“Queen of Snow” by Laura Burton and Jessie Cal

Title: Queen of Snow
Author: Laura Burton and Jessie Cal 
Publisher: Self-published
Year: 2021
Genre(s): fantasy, romantasy
Part of a Series: Yes, Book #1.

Why I read it: Saw it recommended on Facebook and was intrigued by a Beauty and the Beast/Man in the Iron Mask combo. But realized it was part of a series so decided to start with Book #1.

Summary: After his grandfather’s death, Jack falls through a mirror in his study and ends up in the Chanted Forest. There he befriends Aria, a young woman with magical ice powers and who is running from her evil stepmother, the Queen. Jack teams up with her to try to get back home but will he realize that maybe he’s already there?

Rating: 

Review: When posting this book to my running thread of read books on Bluesky, I wrote that it felt like something from the show Once Upon a Time – and not in a good way.

And I say that as someone who was a fan of the show.

I feel like Once Upon a Time often focused more on plot rather than character development, usually to the detriment of the story. That’s what also happened in this book, in my opinion – the author(s) put the plot over character development. Had they just slowed down and really developed Jack and Aria, I think the book would’ve been really good and gotten a higher rating from me.

They also really needed to develop their world. It honestly felt more like a draft to get the story down and it needed more polishing to build the world. What is the Chanted Forest like? What are the rules? Alliances? Enemies? It just felt rushed.

What was there was intriguing. Aria as a princess on the run was an intriguing character, including all her relationships with many other characters like Robin Hood, Red Riding Hood (though with a different name), and Belle. But again, nothing was developed. I know the book is part of a series so maybe it was introduced to be developed later. However, I was still left wanting more with no desire to read the later books.

I wish there was more positives for me to say. I think the authors had a good idea but could’ve spent more time expanding it.

Bottom line: Good idea but needed more.

Sex: None.

Moonlight Magic

What fairy tale would you like to be part of?