Stitching Snow: A Spoiler Free Review

Umm, spoiler free? Oh, uh, that could be a little harder.

If you follow me on twitter (@RenaTheWriter) then a couple weeks back you might have seen this pic in my feed.

Good tea, great book, what could be better?

I love that picture. It just sums up a perfect day.

For those of you who missed it, I won an ARC of Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis. This book doesn’t come out until October, but I can tell you right now that it’s a spectacular read.

The bare bones go like this: The plot is great, it picks you up and takes you on a ride. Vague? Yeah, well I said this was spoiler free, so here’s where I can give you comparison titles. If you read and liked Across the Universe, this book will probably be a slam dunk for you. It has similar aspects (Sci Fi, YA narrator), but you should know that it is, first and foremost, a retelling of Snow White in space. The other obvious comparison title is Cinder by Marissa Meyer. This comparison is a little closer to home in that the whole retelling is there and in a sci fi setting, but the circumstances of that setting are both greatly changed and extremely well told (that applies to both books).

What I loved: I loved how the tropes were all subverted perfectly. Every scrap of Snow is there and it is perfect and natural to the setting. I giggled—yes, I am allowed to giggle—at certain diminutive characters. I also loved how the story was faithful and irreverent (quite the feat).

There were no chapters or expositive areas where I wished the author would just get on with it (this is a common problem I have with all books; I hate having every detail spelled out for me). Each word is well chosen and I read every word (I’m a skipper, so when I read all the words, it’s a major compliment).

In short, go get this book. Preorder it now. It’s a really great book, lots of fun, adventure, and a healthy dose of cage fighting (because Snow White was totally a cage fighter).  

STITCHING SNOW

Princess Snow is missing.

 

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

 

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

 

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

About the Author

R.C. Lewis teaches math to teenagers—sometimes in sign language, sometimes not—so whether she’s a science geek or a bookworm depends on when you look. That may explain why her characters don’t like to be pigeonholed. Coincidentally, R.C. enjoys reading about quantum physics and the identity issues of photons.