Book Review: Stealing Snow by Danielle M. Paige

Title: Stealing Snow

Author: Danielle M. Paige

Rating: 3/5 snowflakes

Release date: October 6th 2016 (by Bloomsbury Childrens,

original date is September 20th 2016)

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Australia

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Snow lives within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she doesn't belong there, but she has no memory of life outside, except for the strangest dreams. And then a mysterious, handsome man, an orderly in the hospital, opens a door – and Snow knows that she has to leave …She finds herself in icy Algid, her true home, with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change everything. Heroine or villain, queen or broken girl, frozen heart or true love, Snow must choose her fate …

Review:

This book wasn't quite what I expected it to be. My feelings aren't quite solid for this one either. The book was far from flawless, but no doubt it had lots of potential.

The author actually did a brilliant job in crafting a whole new fantastical world. My problem with Fantasy is usually the way authors exaggerate in their world building, which makes it a pain to read. But not with this book. Algid was a very unique and interesting place, and I really hope to learn more about it too. The magical element in the story was very well done too! One thing about Danielle's writing is definitely the way she re-imagines the world she's created with the eyes of a unique persona, and although there were plot holes and a very complicated love sequence, the story still had that grip on you.

Also, this is probably just me, but the fact that the author included witches in the story made it feel more nostalgic. Danielle's Dorothy must Die series was all about witches and wizards, and I loved reading about them. I wish the story wasn't all about Snow. The other characters had so much more to tell, especially Jagger, Kai and Gerde! I really liked them! They stood out far more to me than the protagonist herself.

Which leads me to this... Snow was a horrible character. I feel like all i'm doing is comparing Stealing Snow to Dorothy Must die, but all my expectations were derived from reading the series. Therefore, it's safe to say that Snow was nothing but a pain in the neck. However, even if I weren't a fan of Danielle's other books, I'd still find the protagonist immensely rash and dim-witted. I won't go into further details, but it's disappointing to see that the main protagonist lacked in the character development she badly needed to go through.

Furthermore, the excessive amount of 'love interests' was completely unnecessary. Everything happened so abruptly, it's as if the story was forced to have some romance in it when it would have probably did fine without any at all. There was absolutely zero 'romance build-up', no chemistry, no spark, and everything was just so dull and stale, it was catastrophic.

Then again, it's only the first book, and with so much room to improve, I'm hoping that the second book takes a good turn of events. I'm rooting for you, Danielle. Here's to a great sequel!

Thank you so much Bloomsbury Publishing Australia for sending a copy over in exchange for an honest review!