White as Witching

A classically rendered fairytale retelling! The book opens on Snow, the rightful Queen of Cresilea, who has been living in hiding in a backwater town for seven years. She escaped the Witch-Queen with one of her father's guards, but seems to be struggling with her status quo. When an opportunity arises to return to the capital, Snow takes it and we are plunged into the main action of the story. Note that there is a romance plot line, but it is ‘fade to black' — so, no spice.

I read this book in one sitting - I was hooked into the story and wanted to know what would happen to Snow in each “phase” of the story. It's well-written, though the plot is somewhat simplistic and there are numerous ‘truths' Snow states that at times can feel preachy (and a bit too much showing rather than telling), but that ultimately serve the story.

I call this a fairytale retelling rather than a fantasy novel because (1) characters are ‘good' or ‘bad' and while Snow acknowledges the darkness in her own heart, she never actually seems that tempted by it; this really gives it a fable quality (there are clear morals). And (2) there isn't much in the way of world-building — while we encounter these different magical groups and do get to see some of how they live, there aren't clear ‘rules' to what is possible in the world. Much like a fairytale, we are along for the ride and you never quite know what will be possible on the next page.

This is a great standalone book to devour if you want a classic good-vs-evil fairytale with a happy ending! It's a more sophisticated bed time story for (young) adults! :) Thanks so much to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Buel for the ARC!