Snow

Title: Snow

Author: Tracy Lynn

Series: Once Upon a Time

Number of Pages: 259

Date Read: 10/4/14

Genre: Fairytale Retellings

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads.com)

The Duchess Jessica's childhood began with a tragedy: her mother's death. Her father, heartbroken at the loss of his beloved wife, could not bear to raise the child. Largely ignored, Jessica spent the first eleven years of her life running free on the family estate, cared for only by the servants. 

Then her father decides to remarry, bringing an end to Jessica's independence. At first her new stepmother just seems overly strict. But as Jessica grows into a beautiful young woman, it becomes clear that her stepmother is also wildly -- and murderously -- jealous of her. 

Jessica escapes to London. Going by the name Snow to hide from her family, she falls in love with an odd band of outcasts who accept her into their makeshift family. But when her stepmother appears in the city, repentant and seeking her forgiveness, Jessica will have to decide whom to trust...with her life.

My Review:
This was a cute retelling of Snow White.

Jessica is a duchess heir born to a duke and duchess in Wales. The Duchess dies after giving birth to Jessica. The duke, so saddened by his wife's death gives Jessica to the maids to raise and wants nothing to do with her. Of course he marries again to a woman who is very vain and does everything in her power to stay young. Events happened and Jessica has to go on the run and escapes to London. In London she meets a band of outcasts who take her under their wing in exchange for her help in cooking and cleaning for them. They become her real family. OF course the duchess comes back, does something to Jessica to make her fall asleep and her outcast family has to try to wake her up. However once she wakes up, not everything is fine. She has lost her memory and now that problem needs a solution as well as what to do about her stepmother. 

I liked Jessica well enough. I felt bad for her because of the way her father treated her. She was ignored by him for most of her childhood. She did have a great childhood with the servant children, running and playing and doing things that a duchess child shouldn't do. I have to say that Jessica did take everything that happened to her after her father married her step-mother in stride. She took her "punishments" without complaint and tried her best to be happy. Jessica was very brave in the decision to flee her home and go to London where she didn't know anyone or have any place to stay. She was very polite to the band of outcasts when she first met them even though she was scared. She enjoyed doing the hard work of cleaning and cooking for them. She grew to love them and was loyal to them. Jessica, who became Snow, was very trusting which got her into trouble. She still longed to have a good relationship with her father and stepmother and that wish made her reckless when her stepmother came looking for her. She was too trusting at times. Overall she was a good, kind person.

I immediately disliked Jessica's father because of his treatment of Jessica only a few minutes after she was born. Heartless bastard. I also didn't like Anne, Jessica's stepmother. She was crazy and such a b***h. She was very into science and instead of using magic like in the original fairytale, she used gadgets, scientific inventions and science books which people thought was magic. She also did horrible experiments and was very vain. I did however like Alan, who was a fiddler hired to be a servant to the duchess. He was also brave and help Jessica escape. He was a happy person in general and loved Jessica. 

I loved the band of outcasts, who call themselves the lonely ones. They were lovable once the reader gets to know them. They care greatly for Jessica (they know her as Snow) and grow to love her. Each lonely one had different attributes and personalities. Chauncey is the leader of the group and is like a father to the others. He makes the rules and while he tries to seem tough he is really a softee. Cat is very cranky and has a massive amount of attitude that she directed to Jessica when they first met. Sparrow was a shy, quiet boy who loved to eat. The Mouser considered himself a gentleman and tried to speak like an upperclassman. Raven was stoic and quiet though he and Jessica became close friends. He is my favorite.


Some spoilers ahead:

I am disappointed in the romance in the book. Mainly because there really wasn't much of one. Raven and Jessica obviously had feelings for each other but it wasn't explored sufficiently in the book. I mean when you think of fairy tales you think romance. When Jessica wakes up from her sleep she goes back to her duchy and leaves the lonely ones in London. At the time she has no memory of who she was or anything about her past. Her parents decide to throw her a party and the lonely ones were invited. Raven had a contraption to reverse the "spell" that took away Jessica's memory. But before he got to use it, Jessica kissed him and got her memory back. When he asked her how did that happen she said "They say true love can always break a spell". Alan said the same thing to Raven when Jessica was still asleep. So they do love each other and I was happy with that but nothing is really confirmed at the end. Jessica goes on to live in Wales while her friends live in London, but it is suggested they see each other. At the end of the book they all get on a ship together to take a tour of Europe, with Raven and Jessica together holding hands. For me this is not enough. I wanna know that they got married and that they loved each other. I wanted to see them kiss at least more than once. I mean its implied that they are together but its just unsatisfying. And thats one of my major problems with the book.
Other than that I enjoyed it.

Rating:
B+