Early Review – Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: October 14, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1423185079
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I got a copy of Stitching Snow through NetGalley to review. I was first drawn in by the unique title and beautiful cover. After I found out this was a science fiction retelling of Snow White I had to read it! This was a really well done science fiction fairy tale retelling! I enjoyed it a lot.

Essie has grown up on the ice cold mining planet of Thanda. She is a wiz at stitching code and has been a huge help in creating drones that make the mines safer and more efficient. Essie is pretty comfortable with her live but she has a big secret that she has been hiding for the last eight years. When a spaceship crashes on Thanda carrying Dane, Essie is eager for the distraction and challenge that fixing his spaceship gives her. That is until Essie finds out that Dane’s arrival is not an accident and his arrival is quickly unraveling all the secrets Essies has worked so hard to hide.

Okay so I am going to get the comparison to Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles out of the way first. No this book is not The Lunar Chronicles, it is a stand alone fairy retelling that does a good job creating a believable universe and kingdom. It is not some epic universe spanning story, there is not a huge cast of characters. It’s not the Lunar Chronicles, which is an incredibly well done science fiction fairy tale retelling. Stitching Snow is however a very good science fiction fairy tale retelling and you don’t see many of those.

Essie is a fun character to read about…she is a survivor tough and fiery and very smart. I loved reading about her tinkering with all her drones on Thanda. I also loved watching as she adapted quickly to her role on her home planet as well.

The male lead in this story, aka Prince Charming, is Dane. Dane comes to Thanda with his own painful history and is seeking the lost Princess Snow in hopes of using her to free his imprisoned father. Dane and Essie do not hit it off right away, in fact they clash quite a bit. Dane does a lot of things that are pretty despicable but he always has a reason that he believes in for doing those actions. I did like that Dane and Essie develop a relationship over time and learn to respect each other and work with each others strengths (and weaknesses).

The book is really well written and flows well. I zipped right through this and thought is was a very readable and engaging story. There’s a lot of action in here

As far as to how this relates to the Snow White tale I think Lewis did a pretty good job. I liked how she worked in the Poison Apple pendant and how the Drones were the dwarves from the original story. I like how the figure of The Huntsman is worked into the story too. You also have the wicked stepmother and prince charming.

There are a couple things that I think could have been done better. For one the Drones; the ones that were included were awesome…but Lewis could have done so much more with this. I also missed the presence of the magic mirror, which played a large role in the original tale and could have been worked into this version is so many awesome ways. I also thought Princess Snow’s abuse by her father was a bit odd to include, it’s hinted at and then plays a more blatant role later in the story. I was racking my memory in an effort to remember a version where Snow White’s abuse by her father plays a large role and can’t think of one.

Overall this is a very well done sci-fi retelling of Snow White. I would definitely recommend this to those who are fans of creative and well done fairy tale retellings.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Ebook Reading Challenge
– Fairy Tales Retold Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge