Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.
Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.
Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.
Review: I wasn't a big fan of Dorothy Must Die so I didn't have terribly high expectations going into this book. That being said, I quite enjoyed it. Snow starts the story in an insane asylum which I liked a lot. This allows us to focus on Snow as a character in a compact and controlled setting. It also made me think of an old video game called Alice: The Madness Returns which was also very dark and toyed with fairy tale stories and mental illness in an interesting way. Still, I included the disclaimer above because I know some will have reservations with this kind of setting and story type. As for other characters, I didn't care much for Kai, Jagger, or even Bale. Maybe in later books, but I just wanted to see Snow navigate this world without anyone else.
Like I said, the story starts off in a psychiatric hospital, but quickly moves into a fantasy setting. I liked the way this was handled, and I loved the way we were introduced to Algid. Danielle introduces a couple of subgroups within this world and it helps Snow see different sides of Algid. I liked seeing her interact with the River Witch and I really enjoyed seeing her with the Robbers. Both of these groups offer different perspectives into Algid and I thought it was well done. Danielle also did a good job of weaving together aspects of the real world and Algid.
A pleasant surprise, but I would be cautious about the connections to mental illness institutions.
4 howls
Comments