Review – The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 226 pages
Publisher: Red Wombat Tea Co.
Release Date: February 7, 2016
ASIN: B01BKTT73A
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought ebook for Kindle
Rating: 5/5 stars
“When Gerta’s friend Kay is stolen away by the mysterious Snow Queen, it’s up to Gerta to find him. Her journey will take her through a dangerous land of snow and witchcraft, accompanied only by a bandit and a talking raven. Can she win her friend’s release, or will following her heart take her to unexpected places?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I bought a copy of this book for my Kindle.
Thoughts: I absolutely loved this retelling of the Snow Queen fairy tale. In this version, Gerta’s friend Kay is stolen by the Snow Queen and Gerta goes on a quest to save him. On the way to the far north she is enspelled by a well meaning witch, captured by bandits, and befriended by both a raven and a reindeer before finally making it to confront the Snow Queen.
This was an amazing story with a very classic fairy tale feel to it but with more humor and more relatable characters. There is a ton of adventure and magic in here as well. I really loved the characters, they feel very real and are easy to engage with. The story is beautifully written with wonderful descriptions that make the settings really come alive and some light humor to keep things from being too serious.
I loved the idea of some of the magic in here, especially the reindeer magic. I also love the unique relationships the different characters form, they are so easy to love. I thought this was a wonderful retelling of this fairy tale and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really enjoyed Kingfisher’s writing style as well and definitely plan on checking out more books by her.
My Summary (5/5): Overall this is a beautiful retelling of the classic Snow Queen fairy tale. I loved all the magic, adventure, and wonderful characterization. I also really enjoyed the way Kingfisher reimagined this tale; some wonderful changes were made to the tale but it still felt very in keeping with the original. This was incredibly entertaining to read and I really look forward to reading more books by Kingfisher.
