Poison

I love re-tellings of fairy tales. I particularly love when they delve into the varying motivations of the characters.I had a lot of hope for this one as the story of Snow White has always struck me as being a little...sparse. I had problems with this particular version, in particular with flat, unfulfilling presentations of the characters. We have a queen who is unhappy in a marriage that clearly she has been forced into. Fine. But WHY was she forced into it? We get a glimpse into her past that may explain who she is, her motivations, etc. But it is all too brief. We have a princess who is described as earthy and sensual (several times) and kind and generous. But do we really get to know her? No, we do not. The dwarves are there and we get another glimpse into their lives. Notice the word again? Glimpse, an all too brief look. There are stories there that need telling else why introduce them at all? The prince comes along 80 pages before the end of the book. No name here. We get the idea that he faced some dangers. That there is friction between the kingdoms. Here again, only glimpses. Here though, his falling in love with the princess and the consequences of this is explored with an interesting ending which surprisingly, I liked. It was unexpected and suited the overall tone of the book. Poison is a slim volume and it shows. Too many glimpses and too few stories told. A brief mention: the introduction of Aladdin as psychopath was sheer genius. Now that's a retelling I'd love to see.

It was a 3 stars at first, then that ending..... Didn't see that coming! I thought things were quite odd by the end, and it all made sense! Will read the rest of the series for sure!

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