BOOK REVIEW: SNOW, GLASS APPLES

You’ve heard the tale of snow-white. How her beauty turned her stepmother into a jealous, wicked queen who sought to murder her. This causes Snow-white to run and hide in a forest with seven little dwarfs, that is until the queen finds out she’s alive and disguises herself as an old hag to bring a poisoned apple holding the curse of the sleeping death within it, to beautiful snow-white.

But even curses can be undone with a kiss from a Prince in love. For is there a spell more potent than true love?

Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples” was published in 1994. It is a short story that wanders around the popular Grimm’s tale of snow-white. Gaiman has once said that he enjoys playing with a reader’s expectations when it comes to writing and that is no different in the case of “Snow, Glass, Apples”.

Told from the perspective of the not so evil stepmother, this unique story follows a woman who marries a widowed king and meets his daughter, a monstrous child with a thirst for blood and power.

This short story brings out hidden elements in the original fairytale and answers questions I didn’t even know I had, such as: was the queen really evil? And what kind of attraction would a perfect prince have for a seemingly dead girl?

Before I go on, this retelling may tell the tale of snow white but here, she is not the pretty nice princess who sings to animals in the forest that you want your kids emulating at all. Please note that this story is 18+ and not suitable for children but older readers as it features erectile dysfunction, oral sex, nudity, violent scenes, lovemaking, and a lot of other themes you definitely don’t want your kids reading about.

Moving on.

There are several things that make this story work for me. Collen Doran’s art and detailed drawing style was expressed all through the book and brought life to the story. I personally loved how all the elements of the original fairytale were put into this retelling and well, let’s just say that for everything you’ve read before, there’s something that contradicts it.

As said before, this is a short story clocking in at less than 70 pages and it can be read very quickly. I don’t mean to brag but I read it in an hour and it was a perfect balance of beautiful and unsettling.

Gaiman entertains the readers while handling each part of snow white’s story with care to create a beautiful new take that may scare you but will also delight you. Therefore, i’m giving it a rating of 8.5 out of 10 stars.

Happy reading!