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roannasylver's review
5.0
"Nothing can kill a dragon. And nothing can kill me.”
* * *
A short story filled with bigger ideas. We have grief from loss of a parent, the natural child-instinct to blame oneself (wrapped up in a plot/intrigue, no less), cultural ties and love of one's heritage and self, a seriously cool magic/dragon-speaker system, and an even cooler take on reincarnation. The world/concepts here could honestly be expanded to be a full book, and I'd eat it up. A really satisfying, quick read that I'd love to enjoy more of!
* * *
A short story filled with bigger ideas. We have grief from loss of a parent, the natural child-instinct to blame oneself (wrapped up in a plot/intrigue, no less), cultural ties and love of one's heritage and self, a seriously cool magic/dragon-speaker system, and an even cooler take on reincarnation. The world/concepts here could honestly be expanded to be a full book, and I'd eat it up. A really satisfying, quick read that I'd love to enjoy more of!
aisdareth's review
3.0
P L O T
• One sentence summary: A young princess's belief in dragons is tested, and eventually she is able to right the wrongs from her childhood.
• Pacing: It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up after a few pages
• Easy to follow?: Adding in some Italian was creative and definitely added a unique Italian-inspired fantasy culture to my mind, but I did get caught up trying to translate everything.
• Multiple plot lines?: There is an underlying tension of Stalia Nova wanting to go to war with Elvezia, as well as the personal plot of Biancarosa. I feel like the warring plot is a bit flimsy - the king was simply being evil for the sake of being/supporting the antagonist.
• Predictability: I guess I didn't read the summary of it being a "solarpunk fantasy retelling of Snow White" cause I did not get that AT ALL. It was a bit predictable in the second half when Apple came into the story.
• Believability: Not too much for me here :( The father seems pretty greedy, so it makes no sense that he'd have married Flora in the first place since she had nothing to bring. It doesn't make sense that he doesn't care for his daughter at all. It doesn't make sense that he'd knowingly steal resources from another kingdom. It doesn't makes sense that he'd personally go and steal resources, or that he'd personally go to sabotage Marigold later.
Also, in the beginning, Biancarosa memorizes a tea recipe for her mother, thinking it would save her life. When her mother asks what was in the tea, which Biancarosa literally just made, she claims she doesn't know what she used to make it. Wha..?
• How it left me feeling: I actually enjoyed it, it was pleasant. It built an interesting world that I'd like to read more of.
• Any glaring triggers: Being accused of having mental illness
T O N E & W R I T I N G
• Perspective: The story is written in third-person and mostly follows Biancarosa
• Tone: The storytelling felt a bit simple, like the narrator was trying but wasn't completely into it.
• Variety of vocab: As I mentioned above, throwing in some Italian sidetracked me a little. Otherwise there was a nice variety, nothing repetitive. There could have been a bit more sensory descriptions, but it wasn't completely lacking either.
C H A R A C T E R S
• Initial development: Biancarosa is a 10 year old. She acts a bit too immature and sheltered for a 10 year old, but I guess I can excuse that since she is a princess
• Progressive development: I was actually pretty disappointed here. The 7 years pass, and she's still acting the exact same. Again, I guess I could excuse that since she doesn't get much socializing... but doesn't she? The whole city of Elvezia knows her, and many of them are comfortable enough with her to casually chat with her. Yet she still acts like an innocent child.
• Am I invested in them?: Not really, sorry to say. I was more invested in Leaf and how he might take Marigold's place.
• Romance: No romance in this story
• Motives: Biancarosa has great motives. But her father's motives were pretty flimsy. I'm not entirely sure of the stepmother's motives either (power hungry? Again, it seems flimsy)
S E T T I N G
• World: I enjoyed the worldbuilding and I felt like a lot more could be done with it. Solar panels that fuel most technology, including tablets, but they were still in a fairytale setting.
• Scope: There are two main towns we get to see a bit of in this story, Stalia Nova (a tech-driven kingdom whose inhabitants have a surprising moral code) and Elvezia (a city protected by dragons whose inhabitants are named after objects)
• One sentence summary: A young princess's belief in dragons is tested, and eventually she is able to right the wrongs from her childhood.
• Pacing: It was a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up after a few pages
• Easy to follow?: Adding in some Italian was creative and definitely added a unique Italian-inspired fantasy culture to my mind, but I did get caught up trying to translate everything.
• Multiple plot lines?: There is an underlying tension of Stalia Nova wanting to go to war with Elvezia, as well as the personal plot of Biancarosa. I feel like the warring plot is a bit flimsy - the king was simply being evil for the sake of being/supporting the antagonist.
• Predictability: I guess I didn't read the summary of it being a "solarpunk fantasy retelling of Snow White" cause I did not get that AT ALL. It was a bit predictable in the second half when Apple came into the story.
• Believability: Not too much for me here :( The father seems pretty greedy, so it makes no sense that he'd have married Flora in the first place since she had nothing to bring. It doesn't make sense that he doesn't care for his daughter at all. It doesn't make sense that he'd knowingly steal resources from another kingdom. It doesn't makes sense that he'd personally go and steal resources, or that he'd personally go to sabotage Marigold later.
Also, in the beginning, Biancarosa memorizes a tea recipe for her mother, thinking it would save her life. When her mother asks what was in the tea, which Biancarosa literally just made, she claims she doesn't know what she used to make it. Wha..?
• How it left me feeling: I actually enjoyed it, it was pleasant. It built an interesting world that I'd like to read more of.
• Any glaring triggers: Being accused of having mental illness
T O N E & W R I T I N G
• Perspective: The story is written in third-person and mostly follows Biancarosa
• Tone: The storytelling felt a bit simple, like the narrator was trying but wasn't completely into it.
• Variety of vocab: As I mentioned above, throwing in some Italian sidetracked me a little. Otherwise there was a nice variety, nothing repetitive. There could have been a bit more sensory descriptions, but it wasn't completely lacking either.
C H A R A C T E R S
• Initial development: Biancarosa is a 10 year old. She acts a bit too immature and sheltered for a 10 year old, but I guess I can excuse that since she is a princess
• Progressive development: I was actually pretty disappointed here. The 7 years pass, and she's still acting the exact same. Again, I guess I could excuse that since she doesn't get much socializing... but doesn't she? The whole city of Elvezia knows her, and many of them are comfortable enough with her to casually chat with her. Yet she still acts like an innocent child.
• Am I invested in them?: Not really, sorry to say. I was more invested in Leaf and how he might take Marigold's place.
• Romance: No romance in this story
• Motives: Biancarosa has great motives. But her father's motives were pretty flimsy. I'm not entirely sure of the stepmother's motives either (power hungry? Again, it seems flimsy)
S E T T I N G
• World: I enjoyed the worldbuilding and I felt like a lot more could be done with it. Solar panels that fuel most technology, including tablets, but they were still in a fairytale setting.
• Scope: There are two main towns we get to see a bit of in this story, Stalia Nova (a tech-driven kingdom whose inhabitants have a surprising moral code) and Elvezia (a city protected by dragons whose inhabitants are named after objects)
booksavvyreviews's review
3.0
An interesting retelling of Snow White, in this version there are dragons and those who represent or speak for them. Later on we find something really interesting about how dragons come to be.
Biancarosa is the princess who is very much loved by her mother, her father seems to have issues from the beginning and as Flora (Biancarosas madre) seems to decline in health, her daughter wishes to help.
As the story flashes forward in time, several years, we meet new characters and find out some interesting new facts. I wasn't able to develop much of a liking for any of the characters even if the premise was rather interesting! I think the time leap had a part in that, it split right when I should [I think,] made a connection and then it ended before I could establish another.
However, this is a really unique twist on Snow White...it has DRAGONS in it! :D
Biancarosa is the princess who is very much loved by her mother, her father seems to have issues from the beginning and as Flora (Biancarosas madre) seems to decline in health, her daughter wishes to help.
As the story flashes forward in time, several years, we meet new characters and find out some interesting new facts. I wasn't able to develop much of a liking for any of the characters even if the premise was rather interesting! I think the time leap had a part in that, it split right when I should [I think,] made a connection and then it ended before I could establish another.
However, this is a really unique twist on Snow White...it has DRAGONS in it! :D
pastelkerstin's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: War and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy
amelianicholebooks's review
I just loved the beginning of this short story! What an interesting twist on the story of Snow White.
simonlorden's review
4.0
... Huh?
I enjoyed this story, the worldbuilding and the characters, but I also felt like everything happened way too fast. I suppose that is understandable, given the number of pages, but it still left me with a confused feeling and I wish some parts were elaborated more, or given more time to progress.
Still, this was an awesome Snow White retelling with dragons and technology in one world. I loved the dragons and the magic surrounding them, and I loved the ending of the story as well.
I enjoyed this story, the worldbuilding and the characters, but I also felt like everything happened way too fast. I suppose that is understandable, given the number of pages, but it still left me with a confused feeling and I wish some parts were elaborated more, or given more time to progress.
Still, this was an awesome Snow White retelling with dragons and technology in one world. I loved the dragons and the magic surrounding them, and I loved the ending of the story as well.
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