White fable. Sebastian Black is a evangelical superstar who has amassed a fortune for both his mother Kitty & himself, despite being only 19. Like many a teen with money to burn he has become incredibly materialistic & narcissistic. But he feels trapped. Kitty controls his entire life (the evil queen) & Sebastian, who is starting to feel some doubts about his situation, just wants to escape. So he heads off to visit a friend on what...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Caroline rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: modern-fiction

One of the worst books I have ever read. Utterly unlikeable characters, but more than that unbelievable characters. With the exception of the cuddly, old lesbian couple the rest of the characters and the storyline just lacked any authenticity at all. There were so many points when I found myself shaking my head in disbelief.

Firstly, the notion that anyone would take seriously, let alone "like" a nineteen year old boy who claims to be a superior breed of man is ridiculous. Sebastian Black, to an...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, fiction

"Black as Snow" is what the author calls a 'deconstruction' of the Snow White story. Sebastian Black is a surprising re-imagining of the Snow White character; handsome, charismatic, and telepathic, but also incredibly callous and shallow. Sebastian and his mother, Kitty, lead a religious cult called "Evo-love," which sets Sebastian up as the next evolutionary step, while touting love and environmentalism.

If you're looking for a fairly familiar Snow White structure, you'll find it, but Nolan doe...more "Black as Snow" is what the author calls a 'deconstruction' of the Snow White story. Sebastian Black is a surprising re-imagining of the Snow White character; handsome, charismatic, and telepathic, but also incredibly callous and shallow. Sebastian and his mother, Kitty, lead a religious cult called "Evo-love," which sets Sebastian up as the next evolutionary step, while touting love and environmentalism.

If you're looking for a fairly familiar Snow White structure, you'll find it, but Nolan does a good job of refraining from smacking the reader about the head with it. Sebastian, disillusioned and disheartened with his Messiah-hood, lives his "wicked" mother behind and sets off into the wilds of California for a little R&R. Along the way he meets a host of characters determined to show him the True Meaning of Life; this is a plot line that could be rife with cliche, but again, Nolan navigates it with at least a little skill. Unsurprisingly, my favorite of Sebastian's personal dwarves are Tess and Libby, an elderly lesbian couple running an inn along the highway. They, along with a handful of others, begin to teach Sebastian about Real Love and Personal Responsibility. Other characters include Reed, the Recovering Anorexic who's Learning to Trust Again, and Ramon, the Good-Hearted Hispanic Construction Worker. Evil Mother Kitty, on the other hands, sits in her penthouse and schemes various ways to get Sebastian back into her clutches, most of which revolve around his iPhone (it's an apple, get it?). There's also, of course, a handful of nutjobs who've conspired to bump Sebastian off, using the guise of religion to cover up their personal vendettas (the author's opening of organized religion starts to show here).

Surprisingly, Sebastian's a pretty likable character, and I was interested to see what happened to him in the end. There were only a couple of scenes that threw me, but unfortunately, they were pretty big ones.

Sebastian has several conversations with a character who has Passed On, both as the character is passing, and at the climax of the book, after Sebastian's been shot by aforementioned nutjob. They have a discussion about the nature of death & heaven, and it gets a little heavy-handed.

We all come from god. All living things, even plants and animals have some of God...I think of God like...like the sun that's always giving off warmth, and we're all created out of that warmth, which is life and love. Then most of us go back and rejoin with God, with that huge sun of love, when our souls are ready...That joy you felt is to God what raindrops are to a big thunderhead cloud. Those raindrops wash and soothe and clean and nourish. And eventually, as you learned in school, all raindrops return to the sky...All people are really just raindrops who help others grow. Then when we die, we return to God--that big cloud in the sky.

The rest of Nolan's writing is fairly crisp, but there are a few places, like this, where it gets bogged down in metaphor; it happens largely in places where I suspect the author's true opinions are coming through.

The second really unfortunate episode is the book's one sex scene. My problem isn't that it's explicit (which it is, fair warning). It's that it seems like it was written by a fifteen-year old girl writing her first fanfiction. I don't know who else could write something like this with a straight face:

At first Reed was concerned, knowing she was not quite ready for their union, especially after feeling the size of him; it had been months since she'd been with a man, and she'd never been with anyone as heroically built as Sebastian.

Later in the same scene, she watches "his rippled back and shoulders writhe and twist." Really?

Even so, I recommend that you pick this up (it's $1.99 in the Kindle store) and push through to the end. After all, it is Snow White; the bad guys get their comeuppance, and the good guys live happily every after.(less)

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Sep 26, 2011 Whitney rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No One

Recommended to Whitney by: Amazon

Shelves: kindle, never-finished

I didn't make it every far through this one and that is saying a lot since there are only two or three other books that I have been unable to finish once I started them. The writing in this was atrocious. I have no idea how a book about telepathic kid being forced into creating his own religion by his mother came to be described as a re-telling of Snow White. Maybe I didn't get far enough to find the fairytale buried beneath the garbarge. Every single sentence was jammed full of the most unneces...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Maya Panika rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting story but a bit of a curate's egg.

I enjoyed it. Most of the time, it's a good read so let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. While I truly enjoyed the story, the writing felt in need of a good editor, the prose sometimes gets more than a little fan-ficcy and not in a good way; the chapter with the sex made me giggle.

Setting all that aside, I'm still going to recommend this as a damn good read - far better than I expected from the blurb. The story is about Sebastian, a cult...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Christel Grady rated it 5 of 5 stars

LOVED IT! The last paragraph literally brought me to tears. Of course, that's probably due to a lot of my own personal life shit and all the death I've had to deal with lately, but damn. Great book! Yet another random library find. I heart the library.

Tess paused in thought as a wistful smile bloomed slowly across her face. "My dear, everything worth having in this life comes at a cost," she replied at last. "And grief is simply the price we silly humans pay for love. But even as grief-stricken...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Star (The Bibliophilic Book Blog) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Black as Snow is an interesting loose rendition of Snow White. Meet Sebastian Black, who is a messianic figure who is on the run from his mother, who pulls all his strings. Along the way, he meets people who teach him valuable lessons and open his eyes to the ‘real’ world. All of the characters are richly detailed and the plot reads like it’s torn from the headlines, but with its own unique lushness. I would have liked to learn more about the evolution of man and the passing of the ‘old god’ and...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Lara rated it 3 of 5 stars

i liked this book a lot more than I thought I was going to. I got it on a Kindle special, and when I started reading it, I kept waiting for the highly Christian references to go away, based on the blurb I had read on Amazon. (I don't happen to like in-your-face books of any religious nature.) In the end, the feeling did mellow because the book was so well-written, and the characters turned out to be the tolerant kind. I don't want to give any more away, but I do recommend this book.

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Oct 19, 2011 Connie rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is a Snow White novel. The protagonist is a young boy/man who leads an evolutionary religion scam for his evil, materialistic mother who pimps him out to anyone who will donate to the cause, male or female. The helpful dwarves are mostly homosexual Too much explicit sex for me. Another Kindle Daily Deal. Not a great one.

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Sep 22, 2011 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Much better than I expected. Bought as a Kindle cheap-o. Good characters, interesting story, slightly disjointed and the time got a little squirrely. All in all, great QPR to borrow a wine term. Retelling of Snow White set in an a New Age Christian cult type setting. Some gratuitous sex and violence, enough to keep me interested.

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Oct 04, 2011 Erika rated it 3 of 5 stars

Read using a Kindle loan from Andrew. He recommended it, I found the story engaging. I liked the character development, but I thought the end of the book was a little disjointed. I did like the author's note at the end, explaining the Snow White parallel (which I didn't find apparent in the book). A very different kind of novel, interesting concept, I would recommend it.

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Jan 14, 2013 Jayson James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age

This novel is unlike anything I have ever read. Once again, Nick has done a wonderful job writing characters that draw the reader in and (in my case) become attached to them. It was wonderful to see him include characters from previous books as well as introduce new characters. The storyline progressed at a pace to keep my interest, but not too fast to where I found myself wondering what was going on. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end!

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Dec 04, 2011 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle, 2011

I'm glad I'm done with this.

There were parts that really grabbed me but they were few & far between. I got this because it was supposed to be a modern Snow White ( with a guy in the title role) but it didn't really work for me at all.

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Feb 05, 2012 Christine rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Total piece of garbage. Makes me irritated that I have this almost pathological compulsion to finish a book, no matter how awful it is, once I start it.

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Sep 01, 2011 Frank Mundo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Check out my review for this book at the New York Journal of Books http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/revie...

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Apr 06, 2013 Angela Kitchen rated it 2 of 5 stars

naive writing style, weak plot but continued with it as it was not much effort after the last book i read

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Sep 24, 2011 Helen rated it 3 of 5 stars

a good read showing the scary side of religious obsession!

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Jul 02, 2012 Molly Z rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a nice read. It could have been a little more challenging. a sweet story

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May 20, 2013 Jennifer W is currently reading it

Apr 29, 2013 Shivdeep marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebooks

Apr 28, 2013 Kelly marked it as to-read

Shelves: unread-kindle-books

Apr 25, 2013 Quentin Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 25, 2013 Scott Loman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 24, 2013 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 23, 2013 Pam Hristova is currently reading it

Apr 15, 2013 James Snow rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-lending-library

Apr 13, 2013 Christina marked it as to-read

Apr 07, 2013 Lapisromana marked it as to-read

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About Nick Nolan

Nick Nolan was born in a suburb of Los Angeles, where he was employed for far too long in retail while working his way through college. After graduating with a degree in Psychology, he ran a residential treatment program for homeless and mentally disturbed gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adolescents. He still lives in LA with his partner of 20 years and their beloved dogs.

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