Stitching Snow

by R.C. Lewis

Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Retellings, Romance, Fairy Tales, Dystopia

338 pages, ebook

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

When I'm not writing novels, I'm teaching math. Or when I'm not teaching math, I'm writing novels. It gets a little confusing in here sometimes.

Reviews

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The day I was born, my father was more interested in unusual weather for the season. He chose my name and had some genetic resequencing done. He wanted what he wanted. So I was made Princess Snow, eyes like the sky and hair as white as my name."

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived Snow White.



Heehee. No, I have not gone off my rockers! Ok, I have, but that's beside the point. Of course, everyone has their own interpretation of a book, but for me, this book is Star Wars meet Snow White.. It has a kick-ass heroine, a realistic romance (and not a hint of a love triangle to be found! Halle-fucking-lujah!). The oh-so-familiar elements of the classics are still there. The dwarves...with a twist. The Evil Queen.

My stepmother. Crying never got me anything but a slap across the cheek from her. She haunted the edges of my earliest childhood memories. She was inescapable…until I escaped.

The Huntsman.

“You were the one,” Dane whispered. “The one who helped her escape.”
A knife in Kip’s hand, both of us staring at it, staring at each other…The indecision in his eyes fading only when he hands it to me.

The poison apple.

I hardly glanced at Olivia’s gift—a ruby-studded pendant in the shape of an apple I remembered her wearing a few times.

But there are also spaceships, evil emperors, adorably clunky androids... named Dimwit and Cusser.

Dimwit chose that moment to spot-weld one of its feet to the deck.
As usual, I didn’t include that infuriating bucket of a malfunction in my tally of problems. After all, I could solve that one with a quick hour of dismantling work.
For some reason, though, I never did.

And not to mention, Jedi mind-control

My surroundings went fuzzy, blurring with motion as something inside of me was yanked somewhere else.
To someone else.

And Snow White herself...genetically engineered to look like her name.

The Summary:

"I didn’t want to go home,” I said simply. “I still don’t.”

Essie is a rough, tough girl with a secret. She has not had an easy life. One of the youngest miners on the planet, she is no stranger to hard labor. She is a brilliant programmer and engineer. She can fight, and does. Essie can watch her own back, and she will need to. She is all alone, and nobody will watch out for her.



Life is lonely, and hard. Essie only has two stupid bleeping droids to keep her company (no, really, they bleep and bloop and whirr quite loudly. One is named Cusser...for the words it makes her say). She is content to be left alone...until the day a foreign boy, Dane, crashes into her life. Literally.

The flats spread before me, and the shuttle lay dead center. Not as bad a crash as I’d feared—it was still in one right-side-up piece. The sparks and smoke, however, didn’t bode well.

Dane is pretty nice, he gains her trust, he even helps her fight off an attacker. He's just kind of a a little dumb, because hello, he's a treasure hunter. Right. But seriously, he's not a bad dude. That is, he was nice until he kidnaps her. Well, fuck.

Every alarm in my body went off.
Something cold and metallic touched my neck. The shuttle skewed out of focus. My legs weren’t under me anymore, but somehow I hadn’t hit the floor.
“I’m sorry, Essie.”

It turns out that Dane wasn't lying. He is a treasure hunter. He was just lying about the type of treasure he is seeking.

“I’m not one of the half-drunk miners you’re used to fighting…Princess.”
He knew.
I couldn’t breathe.
“I’m the ‘treasure’ you were looking for,” I whispered.
“The treasure I got, the way I see it.”

Essie is not Essie. Essie is the long-missing Princess Snow. Daughter of the despotic King Matthias and his magical, bewitching Queen Olivia. Dane is part of the Exiles, and he has pretty valid reasons for wanting to kidnap Essie. When she disappeared, his people were blamed. They were punished, reviled. But was it truly the princess' disappearance that made the king seek to destroy their people...or is it part of a much bigger plot?

Whatever it is, the Exile's miserable, darkened existence is partially her fault, however indirectly. Dane brings her to his people, who want to bring her back on the throne. The Exiles see her as a beacon of hope. She is the heir to the throne. She can overthrow her evil father. She can restore peace to the empire. She is their salvation. Or is she their pawn?

she’d put her trust in people who couldn’t protect her. People who maneuvered lives like strategically placed pawns.
Leaving only me, the last.

Snow has her own reasons for running away. Her life as a child in the palace was not as blissful as it seemed. Is she ready to confront her past? Is she willing to put her fears aside? Will she finally embrace her destiny and become the queen everyone knows she could be?

Shoulders straight, Essie. Chin level. Just like Mother.
The council sat around the large table, caught in the midst of an argument. Dane was the first to spot me, his lips parting in mute surprise. The older council members followed his gaze, and the room went silent.
“You wanted a queen,” I said solidly, pushing my Thandan accent aside. “You’ve got one.”

Essie:

Windsong needs you.…
My mother’s voice again. After the memory of the pond and the dragonflies, it was too much. I turned and ran back to the complex, ignoring Dane’s shouts.
One thing hadn’t changed since he took me from Thanda—I still would not let him see me cry.

I really, really hate her name. Essie = nail polish brand to me, so yeah, name = hate. The character, however, is just fine.

When he doubled over, I kicked his legs from under him. He dropped and I followed, bracing my legs against his while my upper body pinned his shoulders. The shouts surrounding the cage crested as Thacker pushed against the threadbare mat. Before he could throw me off, I grabbed a fistful of his sweaty hair and slammed his head down.

I like the fact that Essie is strong. I like the fact that Essie is a fighter, a cage fighter for prize money, in fact. I like the fact that, in a YA world filled with girls who want to be artists, writers, singers, clothes designers, our Essie is a programmer and an engineer. I give high praise to authors who give their female characters a love for math and the sciences. It is entirely too lacking still, even in this day and age. Girls should be encouraged to pursue a love of math and science.

I like her fear. I like her past. I like the fact that she does not allow a dark moment to hold her back.

Knocked out, helpless in a room full of drunk men.
I splashed icy water on my face, forcing deep breaths to keep both the memory and the panic attack at bay. Nothing had happened. Not then, and not today.

I like the fact that she is hard, with a core of steel. She is not a crier, she holds things inside, but she is ever-so-vulnerable just the same. Nobody is perfect. I like that she holds herself back, while still being susceptible to ever-growing teenage hormones, while never letting it overwhelm her. She remains strong, but never so stubborn as to become the cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face type. THE FEELS, LET IT OUT, GIRL!

“Dimwit Essie queen Essie,” he said. “Essie mother proud.”
And the twitchy malfunction who’d never botched anything he didn’t mean to dipped himself into an unmistakable bow.
I didn’t fight the tear that slipped down my cheek.
I smiled, and I bowed back.

The Romance:

A siren blasted my ears, echoing off the smooth walls. Lockdown. If we got trapped in that chamber, it was over.
I turned, and my eyes found Dane’s. He was still with me. He looked right at me and took a breath.
“GO!”
And I did.

Priority, girlfriend. You haz them. And I love you for it. Yes, this book has romance. The love interest is a kidnapper, and I don't give a fuck. Dane is a good guy. Yeah, Essie has her silly girl moments. So what? You have them. I've had them (and still have them). The point is that the lovey-dovey is kept to a minimum, and I never found myself going...



I'm not excusing the fact that he kidnapped her, but you have to admit, as Essie admitted...his reasons, to free his people. To release them from blame and scorn...to rescue his father (I am your father. Sorry, couldn't help myself) are pretty fucking valid reasons.

Kidnapping me to trade for political prisoners made him a despicable smear of buzzard dung. Trading a girl he’d just met for the father he’d lost eight years ago…that made him something else.

And do I ship them? You fucking bet I (space)ship them. Dane and Essie bring out the best, the brightest, the bravest part of themselves when they fall in love.

“Please, Essie,” he said. “Let me take you home. Let me make it right.”

If I let him take me back to hide behind mine-drones and cage fights…it would never be the same. I couldn’t forget the price of my freedom.

There had to be another choice.

I had to create one.

Do what needs doing, even if it terrifies you.

Only one option remained. The one I’d never been willing to acknowledge, but now I had to.

“Right, then, I’ll go home.” Dane relaxed and smiled at my words, but I wasn’t done. “Home,” I went on, “is Windsong.”

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blog: Melissa Martin's Reading List

PRINCESS SNOW IS MISSING... WHERE COULD SHE BE....





Princess Snow (Essie) is on the planet Thanda where it's sub-zero weather, sounds like my kind of place. She's been here for 8 years.

She's a bad ass and I love it! She's in cage fights with the miners of all things!



She works with a really nice guy named Petey who tries to keep her out of trouble. Essie has made 7 drones to help in the mines. The drones and the humans mine for merinium, it's really important around the galaxy!



Oh and here is a little EXCERPT on how merinium is made:

♣♣♣♣♣

"One of the few native animal species here is called the harri-harra. It's a giant worm that burrows in the bedrock and --Dimwit, I said stop! If you weld your feet together, I'm not fixing it. Anyway, the harri-harra leaves a trail of secretions and excrement in its wake that seeps into the stone, undergoes a chemical reaction and, after enough time, you have merinium."

♣♣♣♣♣

Meanwhile, on in other parts of the galaxy, her father and step monster live on the planet Windsong and they think Essie is dead.



So, Essie is living the life on Thanda with her drones, she fights in the cage matches to get money to keep upgrading her drones. They don't really look like these... see below ↓



These drones are her 7 dwarves so to speak in the original story, as if you haven't figured that one out. We have: Ticktock, Clank, Dimwit, Clunk, Whirligig, Zippy, and Cusser. They don't really put in too much of an appearance in the book which was kind of sad to me. Although, Dimwit and Cusser do and I love them both, especially Dimwit, but I have always loved those two dwarves they are acting as :)

Then this dude named Dane drops in on the planet.. literally, he crashes. Sooooooo... Essie decides to be nice and fix his ride for him. Well.. this, that and the other happens.. and he kidnaps Essie and Dimwit and Cusser are a long for the ride.

Dane says he's taking Essie back to Windsong because her dad is a prisoner there. Essie's father took all of the Elites on the planet as prisoners, blaming them for her kidnapping. Essie is very sad about this and had no idea as info on Thanda is limited. Anyway, they make some stops along the way on some other planets to finish fixing the ship. Oh...and.. Dane is an Elite and Essie is half Elite. What is an Elite you ask? You will just have to read the book to find out because I'm not telling you EVERYTHING!

There are a lot of things that happen a long the way but I'm leaving those out. Let's just say at one point, Dane and Essie start to fall in love :) Hey, it's a fairy tale, don't like it.. tough!



They get some plans together with some peeps and head on over to Windsong. Essie puts on a show about being kidnapped and left in Thanda etc, and that she saved Dane and he's sworn his life to her. Her father is so happy to see her, but well all know the evil queen.. IS NOT.

There is a point where a poison apple is involved, not in the way you think.



Some really sad things happen. I cried a little, don't judge me! Some good evil things happen, depending on how you look at them, and there is a royal wedding :) Hoorah!





I cried at that part ↑

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Also reveiwed for Addicted2Heroines

Space, the final frontier...

The big question on everyone's mind seems to be whether or not Stitching Snow is a rip-off of The Lunar Chronicles.
Hmmm.
Well, retellings are, by the very nature of the genre, all rip-offs.
But that's not really what people are talking about, is it?
My personal opinion?
I'm leaning towards, no. No, I do not think this is a rip-off.
I mean, is no one ever going to be allowed to write another retelling in space, just because Marissa Meyer did such a good job of it? I certainly hope not.
That would be like saying every story about a young wizard is a rip-off of Harry Potter, and every story about a snugly vampire is a rip-off of Twilight.
Yes , there are some similarities. Yes , they will bother some people.
But for folks like me, who gobble up multiple retellings every year? Well, I'm used to the fact that some of these stories occasionally have components that feel familiar. Granted, the reviewers who are comparing this book to Meyer's books, have valid reasons to feel the way they do. All I'm saying, was that it didn't bother me very much. However, in the interest of total disclosure, I probably would have rated this a full 4 stars if there hadn't been things that reminded me of The Lunar Chronicles' world.

So, with my opinion on that out of the way, here's the review:

This one took a few chapters to get interesting. The setting on Thanda wasn't something that drew me in, or made me want to read more.
Cold = Boring.
Possibly this is because I hate cold climates. I know that tons of people love the Winter Wonderland stuff, but not me.
Anybody remember Chilly Willy the Penguin?
Yeah, that's me anytime the temperature drops below 75 degrees.
True story:
When my husband and I first met, he had just moved to Florida (having spent the better part of a decade in Colorado), and I nearly killed him on several occasions.
How?
Every time the temperature dipped down past 70, I cranked the heat up to 90.
FULL-BLAST, baby!
I'd find him passed out on the couch, sweating and gasping for breath.
Meanwhile, I'm wearing a sweatshirt and wool socks.
All I can say is that he really must have loved me.
So, for whatever reason, I found the icy setting bleak and uninteresting. It wasn't until they left the planet entirely, that I perked up and started paying attention.
Once they were hurtling toward another planet, the plot started clicking a bit better for me, and by the midway point, I was fully engaged in this story.

Essie (Snow) is the missing princess. Duh.
Dane is Prince (not always so) Charming. Their romance wasn't insta-love, so bonus points for the two of them getting to know each other first. On the downside, it's not really a sizzler.
And instead of the Seven Dwarfs, you have seven mining bots that each have their own personality traits. Cusser (Grumpy) and Dimwit (Dopey) are the two main bots that follow Essie throughout the entire story. The rest kind of take a backseat, so, quite frankly, I can't remember their names, or who they line up with in the Disney movie.
The evil Queen is very...well, evil. But, for me, she wasn't the creepiest villain in the show. No, that spot is reserved for Essie's father. You don't find out why he's so awful until over halfway through the book, so I really can't say anything without it being a spoiler.
But...DAMN!
He was so glad to see her alive, and had no idea his new wife was actively trying to kill his child. Yay!
And yet...*shudder*

I think Lewis did a really good job of putting a lot of the recognizable parts of the Snow White story into this book.
Poison apple. Check.
Huntsman. Check.
Kiss to Wake Up (with a twist). Check.
And believe it or not, even the Burning Iron Shoes make an appearance!
The only thing missing was the glass casket. Yeah, it's not there.
shrugs

If you're looking for a YA romance, you'll probably think this is a bit dry and crunchy.
But if you're looking for your next fairytale retelling, I think you could do a whole lot worse than Stitching Snow.
However, I also think this one is going to be hit or miss with fans of this genre.
So.
Basically, don't come crying to me if you don't like it.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Thank you, NetGalley!

[Faye, la Patata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this is awkward... another review for a retelling from yours truly. I swear I am not seeking them out; they seem to find me, not I them. In any case, this one is extra special because it's a retelling in spaaaaaaaace. And anything set in space is automatically "cool beans" in my eyes. I mean, usually. You know. *fidgets*

Now the only problem is... where to bloody start.

You see, Stitching Snow and I have quite a complicated relationship. I liked it for the most part, but I found a lot of problems along the way, and I for one never forget these things. Once I spot one, they become even more glaring after a while. Surely now, if ever this book were sentient, it's probably regretting it had to be read by me of all people.

...okay, not really.

For one, this book is obviously futuristic, and set in a world that isn't the Solar System. Since we're in a brand new setting, I expected there to be more imagery about the environment they're in. Not only about the planets and the places they're inhabiting, but about how their orbits and stuff work as well, because there's some space travel in this one. Unfortunately, I found the world-building lacking to the point that it was nearly nonexistent.

I mean, it's cool to be bombarded with technical mumbo-jumbo since our heroine, Essie, is a mechanic... they were cool after a while, but sooner or later, I simply wanted to learn more about the setting. What does her world, Thanda, look like? What else is there in Settlement Forty-Two? What's to be found in the Bands, aside from being where the women and children live? What about Gamar? So it's hot in that planet, full of sands, and they have solar screens... and is that it? Does this planet have anything else to offer? What about Canadar? It's the place where the Exiles live, okay... the houses are in marble, okay... there are frequent earthquakes, okay... and? What goes beyond it? What about Windsong? There's a castle... that's where the King and Queen live... and? AND WHAT ELSE? WHAT BLOODY ELSE?!?!

So many questions and I'm not even halfway done. What I find really disappointing in this book is that it doesn't even bloody try.  It would mention places, but I don't even remember anything special about them because they only had passing descriptive sentences that were easily forgettable. It would mention important people, but aside from their name, we don't even know what they look like.It's funny because no one has a description save for the main character and the love interest. People pop in, and we're not given a detail about them that would make them distinct from others. I mean, seriously, they go out to space to travel and we don't even get to know the name of their system's bloody star. I'm not even sure all the planets are in the same planetary system, but it definitely looks like it... and now I need more info on how that's possible, but screw details right?

Look, the thing is, I hate it when a book is really detailed to the point your brain is overloaded with overlapping images, but this is world-building, guys. For me, it cannot be vague. It doesn't need to be in every other page, it simply needs to be solid and consistent. Heck, there's a political war in this book, and the explanation on its background history can be jotted down in half a page. And that's so frustrating because the plot is centered on that fucking political war. I need more than that for me to be completely immersed in the people's plight.

Speaking about the war, I'm giggling to myself like crazy how the villain here certainly felt like Snow White's villain - simple-minded and evil for the heck of it. Or maybe there's a reason why the antagonist hated our heroine so bloody much, but I wouldn't know because the book has never expounded on it. A lot of the story is centered on stopping their evil regime, and when we finally crossed that bridge, we get a very underwhelming villain who I can easily picture as a boogeyman because there's absolutely nothing that can distinct the two anyway.

And I feel so sad about it because that's another opportunity wasted. I wish there was more to the "mean mother". We only know that she hates Essie because "she's in the way". In the way of what? The throne? But you already are Queen, and Essie wouldn't be queen yet until you die so what's the issue? I don't even get the need to control and make life miserable for other planets when the Exiles were originally co-existing with them. I certainly would have loved to know more Queen Olivia and her motives, wanted to see more than the evil caricature that she was... but yeah, no dice.

At least she has a reason why she hates you, mister.

But at least it had a strong heroine. Essie is a strong, capable, and independent girl who survived by herself for many years in the distant planet of Thanda. I loved that she had spunk, and that whenever she found herself in a bind, she sought for ways to free herself from it. She was the lost princess, but was a warrior at heart, through and through. I admit that red sirens were wailing in my head when she first found Dane in a crash site and she immediately described him as "beautiful", "as if an artist sculpted him", but thankfully, she didn't turn into a lovesick fool in the scenes succeeding that.

I liked that she had some internal conflict within her, regarding whether or not she wanted to step up and stop escaping from the harsh reality. It's more believable that way rather than charging into a war blindly without thinking things through. If I were her, I would be indecisive at first as well, because it's basically an issue of "to sacrifice myself to save them, or sacrifice them to save myself".

I'm not really sure what to think about the romance, though. I'm glad that the romance was kept at a minimum, and although there were some awkward "I love yous", it only really blossomed and materialized at the very end, which made me somewhat happy because that makes more sense than kissing during an an attempt to take the throne. However, while Dane was generally a nice person whose only fault was being quite ignorant in the beginning, he was kinda bland for me.  Reading the book, it looked like to me that his personality simply revolved around Essie. It felt like he never really stood out... his personality didn't shine through at all, and he slowly blended in the background. That may have been on purpose, but I wished his presence was more felt considering his kidnapping scheme was the catalyst and he was Essie's support system.

All in all, it could have been a good retelling, but the lack of world-building made it really hard for me to appreciate this novel because as a visual reader, I need to be able to see them in my mind to immerse myself in it. The antagonist's simple-mindedness and the book's failure to bring something new to the table in this regard wasn't something that I could overlook as well. The "I'm evil because I am" is just something that doesn't work with me anymore. But thankfully, the lack of overwhelming romance and the strong heroine saved the day, and they are what redeemed this book for me.

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars I was pretty determined to not compare this book to Marissa Meyer's fairy tale scifi series as I read it, because a. it's hardly the first to do a mash-up of genres and b. books deserve to be judged on their own merits. But it's pretty impossible not to see the similarities in Stitching Snow's tone and a few other elements to Cinder, except with characters and relationships that aren't quite as compelling, and a story line and dialogue and romance that don't really spark. It's going to be interesting to see how Meyer's fourth book Winter, which is also loosely based on "Snow White," compares when it comes out next year.

I really dislike "Essie" as a name, but I did like her as a character, though she's really the only one that's really of any interest. I think Kip could have been interesting, and maybe Laisa, but neither they nor the perfectly-fine-but-forgettable love interest Dane really ended up doing much for me.

I think this one's probably best suited for die-hard fairy tale retelling fans, or those who haven't yet read Meyer. Sorry for repeated references to the other series, but we do respond to books in the context of other things we've read, no? And unfortunately, for me, this one pales in comparison to The Lunar Chronicles.

An advance copy was provided by the publisher for this review.

[Arielle Rae Aguilar]

EDIT: I was right. I completely forgot about this book.

Okay, so I saw this on the Recommendations page and read the synopsis

I thought Oh, this looks really interesting! I want to read it right away!

And I looked at the publication date

October

OCTOBER

Are you kidding me?? That's around 7 months away! By then, I bet I would've forgotten that I added this to my tbr list



Note to self: Check publication date BEFORE reading the synopsis

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's definitely going to be difficult to not compare this to Cinder; it's got robots, a misplaced princess, space travel, and a fairy tale backbone, but honestly this was just different enough for me to stop the comparisons there. The story didn't really get its hooks into me until around 19%, and it's interesting that I see a lot of people that didn't finish this stopped before that point. Honestly, that's where the whole book did a 180 for me and I was glued to the page. I'd say, if you get to chapter 7 and you're STILL bored, then this is probably not for you.

I love retellings. I eat them up and ask for seconds. Snow White isn't my favorite story, but the way Lewis incorporated some of the fairy tale's well-known bits into her novel were pretty smart. I didn't think it would be easy to translate some of the things from the original story into this futuristic retelling, but I enjoyed seeing little bits and pieces of it stitched in to fit perfectly.

While I really liked Essie, I thought the standout character was definitely her bumbling drone, Dimwit. That dumb robot actually made me tear up near the end. Her other drone, Cusser, gets an honorable mention, and I think if the drones hadn't been a part of this novel I wouldn't have liked the story nearly as much.

Another thing I appreciated was the fact that this is not a series. I know I said this in one of my last reviews for The Darkest Part of the Forest, but it is actually rare for a young adult novel to stand alone. Don't get me wrong, I love series too, but sometimes you don't need 3+ books to tell a story. A lot of times I feel like authors are just spreading things out because they can, or because it's too difficult to tell a full story in one book, but sometimes I just want to read a book and not worry about cliffhangers or how many months I have to wait to find out what's going to happen next.

I think it's possible to love this book and also love Cinder. There's no reason why both books can't exist with the amount of other fairy tale rellings. Sure, there are similarities, and you might feel like Cinder did them better (or worse) but it's not like you can't enjoy them both. Or course there's the flipside to this coin as well; if you hated Cinder you might love this one instead! If you're in the mood for a science fiction retelling of Snow White with robots and fighting and a pronounced darker side of this fairy tale, then give this one a chance.

[Asghar Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snow White and her seven Drones get revamped in this sleek looking space opera. I didn't know retelling fairy tales set in space was a thing. Clever enough idea. I hope this horse doesn't get beaten to death with the inevitable rehashes.

[Wouldn’t want to botch the pretty girl’s face, right? Idiot.]

A few moments into this I came across this gold nugget and I almost closed the book altogether. Um, no, no, no, no, just no. It felt so self-referential. But in the past, I have been guilty of far greater instances of lack of self-awareness, so I pushed past that, and read on.

I am glad I did, this book was very enjoyable. Then I read Essie had dyed her hair red and I was a goner. The contrast of red against white seemed appeasing. Cerise snow always an interesting concept, and sometimes people do come back from the cold. Of course, after a little while, she changed her hair back to their natural white. At least I think the color of her hair was white. Lewis wasn't too big on descriptions, or even describing things past the bare basics.

As I read this in December, I got this Star Warsy vibe from it making me almost giddy, maybe that was just my anticipation for the Force that's Awakening right now. And likewise, Essie and Dimwit reminded me of Rey and BB-8 though there are no real similarities, but how could they not in my eagerness to watch the new Star Wars movie (I haven't seen it yet so don't spoil it for me haha)

I'll admit I liked holding this beautifully made book, tracing the pretty filigreed S with my thumb, with every flicker of touch, every rub of my thumb, it gleamed even more. The book felt fluffy in my hands pretty much like its content, like snowflakes.

The lack of world-building bothered me, really bothered me. I don't like immense settings or tedious setting up of things that takes too long, but this was too much, the lack of substance bordered on disturbing. I kept waiting for Lewis to show us what any of Snow's dwarfs- excuse me- drones looked like but nope, she never did. I couldn't tell if the drones had two legs or four. I've read novelizations with better world-building than this. I have even a bigger issue with how the expletives were used, or rather not used. I understand what genre this was aiming for, but to have your otherwise believable characters utter words like blazing or tank it, just felt juvenile. Yes, YA and all, but there are young adult novels featuring proper profanity. I don't know any eighteen-year-olds who would say blazing or tank it, do you? It just sounded funny. If this book can handle molestation and attempted rapes then it could most certainly handle few expressive expletives. Dark themes did surprise and then impressed me, wasn't expecting anything deep in this one.

Why the four stars then? Well, it was fun to read and I did enjoy it, the idea and the book felt nice. It was adventurous. I liked how Snow stitched codes, that she liked puzzles. I liked the idea of seven drones. The inevitable love angle was almost insta, but given that Dane was the only person within Essie's age group then I guess it was only natural they did up together, haha? Speaking of Dane, he was serviceable and almost interesting. And Essie was strong, I like that. A strong character in a weakly plotted book. The planets Thanda and Garam mean Cold and Hot in Urdu respectively, I thought that was really cute. Urdu being my first language; an Ole Tongue and lingua franca of all southern faes.

Ultimately, Stitching Snow filled me up with a yearning for better-constructed worlds in the Scifi genre, oddly enough a craving for steampunk and fairy tales retellings in general. This year I endeavor to only read well-written books. Maybe write a few of those myself.

I have told you what I liked, let me tell you what I loved about this novel. I loved its ending.
The end was fair, it ended just right that had me wanting more. So I am going to apply more warpaint and carry on.


codicil: So I did see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, finally. Let's just say all in all, on a whole, and comparatively, I feel Stitching Snow was a better space saga. That's saying a lot. Imagine my disappointment with the movie. I came out of it feeling a little discontent, a little dissatisfied, and a lot disappointed. Oh, JJ Abrams, you shouldn't have. See, it's not like I was expecting anything exceptional, just I was expecting a little more, but sadly Disney didn't give me more.
I was a little shocked, TFA wasn't so egregiously bad just the lack of real substance was shocking. All the inane rehashing mind-numbing, people actually liked that?

Maybe I am the only person in my own universe who didn't like this movie, or maybe not. There are lots of other rebels who are rising up right now, a few of them writers too, and resisting the truly evil Empire in their cloning of original saga.

Anyway, if anyone is keeping score, Revenge of the Sith and Empire Strikes Back are still my favorite in the bunch. Say what you will about the prequels, but they were a lot better Star Wars movies. They were dark, progressive, trying not to be funny, well not intentionally. And the prequels were a lot more stylish than the Force Awakens too. And quite frankly a lot entertaining too. I remember Sith being a lot more exciting. It was cathartic too.

On the plus side, upside being, I think I am in love with Rey, I'll blame that on Disney too, haha. Oh and I am definitely getting a lifesize BB-8.

[Lainey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are you looking for a science fiction fairy tale retelling? I recommend Stitching Snow which is a Snow White retelling set against a space adventure. Me? I was sold. I would say it was a cross between The Lunar Chronicles and These Broken Stars.

The plot itself is a tad hard to explain. Even the synopsis is extremely vague. Basically, eight years ago Princess Snow disappeared prompting a war across planets. We follow Essie who has been on planet Tandra minding her own business. One day, a spacecraft carrying this boy Dane crashes near her house and she helps him and it inadvertently thrown into the center of this war she didn't want to be a part of.

First off, I wasn't sure about this book when I started it. I wasn't completely sold at the beginning and I didn't like how Dane and Essie's interactions were going or why Essie cared about helping him. Then, I reached sixty pages in and everything changed and I was completely hooked and I was all for this crazy space adventure ride I was put on. It had everything I liked in a ya scifi. There was different planets, spaceships, royalty, balls, underground fighting, the whole bit.

I LOVED Essie. She was such a spunky heroine. She took zero fucks. You're introduced to Essie as she is partaking in a fighting match. Essie was fun, sassy, intelligent and extremely independent. I loved her. Even though Dane is obviously her love interest, she was the first to say she could do things on her own and that was the thing - she could. She had the goods to back at up and wouldn't be annoying and get into bigger trouble trying to do it on her own. I think so many heroines in ya just rely on the guy. Essie does not. As much as I loved Essie, I did feel she was a little unreliable at times. There's this one bit towards the end between her and another character that is revealed and it didn't shock me, but it confused me because she was interacting with this character during the book and didn't mention it. And guys, it's monumental to the point where it would have been on her mind interacting with this character. maybe the author did this for shock value or a "big reveal" but it ended up just making me not believe or trust Essie a little. But still, she was a great character.

One thing I found weak was the world building. It is a standalone and building a scifi world in one book is difficult. There were rules in this book that weren't really explained or delved into. There is this group of people in the book called the Exiles and in fact, they can bodyhop into other characters. It's never really explained how they have these abilities or why or if they're human or alien. It wouldn't bother me as much if it weren't for the fact that it's implied that (maybe) the planet of Windsong (where Snow is from) is/was planet Earth. And if that's so, it changes everything with the solar system that was introduced to me because nine (I STILL COUNT PLUTO) planets weren't mentioned, just three. I don't know. I wished it was just a little more developed.

Since it is a fairy tale retelling, I was really impressed with how Lewis blended aspects of Snow White everyone knows and updates it to a science fiction setting. Listen. Guys. Essie built seven drones that are so loyal to her and all have their own personality. I was so in love with these damn robots. I want one. There are also nods to apples, poison, stepmothers, mirrors, and slumbers. It was such a fun adventure. i know the next book is a companion, so we won't follow any of the characters in the book, but I hope it's set in the same world. I want to know more about it.

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is definitely a lot of fun, but it's hard to look past the many parallels to the 'Lunar Chronicles' by Marissa Meyer.

Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 1. A book you meant to read in 2015 but didn't

[Maggie ☘ · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2,8/5 stars*

“You are a girl,” he pointed out.
I braved his eyes long enough to shoot him a glare, and there was no doubt he felt the heat of it as his step stuttered. “I am, and I may be the only one living in Forty-Two. But I’m no one’s wife and no one’s good time, and I’ve no intention of letting that change anytime soon.”

I'm quite conflicted when it comes to this book. While I pretty much disliked the first half of it, the second half was much better. It's not perfect and in no way my favorite re-telling, but objectively not that bad either. Stitching Snow is entertaining, fast-paced retelling of Snow White in Space, with plot interesting enough to keep one reading. It was entertaining enough while I read it, but it's nothing really remarkable and I know I won't spare much thought about this book afterwards.


Most of the characters were nothing remarkable either. Though the main heroine Essie was pretty great. Independent, spunky, strong and selfless. (Finally Ya heroine who doesn't need guy to survive, she's plenty capable of taking care of herself). Also talented mechanic/programmer - she often jokingly called her work 'stitching', and an occasional cage fighter. I love that!
All in all very likeable main heroine, and I can definitely see why many readers would love her.
But what I didn't like and felt like it was unnecessary to the story and character arc of the heroine was the thing about her father. He was sexually abusing her when she was little and it felt out of place in this particular book. It's fairy tale re-telling and sometimes feels a bit more like Middle Grade read for gods sake.
It felt like the author wrote it only so the readers would feel for the heroine, I hate that. If authors want to write about something like that, they should take the matter seriously and not only use it as an excuse for sympathy.
To show you Ya series where this matter was handled well, Sanctum was one of them.

“Kip and Dane and even Laisa said they saw my mother in me; I’d always feared my father was my stronger reflection.”

Dane, the love interest, on the other hand wasn't my favourite. When he first appeared I was immediately suspicious of him, and why the hell did the heroine helped him for no reason at all is beyond me. Then I started to dislike him for more than half of the book, and only started to accept him in the last half. But still, he was pretty annoying in most part for me, and felt bland.

Petey, old miner who helped Essie when she was little, took her in and cared for her. Sadly he was there only at the beginning, but I still immediately liked him.

Essie's seven Drones was the most unique idea about this book. I absolutely adored the quirky Dimwit! (And even Cusser) But I felt like while the idea of them was great, the final result lacked something important for them to be truly remarkable. Most of the drones were barely there in most parts, and the decription and different personalities and quirks of all of them could've been done much better and more distinctive than they were (It had so much potential.) - not counting Dimwit! He (it?) may be the best thing about this whole book for me. Without doubt the best character in Stitching Snow! (But still nowhere near the awesomeness of Iko from TLCh, can't even compare!)

And lastly the villain(s). They were described as this intelligent and manipulative antagonists, who were scheming, poisoning and manipulating others to achieve what they wanted, but when finally made an apperance, weren't that impressive at all. Especially the 'Evil Queen' wasn't believable at all. They acted illogically and predictably for most part. They lacked any character development, any reason of why they did the things they did, and simply felt like one dimensional, cartoonish pseudo villains.


The romance wasn't the strongest aspect of this book, and wasn't as much developed as I would like. And the first kiss came absolutely out of freaking nowhere. But at least things improved a bit toward the second half and I could finally see the reason why they had feeling for each other at least. I have to say I'm glad the romance didn't take center stage in this book! Also our heroine has her priorities straight, unlike so many Ya heroines out there.
Also I loved that it was the main heroine who kissed the prince awake, and not the other way around. So very refreshing!

The writing style was way too average and simplistic. Lots of repeated phrases. The main heroine used the word 'Aye' way too many times for my taste. But tank it! I really liked the blazing creative swear words the author created!

“Brave is being scared and doing what needs to be done anyway”

The world-building was confusing, not entirely clear and fleshed out for book set in made up universe. While I liked some locations (the main character traveled a lot, so at least it didn't get old), it lacked more depth and explanation, some backstory about the universe and its planets.
The story is clearly not set in Solar System, but there are some hints of the people of Windsong beings descendants of Earth, I think. (No further explanation, like how come they ended up there).
The only struggle mentioned was with Windsong's tyrannical leaders, and the hate and mistrust between their people and the Exiles - who had abilities to bodyhop into another person's mind. Again, the author never explained why, or who they are.
The politics and struggles of the societies were way too simple (nonexistent, really) and the supposed 'war' between Windsong and The Exiles was laughable. It felt like a naive fairy tale with bad and good sides, nothing in between. I wanted more world-building and details for each planet, which the book didn't deliver.

I love fairytale re-tellings, I love stories set in Space, with spaceships or shuttles, androids and strong female lead! It sounded so promising, especially when so many readers compared it to The Lunar Chronicles - it's not so similar in my opinion. I should have loved this book! The sad part is it was very promising, but didn't actually deliver what I personally wanted.


If you want to read fast-paced, sweet (for most part when it wasn't annoying) and pretty simplistic re-telling of Snow White and Seven Drones, than give it a try. It wasn't the worst Sci-fi book I have read, only disappointing in it's execution and the unique potential which, for me, wasn't entirely met.

“Dimwit Essie queen Essie,” he said. “Essie mother proud.”

2 'it was ok' stars for the kickass heroine and of course, Dimwit!

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original review at: www.awesomebooknuts.blogspot.com

I'm just gonna come out and say it. This is a MUST OWN! Whoot! that good! For fans of Marissa Meyer's Cinder series will LOVE this book. And, get this, IT'S A STAND ALONE! Oh my heck do those even exist anymore?! sheesh!

So this is a Snow White story but R.C. Lewis has completely made it her own which is perfect and the heroine isn't a simpering maiden but an awesome protagonist that is independent, flawed, resourceful, courageous, witty, and strong and beautiful, just. perfect. 

The story followers a girl named Essie who lives on a planet named Thanda with miners. Essie is so resourceful that she enhanced 7 (eh, eh) drones to do the work that was killing off the miners and made it more efficient. Whether it is enhancing drones or fixes them she calls her work "stitching." She is content with her life on Thanda and her drones keep her busy.

Enter in awesome male lead Dane, who crashes onto Thanda and even thought Essie is completely against helping him, she does it anyway. Dane is everything a guy in real life or in fiction should be. He is a bit flawed but heroic, kind, thoughtful, loyal, chivalrous and of course handsome. He is on Thanda chasing "treasure" something that will help him and his quest to help his people.

As the story progresses with Dane and Essie, their lives become more intertwined. The character development is great, flawed and yet discover what their lives should be and where they fit in it. This story has everything a person would need to enjoy, fun and CLEAN. The adventure was great, the romance was not overwhelming, perfect slow progressing that kept you wanting more, the villains were villainous even the father-what is up with that?! creepy and horrible. with twists and turns it's a great book to add to your shelf!

Sexual Content: mild (some kissing)
Violence: moderate (PG)
Langauge: none
Drugs/Alcohol: none

[Melissa Landers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awe. Some. If you like sci-fi, kick-ass heroines, plot twists, action, romance...basically all the things that make fiction worth reading...then add this to your to-read list, pronto. This is such a clever spin on the Snow White fairy tale. Loved it!

[Ronyell · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Princess Snow is missing!”

Yes, you heard that right folks! Princess Snow has suddenly disappeared from her home planet…or has she? “Stitching Snow” is a futuristic retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm tale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” that is written by R.C. Lewis. The difference with this story and the original fairy tale is that Snow is not accompanied by seven dwarfs, but rather a awesome yet complicated hero in Dane!

The book starts off with a young woman named Essie working in the mines on the planet Thanda and life there was peaceful if not a bit chaotic with her battles with the other miners and bonding with her seven faithful drones. One day however, Essie’s life changes forever when a young man named Dane crash lands on the planet Thanda and decides to kidnap her and take her to the planet Windsong. It turns out that Essie is the missing Princess Snow from the planet Windsong and Windsong has turned into a war zone due to her father King Matthias and her step mother Olivia waging war against the Exiles, since they believed that Essie was kidnapped by them. Now, Essie along with the help from Dane must travel to the planet Windsong and stop the war against the Exiles before it is too late!

Being R.C. Lewis’ debut book, I must say that I was quite impressed with the results of this book! After reading Marissa Meyer’s book “Cinder,” I was quite excited to read another novel that is a modern retelling of a classic fairy tale and I was quite impressed with R.C. Lewis’ futuristic version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!” I loved the way that R.C. Lewis started the story out with the mystery of Essie’s character as we do not know much about her past or why she is on the planet Thanda in the first place and as the story unfolds throughout the book, we start to learn more about Essie’s tragic past and how confronting the people in her past would change the future for the people of Windsong. I also loved the fact that Essie is a tough and intelligent character as it was interesting seeing her “stitch” machines together and I like the fact that she is extremely independent about her own identity when it came to whether or not she wanted to reclaim the throne of Windsong. I also liked her relationship with Dane, as you can see that she is both confused and frustrated with Dane (well, how would she feel if the guy just kidnapped her out of the blue) and she often has trouble conveying her feelings for Dane as she never fell in love with anyone before. I found Dane to be a pretty interesting character (even though the whole idea about him kidnapping Essie still rings a bit uncomfortably in my ears) as it is clear that he does care about Essie and is willing to help Essie reclaim her throne at all costs. R.C. Lewis did a fantastic job at creating a futuristic world that is enshrouded in war and you can see the misery that the people of all the planets feel about Windsong waging war against any nation that opposes them.

The reason why I gave this book a four star rating was because I felt that the beginning of this book was moving at a slow pace and I almost gave up on this book due to the how the beginning was played out. Luckily, once Essie’s true identity is revealed and her determination to return to Windsong came into play, the story did get much more interesting. I also would have liked it better if the book actually explained more about the characters’ backgrounds so that way I could actually sympathize with half of the actions they take in this book.

Overall, “Stitching Snow” is a great read for anyone who wants to look for a modern day retelling of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and also enjoy a good futuristic and dystopian story!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Kristen Kooistra · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 66%

I don't think I have a DNF review here yet, so this will be new. Let me start by dropping a spoiler bomb on everyone since I wish someone had posted it for me to read(instead of digging through reviews to finally find a comment after it was too late).

I read YA for a reason, and it's to avoid things like child rape. Snow's father raped her from what we're to understand on a frequent basis as a child. If you feel as I do about that, then this isn't the book for you.

I was really psyched about this book. It was my choice for my book club(shame on me) and my copy was delayed in getting to me so I was chomping at the bit by the time it arrived.

I enjoyed the storytelling and the setup was interesting. I actually think the beginning is the strongest part. About 20-30% of the way in, I was kind of annoyed that the information revealed in the book blurb hadn't been covered in the actual book yet. Blurbs advertise what's in a story. They're not part of it. Not once (until after that percentage) does Essie(Snow) reveal anything to the reader in her thoughts about who she really is, that she ran away from home, why, etc. The most she does is talk about her deceased mother and what she might say in a situation.

The information of who people are, what happened before, and so on is drip-fed throughout the novel at way too slow a pace for me.

I was disappointed that the 7 droids(dwarves) were just a "to make this a retelling" ploy when you hardly see any but Cusser and Dimwit. What was the point of the other 5? They completely vanish for a majority of the book.

The droids were easily the best part. They were unique, and funny. There should've been more of them.

I went from kind of liking Dane, to hating him, to not really caring. His personality at the start was intriguing, but after he kidnaps Essie . . . let's just say I hate kidnapping. Also, what is it with books lately having the victim be mostly okay with that? Now granted, I thought Essie did a pretty good job of being upset by the situation and trying to think her way out of it, but she also was "conflicted" and understood why Dane did what he did, even though he's trying to return her to a stepmother who wants to kill her and a father who sexually abuses her. It's all good because he just wants his father back. Then after they get to Candara, he just kind of . . . turned one-dimensional. He faded as a character and it was more like he was just "there."

I hope real life people get legitimately upset at their captors. (second book I've read recently with this problem, hence my annoyance)

I thought there were some things that just seemed to exist because "hey we need a pen, so let's have someone lose their purse that happens to contain a pen so we get one." and then there's this elaborate scene to showcase how this purse is lost. Ex. Tobias follows them from Garam and kidnaps Essie because he um, apparently thinks he can force her to make droids. I swear the only reason that whole shebang is there is so that Essie has a non-Exile ship to fly. It would've been so much easier if they would've just happened to have a spare Garam ship in their hanger.

So why 66%? Well it was at that point that they'd dropped this tidbit about Essie's father wanting something from her. And color me naive, but I was thinking something magical/sciency. Like maybe her blood or something for one of the stepmother's experiments or whatever. I mean, not at any point before this has Essie said that he used her for anything or that she has a REALLY big reason for not wanting to go back besides "hey, stepmom wants to kill me".

I was sick of waiting for the author to reveal information and figured I'd go skim the last 3-4 chapters so I could figure out what it was and go back to reading and actually focus on the story.

Spoiler relating to what I stated at the start

That's when I stumbled across the lovely scene where Snow's father comes to her room when she's alone and attempts to rape her again. First of all, I don't want to wait until page 292 to figure out a book is going to drop that on me. I wouldn't have read it in the first place. I do not read about rape, severe child abuse, and most definitely not about child rape.

She was 9 when she ran away! Who knows how long he'd been *shudders*

"You were always such a comfort to me. I need it again."
"It's alright, Snowflake. No one will know."

There's about 2 pages of him coming into the room, stating his intentions, her resisting, him forcing the issue. She reads his mind in an attempt to see if she can change it, but quickly leaves it because "I couldn't. I couldn't bear to see through his eyes. To feel what he felt. I couldn't be him." I was grossed out by that point. No one wants to see their rapists thoughts(I imagine) when they're about to rape them.

Now he doesn't succeed, and I'm only disappointed it wasn't Essie that killed him. After all she'd learned, she should've been the one to save herself.

Yes, it could've been more graphic. Yes, it could've been longer. But I don't purposely read books with that kind of content, I didn't appreciate it being sprung so near the end where "too late" you've already read the book. There was 1. No reason for Essie to not at least think about it sooner. Heavens sake they want to send her back to him. She should've been all sorts of panicked. 2. We know her father was neglectful of her, a evil dictator, etc. I didn't need a reason to hate him more. 3. Her stepmother tried to kill her and as in reason number 2, her father was no great reason for her to not run away.

Therefore the whole situation didn't forward the plot and she already had a motive to run away, stay away, and reasons for us to dislike both stepmom and father. It seemed included just to be shocking, or something.

The end winds up the same as you'd expect, so there's no reason for me to keep reading and since I already had some minor issues with the story (it was coming in around 3.5 where I quit. Interesting storytelling, and well-written.), but the unnecessary addition of something so disgusting killed all pleasant feelings about this book.

It's 2 stars because I bumped it up a star for the writing style.

[Mel (Daily Prophecy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.nl/2...

I think all the comparisons to The Lunar Chronicles are doing this clever story an injustice. Fairytale retellings and books are bound to have similarities. Sure, the sci-fi setting and certain elements could be connected with Marissa Meyer’s series, but Stitching Snow is a story on it’s own and it’s a damn good one.

Essie has build a life on Thanda, a cold, unfriendly planet where she takes care of the drones and fights against the male miners to earn some extra money. Her life isn’t perfect and with Dane crashing into her life, things are bound to change. Dane portrays to be from Geramite, looking for a treasure - and when Essie finds herself bound in a ship she finally figures it out: she is the treasure. Essie isn’t just a regular, smart girl and Dane has found out about her secret.

“Feelings can’t be wasted. Knowing they’re real for however long they last makes them worth having.”

Let me get started with feisty and spunky Essie. This girl doesn’t take crap from anyone and she has managed to survive all on her own. Her loneliness is bearable with the help of her seven drones, with Dimwit as the precious, silly one. He has a couple of loose stitches, but his loyalty to Essie is heart-warming. Her skills with electronics is admirable and I love how she turns every situation into something she can handle. There is no time to whine for her. Dane stole my heart. He did kidnap Essie, but I felt he had all the right reasons to justify his actions and he does feel sorry for it in the end. Their dynamic is fun and his support is unfailing. It has also been a while since I’ve seen such a healthy relationship in a YA retelling. The way he cares about Essie and thinks about her feelings is the best. The romance made me swoon and it was perfectly handled. Just enough time to make it plausible and it was never the focus of the story.

”I think I am in love with you, Essie. But I also think you are not ready. I shouldn’t have sprung it on you like that, so I decided to take it at your speed.”

I was surprised by the depth and complexity that were woven into the plot. We get to see Essie’s escape and why Queen Octavia wants to have her killed. It took the original story line to another level. It was heavy material and I admired the authors bravery to use it; and it worked.

The story was fast-paced, I liked the writing-style and the sci-fi setting with small details about the world-building. I honestly don’t get all the negative things I have heard about this book and I will cherish it. I can’t wait for Spinning Starlight.

[TL · Rating 4 out of 5]

" I never wasted time with words midfight. When Moray opened his mouth to continue taunting me, I punched him in the trachea. Not hard enough--only a glancing blow. He tried to counterattack, but I twisted him around into an armlock. A little more pressure and something cracked or popped. I danced with him as he tried to maneuver his free arm to grab me and kicked the side of his knee. "

“Brave is being scared and doing what needs to be done anyway”

“The day I was born, my father was more interested in unusual weather for the season. He chose my name and had some genetic re-sequencing done. He wanted what he wanted. So I was made Princess Snow, eyes like the sky and hair as white as my name."

I saw this one in the bookstore and remembered hearing about it on my feed from a few people. The vibe was positive as far I could remember so I snatched it up without reading the back cover. I needed something different to read since I was in a funk and hoped this one would do it.

The writing isn't atmospheric but it is very good and holds your attention as you go along. I immediately liked Essie and Dane (even though at the beginning I wanted to smack him a few times) and Essie's drones.
The world building is sort of there, we get the history of the places and you do get a feel for the worlds we visit but I never felt completely lost in the setting of the book itself. That didn't stop me from enjoying the story but I would have loved to read more on the history of things.

Dane's for Essie seemed to come out of the blue. Probably partly because we only get to see everything's through Essie's eyes but I was glad when she kept her head and didn't immediately fall for Dane.

I was also glad to see he let her figure all that out for herself at her own pace while still protecting her.
What Snow's father did to her *glares at him*

This does work well as a standalone even though a few parts did feel rushed.
Olivia was a good villain but we don't get to see as much of her in the story so I never fully felt the threat she was to Essie/Snow.

A couple of things were predictable but it was done in a way that added to the story... there are certain things you expect to or know will happen in fairy-tales, even retellings but it comes down how the author spins them in her own tale. (that sounded better in my head)

A certain of the ending had me grinning from ear to ear when Essie's drones showed up again

Would recommend, not the greatest of re-tellings but it is very creative and fun... sometimes you just want to be entertained:)

[Tanja (Tanychy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review also posted at Ja čitam, a ti?

This is where things get a bit tricky. I truly want to believe that every books has its story to tell and that not two people can write the same, regardless of how similar they are and it's true they cannot. I do also believe that every book is its own entity but despite my efforts not to compare this one with The Lunar Chronicles it's really hard not to do so.

Once again I was faced with a fairy tale retelling set in the future which makes this book a nice combo of genres and which is something I highly enjoy. Essie as our main character here is a girl that fights her own battles. She is strong and capable and really smart and good with technology (familiar?). She must take care of herself and seven! droids in order to survive, as she escaped from what she truly is. She hoped that things will stay that way, but universe and Dane had other plans for her.

When I started reading Stitching Snow I really though I'd give up at the start as it was really slow and it took me some time to get into the story and for the pacing to pick up. It did and now I'm glad that I continued. Despite my familiarity with the whole concept I still was surprised with some moments in this book. Also I really liked the chemistry and how it all developed between Dane and Essie. It was sweet and slow burning which is how I like my romance in books.

But the problem here is that Essie dominated the whole time that other characters couldn't get any spotlight and another thing is that villains here weren't as dominant as you expect them to be. They felt like those villains you get in fairy tales, they are mean just because someone has to be. Also there was that relationship between Essie and her father which seemed more complicated than I though, but sadly we didn't get to see the full background of it.

I truly believe that all people who haven't read Lunar series will be blow away with Stitching Snow, but to us who are slightly familiar with this all some things weren't as interesting, but at the same time this story brings some fresh air and some new concept to dystopian fairy tale retellings.

[Giselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher for review. Quotes pulled from the ARC may be incorrect and may be subject to change.

Essie lives in insulation on a mining planet called Tandra and she loves her simple life. With the help of her seven drones, she has a peaceful life. When a shuttle crash lands near her home, she finds an injured Dane. Gaining her trust, he convinces her that he needs her help and she willingly gives it up him. What she decides sets her on a journey that she can't get back from.

I'm pretty sure people will lower their rating with this because it has a similar feel to Marissa Meyer's Cinder.. But I feel like it stands on its own. An exciting science fiction space adventure with a Snow White twist! That pretty much sums up this book. I enjoyed it immensely.

The beginning did drag on a bit, but I liked that it added a slow attraction between her and Dane. I never really trusted him in the first place and pretty much wanted to shout at Essie to not trust him, but alas that fell on deaf ears. I didn't really understand her attraction to him because we don't get to see much of his personality. It felt rather bland so I didn't end up caring about the romance. Luckily there were other things that kept me interested. For one the story-line that kept me reading and invested. I wanted to know if I was right. I wanted to know if my predictions came true. There were some twists and some roadblocks set up for our characters and I rather enjoyed reading about it. Especially the profound world that Lewis had build. We see many different cultures and planets and it was interesting to see the differences. I liked Essie a lot. She was strong, smart and didn't care about being royalty. Essie wasn't one to let a man do anything for her and I loved her independence and feistiness.

A highly creative world set in the future, with cute Dimwit drones and a strong heroine to match, Stitching Snow will make you read to the very last page. Definitely for fans who are looking for a Snow White retelling with a hint of a space adventure to match!

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I'll admit that I started Stitching Snow with some trepidation - most of my friends that had read it had given it 3 stars max. But lo and behold, in a strange twist of fate, I'm a positive black sheep, because I FREAKING LOVED THIS BOOK. It was creative, fun, sci-fi-tastic, and a well-executed stand alone debut novel.

The first thing that got me on the "this-book-is-awesome" bus was our main character, Essie. I hadn't read the book's premise in a while, so the exact nature of her identity was somewhat of a mystery to me - and that worked really well to keep me intrigued. The book starts off that she's in a cage fight with miner guys, which she just does every once in a while to score some extra cash. Um, that's so bad ass and awesome. She's also a tech wiz, with great hacking and engineering skills - the latter of which she uses to build/modify seven more or less autonomous drones (which, if you didn't get, would be the dwarves). The drones are so cute, guys. They each have their own personalities, and Dimwit is absolutely adorable and super fun to tease. And it was just so sci-fi and awesome.



Essie is a bit dry and sarcastic at times, which I can definitely appreciate, and she's keeping quite a few secrets, so she's majorly suspicious of others. She doesn't really let people get close to her - emotionally and physically - which almost reaches compulsive levels but makes total sense when you later understand her backstory. I just felt her character was really well constructed. Though she's a fighter, she's not the strongest, and she works hard for what she can achieve. And though she keeps a brave face, she has emotional vulnerabilities because of her past that sometimes she just can't hold back. It made her really real to me, and I sympathized with her a loooooot.

Cue the ever so cute Dane. How much do I love this ship? A heck of a lot. It was not instalove at all. In fact, they start off suspicious of each other, which grows to open disdain, but then... THEN... you know. Things happen. The romance wasn't the main focus of the story at all - which I loved, because hello, they had a solar system to save - so the development maybe wasn't as thorough as I would have wanted, but all the little moments between them stole my heart anyway. I mean, Essie naively wondering why she didn't punch him after he kissed her? So many giggles. And Dane is so lovely and patient and protective - the "princess and her guard" vibe worked perfectly for me. The ending was particularly excellent. How much do I freaking love that SHE is the one who kissed HIM to wake him up? PERFECTION. CRUSH THOSE GENDER ROLES YES YES YES. OH MY FEELS. They are the sweetest, and for them alone I would almost want a sequel.



I also thought the world building was really cool. I loved that we got to see different planets with different climates and different cultures. I loved the sci-fi tech - THOSE FREAKING DRONES - and having such a techy main character. There was even a bit of magic, as well, in the "Transitioning" power that the Exiles hold, where they can transport themselves into the minds of others. It was a cool power, though a bit underdeveloped, but mostly functioned well to set up the societal issues. I loved the set up of this dystopian-esque regime. It was a bit confusing at first, because in the first half it was hard to understand what exactly was going on and how that government was operating, but it really came together in the end. There is some creepy dystopian shit going on here, and it was fantastic to read about. The ties to Snow White are subtle and wonderfully incorporated, showing respect for the source material, but creatively twisting it into an entirely new story.

I felt the plot was really strong as well. It had a great mix of action, mystery, courtly intrigue, adventure, and romance. I was thrilled with the action-packed fights, completely enthralled with the politics of this corrupt world, curious about the characters' backstories, and greatly amused by the subtle humorous moments. Many people will want to compare this to The Lunar Chronicles and... I guess it's fair, but I wouldn't dare say that I find this worse than that incredible series. I think it's on par, and it is significantly different. If you nitpick, I'm sure you can find plenty of parallels, but when the source material is the same, I don't really feel like doing that. I felt it was really well executed, especially for a stand alone sci-fi novel with a definite dystopian angle. Though parts may have felt a bit rushed, everything tied up nicely and rather realistically as well.

Summing Up:

I'm happy to say that I freaking loved Stitching Snow. I thought it was a really creative sci-fi take on Snow White, with impress worldbuilding, fun characters, and an exciting plot that definitely kept me turning the pages. Ultimately, because it's a standalone, I do feel like some elements of the story don't have the full emotional effect they might have had, had there been more room to expand, but I don't really mind that in the long run. Here's an excellently constructed stand alone sci-fi fairytale retelling that I think is definitely worth your time.

GIF it to me straight!



Recommended To:

Fans of The Lunar Chronicles who don't mind a bit of overlap.


*ARC received at BEA in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the contents of the review.

[NoNameLoves2Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so surprised by this book! What a cute little story! I picked this up because I had overheard rumors that it was a, "Cinder ripoff", which it was not. I had been looking for a similar books to Cinder for quite awhile and this seemed to fit the bill. This book had the misplaced princess and lots of droids, but that's about as far as I can compare it to Cinder. The droids had cute little personalities but they were nowhere near as human as the ones in Cinder.


This is how I imagine the droids in Stitching Snow...




And the droids in Cinder...




Plot Summary
After running away from home as a child, Essie (our MC), was a refugee and living on a mining planet called Thanda. Essie participated in fights with men (like a boss) in her spare time to make extra money. Her main job was programming (or stitching as they call it), where she programmed droids to work in the mines. She had a happy and somewhat peaceful life there until there was a crash one day. A young man by the name of Dane crashed his ship on their planet. This is the part where Essie's life gets out of control and we learn a lot of new things about her. We learn some very interesting things....



You know what's crazy about this book? It's a standalone! Yes a standalone! When I was finished I thought there'd be another book. Everything wrapped up neatly at the end, but there could be more books written easily. I say bravo to the author for not dragging things out.

I really enjoyed this book. I hate to keep making Cinder comparisons, but you'd probably enjoy this book if you liked Cinder. I can't say that it was as good as The Lunar Chronicles, but still a great read nonetheless.

[Joany Vries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik heb enorm genoten van dit epische ruimte-avontuur! Deze sci-fi hervertelling van het sprookje Sneeuwwitje had me van begin tot eind in zijn greep. De verwijzingen naar het originele sprookje waren on point! Vooral de zeven droids, ter vervanging van de zeven dwergen, stalen mijn hart. Cusser in het bijzonder, want wie wil er nu geen vloekende robot!?

[bipasha]

"Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero..."

chill {adj.} (also: chilly, cold, frigid)
ठण्डा [thanda] {adj. m}

Co-incidence? I simply like to think not. Meet fate. HA-HA.

[Brigid ✩]

Hmm sounds kind of like the Lunar Chronicles? I'm intrigued ... looks cool. :)

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essie has a secret.

Staying alive on backwater mining planet Thanda is no small feat – least of all a teenage girl completely on her own. Alone or not, Essie manages to hobble together a living by her winnings in cage fights and her smarts with her droids and stitched-together tech. For the most part, she’s happy. Or she’s too tired to be happy; call it what you will.

But she’s still got a secret that could, one day, tear the galaxy apart.

That day comes when a strange ship crashes on Thanda, bearing a single pilot – an off-worlder named Dane, with an agenda of his own. Essie reluctantly agrees to help Dane with his ship repairs for the novelty and challenge of the experience, but quickly discovers that Dane is not at all who he appears. With her hidden past and true identity – the long lost heir to the empire, crown princess Snow of Windsong – exposed, Essie must make a choice. To escape her captors and resume her life of anonymity amongst the distant stars, or live up to her late mother’s legacy and do the right thing for her people and the galaxy.

I’m of two minds when it comes to Stitching Snow. The debut novel from R.C. Lewis, this reimagining of the Snow White is fairly fast and loose, but maintains the basic suite of tropes – e.g. there is an heir princess, a power-hungry stepmother, a poisoning of sorts, and a handsome prince. Unlike the Disney version of the tale, however, Stitching Snow places the focus squarely on Snow (that is, Essie in this version): a more active approach on the displaced princess’s perspective and experience. Unlike other traditional iterations of the fable which tend to portray a more passive Snow White, this science fictional version is an engineer and a tinkerer as well as a cage-fighter; she’s also worked hard to keep her identity secret, to stave off the more aggressive men of the mining colony, and maintain her independence. Essie’s characterization is brilliant throughout the book, managing to be tough without being abrasive, and vulnerable without being a pushover. It’s nice to read a levelheaded heroine (especially in YA SFF), who takes calculated risks but understands the importance of pragmatism. I’ve always felt that there’s an element of fear to Snow White – Snow’s terror at being murdered by the huntsman and caught by her stepmother – and in Stitching Snow, Essie’s fear of discovery or of being in a position where she cannot control the situation is a defining, palpable characteristic.

In the vein of pragmatism and tropes, at the onset of Sttching Snow (and indeed for most of the novel), R.C. Lewis does a fantastic job of taking certain key YA paranormal/SFF staples and ever-so-slightly twisting them. There’s the tough-as-nails heroine, for example, who happens to be a (beautiful) escaped princess who is making her way on a rough planet thanks to her mad science skills. She, of course, runs into a questing stranger who is obviously gorgeous, dangerous, and on a secret mission. The two are inevitably involved, romantically, as these things go in the trope-laden world that is softball YA SFF… Except that in Stitching Snow, key things are a little bit different. Essie is NOT head over heels in love with Dane after first setting eyes on him – she does not crave his touch immediately, nor does she romanticize the fact that he abducts her against her will. She’s pissed, she tries to escape, and there aren’t countless pages dedicated to Essie’s fluttering heartbeat every time Dane brushes by her. I appreciate that very much, jaded reader of YA SFF that I am. I liked that it takes time to develop these romantic inclinations between the two characters, and that cheese is (for the most part) kept to a minimum. It’s actually a fascinating exercise – are the tropes ok even if you’ve read them a million times before, or is it the telling that matters? If you change a few key details – the heroine doesn’t instantly fall in love with the hero – does that make the tropes bearable?

In the case of Stitching Snow…yes and no. While I enjoyed the slower building relationships between characters, ultimately these small twists to a very tried and tired trope-laden story still leaves you with a tried and tired trope-laden story. No matter how you cut it, this is still the story of an exceptional, beautiful princess who saves her kingdom with her exceptional, beautiful prince. On the subject of Dane, by the way, it’s incredibly irritating that he’s so much better at Essie at combat and that he gets to teach her how to improve her rough cage-fighting skills (did this bother anyone else?!), which are fine for someone self taught but never an obstacle for him. He’s also a tad too-good-to-be true, and despite the slow-building romance, Dane comes off as a stock, two-dimensional character who is there for requisite plot development points.

And then there are the other important factors in the novel: the overarching conflict, the worldbuilding, the villains and their motivations, and the science fictional aspects of the book with Essie’s tech. See, Essie ran away from home because her mother died, her father is a despotic tyrant king, aided by his new queen – the evil stepmother – who pretends to be a witch, but who really is an accomplished poisoner and at the forefront of technological age-reversal advancement. There’s a larger thread of conflict here throughout the galaxy as the Windsong royals are apparently poisoning parts of the populace, seeding pockets of unrest and chaos to continue a bogus war and maintain power. The theory is interesting, but as it’s never really explored in any depth or with any convincing rationale, I had trouble buying into the premise. Further, the villains in this piece come across as one-note sketches – there’s glimpses of a conflicted relationship between Essie and her father, but it goes nowhere (sadly). Similarly, the pacing of the book is remarkably lopsided, with the first two thirds of the novel solidly restrained, but the last third of the book frantically rushed.

And finally, the science fiction. Essie is an engineer and a tinkerer – she likes taking things apart and putting them back together in better, more creative ways. R.C. Lewis does a good job of building Essie’s character and establishing her competence and smarts, but sadly does the handwavey “this is science stuff, guys” thing by referring to all of Essie’s tinkering as “stitching” (like sewing, with “patches” and loose stitches holding technology together). I can’t help but wish there was something a little more tactile here, instead of a weak analogy to sewing.

Ultimately, Stitching Snow is an OK novel. It’s not the best YA Science Fiction book I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly not the worst. A middle-of-the-pack, moderately entertaining but ultimately forgettable book.

[Danielle (Love at First Page) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

Note: I received an ARC of this book at BEA. However, this did not influence my review in any way.

Stitching Snow will no doubt draw comparisons to that other fairy tale retelling, with its futuristic, sci-fi setting and its inter-planetary space travelling. Even the two main characters, though one is representative of Snow White and the other Cinderalla, share a lot of similarities: tomboy, computer geek, relatively friendless outside of a robot/drone sidekick, the whole "missing princess" story line. The comparison may not be fair, because the Lunar Chronicles is such a fantastic series, but it's inevitable. When early feedback started to trickle through, I admittedly got nervous. The reviews were mixed, some lackluster, and I was this close to putting it aside, even though I adore retellings and I've been looking forward to this one. I'm really glad I decided to give it a shot. It may not have the brilliant plotting of Marissa Meyer's series, or even as an endearing cast of characters, nor does it have the rich, dark seduction of Of Beast and Beauty, another favorite of mine, but on its own Stitching Snow weaves a clever, imaginative story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story takes place across three planets, the first being a cold, mining colony called Thanda. It's there that Essie has been hiding, keeping her true identity as Princess Snow a secret. My first impression of her is a good one: we learn right away that she's a cage fighter, a way for her to protect herself against unwanted advances, and she can keep up with any man on the settlement; she's also a clever and resourceful computer programmer, having developed mining drones that make it safer for the workers. When a ship from another planet crashes near her home, she agrees to help the handsome pilot fix it. Essie is used to being alone and independent, so she's a little rough around the edges with him, but they become friends. It's not long before she learns the true reason for his arrival, and she's thrust into a situation she's been trying to avoid for years. Will she fight to stay hidden, or will she embrace her role as princess and savior?

What I liked:
*For the most part I really liked Essie and sympathzied with her plight. Sometimes characters can be too stubborn or unwilling to accept help, but she never frustrated me in that regard. She has a feisty, no nonsense attitude and plenty of common sense to spare. When she realizes that she's possibly been in the wrong all these years, she thinks things through, doesn't wallow, and attempts to fix her mistakes.
*Cute romance alert! I pretty much wanted to squish Essie and Dane together from the beginning, but I just loved the trajectory of their romance. I could see why Dane would fall in love with her, and the confusion Essie feels over their friendship is adorable. There are some kinks they have to work out, but I thought it was very fairy tale-esque. It helps that Dane is a sweetheart: kind, supportive, and selfless.
*The plot itself is simple, but as long as it's entertaining that's sometimes enough for me, which is the case with Stitching Snow. Essie really comes into her own, and together her and Dane have to figure out how to take over the throne.
*The fantasy/sci-fi/futuristic elements are done well and believable. I like how each of the three planets - Thanda, Garam, and Windsong (home of the king and queen) - is uniquely drawn and detailed. It might have become too much to bounce from one planet to another, but it gives the book more scope and helps maintain the steady pace.
*All the throwbacks to the original fairy tale are fun. My favorite is the transformation of the seven dwarves to the seven drones, cute robots that have one or two personality quirks. Dimwit, who talks too much and may or may not listen correctly, and Cusser, who likes to, well, cuss, play an active role in the book, and they are adorable.

What could have been better:
*The king and queen could have been fleshed out more. As antagonists, they are relatively one dimensional, and we never fully understand their motivations. They are the bad guys in power who want even more power... and that's about it. There's never any explanation for Queen Olivia's hatred of Essie, other than she wants the full allegiance of her father. There's also something we find out about the king toward the end of the story, which I thought was out of place and an uneccessary way to further Essie's character arc. I'm not a fan of when authors use serious issues as a sort of crutch or meaningless plot device to garner sympathy. :/
*For most of the book I really liked Essie's character, but toward the end she was a little too doom and gloom for me, and I didn't like the way she was treating Dane. She kept lashing out at him for no reason, when he was being nothing but supportive and sweet.
*Like I said, the plot is fairly basic, so don't expect many twists and turns you won't see coming. It's a straightforward "missing princess comes back to reclaim the throne" story line, with most of the originality directed toward the setting.

Overall Stitching Snow is imaginative and romantic, just how I like my fairy tales. It just goes to show that mixed reactions shouldn't always scare you away, and it makes me wonder what other books I've missed out on! It's been a good year for debuts, and I'm happy to add R. C. Lewis' to the list. Looking forward to whatever she has coming next!

This review can also be found at Love at First Page.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 14, 2014
Rating: 3 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back-but that's assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane's arrival was far from accidental, and she's pulled into the heart of a war she's risked everything to avoid.

In her enthralling debut, R.C. Lewis weaves the tale of a princess on the run from painful secrets . . . and a poisonous queen. With the galaxy's future-and her own-in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

What I Liked:

I really wished I liked this one more! I mean, three stars is still positive, but I was hoping to really enjoy this book. Somewhere along the lines, the book fell a bit short for me. Still, it was a very well-written debut, and a cool story.

Princess Snow has been missing for eight years, and the King blames the Exiles. But Snow - Essie - didn't just disappear. She is alive and well on a remote planet far away from her home on Windsong, another planet. When a young man's ship crashes on Thanda, it isn't a coincidence. Suddenly, Essie finds herself on the run, and she doesn't know who to trust.

The writing in this book was really fluid and well-developed, which is something that I noticed and enjoyed. This novel is a fantasy/futuristic-ish type of novel, and Snow has her own accent and use of language. Several other characters also have accents and whatnot - basically, my point is, Lewis did an excellent job of writing the accents and feel of the story, through the writing.

The novel was interesting, at the very least. It was a bit predictable for sure, but I wanted to keep reading, to find out what would happen. Essie gets kidnapped, like, ten times in this book, so every time she had to fly to somewhere else, I wondered where the story was going. In general, I think the plot of this book is pretty basic, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's not the best thing either.

Essie is a strange character. In the very beginning of the book, we get to see a lot of her character, almost immediately. She's a strong fighter (meaning, physical fighting), but she is also extremely clever when it comes to gadgets and technology and coding. Which is awesome, I can relate to that. I think, overall, I liked Essie, but I'm not really sure. I was kind of meh towards the characters in this book.

For those wondering, yes, there is romance in this book, and no, there is no love triangle. I liked the romance, even if it was a bit weird at first, and everything ended all happy and perfect. There definitely could have been more physical scenes between Essie and Dane, given the nature of their personalities. But anyway.

Overall, I think I liked this book. It was okay, and I definitely don't feel NEGATIVELY towards the book. I just don't feel particular positive towards it, either.

What I Did Not Like:

I have to admit, the book was a little dry sometimes. Boring, I mean. There was a lot going on, and I always wanted to know what was happening and what would happen next. But it seemed like the story went in circles after a while, and I got a little bored. The last 40%, I kind of fast-read. Not skimmed, but not read with the same care that I read the first part of the book.

I didn't really connect with any of the characters, at least solidly, anyway. This book is written in first-person - Essie's point-of-view - but I don't think that really helped me connect with her. I didn't really root for her as the story progressed.

I didn't care much for Dane, honestly. I mean, he did too many things that made me not like him much, but then, I liked the romance. So I was conflicted. But Dane by himself, meh, I didn't really care for him.

I've seen this book compared to the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and not in a good way. Meaning - this book is much too similar to the Lunar Chronicles. I've only read Cinder, but I can TOTALLY see that. With all the tech and drones and coding and princess fantasy business, it does seem eerily similar to Meyer's debut.

I guess there were a lot of parts of this book that I didn't really care for, or that bored me.

Would I Recommend It:

Ah. Well, it's an interesting fantasy novel with futuristic elements to it, so I would read it just to experience that interesting mix. But it was a tiny bit of a disappointment, so I wouldn't go rush to read this one. Definitely read it if it's a review book or you already pre-orders it or something.

Rating:

3 stars. Meh. This one was okay, but I didn't love it, like I wanted to. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future Lewis novels! Though I believe this one is a standalone.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Essie (hate that name) was a lot of fun to be with and I really liked her personality. It's not that she isn't typical (she isn't), but that her atypical aspects fit together into an integrated whole that works and makes sense and even drives the story.

So backing up a bit. This wasn't a retelling of Snow White so much as it was a very light homage. And that works way better than an actual retelling would have, I think. The translation to a far-future sci-fi setting gives enough of a break that you know the echoes will be light ones and that sets expectations exactly right. Indeed, looking for strong Snow White parallels may set you up for disappointment. Since I have no special love for fairy tales in general and less for Snow White in particular, this was a feature rather than drawback for me; I was able to appreciate the echoes without it intruding every time anything happened.

And I have to say that I connected to Essie almost immediately—probably because she's one of my people (a tech nerd introvert always looking for a puzzle or a problem to solve). She's one of the best nerd-girl heroines I've encountered and Lewis gets her focus and internal emotional landscape exactly right. The bitter edge that pushes her into cage fighting for extra cash was an intriguing additional layer and I was glad to see Lewis back into a completely satisfying exploration of that quirk in an otherwise pretty peaceful personality.

Dane was more problematic. I liked him, mostly. What's not to like in a tough, smart guy with a devotion to justice and a fundamentally kind heart? A hero who can keep up with and even challenge a strong heroine is essential to a romantic subplot and Dane is that. Unfortunately, Lewis constructs him a little too perfect for it to fully work for me. When I have a strong heroine, I want her to be able to do things better than anybody else. Dane surpassed Essie in every one of her core competencies and that bugged the crap out of me. I prefer relationships that are at least nominally equal and having him dominate (even if he never actual dominates) gives me qualms.

With a great plot, a dark twist, and fantastic pacing, this book very nearly sailed into a solid five stars. Dane as the perfect man chained only by his love for Essie spoiled it enough to drop one, though. Don't get me wrong, it's a light-enough touch that most readers probably don't even notice it. It only comes out briefly and early on at that. I suspect most readers won't even notice. But then, that's part of what bothers me...

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dont usually like to read sci-fi because when I read them I end up not liking them. At all. So when I decided to pick up Stitching Snow, I was pleasantly surprised. The way that R. C. Lewis wrote Stitching Snow was very compelling. There wasn't ever a dull moment. There was action when there needed to be, and nothing in the story felt forced. So I was thoroughly entertained while reading the book.

I love this book. Stitching Snow is one of my favourite books. I love the story, the retelling. The settings. Yes, multiple, because the story takes place across a lot of galaxies. And there is so much character diversity! I was surprised by that, to be honest.

Right off from the start you realize that Essie is one tough cookie! On the part of the planet she lives; planet Thurda, its mostly men. Big burly men who work in the mines and then after work they get drunk. While reading this I was very worried for Essie. Again I was surprised. Essie can hold her own!

Essie is tough. She is so resilient, and she gets tested a lot in the book. What I like about Essie the most is that she is feisty. She stands up for herself, and she’s stubborn. And she hates being treated like she's some weak person. All character traits I love.

I personally think that this is one of the best sci-fi stand alone’s that Ive read in a long, long time. And that ending! The ending is so precious.

BEWARE THOUGH! There is a incestuous rape scene in this book. It doesnt get too detailed but there is an attempt and then there are snippets of Essie’s past which involves the incestuous rape.

[Maya ︎☁︎︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The day I was born, my father was more interested in unusual weather for the season. He chose my name and had some genetic re-sequencing done. He wanted what he wanted. So I was made Princess Snow, eyes like the sky and hair as white as my name."

Stitching Snow was everything I was looking for and more! It has a strong-willed heroine, a roguish prince, and a realistic romance. At first I didn’t particularly feel like Stitching Snow was going to interest me, especially as the first fifty pages or so were dedicated to mechanics, terminology, and world-building. However, this has happened to me with most sci-fi books and, like the rest, I was able to move past the beginning and become engrossed in the rest of the story! I’m so glad I continued because Snow White and the Seven Droids is just too good a story to pass up, isn’t it?

"I didn’t want to go home,” I said simply. “I still don’t.”

After running away from home as child, Essie, our main character, landed on a mining planet called Thanda. Years later, Essie is a programmer who has designed droids to work in the mines of her town. To the miners, Essie and her droids are invaluable and help save dozens of lives every year. In her spare time, however, Essie participates in fights against whoever is thrown into a cage with her to make extra money. With the combination of alcohol and a bruised ego, the men sometimes end up forgetting how valuable Essie is and this leads to some tough situations for her throughout the beginning of the book. One night, after one of her fights, a ship crashes into the woods on the outskirts of her town. When Essie and her droids go to check for survivors, they find a young man named Dane who has, quite to Essie’s shock, come to Thanda to look for treasure. When Essie decides to help Dane repair his ship, her life is changed forever as she is pulled into the heart of a war that the disappearance of a Princess has caused.

R.C. Lewis moulded the Snow White fairytale into this retelling exceptionally well while still managing to put her own original twist on it. Aspects from Snow White were all present, too, including the Evil Queen, the Huntsman, the Prince and, of course, the dwarves (who were, in this retelling, droids who were programmed to be loyal to Essie). The problem with some retellings is that plot points from the original fairytale can feel forced into the story, but I never had this problem with Stitching Snow. I was following the original Snow White plot in my head the entire time, trying to work out how things would blend into Stitching Snow, and was always somehow taken by surprise. The twist on the sleeping spell and kiss were also delightful.

Stitching Snow is, unfortunately, a standalone. Normally with standalones I’ve found that the book would better serve as a duology; Lewis, however, does an excellent job at developing the characters, world-building, and plot in such a small space of time. Once we got past the introduction to the world, no piece of information felt forced or flat to me. I could picture everything Lewis wanted to get across as an author in vivid detail. I have some serious envy over her skills as a writer and I applaud her for managing to write such an interesting take on a classic fairytale!

“Feelings can’t be wasted. Knowing they’re real for however long they last makes them worth having.”

On the character front, let me get started with the fiery and strong-willed Essie. In the beginning, she is a very flawed character who, it can be said, is quite selfish. However, as the story unravels and you beginning to understand why she ran away from both her step-mother and father, you see that Essie is, in fact, exceptionally brave. The more she fought back and rebelled, the more I came to love her. She’s someone you’re constantly rooting for and sympathising with, even in the face of her flaws. By the end, Essie was incredibly strong and resilient in the face of adversity, all the while still managing to throw sarcastic comments around like weapons. Essie is definitely going down in history as one of my all-time favourite characters.

Dane, our lead male, stole my heart. (Much like he stole Essie, huh?) Yeah, you heard me right, my sweet Dane straight up kidnapped our main character. You’d think that would make me hate him, right? Somehow, though, Dane is a good guy with some pretty valid reasons for what he’s done. As the story progresses and Dane and Essie are thrown together in a bid for survival, we see that Dane is a loyal, passionate, and strong person who will do anything to save his people from being destroyed by the war that Princess Snow’s disappearance has caused.

The romance was fantastic and adorable, too. It wasn’t too heavy, nor was it too light, but just enough to fit the story. Somehow, despite the novels short length, the romance didn’t feel rushed and progressed in a way that was both realistic and natural while still leaving you wanting more. I loved how Dane respected Essie’s boundaries and didn’t try anything until she decided she was ready. They were just so adorable! I was constantly squealing over and over at their tension. Those two could light a house on fire just but looking at each other, I swear.

Overall, Stitching Snow was a fast-paced, beautifully written story that was fun while still being surprisingly deep and complex. With a cute dimwit drone and a very strong heroine, I would recommend this book if you love retellings and wish to be swept off your feet into a world of action, adventure, and romance.

“Brave is being scared and doing what needs to be done anyway.”