Review – Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 168 pages
Publisher: Subterranean
Release Date: February 28, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1596065529
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

“A plain-spoken, appealing narrator relates the history of her parents–a Nevada silver baron who forced the Crow people to give up one of their most beautiful daughters, Gun That Sings, in marriage to him. With her mother s death in childbirth, so begins a heroine s tale equal parts heartbreak and strength. This girl has been born into a world with no place for a half-native, half-white child. After being hidden for years, a very wicked stepmother finally gifts her with the name Snow White, referring to the pale skin she will never have. Filled with fascinating glimpses through the fabled looking glass and a close-up look at hard living in the gritty gun-slinging West, readers will be enchanted by this story at once familiar and entirely new.”

I am a huge Valente fan and was excited to read this retelling of Snow White by her. This was a stark, yet well done retelling of Snow White set in the Wild West. I ended up enjoying it.

The whole story is set in Nevada in the gold-rush era. Initially Snow is pretty much left to her own devices and pampered by her much absent father. Everything is all good until he remarries and Snow’s new stepmom is determined to wash the sin off Snow and turn her into a real lady. Of course our free-spirited Snow can’t tolerate this and ends up flying off to have adventures of her own.

This is a gritty and stark retelling of the Snow White tale and is told in a beautiful yet simple style. Snow comes across as both naive and extremely wise in the ways of man as the story progresses. I loved Snow’s voice and the way the story was told. It was poetic in its own way.

Overall I would recommend to those who enjoy fairy tale retellings. This is a unique retelling of Snow White in a Wild West setting. The writing is somewhat poetic in its starkness and is a bit ambiguous at times. I really enjoyed it and thought the way it was written really conveyed Snow’s personality and environment well.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge