Whiter Than Snow

by Matthew Eldridge

Whiter Than Snow is the delicious dark tale based on the true life of Snow White, as never told before. Because of the prophesies, Snow White is hidden from her true identity as a princess. Living as a servant in the king's cottage and enduring the jealous wrath of the sinister queen, she attracts the forbidden attention of the delicious Prince Philip of Spain. However, only after falling in love does she discover he’s to be engaged to another ruler, the Queen of England, Bloody Mary. If the two join kingdoms, the evil queen’s reign of terror and quest to eliminate Protestant Christians around the world would be unstoppable. But there is hope. If the prince discovers Snow White’s hidden identity as a princess, true love may stop the planned massacre. This isn’t an old tale told in a new way. This is the story uncovering deep truths about the real Snow White, Margarete, and her sacrificial love for the dear Prince Philip. Everything else is a fairy tale.

Genres: Fantasy

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2014

About the author

Matthew's debut novel, Saint Nicholas, the Christmas Story, made it to the #1 Best Seller for religious fiction ebooks on Amazon. Penned the next Christmas Classic, this novel will be one that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Matthew Eldridge writes a variety of styles including historical fiction, young adult fiction, adventure, nonfiction, and middle grades books.

Outside of writing, Matthew is a professional actor, musician, and singer.

Reviews

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whiter Than Snow is a YA tale of the story of Snow White by Matthew Eldridge. It takes place in England during the Protestant Reformation which was one of my favorite things about the book. I enjoyed the historical information that was so meticulously planned throughout the book and I found it intriguing and interesting. The book centers around the protagonist, Margarete (hint, think Snow White) and her adventures as an orphan, servant, and princess! I LOVED all of the religious and spiritual references in this book, especially the scene where the title of the book is revealed. I thought it was very clever! This book initially started out a bit slow for me because I was really confused with what was going on and what direction the book was going. I also found myself getting easily frustrated with Margarete because of her immaturity and naïve nature. However, in my opinion, her character developed A LOT throughout the duration of the novel and I was very pleased with her character by the end. The novel definitely picked up at the end, too! One thing that was a bit confusing to me was the way the POVs were written. It took me a little while to get used to, but once I understood the writing style it wasn't a big deal. The story was very compelling and suspenseful and I found myself unable to put it down. I really did enjoy it! I wish I would have been less busy so I could have read it closer together and sooner! If this book sounds like something that would interest you, I HIGHLY recommend checking it out! Whiter Than Snow is available on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, and CreateSpace as well. ☺

[Anna (Unquenchable Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is originally on my blog: http://unquenchablereads.wordpress.co...

***********I was sent an e-copy of the book from the author. All opinions are my own.************

Once upon a time, in Medieval era Brussels, a girl is living in a servant's house. Margarete has never known her birth parents. Raised by a retired servant to the queen, she was hidden from the fact that she is the princess. One day, she is asked to serve the royals. Margarete she goes to the castle to work. While she is there, she meets Prince Phillip of Spain. Forbidden to fall in love with him, she is stuck and can't do anything. Prince Phillip is engaged to the queen of England, Mary. If Spain and England come together, the evil queen will get her way and will kill tons of people.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Cover Rating: 3/5 stars

This book was just so good. It was a fictional take on the true story of Snow White. All the characters were written so well. Margarete was such a great character to follow. She was so kind. Prince Phillip was an okay character. He wasn't my favorite, but I'm glad he was in the story. The plot was really cool. The book has a religious aspect in it and I really thought that was what brought the book together. It also made the time period feel more authentic. In some books, they leave out important aspects of what was going on in the time period. I'm so glad that I read this book because I love fairy tales and retellings. This isn't really a fairy tale or retelling, but I really loved the fantasy aspect of it with the kingdoms, knights and royals. I was not disappointed in this book at all and it was so good. I hope you all pick up this book because I haven't read anything like this.

Also, want to know some fun facts about Matthew Eldridge? He's an actor double in a few book to movie adaptations. His most recent jobs have been being a double for Sam Claflin in Mockingjay: Part 1 and for Theo James in Divergent and Insurgent.

[Sumaira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a 3.5 stars for me but ofcourse Goodreads does not allow half stars.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review

Personally Snow White was my least favourite Disney film, I am more of a Beauty and the Beast girl. It must be the library that won me over (Plus the message behind it), but I was really interested in reading this book. The synopsis sounded intriguing and so I gave it ago. I'm glad I did, this was a enjoyable book. I do think it has more potential and there is room for some improvements but it was a good solid read.

I had a really hard time deciding what to rate this book, because I really enjoyed it but I had some issues that knocked the rating down. It was going to be more of a 4 star rating but Margarete started to annoy me a little in the middle of the book. At first I liked that Margarete was a bit flawed as it made her more relatable, however I found her to be childish and naive at times nearing the end. I do understand that she is young and so there can be a lack of maturity at times but still it had a small impact on the enjoyment of this book. I will admit that there was some character development in her though.

I liked that fact that in this book we got to see more of Prince Philip so we got some insight into him, he was not that likeable at the start of the story but he grew on me. There was more character development in Prince Philip and liked I said I was hoping for a happy ending for him at the end of the book.

The book is set when the Protestant Christians religion is just sort of coming about and more people are accepting it, however they cannot openly accept being Protestant. The detail the book went in regarding the Catholic and Protestant religions was interesting, I do not know much about it other than what I've learned in religious education or history so I found it fascinating.

The book was well paced but my only niggle with the writing was sometimes I could not tell who was speaking as I did not know how's POV it was. Oh my word the ending of this book was really well done, it actually helped me to like Margarete a bit more, and I loved that we got to see more about Prince Philip then aswell. I need to actually to know what happens now, what happened just cannot be! I cannot say anything more without giving the book away but the ending is a cliff hanger.

This review can also be found on my blog: https://hyperaboutbooks.wordpress.com/

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed this read! I do think that I liked the first half more than the second half, I think it dragged on a little bit.
I love the way the story of Snow White was portrayed, like it was the real thing that the fairy tales were just inspired by it.
I found the writing style a bit odd... not sure if it was just regular third person or something a little different, but I often felt confused about who's perspective I was reading from. This was probably my biggest problem with the novel.
There were also a *lot* of characters introduced and I found it hard to remember who a couple of them were (Thomas, Samuel, and some of the midgets names).
At first I really liked and respected the main character, Margaret, but then about 2/3 of the way through, she started to annoy me a bit. It's like her new little schoolgirl crush had developed into "true love". I kept rooting for Margaret and Jack, and never really liked Philip throughout the entire novel.

While it sounds like I didn't like this book, I really did enjoy it, and would always get excited whenever I had time to read it; it was pretty addictive. I thought that all of the characters were all fantastically well done, and I liked the plot and all of the twists.

Go buy your copy of Whiter Than Snow today! :)

Thanks to Matthew Eldridge for providing a copy for review.

(I will have a video review up on my BookTube channel in the next couple of weeks)

[savannah chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending!!!

As a kid, Snow White was my favorite princess, so I couldn't wait to read this! The beginning was amazing but, the middle of the book I felt like it dragged on a little. Once the Prince came in, I didn't know if she was falling for Jack or Prince Phillip. It was kind of confusing, but I do understand her, us fangirls cannot just have 1 fictional boyfriend ;).
Even if there were a few tweaks here and there, I truly did enjoy the book and hope you will read it soon! Definitely in my top 5 of 2014!
(Email me if you are a book reviewer and I will send to the authors email so you can read and review this book also, email in bio!)

[RoseBurn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like that it's based on the real girl who became known as Snow White. And the connection with real queens in history was nice. That said, I pretty much hate everything else. I regret reading, and the ending was especially sad, not even in a sweet way, just disappointing. The main character just seems to remain immature to the end. And I can tell that a rather average guy wrote it, because we stick too close to reality, we talk about how the girl wants a bigger chest, and then things get sexy as a part of the core of the story. It's still Christian, and you can still tell by how things turn out. It's just nothing that you want in a fairytale.

[Rexy · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Whiter than Snow’ is an indie novel released in the 30th of October last year. It is a retelling of the classic Snow White fairytale. Set in the 1550’s, this novel is based on the life story of Margarete von Waldeck and two prominent figures in the religious movements of the period- Prince Philip of Spain and Mary, Queen of England. Just like a fairytale, it has the elements of romance and the supernatural with a hint of religion. To get your own copy of ‘Whiter than Snow’, visit Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com

The first thing that made me drop a star in my rating is Whiter than Snow’s cover. As a little bit of an artist myself, to put it quite bluntly, I don’t like it :( Take note that I am not saying the model is unattractive or something as negative as that-the main thing that turns me off is the font used in the cover. I really really think the font can be improved on future reprintings, if ever there will be some.

Moving on, I summoned the seven magic words- “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The prologue and the first few chapters were both interesting and confusing to me. I was both interested and confused whether or not the book is partly historically-based, purely fiction or a diverse combination of both and then some. It made me want to research the history of the period and I sincerely applaud that. However, as I went on reading, it became quite hard for me to discern the lines of history and fiction, particularly in the characters of the royals. I thought that untangling one line from another would become clearer as I reach the end but the pattern continued until the very last page because of the addition and resurfacing of new and old characters (some possessing supernatural powers such as witchcraft) chapter by chapter. To me, their existence blurred the lines even more.

I spotted some sentences that could have been constructed better. I spied some scenes that could have been written clearer and more thoroughly. I saw some pages that could have been shortened. Like I said earlier, the line between history and fiction could have been drawn clearer and the element of the supernatural could have been inserted better. To be honest, reading the whole novel made me realize the huge part editors contribute in the publication of a book and I have no doubt that if ever there was one, the things I pointed out might not have been pointed out.

This does not mean that I didn’t fully enjoy reading the novel. Granted, there were scenes that I didn’t particularly relish..but there were still some that I found good. I like the subtle incorporation of scenes from the original Snow White into the novel ..and If I were to choose a favorite part, it would absolutely be the ending. It is realistic and I really love that. If polished more, I think it would have managed to make me shed a tear.

All in all, I give Whiter than Snow 2 and a half (rounded off to three) shining stars. I think it could use the expert eye of an editor..but reading it now isn’t so bad either. I understand that this is an indie-published work and that fact alone makes me applaud the talent and determination of the author. :)

[Madison Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whiter Than Snow was a read I was really anticipating because I am obsessed with Disney. I love fairy tales. I really admire the happiness in them; on the other hand, I really like hearing about the true stories of these fairy tales. I love digging deeper into these happy tales. Who was this princess based off? When did this story originate? Stuff on that lines excites me.

I was drawn in by the first few pages. It was written fantastically, it had great imagery, it was very realistic. I got confused at points throughout like you do in a lot of books. At points, I was like,”Wait? Who is that? Was he that guy?” However, it would clear up.

The first part was great, I loved it. However, I was slower during the second part. I was not as motivated to read, but as I got to the end I was back on track.

This book was religious, I could tell from the beginning it was going to be. I, personally, choose really to steer away from religious based books. It is not because of offense, that never bothers me, I just never did. It stuck. However, this book changed my opinion on books like that. They teach you a lot, and this book taught me a lot. It was not like it taught a deep meaning It was more of history and religion really, something that now really interests me.

It was a great read, very enjoyable!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author states, in the beginning that he used more modern English for the Reader's benefit...i found his English too modern, too relaxed, too....not right!
I love historical fiction ... it doesn't have to be perfect but it should contain some formal speech and certain historical events/people should be more accurate. ... i did NOT like the portrayal of Queen Mary, queen of England. Her dress, speech, etc did not fit what I've read about her....she is a secondary character but it should have been more accurate in my opinion ....
That being said ... i enjoyed this story and learned of a new historical figure ... i look forward to learn more about her on my own

[Stephanie]

Whiter Than Snow is a pleasant mixture of history and fantasy, with elements of the classic Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty tales. It is the story of Margarete - the daughter of the king, who is kidnapped on the night of her birth, and raised as a peasant. She is a Protestant Christian in a time when that is a dangerous thing to be. Since no one (not even Margarete) knows she is a princess, she influences others not through power, but through her sweetness and innocence. And her influence may just change the direction of a kingdom in trouble.

[Monica P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. The only thing I can say about this book without giving too much away is that it was very intriguing and definitely not like any other fairy tale story I've ever read. It was pretty long, but it was still good. I give it a 3.5 but I'm rounding it to a 4

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snow

This was well written and very good! I admire the discipline it took to write a accurate account of this story that has been turned into a fairy tale, when it was about Godl, love and loss.

[Tracy Mclean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought it was a nice read even with all the religions no matter your beliefs it will not offend anyone. Better than the children's fairy tale. Great for young adults and us older ones to.