Okay, this book was just plain bad to be honest.

It had potential, it had an interesting setting but that was about it, everything else was- bad..

There was 0 caharacter consistency, the characters were pressented as something and they acted so much out of character just for the plot. The romance had to happen so it ignored how would the characters would act.

Also there was no development, I had 0 reasons to care about what was happening, it feel so fucking unbelibeavle the fact that they were so in love in so little time. I could buy the fissical atraction but the feelings? I just can't. Is just so bad written and is so annoying reading this kinda book were the characters just develop feelings bcs yes and bcs the author wants the romance to happen.

Give me a reason to care! Give me a reason to attach myself to the story or the characters! If you give me nothing how i'm supposed as a reader to care about what i'm reading?

Also some parts were just plain disgusting and really cringe.

It felt like everything was moving so fast but at the same time nothing at all was happening. It feel so childish how the plot 'move'. And that ending was just awful like wtf happened there. Don't kill a character and revive it bcs you felt like it.

Everything in this world is so bad explained and everything is so rushed that it feels so fake. really is just so fucking bad, there were a few moments at the beggining kinda good ig and a few quotes, but that's it.

It was so not worth tbh, at least it was a fast reading and it didn't take much of my time. But this was also a problem, bcs it was too short and this setting would benefit for being a longer books were you explain the rules, the world and give the characters some real development.

I mean you can make a short book a really well done book, but this book doesn't use it's time for developing anything, literally the only thing that look like have some effort was the sex, which makes this whole book evern more annoying

I requested this book from netgalley cause I love a good fairytale retelling but this was not for me. From the first few chapters I was really confused who was talking but slowly realized it is a dual POV which the author could have put in the characters who was talking in first person in the title chapter. Azura and Snow were written in a very similar style so honestly it felt like I was reading one character through out than two fleshed out characters.

The writing style is easy to read making it a quick read.

From the time she was a child, Azura was consumed with the need to consolidate power. Unlike those born as Vessels for Elemental spirits, Azura is forced to practice Dark Magic, her powers fueled by the remains of supernatural creatures. But the remains are finite, the Mystical woods not replenishing in the speed she requires, in order to fuel the dark spells she needs, she will need to marry into a Royal Bloodline. A Royal bloodline which drips with Elemental Power, which produces not just one Vessel, but two. The crown of Lithelle is hers for the taking, finally about to become the evil queen she was born to be. The opening is atmospheric and completely absorbing. Immersive, pacy and unputdownable.

Snow White is book 1 of the Ever After series. From the blurb, we are promised a deep and dark look at the background of the soon-to-be evil queen.
Azura needs the royal bloodline to gain magic she isn't a natural vessel for. Forced to drain from supernatural creatures, Azura's magic is never full, always leaking away. But that bloodline...should contain all she needs.
Unlike Azura, Snow White was born a vessel for elemental power. But the iciness clings to her, and she is kept apart.
Her father, the king, wishes for a new wife, and invites all eligible ladies within the vicinity to attend him. Azura, putting on her most docile public face, intends to be that new wife.
At the month-long event, Azure & Snow meet and, drawn to each other, they begin a tentative dance as different desires clash, and well-laid plans look to come unravelled.
Sooner or later, it'll be time to find out just exactly how thoroughly ice can burn.

On to the story, then. We have two narrators: Azura and Snow. They take their turns at leading us around in their heads, and it's actually quite fun to have meta knowledge of what's actually going on, especially when we see the same event from both sides.
From her first chapter, we learn that Azura thinks of herself as a viper. A predator, surrounded by prey. She believes she has a perfect plan, and a perfect mask, and perfect control, but she's fooling herself. Her magic is powerful and effective, and she is used to using it constantly, so even for this high a reward, she can't just stop. But, her control is good, and she reels Snow in with ease.
From Snow's first chapter, we see that she is lonely, and idolises the father that dotes on her. She believes he wishes to marry for her sake, not his own, and loves him all the more for it. We also discover that the element inside her can literally freeze her blood and heart to ice. So when Azura warms her (and is also stunningly gorgeous), Snow is definitely interested.
I love in this that Azura is the porcelain pale, fair-haired one, and Snow is dark upon dark. Not just for the opposing forces gambit, but because it's a reversal of the standard white=good narrative that's so damned insidious. That opposition doesn't stay, as they move towards each other and beyond, but it's a nice opening touch.
I read this in a single sitting, just couldn't not keep going, so it's safe to say I enjoyed it! The tangle of events is fierce, unknotting one bit just for something else to make a snarl of a mess, and it's all far from being untangled by the end of tthe book.
Actually no that's not completely accurate. Most of this book's mess is untangled, but there's a whole lot more knots that were created by that to pick up on next time!

If you like lesbians, dark magic, evil to good (well, less evil anyway), and never actually knowing if something is gonna come out good or bad - you're in the right place!

Snow White was released on June 14th 2022. Get your copy on Amazon US or UK, or your favourite bookseller or library.

A short, fast paced sapphic Snow White retelling that was entertaining enough to keep me reading despite the issues I had with it.

I was drawn in by the premise of this book because of course I’d be down for a sapphic Snow White retelling and I was also super intrigued by Azura as this evil, dark witch and really wanted to see how the romance would form between her and Snow.

And whilst yes, Azura is definitely this very evil witch, I just didn’t believe it. We are told, time and time again from Azura’s perspective how empty and terrible she is and how she must stay away from Snow to keep her ‘pure and innocent’, but we don’t see her do anything truly evil until about 80% through the book, and even then I was more excited about the plot finally kicking in than shocked or appalled. I think we are told many things throughout the story instead of shown it, which is my issue with the book. I forget that Azura’s mission is to become queen because she spends absolutely zero time with the king and we don’t really get a sense of what Azura’s plan was in the first place, other than to use Snow to get to him. So whilst I did like Azura and Snow's moments, I would not have minded if we’d swapped some of their scenes together out for some plot and action, especially earlier in the book.

In terms of the plot, everything kicked in at around the 80% mark which was just too little too late for me - I would have liked some more buildup to everything that happened, especially as you really had to suspend your belief for some of the stuff that happens.

SPOILER: Like Snow, who barely knows how to use her magic, undoing a spell cast by Azura, who’s been practicing magic since she was like a kid or something. Or when Snow was just beginning her journey to Azura’s castle and the next chapter, which was Azura’s POV, Snow was suddenly already there which had me checking to see if I’d missed a chapter. I genuinely thought Azura was dreaming because we really just skipped Snow’s entire journey which would probably have been a great opportunity to show some character development without Azura. AND when Azura gave an apple to the king during the showcase and I was super excited to see where that would go because it’s an apple and that has to mean something in a Snow White retelling, right? But it just didn’t go anywhere. At all. END SPOILER.

As for Snow, it’s not hard to see how 'naive' and 'pure' and 'innocent' she is because unfortunately she felt more like a child to me than a young woman at times. I did like her character, but I would have loved more of Snow by herself, as it felt like all of her chapters were with or about Azura.

Overall, the writing and plot weren’t amazing. It was just barely decent at best and there was practically no worldbuilding, which is a shame because I think it has a lot of potential and I am genuinely interested from little we are told. I was a bit shocked to see the self-harm and suicide attempt, mostly because I was really not expecting it because of how light the book seemed earlier on. Also, there is one non consensual kiss (kissing while asleep) and although it is reciprocated when they wake up, it did still take me by surprise (partially because of the circumstances surrounding it; out of everything you could do, you kiss her instead???).

Anyways, despite my grievances with this book (which I know seem like a lot), it was entertaining and I did enjoy the ride. It was a quick, easy, fast-paced read and I am always down for more sapphic retellings. Just go in expecting something fun and slightly spicy (because Snow and Azura were horrendously down bad for each other), not quality craftsmanship or worldbuilding and you’re set.

(Also that Veronica princess who sleeps with men and then steals their money? Iconic honestly.)

The writing style is beyond awful. Made it almost impossible to get through the book and honestly not even sure what I read here.

3.5/5⭐️

Fairytale retelling a but make it spicy? Absolutely, sign me up. This was a really refreshing take on a fairytale that has been told over and over again. Also, it was SPICY??? And sapphic??? Happiness = achieved. I do think that some parts were a little awkward and that it started to feel super rushed towards the ending but otherwise I enjoyed this!

This has major pontential. I love retellings of fairytales and I love cool worlds with magic systems and this had both. I loved the idea of Elemental Magic and how they are passed generation to generation. I really love a villian that fights to be good thru love. I wanted more of all of that. The beginning of this book took quite a while to get into and I almost felt like I had missed something of the story as things were presented as if the reader knew what elemental magic was, that they knew where they were in the world. Does the rest of the world know if there is magic or are Snow and Eric secrets? It was presented as both historical with the dresses, and activities but very moderned in speech and diversity. The writing style was a little repetitive and not descriptive enough for me. I found the switches of POV where hard to hear the difference in voices.

The back stories of both Snow and Azura were told in part but I would have loved more. There were many parts of the story that weren't resolved like the way Azura used Belle, the way she ate their mother's heart, the whole fairy king storyline felt unfinished. The story was building and then epic battle and HEA but not really but maybe? So much more was left to be dealt with and I can't tell if it will continue in the next book or if it will all be about Belle and Beast. I would be interested in reading the second in the series to see where the story goes. The world is a liitle vague but has lots of pontential.

• Dual POV
• Grumpy X Sunshine
• NSFW
This is Snow White like you’ve never read before. After her mothers passing, Snow White’s father thinks she needs a mother figure and she thinks her father needs a partner. Along comes Azura, a girl who was forced to practice dark magic and is here to take Snow’s father’s powers for her own. After running into each other, it becomes clear that the plan is disrupted by each other’s beauty. Will Azura take the powers for herself? Will Snow find the true meaning of Azura’s arrival?

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I loved the differences in the leads. They somehow complemented each other. There were also side characters like Belle, Beast, and Prince Eric. I cannot wait for the next installment!

#SnowWhite #NetGalley #JeanetteRose #AliceCallisto #RoseandStarPublishing #IndependentBookPublishersAssociation #eArc #ARC

<i>Thank you to Jeanette Rose, Alice Callisto, Rose and Star Publishing, and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

The story had so much potential but sadly the whole thing felt a little rushed. The characters were too bland and the ending was confusing and too fast. The middle of the book felt unnecessary long and then the ending was too short and rushed. I really wanted to like it but it was lacking too much for me, the characters needed more depth and the story needed a little more too. But we‘ll see how the second book in this series will be, there is room for improvement.

3/5

I had high hopes for this book. It’s a sapphic retelling of Snow White like Come On!! It just didn’t reach those expectations. It was spicy as all get out and h*rny literally constantly. It just fell flat emotionally. I didn’t connect with the characters like I wanted to. I wanted to relate to Snow White and her mental health issues, but it felt forced.

If you’re looking for just a spicy sapphic book this is for you. I respect the authors for what they tried to do and I’m looking toward to the other books in the series. I’m hoping it’ll get better with the world building and the substance in the characters.

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with this copy!

This Snow White story offered very interesting version of F/F retelling fairytale with same title. The writing style is easy to follow but need extra polishing. Both characters are interesting with strong chemistry toward each other. The growing of their relationship is enjoyable as well. Personally I love girl powers vibe from them.

The plotline and conflicts itself predictable and less intriguing. I truly wishes this novel will slower it's pace to give extra details and depth into the story and character arc.

Thank you Netgalley & Rose and Star Publishing for let me read this copy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own. Snow White is published at 14 June 2022

This book hooked me in from the first page. I loved how the main charcters interacted with each other.It was dark and romantic. The only problem I had was that it was to fast, I wish there was more world building. But I really enjoyed the book and highly recommond it.

Three stars. I liked the premise. And although I was not a fan of the writing from page one, I got used to it enough to power through, which I didn't expect. But man, this fell short of its potential. The scenes were lackluster, and for some reason, consistently really short. (And why was every scene its own chapter?) The characters wish they had two dimensions. I wanted Azura and Snow to end up together, but felt nothing when they did, because there was nothing in their relationship but sexual attraction and the novelty of opposite personalities. And Azura's grand scheme? It means nothing if we never actually find out what it is before it's getting totally derailed by her inability to deal with her lust. So sorry, I don't think I'm going to stick around for the rest of the Ever After series.

The back and fourth duel POV is interesting as it’s carrying on from the moment and zigzagging between them both. But that does mean it’s taking a long time to get going.
I’m kind of confused about why Azura wants to be with the King. I get it as in to be close to Snow, and to rule obvs - but does she want to take her powers? Poison her? Kill her? By killing her does she get the magic? Or is the magic gone?
Do I recommend it? It was a nice story. But that was it, nice. Maybe others will enjoy this, but it wasn’t me. Maybe if it wasn’t the fairytale characters and just a story of its own may have been better.

**That you NetGalley for the ARC**

So this book had me at F/F retelling of Snow White. I was intrigued by how they were going to make this work. And I honestly love the world that has been set up in the process. You can tell quickly what characters are meant to be part of the rest of the series from the start here. Set-ups for a Beauty and the Beast retelling, clearly something for our seaside Prince Eric. Some of it felt a little bit, this is Disney but naughty? But every fairytale retelling is going to have a little bit of that, you can't get away from it so I wasn't too bothered.

The plot is kinda predictable, but that was a boon. I knew that this was going to be a fun build-up of when will they finally give in enemies to lovers situation. What I stayed for was that love is magic and girls saving girls' vibes. Also, the spice of the book was rather nice, with both female characters being very forward with their wants and needs.

Cannot wait to see what comes out of this series!

This was an interesting retelling of ( a few) fairy tales. Snow White has some serious connections, and her father is looking for a new bride. She meets Azura, who is planning on stealing the King's power in the tumult of the bride-a-palooza. I found that the multitude of cross-over of names was a little bit too cutesy, but I liked how some of the stories were intermingled.

The sexy scenes are sexy, there is action, turmoil, betrayal, a Big Bad, and some side Bads.

It does leave you hanging a bit, wondering what on earth will happen next !! ( I smell a sequel!)

3 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book, but I am intrigued for the rest of the series. This is a sapphic retelling of Snow White, with Azura and Snow White. Azura plans to marry the King for power, yet is instantly distracted by Snow White.

What I enjoyed about this book was the romance. It was clear throughout the book the chemistry between the two. From the moment Azura had her eyes on Snow White she was interested in her. Snow White was a bit more naive in her thoughts, and it took a bit more time to discover how she truly felt wasn’t friendship. I love having both perspectives in the book, especially with how different the two women were. Tension and smut were well done as well, it was spicy without too much being taken away from the romance. I enjoyed the name drops with the side characters for hints at future books, it was a great way to keep me intrigued on the series from the start.

I wasn’t into the world-building of the book, it was very minimal. The book takes place mostly in thoughts and dialogue which makes the plot fast, but a bit more confusing. A bit too much in the telling instead of showing aspect in writing. With the pacing being a little too fast, the romance at the beginning felt rushed. I did think it grew to be a good romance, however, the focus at the beginning with lust for breast threw me off. I think the characters could have been developed more than the superficial characteristics of “morally grey” and “naive.”

Overall, I found this book to be refreshing and a new take on Snow White. It had some faults with the development of the world and characters, but I enjoyed the sapphic romance. I more than likely will read the next book just to see how it unfolds.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

1.5 / 5 Stars

Content Warning(s) for this book :
Attempted Suicide, Non-Consensual Touching, Self-Harm, Mindcontrol, Graphic Violence, Depression

I'm also very tempted to put Lots of sexual content in the Content Warnings list, because boy oh boy, was this smutty. You see, I was told, that this would be a 3 out of 5 on the steam level and I thought, well, I'll just skip the smut parts. But BOY OH BOY was I wrong in assuming so. Because there is no skipping. Azura is thirsting for Snow 24/7. And when she isn't thirsting, she's telling us how evil and horrible and e v i l she is. I didn't mind the super duper mega evil speeches at first, because I was aware that the Evil queen would be - who would have thought - evil. What I did mind though, were the intrusive sexual thoughts. Some of them made me laugh actually, because that's usually what happens when I read smut and have a good time doing so.
I'm either having a good time, because the smut is just funny to me (sex-repulsed ace here :P ) OR I'm highly uncomfortable. And let me tell you, this book actually managed to fulfill both of those things.
But anyways, back to the extremly sexual thoughts.

I'm not a fan of love at first sight, but honestly, I would have been thankfull if this book had been that, because what we got instead was lust at first sight and that's one of my most unliked tropes of all time. I'm aware that that's a completly subjective opinion and maybe you will read the book and have a good time, but I for my part, didn't. It was just too much. Because Azura finds Snow EXTREMLY SUPER HOT the second she sees her and and it's all downhill from there. I can't tell you how often I had to read either of them talk about how Snow's/Azura's boobs jiggled as they did literally anything - like walk, or breath and a lot of other crazy things. (The book doesn't actually use the word jiggle, but that's basically what it's saying)

Especially when the book included non-con elements and really really uncomfortable smut scenes.
There's two in particular that I'd like to bring to your attention.

Scene 1

Snow is suffering from depression and intrusive thoughts. That's a fact. A fact that she's telling Azura about. Which means, she's very vulnurable, emotional and very open. It's an important, intimate moment ... until you remember that Azura is half naked, and VERY horny when Snow comes in and WHILE Snow is a talking about her trauma. The same goes for Snow. I had to pause for a second, put the book aside and read something else. This scene made me feel horrible. If you want them to be horny, fine, whatever, but PLEASE can't they have one normal conversation inbetween those horny moments? It just felt all kinds of wrong to combine the horny and painful talk with each other.

Scene 2

Azura has passed out because of Spoiler reasons and Snow's very first plan of action is to start kissing her. Just no. I don't care that she would have probably consented to it if she were awake. That's not how consent works. You can't just ask someone "Oh yeah, by the way, were you even interested in having sex with me yesterday or did I rape you lol"
If you talked about it BEFORE and this is some weird kink you share, then sure, go for it. If it's not, then touching an unconcious party is assault. End of story.
It's made even worse by the fact that Snow DOES feel bad after, but it's written and presented in such a way, that the feeling of guilt is something she should not be feeling. The book makes it sound like "No, don't worry Snow, it was totally fine to start making out with a passed out person, you're fine, honey"

If the book was trying to depict an unhealthy, toxic relationship, I wouldn't even be as mad as I am, but the sad part is, that the book is not trying to go the "They shouldn't be together" route. In fact, it's going the "Happily Ever After" route and that started to make me feel not so great as well.
It's not as bad at the beginning of the book, but the farther you get into it and the more you learn about the cast, the worse it gets.

You see, I don't think Snow should be dating anyone to beginn with. Because she's mentally very unstable. The book calls her naive, but I'm not sure I'd use that word. She's very emotional, insecure and faking it, till she's making it. She's also victim of toxic positivity, by herself and those around her. As someone whose actually suffering from depression herself, I couldn't help but be uncomfortable with some scenes. Because, we don't treat Snow with the respect she deserves. We TELL her to be Better and then she is. We TELL her to think quote "happy thoughts, happy thoughts" end of quote and then she does. We gaslight and manipulate her, worsening her self-hatred in the process. Which would have been - again - fine, if the book hadn't pushed the Azura X Snow ship.

The thing that's finally pushing Snow into suicide is Azura. Do they have a talk after that? No of course not. Because that would require actual communication. Which they don't have. Not any that matters.

The sad part about this is, that the book IS capable of showing realistic distress. There is a scene where Azura is having a semi-panic attack/PTSD moment that has actual consequences on her emotional state.

The characters themselves are fine, for the most part. Azura is vague and mystical and it gets to a point where I'm like "Just tell me, please, what is it you want" I do feel like her motive made sense at the end, but since we only learn about it in the last 10% of the book, it feels a little ... rushed, out of nowhere maybe. Same as the villain. Those were done dirty. Because no, Azura isn't the viallain. At least not officially. I'd still argue that Snow would be better off without her, but oh well, we can't have everything I guess.
Snow herself is - personally - the best character in the book. Partly because the writing style compliments her simple, cinnamon role, sunshine ways. The style is very simple, at times repetetive and VERY different from Azura's - at least at the start. I found this a very intersting choice, and learned to love it the farther we got into it.

The book is very creative when it wants to be, which makes it even sadder that I didn't like most of the execution.
The main story itself is cool, but ignored for most of the time. Because the book didn't really care about who would actually be the new queen. There's a lot of stuff the book wants to do, but everything feels only half-baked.
If it were up to me, I would have cut the whole fairy part of the book out and given Malecifent more page time and development.


I think I've made it clear that I thought the Azura x Snow pairing was and is toxic, but I just wanted got give you one more gem before I finish this review.

Snow, while talking about the Evil Queen: I can fix her.

It's not your job to fix her. It's not your job to make her happy either.


Some stuff that I loved:

+ Opposite Attract / Grumpy x Sunshine
+ Snow White is POC
+ Snow White Retelling
+ Smart Fairytale References


Final words: Not my cup of tea, would not reccomand.

Think of all the best parts of fairytale even those mouse house ones together in a jar, add some spice, and pride you get this crazy story that feels nostalgic and new. I love all the characters that come together like in the Once Upon a Time show but not in the modern realm but in their own. The little twist of all the characters make them familiar but fresh while still being endearing and fairytale like. This is the first book in a while that I have read in a day because I really wanted to know what was gonna happen while also opening a whole new world for more books to come. Which I can’t wait! I would recommend this book for anyone wanting that balance of fairytale comfort and spice moments. Almost a nice transition book for those that don’t want a lot of spice but want a retelling of a fairytale. A more approachable version of the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice. This will be one that I will anticipating the next book - so when is that?