Blood and Snow
Blood and Snow Series, #1-12
by RaShelle Workman
Publisher: Polished Pen Press (2013)
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: eBook (518 pages)
Source: Blog Tour
Purchase: Amazon Print | Amazon Kindle
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she’s chosen Snow White.
Snow isn’t an ordinary girl. She doesn’t know that yet.
When Snow gets bitten by a Hunter, her life is thrown into a whirlwind of change where instead of worrying about what to eat, she has to fight not to drink the blood of fellow high school students. She becomes a revenant – not quite human, not quite vampire.
With the help of an eccentric old Professor, his seven adoptive sons, and her best friend, Snow learns to control her blood craving. Sort of. She drinks a bloodlust tea, but she’d rather drink from her Hunter.
Or, a human.
She also discovers a whole other realm, one filled with fairies, dragons, and magic. And not only does the Vampire Queen want her, but there’s a pendant called the Seal of Gabriel created for Snow by the Vampire Queen’s twin sister. And Snow’s supposed to use it to restore balance to all magical creatures. Including vampires.
At A Glance
The concept was super fun but the execution was just okay.
The Good
This is a very lengthy book since it’s a collation of several novellas. They do easily flow together, like a normal book, so no worries there. I have never read a retelling of the Snow White fairytale before. I have to say that Workman really created a fun interpretation of the story. The characters were fascinating and the vampire element added a little something extra.
It took some time for me to really see the appeal of Snow, but once I did, I was rooting for her the rest of the time. She was quirky and silly in the beginning but as the story went on, she showed us her depth and emotional side. Snow got a raw deal when it comes to her family, but her neighbors make up for her absent family. I loved her interaction with the seven brothers. It was so carefree and brotherly (well, most of the time). And though she isn’t the strongest of people, she really tries her best in everything she is tasked to do, even when failure seems inevitable.
The seven brothers and their guardian Professor Pops were my favorite characters by far. Prof. Pops was an amazing father figure for Snow. He did so much for her, always treating her like she was a part of the family. It makes me all teary eyed just thinking about his kindness. The brothers were fascinating. Each one had a unique personality that drew me to him. Dorian was my favorite from the beginning and stayed that way throughout. He had a great sense of humor and was so laid back but passionate at the same time. His heart was so big; he would do anything for the people he loves. Gabe was harder for me to like. There were times when I saw his adorableness in all it’s glory but as the story went on, the less I liked him. His attitude about everything irked me. Grow up, Gabe. But I actually liked disliking him. Gotta have those flawed characters.
Snow’s Hunter was also an interesting character I never knew what to think about him, but I have to admit, scenes with him were super sexy. I really can’t say anything else since his identity is a surprise.
The story was fun overall. Every time I had to put the book down, I rushed to pick it back up (even if I rolled my eyes through some of it). The world fascinated me the most. We really get to learn a lot about the paranormal dimension that most supernatural creatures live in. And the variety of creatures was abundant. I think Workman included every fantasy being under the sun. A lot of fae like creatures especially. I would love to experience this world even more.
The Bad
I think one of the biggest annoyances was Snow’s reactions to big events. She would freak for about a hot minute and then go on with life as if nothing happened. And even if she did worry about something, she didn’t often push people for answers when they obviously had them or when they were obviously keeping secrets. She took everything at face value and didn’t have enough skepticism for her own good.
The pacing was off sometimes. It was sometimes too fast. I missed the important build up or dramatic results of a traumatic event. It was also too slow sometimes, and that’s because of the random spurts of heavy description. When I really think about it, this book was disjointed in that its failings changed from novella to novella.
I was disappointed to find that many plotlines that seemed like they would be important later either never came up again or were explained quickly as to wrap it up instead of elaborating on it. I think this book was too busy so these minor plotlines could have been cut completely.
A personal dislike of mine was the character Cindy. I was iffy about her from the beginning and her actions throughout only solidified my dislike for her. Even though Snow was okay with what Cindy did (I can’t say without spoiling it for you) it is clearly stated in the Girl Code book that you never do this to another friend.
The Snuggly
Blood and Snow took me on a rollercoaster of a romance ride. Since I don’t want to reveal too much, all I can say is Snow falls in love a lot throughout the book, and with many different men. But each relationship was different. A different kind of love. One was a crush, another was an infatuation, and one was true love. Though I found it odd how easily Snow switched guys, I still had fun watching her find her “prince.”
There are sexual situations: kissing, touching, grinding. But there is no sex. This is for sure a sexy YA book.
Final Thoughts
Though I had a lot of dislikes with Blood and Snow, I did enjoy it overall. The characters and world were fantastical. Even with parts of the plot falling to the wayside, I think many people will love this book. A recommend read.
“I’m Chace Charming,” he said as we headed toward the field.
I snickered, and he gave me a sideways look. “It’s nice to meet you, Charming. My name is Snow White.”
In one glance I realized he understood what I thought was funny.
“What were our parents thinking?”
*****
Before I realized what I was doing. I slowly licked his neck. Tasting.
Dorian moaned, which sent a lightening bolt of lust low in my belly. My lips touched his neck, and Dorian pulled me closer to him.
“Yes. Oh, please. Yes.” He cradled me in his arms. His scent was heady, intoxicating.
Author Bio
RaShelle Workman is the bestselling author of the Dead Roses series (“Sleeping Roses” is being translated into Turkish, and will be available in print wherever Turkish books are sold in 2014), the Immortal Essence series, and the Blood and Snow series. She’s sold over two hundred thousand copies of her novels worldwide in the past year, including Japan, Canada, and Europe. You can find RaShelle all over the web, but the best place to start is on her blog: www.rashelleworkman.com
Gwynneth White
I know follow you by just about every means possible! Although you are not bubbling about this book, I love the cover and am in the mood for a retelling. Never read a Snow White one either. Although she does not sound anything like Disney’s lass. I just hope it’s not too steamy for me. Thanks for the giveaway.
cheers
Gwynn
Jennifer Bielman
I think the steaminess level will be okay for you. If you are in a mood for a retelling then you should really try this one.
Brandi Kosiner
Love the concept! A vamp Snow? And that cover is cute… but sorry to hear the execution wasn’t what it could have been
Jennifer Bielman
I know, the vampire element was so cool. High points for creativeness.
Jaclyn Canada
I really enjoy fairytale re-tellings so this one does interest me. I wasn’t aware that there was a vamp aspect included so I’m even more curious now. You listed quite a few things that were drawbacks (I do find pacing and reactions to events to be pretty important), but with your 3 star rating and what you liked about it, I think I will still like to check this one out. My favorite fairytale re-telling so far was Cinder. I know you didn’t enjoy that one the way that I did, but I adored it. Great review! Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven.
Jennifer Bielman
Yeah, Cinder was another 3 starer, so maybe retellings aren’t my thing. If you liked Cinder, I think you might like this one.
salena
I really love this series! Thank you so much for the chance to win! Good luck to all & Happy Reading 🙂
Jennifer Bielman
Happy to hear it. 🙂
Meghan
I like Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I also enjoyed Ella Enchanted and for musicals, I really LOVED Wicked. The book, Wicked, is not nearly as good!
Thanks for the giveaway!
mestith at gmail dot com
Jennifer Bielman
I loved Wicked on stage. Cinder was just an okay book for me. I haven’t got to Ella Enchanted yet.
Giselle
The 7 dwarf angle that she takes in this sounds really fun! I’ve heard it mentioned a few times already. I’m really happy you enjoyed it even though you had a few problems. Sounds like a fun read! 🙂 Great review!
Jennifer Bielman
The 7 boys instead of dwarves was really fun. And a lot more sexier. lol.
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Not the kind of books that I was looking for. But I would like to add to my list. Maybe I should try reading it.
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
For some reason I think I picked up the first book on an Amazon freebie, but maybe not. I’m not sure now. But they do sound good. 🙂 Thank you.
Jennifer Bielman
I hope you get a chance to read it then.
Mary Preston
HEART’S BLOOD by Juliet Marillier – BEAUTY AND THE BEAST retelling – is incredible.
Jennifer Bielman
I’ll have to look that one up. 🙂