While Wrede's works are usually written in such a way that they can be enjoyed by readers of all ages, her re-imagining of the Grimm fairytale Snow White and Rose Red does not contain much that would delight or amuse readers of any age.

The story strings together the somewhat disjointed tale of Snow White and Rose Red originally transcribed by Herren Grimm and makes of it a cohesive whole, bringing to the under-publicized story an element of romance and witchcraft and faerie that really ought to make this version a must-read for any young adult who enjoys any of those things. However you will note my use of the words "ought to."

Adapting fairy tales to a novel format is a fairly safe occupation for writers in today's world, especially if they can conceive of some way to include vampires and high school girls. Thankfully, there are no vampires in Wrede's re-telling of Snow White and Rose Red, but to make them more appealing to the target audience and more flexible as characters the girls have become older teenagers, approximately seventeen and eighteen years old. This change and the smoothing over of the tale's original, episodic format is not enough.

This novel lacks the humor found in her other fantasy stories, particularly the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and while the historical elements might make a student of history smile once or twice at their inclusion (Queen Elizabeth's astrologer John Dee is a prominent figure in this telling, and Thomas the Rhymer is mentioned as the father of two main characters), most people will not recognize them, and thus will not have cause even for a smile of acknowledgment. My inner history major appreciated the research Wrede put into authenticating the speech patterns of Elizabethan England, but actually reading them in between passages of narration written in modern English was actually somewhat jarring and did little to contribute to my enjoyment of the story as a whole.

Maybe there should have been vampires.