Snow’s Blood by Jaiden Robert

JRobert-Snows BloodIt’s no secret I love me a good, debauched faerie tale, so when I got the chance to read Snow’s Blood by Jaiden Robert, I totally jumped on it.  I’ll be honest, I have a few mixed feelings and I can definitely say that if you have an issue with Mature ratings (also note there really isn’t much smexy/heat factor) due to violence and language, you should pass.   I liked the story but just felt some parts were a little on the “WTH” side.

Two years after her entrapment and torture at the hands of the Seven Deadly Trolls, Snow White now works as an assassin for hire. Rude, crude and with her princess status long revoked, she has become a dark angel for the Ever After’s damsels-in-distress. A game of cat and mouse soon begins when two of the Deadlies return to exact revenge on the fallen princess for the murder of their brothers. Armed with her trusty dagger carved from the magic mirror, Snow finds herself drawn into a conspiracy that involves an ancient relic from beyond her world’s borders and the destruction of her world. Taking perversion to a whole new level, SNOW’s BLOOD is an estrogen-filled romp to save the Ever After as Snow slices and dices her way through beloved characters leaving no talking animal safe!

Now, I kind of disagree with the whole Snow White is now this “dark angel” thing in the synopsis.  Snow has her own motivations for helping people. Yes, some of it has to do with helping others who can’t help themselves; but really it started out and continued (well, in Snow’s eyes) as part of vengeance and retribution.  I’ll admit, I really liked Snow for the most part.  She comes right out and says HEA are well, I can’t repeat it in a review, but yeah.  Life isn’t always roses, singing animals and the like, even in the best of times. And in this version of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves (who really are the 7 deadly sins who…took advantage puts it mildly), Snow didn’t have such a flowery life.  Does she get a decent ending? Sure.  But this isn’t a romance novel, so don’t expect too much even knowing she finds love.

I digress.  Snow’s life has been hell and once she escaped her tormentors it didn’t get better. Not until she took control.  After that, she was convinced she killed the “princess inside” or at least that her experiences did.  She sees herself as a vigilante of sorts. She doesn’t take crap from anyone, and when they try, they have a tendency to end up dead.  Yeah…Snow isn’t exactly “white” anymore.

There were some parts to Snow’s Blood that were kind of “WTH” and too many twists that just seemed overdone.  More world building to explain some things may have been useful, but again I just felt too many twists in the plot…more than were probably necessary to accomplish the end as some twists didn’t really feel needed once I got to the overall ending.  I don’t want to give away spoilers, but some events left me scratching my head wondering what?! and not in a good way.  This may be kind of spoilerish, but take Snow’s “prince”; he is one minute good, then a few chapters later is bad, then good, then…gah! Now, it does get explained and it is that explanation that left me really scratching my head going…um really?! This is where some additional world building could have been helpful or IMHO that part of the plot could have been totally changed as it just didn’t seem necessary at the end.  Forget the back and forth all together.  A few parts of the story may have needed tweaking, but that’s how writing goes.  This particular plot point just seemed out of sorts and not a pinnacle part.   I don’t know, maybe I just like explanations to things. I also didn’t feel like I had a good handle on the overall world and the layout.  It seemed similar to the world in the movie Shrek as far as there’s this faerie tale world all its own.  Maybe that is just an assumption the reader is supposed to make and connect.  I did, but, I guess I read too much other UF to just accept such.  After all, this is an adult novel, not middle grade and to me, adult UF readers don’t typically just accept something because it’s written in.

Overall, I did enjoy Snow’s Blood and found myself not wanting to put it down.  It has a LOT of action and a lot of gore.  Definitely a nice change of pace from some of the PNR I’ve been reading.  Again, I do love me some debauched faerie tales and I was not disappointed.  To say the least, Ms. Robert’s take on Snow White is new and fresh.  It’s a short read and good for a break if you need one.

About Nicole 146 Articles
Attorney by day, Publicist for Barclay Publicity and reviewer/LE (assistant) editor by night. I'm a huge book nerd and love to read. I have 2 dogs, both Labrador retriever mixed breeds, who are very rotten and think they run the house. Let's not lie, they totally do, I just can't them know it ha ha! My usual genre is romance or urban fantasy. I love all things having to do with paranormal, with the occasional good contemp/BDSM/erotica thrown in to spice it all up.