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Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Melissa Bashardoust (Goodreads Author)

3.79 · Rating details · 8,585 ratings · 1,983 reviews

Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale.

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one ...more

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Hardcover, 384 pages

Published September 5th 2017 by Flatiron Books

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YA Releases of September, 2017

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· 8,585 ratings · 1,983 reviews

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Sep 07, 2017 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale

It was kind of boring. There was nothing terrible about this book, but like the snow and ice imagery so prevalent throughout the book, it left me cold. This book portrays itself as a feminist fantasy, modeled after Frozen and The Bloody Chamber. I have not watched Frozen, and I don't know what The Bloody Chamber is. What it did remind me of was Snow White and the Huntsman with a magical twist. We get to see things from the not-so-evil stepmother/queen (Mina), and the princess (Lynet). Both are b ...more

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Jun 29, 2017 C.G. Drews rated it really liked it

Shelves: retelling, young-adult, read-2017, epic-fantasy

This was an entirely magical book of (1) glass, (2) snow, (3) epic women, and (4) extremely bad hair days. Which is relatable, honestly, because I put my foot down when these fairy tales can just have wonderful queens smiting galaxies and never getting so angry at their hair they just want to cut it all off. 10/10 for hair relatability. BUT ACTUALLY (!!) this book is about more than hair. In fact it's not about hair, shut up Cait why do you even do this. It's a Snow White retelling that has some ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 Melanie rated it liked it

Shelves: magic, arc, young-adult, retellings, fantasy, read-in-2017, lgbtqiap, sapphic

ARC provided by Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a debut novel that is also a very reminiscent loose fairytale mashup retelling of Snow White and Frozen, but with unique twists. It’s a dual narrative that switches between the points of view between two women. One is Lynet, a fifteen-year-old who will one day rule her father’s kingdom, while residing in the northern lands of Whitespring. The other is Mina, Lynet’s stepmother, who is from the southern ...more

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Jan 20, 2019 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, fantasy-all, library-book, young-adult, kindle-own

UPDATE: $2.99 on kindle US today 6/27/20

I loved this book! The end!

Happy Reading!!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more

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Aug 23, 2017 Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtqia, fantasy, anticipated-of-2017, female-protag, my-books, favorites, e-arcs, split-pov, read-in-2017

*I received an early copy of this book from Netgalley, but that does not change my feelings on the book overall*

I went into this book with little to no actual plot knowledge. I knew it was a retelling of Snow White, I knew it was being marketed as having "feminist" elements, and I had an inkling that the Snow White character would be queer. These things are all accurate to the story, but they in no way to justice to the plot, characters, and heart of this book.

Lynet and Mina are remarkable char *I received an early copy of this book from Netgalley, but that does not change my feelings on the book overall*

I went into this book with little to no actual plot knowledge. I knew it was a retelling of Snow White, I knew it was being marketed as having "feminist" elements, and I had an inkling that the Snow White character would be queer. These things are all accurate to the story, but they in no way to justice to the plot, characters, and heart of this book.

Lynet and Mina are remarkable characters. Princess Lynet has been forced every day to grow up an exact copy of the mother who died before they ever met; Mina has been an outsider her entire life, first in the village where she grew up, and then in Whitespring where she meets a King and hatches a plan to at least be respected, even if she could never be loved. Their relationship together is the driving force of every element of the story. The depth with which the mother/daughter relationship of the Snow White and the Evil Queen is dealt with is compelling and occasionally heart-wrenching.

On both a story level and a meta level, Lynet and Mina are characters whose ability to define themselves on their own terms has been taken away. On a story level, their fathers both manipulate and control their daughters to become who they are expected to be. But on a meta level, Lynet and Mina have become archetypes without any control: they are the Princess and the Evil Stepmother. But neither of them is willing to accept any of these definitions that have been put on them any longer. The story is deeply about agency and about self-definition, about relationships and the power to control your own connections to others in your life. Is is about, especially, the viability of female relationships and about how, even with the men in their lives trying to control how they relate to one another, the connection between these women has the power to go beyond that control.

I could honestly gush all day about how excellent and complex the mother/daughter relationships in this book are, but I'll try to talk about other stuff now. Suffice it to say, I sobbed through the final paragraph of this book because it just brought everything I've already explained to a conclusion incredibly well.

The other best part of this book, in my opinion, is the subplot of Lynet having a crush on another girl. Lynet spends a lot of the book confused about her feelings towards Nadia, the new surgeon in the castle. This is absolutely a subplot, not central to the story, but I thought it was handled remarkably well and I loved the twists they went through together throughout the book. I also thought that the power imbalance between them was handled in a way that helped make their relationship much stronger as the story went on. Beyond that, though they aren't named or in more than one scene, there is a very small scene with a wlw couple where they are clearly in a relationship in a public place and there is no mentioned homophobia or feeling that they are anything less than accepted by the community at large.

My only real problem with this book came with the pacing. There is a lot about this book that feels slow and peaceful, which I enjoyed a ton. So weirdly, my complaint isn't that this book needed to be faster but that it could have taken a bit more time with certain plot lines. I think there should have been more periods of time that were allowed to go slowly, especially later on in the story. I know that the plot has to constantly keep moving, but I think if those moments had been stretched out some of the reveals would have had more impact. Other than that, I thought this book was incredibly atmospheric and magical in a much more understated way.

This book was magical, complex, romantic, and fascinating. It was driven by female characters taking control of their stories and destinies and I absolutely loved it. Seriously, this book is not to be missed. ...more

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May 22, 2018 Sana rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, im-all-kinds-of-shook, romance, fantasy, shawty-so-bad, v-emotionally-moving

holy. SHIT.

i can’t believe how amazing this book was???? the writing is so gorgeous and the story is so intriguing!!! there’s also an adorable f/f romance between Nadia and Lynet. these two are so fucking precious and soft. 💘 I LOVED THIS SO MUCH.

this book is so magical, lovely and interesting. it's based a lot on character growth and it's VERY slow. i was really surprised by how much i liked it because extremely slow + books based on character growth do not work out for me.

one teensy problem ...more

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Apr 14, 2017 Elle (ellexamines) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of character-driven fantasy and sapphic retellings

Shelves: z-2017reads, y-2017releases, favorite-characters, lgbtq, sff-high-fantasy, 4-star, x-arcs, humanity, z-2017favs, favorite-friendships

As many of you may know, I’m a huge fan of subersive retellings. A retelling focusing on Snow White and her stepmother always sounded fabulous to me, especially with feminist themes. And, thank goodness, it didn’t disappoint. This is really all I want out of fantasy; developed characters, interesting subversions of done-before tropes, and sapphic girls.

In terms of retellings, this is one of the more imaginative ones I’ve read. I can’t really spoil how!! But really, the new elements added were so ...more

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Jan 21, 2018 may ➹ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-star, read-2018, pov-female, buddy-reads, arc, disappointing, young-adult, pov-3rd, pov-multiple, fantasy

it was good and all, but my advice?

make it gayer

// buddy read with my gay crew, theo & amelie

thanks to Ju AGAIN for sending me this

...more

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Aug 12, 2017 destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries] rated it liked it

Shelves: review-copies, fantasy, diverse-reads, owned-ebooks, young-adult, lgbtqiap

Spoiler-free review!

“Weak or strong - she didn’t know what they meant anymore. Maybe they didn’t mean the same thing for everyone.”

First, you have to know that this book literally is being marketed as, and I quote, "a fantasy feminist fairy tale", and if you think that wasn't enough to sell me on it, you are DEAD WRONG.

✘ PLOT
In the wintery wonderland Whitespring, Princess Lynet is nearing her sixteenth birthday, and her father expects her to come into her own as Queen. Unfortunately, Lynet has ...more

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Jul 12, 2017 Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, fantasy, rabid-reads-reviews, darrrrrrrk, best-of-the-best, not-your-ordinary-creatures, some-kinda-magic, it-came-from-the-sea, retellings, fairy-tales

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

4.5 stars

Retellings have been coming out of the woodwork these last several years, with SNOW WHITE being a crowd favorite, but as much as I love fairytales (and I really, really do), there are only so many ways a story can be retold in a short period of time before it gets tired.

Which is why if I'd more carefully read the blurb, I probably wouldn't have requested GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS by Melissa Bashardoust . . . And that would have been a mistake.

SEE?? Sometimes ...more

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Jul 10, 2018 megs_bookrack rated it it was amazing

**4.5-stars rounded up**

All she would remember was the story that would be passed down by those watching: the cruel stepmother, and the wronged princess who had returned from the dead to strike her down and take what was hers.

She didn't want their story to end this way. And more than that, she knew she had the power to change it.

This Snow White retelling was completely original and definitely took me by surprise!

This is a debut?!

Melissa Bashardoust's creativity and originality are on full dis ...more

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Apr 23, 2017 Candace Robinson added it

What a lovely book! I enjoyed this retelling a lot! Sometimes the pace felt a little slow, but the originality was all there!! But don't get me started on the king... I understood him, but he was just weird... Full review on my blog https://literarydust.wordpress.com/20... ...more

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Apr 29, 2017 Kaylin (The Re-Read Queen) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, lgbt, read-to-review, young-adult, almost-great

4 Stars

Overview:

I knew Melissa Bashardoust's debut would hold a special place on my shelves before I even read it. Because it was my first physical ARC!

description

~~(I'm so happy I didn't hate this)~~

Taking place in a land plagued by endless Winter, this Snow White retelling focuses on two young women. The first, Mina is startled to learn her father created a replacement heart for her-- made out of glass. Unable to love or feel like others, Mina instead focuses on power, ultimately marrying the recently wido ...more

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Aug 06, 2017 Jasmine from How Useful It Is rated it it was amazing

Shelves: from-publisher, fantasy, young-adult, lgbt

About: Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a young adult fantasy written by Melissa Bashardoust. It will be published on 9/5/2017 by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publisher, 384 pages. The genres are young adult, retellings, fantasy, and fiction. This book is intended for readers ages 12 to 18. This is the author’s debut novel.

My Experience: I started reading Girls Made of Snow and Glass on 8/1/17 and finished it on 8/6/17. This book is a fantastic read! It’s another retelling like no othe About: Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a young adult fantasy written by Melissa Bashardoust. It will be published on 9/5/2017 by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publisher, 384 pages. The genres are young adult, retellings, fantasy, and fiction. This book is intended for readers ages 12 to 18. This is the author’s debut novel.

My Experience: I started reading Girls Made of Snow and Glass on 8/1/17 and finished it on 8/6/17. This book is a fantastic read! It’s another retelling like no other. I love the concept of snow and glass. This book has fresh ideas and I love both characters and plot. The retelling has resemblance to the original fairytale as well as something new. The story is light hearted and easy to read. I love the magic and the flow of past/present views leading up to the final showdown. I like following two sides to a story.

This book is told in the third person point of view and following two main characters: Mina and Lynet. Mina recounts her life at 16, living in the South where it is always warm, a daughter to Gregory, a cruel Magician. Her father tells her that she cannot love or be loved, but if people who are willing to love her, it would be for her beauty and so she spends a lot of her time looking at herself in the mirror admiring her beauty and feeling unloved. People take an instant dislike to her because of who her father is and she grows up believing she is unable to love or be loved. Even when her father unexpectedly pack up and ask her to move to the North to live at Whitespring, she’s as hated in the new city as in her hometown. The alternating view is Lynet in her current age of 15, a princess at Whitespring who always felt uncomfortable in her own skin. Her father often reminds her that she will grow up to be exactly like her dead mother, delicate and beautiful; however, she is anything but. Lynet likes to climb trees and walls of the castle. Without any siblings and forbidden to play with the commoners, she spends her time watching people from afar. Whitespring is always snowing and cold. People comes and goes. When Mina met Lynet, Mina has plans to do what she must to get what she wants. They both have secrets and it’s their individual secrets that will either bring them together or drive them apart because only one can be Queen.

This book is very well written and organized. I love the intricate details of how one character can see how the other is feeling behind a face they put forth when in public or when one person is trying to act strong when in fact they are nervous. I like the focus of the characters’ insecurities as well as strengths. I love reading about characters that can think and make decisions for themselves. I love flaw heroines who overcome challenges. I love the light romance this story offers. I love the ending and one I didn’t expect to come. This book is definitely an awesome retelling and I highly recommend everyone to read it!

Pro: fairytale retelling, easy to read, light hearted, fast paced, page turner, glbt light romance, magic

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for a detailed review
...more

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Sep 06, 2017 Danielle ❤️ Pretty Mess Reading ❤️ rated it really liked it

****4 STARS****

I am becoming a huge fan of magical, spellbinding, romance, and coming of age stories thanks to books like this one.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass follows a family that wanted to build a world of love and trust but find that threatened by their own demons and misunderstandings of themselves. Their struggles were engaging and easily addictive. My absolute favorite element of this story is the way the author was able to combine older fairy tales into a modern day story that we can rel ...more

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Nov 03, 2017 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, lgbtqiap, feminist, f-f, romance, 2017-reads, sapphicathon, young-adult, fantasy, retelling

“Every time you shudder from the cold or wrap yourself more tightly in your furs, it reminds me that somewhere, the sun shines more brightly than it does here. You carry it in your skin.”

I'm not a huge fan of retellings (unpopular opinion I know) I usually just find them boring and feel as if they don't live up to the original. Girls Made of Snow and Glass added so many unique elements to the Snow White story that really developed it beyond the original and I think that, on top of the inte ...more

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Jul 18, 2017 Erin rated it it was amazing

Read This Book! Read This Book!
Fierce, addictive, fun, and amazing.

Read it.

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Oct 09, 2017 Suzanne rated it liked it

The awesomely twisted behavior of fairytale characters never gets old! I have a weird relationship with retellings. Some I like and some I tolerate. This was an above average retelling of Snow White and it wasn't bad at all. I wasn't completely enthralled but I did like it. The two main characters were nicely written and told their stories well. However, the magic/fantasy aspect bothered me; mostly because both these characters should not be taking lovely little strolls in the sun without disast ...more

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Apr 29, 2017 Dahlia added it

Shelves: 2017-releases, quiltbag-ya

A+ to everyone who told me I would love this book. Queer, feminist fairytale indeed.

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Aug 06, 2017 Maria rated it really liked it

Shelves: standalone, multiple-pov, young-adult, retelling

MANY THANKS FOR MACMILLAN INTERNATIONAL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN THIS BLOG TOUR. EARCS WERE PROVIDED. HOWEVER, THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY REVIEW OF THIS BOOK IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.

"If they love you for anything, it would be for your beauty."

So before I start my review, let me show you my attempt to recreate my favorite character from this book, Mina. I wanted to wear some winter outfit but was only able to pull out my wool sweater. I thought, I'd try to recreate her younger loo ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 ambsreads rated it it was ok

Shelves: magic, young-adult, fantasy, high-fantasy, romance

MINI REVIEW ON MY BLOG, GO CHECK IT OUT FOR BETTER FORMATTING

I was really expecting to like Girls Made of Snow and Glass. Unfortunately, this was not the case at all. I would be involved and captivated in sections and in others, I could feel myself itching to take a nap instead. The story just wasn’t vibrant enough to keep my attention. I’m sure this is a book someone else would love and find themselves in, but I just couldn’t care about Lynet and Mina during their separate plot lines.

Both girls MINI REVIEW ON MY BLOG, GO CHECK IT OUT FOR BETTER FORMATTING

I was really expecting to like Girls Made of Snow and Glass. Unfortunately, this was not the case at all. I would be involved and captivated in sections and in others, I could feel myself itching to take a nap instead. The story just wasn’t vibrant enough to keep my attention. I’m sure this is a book someone else would love and find themselves in, but I just couldn’t care about Lynet and Mina during their separate plot lines.

Both girls have their trials and tribulations, the earlier trials that Mina goes through I actually enjoyed. I was really looking forward to some vindictiveness, but I don’t read blurbs so this may be my own fault.

The title is to be taken literally, not metaphorically. I was taking it metaphorically, so I was pretty confused when information was revealed to the audience. I was shocked. I was expecting a Snow White retelling with a twist, instead, I just got twists that left me bored. I believe the story fell apart around 50%, where the climax occurs but it’s not where the plot takes off. The plot actually comes to a standstill and the mystical sense of the story makes it difficult to really push the story further.

I’m not sure how to describe it, it just fell flat.The characters are bland as well, in my opinion. Both Lynet (Snow White) and Mina (the Evil Queen) were flat characters. They both read the exact same way, with no substance and just decision-making that ultimately never occurred. I don’t really have much to say on them, either. The romance fell flat as well. Around 50% (when I just completely gave up and skimmed the book) the romance hadn’t even formed. There were hints but there was absolutely nothing. Overall, the writing was magic, the plot was

Overall, the writing was magic, the plot was non-existent and the characters were bland and way too similar to distinguish voices among. I went in expecting a Snow White retelling where the prince was going to be a girl (aka a super amazing f/f romance) but that is not what this book is unfortunately. ...more

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Oct 31, 2017 Romie rated it really liked it

Shelves: nearly-a-favourite, owned-books, fantasy, queer-books, sapphic, young-adult

Snow didn’t break or shatter, and neither would she. All she had to do was be true to her nature.

When my book club decided this book would be our October BOTM, I have to admit I was disappointed. When booktubers first started talking about it, I honestly thought it was going to be a love story between a stepmother and her stepdaughter … yeah I was too excited about that. So I went into this story not expecting a lot, though before starting it I had finally understood it wasn’t a love story betwe Snow didn’t break or shatter, and neither would she. All she had to do was be true to her nature.

When my book club decided this book would be our October BOTM, I have to admit I was disappointed. When booktubers first started talking about it, I honestly thought it was going to be a love story between a stepmother and her stepdaughter … yeah I was too excited about that. So I went into this story not expecting a lot, though before starting it I had finally understood it wasn’t a love story between the two of them — still grateful it isn’t.

This book is essentially about finding out who you are and not just letting people shape you.

Lynet was completely made out of snow and shaped to look exactly like her dead mother. Not only doe she look like her, but she is forced by her father to also act the way she did : fragile, delicate, kind, gentle … someone you can be broken easily. But Lynet likes to climb trees and doesn’t how to use a door if a room has a window, she’s more than just the ghost of her mother, she’s her own person.
 Mina had her heart replaced by one made of glass, depriving her of a heartbeat … and of love. At least if you believe her father you told her again and again that she isn’t capable to love someone, and that nobody can love her in return. She keeps pushing people away, but she doesn’t realise how loved she actually is, how worthy of love her beatless heart is.

I loved both love stories. Lynet’s was probably the most obvious one, but not in a bad way. I mean, when you meet Nadia, you know something is going to happen, you just don’t know how. And yes, guys, THIS BOOK HAS A FEMALE/FEMALE RELATIONSHIP! I just felt like ‘screaming’ it just so you would know because I feel like a lot of people actually have no idea this is a thing. At first I didn’t know exactly what was happening with Mina, it was extremely subtle, it took its time, it was well-explained and in the end I was just rooting so much for them!

I cannot recommend you this book enough, it’s a feminist Snow White/Snow Queen retelling and if this isn’t something you need in your life then, like my king Ron Weasley would say, you need to sort out your priorities.

4.75 ...more

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Apr 29, 2017 rachel ☾ rated it really liked it

Shelves: retelling, rep-bipoc, fantasy, 4-star, own, favourite-author, rep-queer

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was simply magical. Bashardoust's writing style did not seem to be work for everyone but the atmospheric way she crafted this clever retelling worked for me in so many ways. I agree that there were elements that could have been a little more - Nadia, the worldbuilding, its pacing - but the story as a whole was breathtaking. Her exploration of mother-daughter relationships was simply exquisite, and I know this story will stay with me for a long time.

➸ Trigger warnings ...more

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Aug 08, 2017 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

At sixteen Mina was being raised by her magician father after her mother had passed away and as much as Mina saw herself as normal she was anything but. Mina's father had replaced her heart with one made of glass to keep her alive so when she moves to Whitespring Castle she forms a plan to learn to love even without a real heart so that she can win the heart of the king and become the queen of the castle herself.

Years later fifteen year old Lynet is being raised by her father the king and her s At sixteen Mina was being raised by her magician father after her mother had passed away and as much as Mina saw herself as normal she was anything but. Mina's father had replaced her heart with one made of glass to keep her alive so when she moves to Whitespring Castle she forms a plan to learn to love even without a real heart so that she can win the heart of the king and become the queen of the castle herself.

Years later fifteen year old Lynet is being raised by her father the king and her stepmother, Mina. All Lynet ever hears though is how much she resembles her mother that died giving birth to her so much so that Lynet wishes to get out of her shadow. One day though Lynet finds she has something in common with her stepmother Mina when she learns that Mina's father the magician actually created her out of snow at the wishes of the king after her mother's death.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust is a young adult fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairytale. I'm always a fan of retellings if the story brings something new and different to the table and doesn't seem like the author simply reworded the original. With this book the story certainly changed quite a bit and took on a whole new life of it's own but still had those twinges of the original to bring back the nostalgia. If comparing this to anything I'd say it reminded me a bit of Cinder by Marissa Meyer in that regard that the story felt fresh and full of new ideas while reading.

The story is told by switching the point of view back and forth between Mina, the stepmother, and Lynet in Snow White's roll. Mina's chapters begin with flashing back to her teenage years and tell the story of how she was brought up, how she met the king and how she eventually becomes Lynet's stepmother leaving the two woman doomed to rivals. Lynet's story picks up the present and eventually the entire story entwines bringing the reader to the lives and relationship of the two woman. If a fan of retellings with some new and original ideas I'd recommend checking this one out as it was certainly different.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....

...more

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Sep 22, 2017 julianna ➹ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: physical-arc, queer-rep-read, diverse-read, share-review

THIS IS SERIOUSLY SO GOOD I CAN'T. (and also <3 <3 @ my smol Lynet realizing her feelings for someone) ...more

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Jan 19, 2018 Kat rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library-4

This fairy tale retelling of “Snow White” is completely captivating, told from the dual perspectives of Mira and Linnet, two girls who’ve had their lives forever changed by one sorcerer. A queen and stepmother put into place in a palace. A young girl who longs to know about herself and her mother. I love the way the author crafts each character so delicately, weaving backstory so that each is so completely relatable and sympathetic. There are so many shades of gray in this tale.

And as the tale ...more

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Sep 03, 2017 Hiba rated it really liked it

Shelves: high-fantasy, young-adult, 2017, romance, author-to-look-out-for, reviewed

Buddy read with Hiba!

The truth still hung like a vicious blade between them: Only one of them could be queen. Only one of them could win.
Snow white is one of my least favourite fairy tales. Aside from the seven dwarves (I'm talking about disney version), what's there to like in that story? Snow white is extremely stupid even for my seven-year-old self standard and basically I hate almost everything about it ever since I was seven and I first saw the disney version. So a feminist ret Buddy read with Hiba!

The truth still hung like a vicious blade between them: Only one of them could be queen. Only one of them could win.
Snow white is one of my least favourite fairy tales. Aside from the seven dwarves (I'm talking about disney version), what's there to like in that story? Snow white is extremely stupid even for my seven-year-old self standard and basically I hate almost everything about it ever since I was seven and I first saw the disney version. So a feminist retelling of snow white with sapphic girls and not-so-evil stepmother got me really excited for this book. While there were no lively dwarves here, or prince who saved snow white was not a girl(there is still an adorable f/f romance) and it didn't manage to completely blow me away as I expected, I liked it very much. Very much indeed.

This is a story of two girls, Lynet-who is destined to be the queen after her father and Mina-Lynet's stepmother, who is a magician's daughter and is from southern lands. Both of them had been controlled and dominated by their fathers all there lives, and want nothing else to be their own person.

Girls made of Snow and Glass has, likes it cover, a quiet, dark and eerie atmosphere. The writing here is absolutely mesmerizing. There were more than few times I felt that I was transported to Whitespring with it's cold and beautiful atmosphere.

Apart from the settings, the most important thing that set this book apart is the characterisation. I simply loved how both Mina and Lynet developed from troubled individuals to confident and strong women. Both Mina and Lynet discovered power of love and learned to embrace their responsibilities. Also, I really appreciated how each and every character was given some substance. Even Emila, Lynet's dead mother was given some say in the book. All her life, Lynet was compared to Emilia, a person she never knew and Lynet never wanted to be anything like her because she was dead. But in the end, Lynet realized that her mother was just a girl like her who had been controlled by men in her life.

I loved how relationship between Mina and Lynet grew and how they loved eachother unconditionally. Mina was filled with self-hatred and shame and always thought she was incompable of love but due to Lynet's efforts she finally discovered that she, like everyone else, deserve love and happiness in her life. Lynet's and Mina's mother-daughter relationship is something to die for. It's so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time.

“No,” Lynet said. “It was always you I wanted, from the first time you found me hiding in that tree. My mother is the woman who watched me grow, who combed my hair every night with her own hands. You’re the mother I chose, the one I love.

This book also have some great feminist vibes which was the main reason I wanted to read this and trust me it did not dissapoint in this aspect. This book have great lessons for young girls such as your physical appearance is not important, that you're perfect as you are and truly capable of love.
You'll find something that is yours alone. And when you do, don't let anyone take it from you.
There were two romances here and gladly both of them did not dissapoint. I actually liked Lynet's and Nadia's romance more then that of Mina's. I'm wee bit dissapointed that Nadia didn't play any important role in the actuall story but I really loved her as Lynet's love-interest.
“Some wounds never heal,” Nadia said. She shyly reached for Lynet’s right hand, turning it over so her palm was facing up. “But many do.” Nadia’s fingers ran over the scars that striped Lynet’s palm where the dagger’s handle had burned her. Her hands were soft, her touch soothing, so Lynet didn’t move her hand away.
“How can you tell which can be healed and which can’t?” Lynet asked in a whisper. And she knew they both heard the other question that hung unasked between them: Which one are we?
I can't say anything about Mina's romance without giving away spoilers but lets just say that it was also pretty adorable and nice. Both of these romance were slow burn and started from friendship and trust.

I have few problems with this book too. For one, there is not much worldbuiding here. The magic system and the politics were barely explained. In terms of world building it felt like a MG book rather then YA. Also, the plot picked up bit too late. Though I enjoyed reading about the characters, maybe someone else might not like reading this slow story. Moreover, I think that last chapter was bit too rushed. Especially with the story of Sybil's curse, I wanted to know more background story of Sybil but it was hardly explained.

All in all, it's a great debut novel with a very interesting twist in snow white story. It's mesmerzing and it's powerful. I am definetly excited for Melissa Bashardoust's future books now.
The blood served as a reminder of who she was, what she was made of. She was blood and snow, and so she would be like the snow, like the pine needles, like the winter wind: sharp and cold and biting. Snow didn’t break or shatter, and neither would she. All she had to do was be true to her nature.
Cold as snow, sharp as glass. Lynet rose to her feet. She still had a long way to go.
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Aug 20, 2017 Kelly rated it it was amazing

HOLY SMOKES this was everything I ever wanted in a Snow White / Frozen fairytale-esque retelling. I absolutely loved the bond/relationship between Mina and Lynet, and my heart ACHED over the way their destinies were formed. I adored the themes of love and family, of the relationship between mothers and daughters, of the relationship between fathers and daughters. That's pretty much all I can say without giving too much away, but I loved, loved, LOVED this book so much. Bashardoust really outdid ...more

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Jun 26, 2018 Greyson | Use Your Words rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: any and all girls,

Shelves: rep-12-sapphic, rep-1-lgbtqiap, genre-fantasy-magical-realism, read-2018, rep-6-feminist, rep-2-poc, rep-44-abuse-manipulation, my-vibe-disney-retellings, rep-42-self-harm-suicide

Girls of Snow and Glass is the feminist Disney retelling we didn't know we needed.

Cold as snow, sharp as glass

Actual Rating: 4.5★'s

Girls made of Snow and Glass is a feminist retelling of Snow White. It follows Lynet and her stepmother Mina in their battle of who will be queen.

Lynet wants nothing more than to be rid of the comparisons to her dead mother. She doesn't want to be delicate, she wants to be strong, find adventure, she'd rather climb trees than learn how to stitch them. She is wil ...more

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Jul 09, 2017 Nikki (Book Allure) rated it really liked it

Shelves: arcs

I received a copy from Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this has got to be one of the best fantasy books I've read in 2017. I was never a fan of Snow White—hated her, actually—but this book made me think otherwise. I loved Girls Made of Snow and Glass! Melissa Bashardoust gave it a spin that I never anticipated. It felt very original—the content of this story—despite being a retelling.

We follow Lynet’s and Mina’s lives in alternating and nonlinear timelines for the first ha I received a copy from Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this has got to be one of the best fantasy books I've read in 2017. I was never a fan of Snow White—hated her, actually—but this book made me think otherwise. I loved Girls Made of Snow and Glass! Melissa Bashardoust gave it a spin that I never anticipated. It felt very original—the content of this story—despite being a retelling.

We follow Lynet’s and Mina’s lives in alternating and nonlinear timelines for the first half to get most of the backstories before merging again in the present. In Lynet’s POV, Mina is already her stepmother but in the first few POVs of Mina, we see her as a sixteen year old girl, plucked from the South and taken to court thanks to his magician of a dad. It was interesting to see the story of Snow White told from both sides because we only get to see one side and these strong characters had their own motives for doing what they did.

Mina’s role as the stepmother didn’t feel inherently evil at all. In fact, she is every YA heroine we wanted to read about! She was fierce, determined, and strong willed. Her childhood experiences explained her dreams and motivations. I understood her as a character. For all the resentment she had towards Lynet for taking what was left of her, I could feel her hesitation because she’d grown attached. It takes a great writer to be able to convey that in very few words.

Lynet is the sheltered princess. Unlike Snow White, Lynet was vert close to her stepmother, Mina. Even to the point of preferring her over her deceased mother, Emilia. She is brave, driven by her heart, and reminded me so much of Merrida from Brave! Such a headstrong character who went for what she wanted. AND ALSO SHE IS QUEER!!!!!!!!!! I loved that about her. We get to see her explore her sexuality because all her life she had only known of romantic relationships between men and women. BUT SUCK IT SOCIETY, LYNET CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL SHE WANTS.

Other characters that interested me were Felix, Gregory, and Nicholas, but in a female driven book such as this, I can’t be bothered to pay that much attention to them.

The plot was surprisingly slow, but I have no complaints because the exquisite writing of Bashardoust kept me reading on and on and on. The first half was mostly about character building and establishing conflicts before taking off at the second half. I loved exploring Mina’s and Lynet’s powers. So different, yet so alike! Cut from the same stone.

Overall, I was very happy with this book and feel honored to have received an ARC from Flatiron Books via Netgalley!

Original review posted on https://bookallure.com/2017/08/24/gir... ...more

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About Melissa Bashardoust

Melissa Bashardoust

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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 ...more