This is a dark, twisted, queer Snow White retelling.
It is written well and has a really good storyline.

A feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale with an adorable w|w romance. It was lyrically told with complex characters and really enhanced and embroidered the original tale.

Similar themes to fairy-tale of Snow White- the beautiful queen and the stepdaughter but an entirely new and refreshing take. It all came together without feeling 'samey'. Its a shame the same love interest didn't really go anywhere.

I love reading Young Adult fiction, particularly fantasy novels. Therefore I was quite excited to receive an advance copy of Girls Made of Snow and Glass, which is a modern retelling of Snow White. Whilst I enjoyed the story and the intense focus on the mother/daughter relationship between Mina and Lynet, I felt that the novel was at times too simplistic and I felt that more could have happened between the two main characters. I think the novel was beautifully written and I would recommend it to any young acquaintance looking for an imaginative read in the future.

Lynet and Mina are two wonderfully compelling characters that I was interested in right from the start. They are very different and yet so similar at the same time. Their growing and changing relationship was a big focus in the book which I really enjoyed. How do they really feel about each other and how true are the feelings from either side?
Only one of them can be queen, and when the King unwittingly pitts them against each other, can they trust in the other's intentions? Both need to learn to trust their own instincts rather than just believing what they have been told about themselves throughout their lives.
The book alternates between the characters and different time periods but the changeover was clear and not confusing at all.
I also found the amazing magic to be fascinating. Creating things out of glass, snow and sand, even creating life.

An interesting read. It took a while to get into the story and for a while I couldn't see how it could develop into an adventure, but it was well written and original. I look forward to reading more by this author

Mina lives with her father who is a magician. They are shunned by the local villagers and Mina leads a lonely existence. She has never known love and cannot love because of the glass heart her father put in her chest.
When Mina and her father move to Whitespring Castle where the king resides, Mina decides to use her beauty to capture the king’s heart and become queen in the hopes that she will finally know love. But marrying the king will mean becoming stepmother to the young princess, Lynet.
Lynet is always being compared to her mother, the late queen. When she’s fifteen, Lynet finds out why she resembles her mother so eerily – Mina’s father, the magician, created Lynet from snow using the dead queen’s image.
As Lynet learns the truth and events lead to strains in Mina and Lynet’s relationship, the princess must decide on her future and whether Mina is now her enemy.
Will Lynet take Mina’s place on the throne?


I was a bit hesitant going into Girls Made of Snow and Glass as I recently DNFd the author’s most recent book, but I ended up enjoying this one a lot more.
Mina and Lynet were both relatable and likeable protagonists who I felt sorry for – Mina because she grew up with a father who didn’t treat her well, and Lynet because her father was trying to mould her into her dead mother. Both of them had also been lied to. I was surprised that I liked Mina more and found her chapters more interesting.
I haven’t read many Snow White retellings, but I think this is my favourite as I liked the way the relationship between Mina and Lynet was explored and handled.
The magic was intriguing and I felt that there was just the right amount of it in the novel.
The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn’t gripped and I didn’t feel overly invested in what happened. I liked the way the novel ended.
The writing style was easy to follow and I didn’t feel confused at what was happening at any point.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Not *quite* as good as Girl Serpent Thorn, but I do have a soft spot for a fairytale reimagining. As always, Bashardoust’s prose is lyrically beautiful

A very original take on a classic fairytale and a whole new perspective. A coming of age story fraught with tensions around sexuality, family and what love truly means.

It took a while to ramp up for me, the characters in the beginning were a tad two dimensional but as it slowly built up and more was revealed, it quickly became apparent that these were not simple characters. Instead they became complex, confused and passionate characters who really drove the story to its finish. The huntsman was a favourite - I won't spoil his arc but it's wonderful.

Once the plot hit its stride and motivations were revealed, all of a sudden no one was who they had seemed to be in the beginning. By the end, they had evolved again into new people - strong female leaders.

Lynet's departure from the castle opens up some distance that I felt was needed, in fact it would have been better even earlier, it draws out the tensions between Lynet and Mina.

The plot moves through a few periods of time which was a little confusing in the beginning but was a great way to help us see what really is going on in the minds of the female leads.

All in all, I enjoyed this retelling of Snow White - I thought it was original, the characters were complex and changeable and very relatable. These rich characters made up for the Disney villain that was Gregory! But I'll admit he was required to help us see the difficulties Mina had been through.

I can't wait to discover more of Melissa's stories!

I wanted to love Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust . It sounded like a great match for me as I love a good retelling of an old fairy tale. Title, Cover, Premise were great but I cannot get into it. I don't have the motivation in going on reading it at the moment. It starts really slow and I tried it some time to go on but...I think this book don't work for me at this moment. I will go back to it in the future and try it again. I know the author is great and there a lot of people who like this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a copy for review.

I've wanted to read this book for a few years so I was so excited when I had the opportunity to review it. I love retellings, especially when they're marketed as being feminist, and even more so when they have queer representation in them.

I think a lot of the plot points and the basis of the story were really clever takes on the original tale of Snow White that added a lot more fantasy elements to it and allowed it to explore the characters in even more depth. I like how we got to see so much from these characters individually, along with what drives them and who they want to be.

It is beautifully written, though sometimes a little hard to get into, but it really gives a fairy tale vibe that fits in really well with the plot and the concept of the story.

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sometimes writers try so hard to do something different with their riffs on existing stories that they become achingly obvious and contrived. That was ultimately the feeling I was left with after reading this book.

Mina is essentially the Snow White character and I struggle to think of anything else interesting to say about her. She is pretty? She is a princess?

Lynet, the stepmother character is more interesting. As an immigrant from wildly different kingdom she is trapped in a loveless marriage to a King who has a borderline obsession with his daughter (Mina) because she is the carbon copy of her mother. Yuck.

The Stepmother/Stepdaughter relationship is probably the strongest aspect of the story and knowing it was going to come crashing down did not leave me super enthused for the rest of the story. Despite this key event and the big “reveal” about Mina, I didn’t feel there was any sense of credible peril, somehow I just knew everything would turn out fine for Mina and Lynet and it didn’t make for a very compelling read and the rather sedate plot and pacing didn’t help either.

It is touted as a “feminist fairy-tale” yet the two main characters seem defined by the men’s views of them and so much of their fate is determined by the male characters. That and both Mina and Lynet’s main personality traits seem to be that they are beautiful, so I did not find that particularly inspiring either. There is also a completely forgettable f/f romance too which did not really add anything.

It is not a terrible book I just found it really boring and predictable to read. You could probably read the back cover and know everything you need to know.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass draws a magical inspiration from the famous fairy tale's—Snow White—winter-clad settings and unpredictable, whimsical occurrences as it creates a young girl's desire to be strong and her stepmother's desire to be delicate. With surprising revelations that crack a fantastical glass ball, and the princess' rebellious need for adventure or the queen's burdened need for love crashes the glass completely, the story beautifully establishes identity and growth in the midst of trauma stemming from unfortunate decisions. In addition to the excellent writing and building a mother-daughter relationship, the slight sapphic sequences are worth appreciating and so is the reinforced idea of supporting and embracing sweet changes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton & Melissa Bashadourst for my arc of Girls Made of Snow and Glass in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis: A magical retelling of the Snow White fairytale. Lynet has grown up with all the expectation of being like her mother, she is constantly told how much she looks like her and how much she must grow to fill her shoes. But Lynet is desperate to be her own person, someone she can only truly be when she is with her stepmother Mina. Mina, meanwhile has grown up with prejudice as the daughter of a feared magician, marrying King Nicholas was her one chance at happiness, her one chance at love. But when Nicholas gifts his daughter Mina's southern territories she suddenly starts to see Lynet with something like hatred, only one queen can win it all.


I really liked this book, it was an interesting blend of a Snow White and a Frozen retelling. It was refreshing to read a book not fully centred on romance but very plot driven and interesting. My only real issue with it was that Lynet read a lot younger than she actually was supposed to be but other than that I really enjoyed it!

Although I love the idea of where the storyline was going, the writing style of this one was just too slow and frilly for me, so unfortunately it's a DNF.

Unfortunately I couldn't fully get into this one and ended up dnfing it. The writing or characters didn't grab me, and I didn't feel engaged or compelled to continue reading. I'll potentially return to this in the future, however I also didn't love the other book by this author that I'd read so I don't think their writing is for me.

I appreciated that this book tried to do something different with the Snow White story, but was overall underwhelmed by it. It was incredibly slow and the plot was pretty predictable and it felt like it was longer than it really needed to be (which is saying something when a book is only 372 pages).

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars

This book is a beautiful lyrical retelling of the Evil Queen and Snow White, with an emphasis on chosen family and with a promise of a female/female romance. And I will admit that the writing is stunning , and the magical set up very interesting – but, the characters lacked depth for me and the dual perspective of following Mina as she becomes queen, and Lynet as she tries to find herself, left me feeling like this could have been a longer story - allowing for a more natural connection to both characters.

But lets get down to the bones of this. First off pros: I adored the writing, and the magic of this story is intricate and beautiful and new, and I did think it was a very fresh take on a well known fairytale. I also burned for this very soft f/f romance, which is built up well if not a little fast, and the plot is definitely carried by the relationships between the women – especially the one between Mina and Lynet.

Now to the cons: I did find that the characters were a tad one dimensional, and though we occasionally deep dive into their actions – mainly through an inner monologue, I did feel like the split point of view kept me from fully investing in either.

I also hate that this has been classified as a ‘feminist’ retelling, and yet still keep such focus on beauty and the standard women are held to by men – both girls as they grow are more shaped by the men in their lives then by the women. Even Lynet whose very building blocks of her personality is meant to be that she is more then just the image of her mother. The pace was fine for most parts, but it reads more like a train at one pace, then an action packed car chase (which for some of these events – should have been much more Exciting)

I am also not a big fan of neatly wrapped up ending, where everything works out (for better or for worse) it usually makes me feel like there was no point to the story at all??? Where are my stakes?

So, all in all, I felt like this story was more for the prose (which was beautiful I will admit), and did not find that it stick with me after reading. I felt like there could have been much more to both POV’s and maybe a twist.
Solid retelling and cannot wait to see what else the author has in store.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is at once a feminist Snow White retelling and a compelling coming of age story. We follow two strong women, Lynet and Mina, on their intertwining paths of self-discovery. It offers a nice spin on a well-known and beloved story.

Parts of it were slower but still enjoyable. Bashardoust has a knack for writing well-rounded sentences and she finds a solid balance between characterization and plot progression.

In all, a worthwhile read.

I love a good villain. The treacherous antagonists of my favourite childhood stories have stayed with me throughout the decades. Thus, I'm always a wee bit skeptical of fairytale retellings that recast the evildoer as a sympathetic and tragic villain. Oh they're not the evil, murderous, petty psychopath you've believed all these years, they're just misunderstood * cue traumatic flashbacks and sob story *.

This story really suffers from trying to pigeonhole the MCs into the hero and villain roles from the Snow White mythos. The steps the author goes through to tell their Snow-White-story-but-not-THAT-Snow-White-story is painful to read. Casting the characters into these preconceived molds felt like watching impromptu puppet theatre instead of a well-crafted and polished drama. The tension was flimsy, forced and nonsensical with characters constantly back flipping over illogical miscommunications and misunderstandings. It was a mess. You can see the outlines of what the author is trying to achieve. They're trying to break the pattern. They're trying to build a better fairytale mythology. But it never fully developed from blueprint to a final presentation.

In the beginning our MC's are friends, a family, who loved and trusted each other. So why not continue with that premise and tell THAT story? The characters didn't need to become adversaries just for the sake of it. You don't need to pit woman against woman just to prove she is capable and strong. Organic character growth and strengths don't always have to come from tragedy and hardship. It was an opportunity to showcase some unique with interesting characters and their journey via loving, nurturing relationships and sisterhood instead of a poorly established and unnecessary power struggle. I wish that was the story the author had written instead. By shoehorning the characters into the role of hero and villain when neither really belong, meant neither of them were memorable.

Recommended for fans of The Hazel Wood, Three Dark Crowns, The Sisters Grimm .