The Snow Queen's shadow

Pros: great series conclusion, fast paced/

Cons: one scene felt superfluous/

Bea is dying and Snow has a plan to keep her around longer. When her spell goes wrong she unwittingly releases something that takes control of her and others, Prince Jakob being a strange exception. So she takes the boy when she leaves Lorindar's Palace and heads for home./

Making a beloved protagonist into the antagonist made this concluding volume of the Princess Series a heart wrenching one. By the end of the book ‘Snow' has done so many horrible things it's hard to imagine a good ending. But Hines delivers one that fits the subject matter and neatly wraps up the series./

The pacing is fast - it's a quick, exciting read. The protagonists' trip to see the fairies seems superfluous, but it's tied into the overarching plot well, making it a minor complaint./

If you haven't read this series, what are you waiting for?

Jim C. Hines brings his Princess series to a close with this revisioning of the Snow Queen fairy tale (with a touch of Hansel and Gretel thrown in for the only giggles this tome provides).

This isn't a standalone novel, nor is it a good jumping on point–this is the end of the road for these friends, and pretty near every page screams that. As such, it's great. A couple of plot points are tied up, every character gets a good (not positive, but solid) resolution to their arc, and we're reminded once again (as we've been told throughout this story) not everyone's story ends with a happily ever after.

Great conclusion to a really good series. The only thing I want to know is how DAW managed to sneak in a bunch of pollen between the pages in the last couple of chapters–‘cuz that's the only explanation for what happened to my eyes that I can think of.

Without a doubt the most serious of the series, which is kind of fitting to me because it's also currently the last in the series. Really, there's not much new for me to say. I still love Talia and Snow (and kind of adore Gerta). I like the choices Hines made in this book/series and give him lots of respect for the non-easy path that he often took, especially in this book. Really, if you've read and enjoyed the previous three, I find it hard to believe you won't enjoy this one.