Snow White Retold

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Irina was an eldest daughter of the king of Morcant and she had been scorned but she nestled her hatred in her heart an on day she would have vengeance. Her younger sister had gotten married first to King Arlen of Ravenspire. From that union came Prices Lorleigh and Prince Leo. Irina gets her vengeance when her younger sister dies under mysterious circumstances. Upon marrying King Arlen she immediately set upon takin control of the kingdom with poisonous apples that have a black gooey texture. People are like Zombies with almost no will of their own. Both Irina and Lora leigh are Mardushkas or sorceresses. Irina takes it upon herself to train the young princess to be powerful Mardushka like herself. When Loraleigh sees the evil Irina’s impact on the kingdom she goes against her mentor and tries to take her down and at first she fails, with nothing to show for her efforts save for a dead father and she and her brother made fugitive.
Wandering her kingdom like a fugitive hiding herself and her magic from Irina, Loraleigh plots her revenge and the plot to restore her kingdom. Doing her best to help the starving people under Irina’s reign. She goes about fomenting resistance with the help of Leo and a loyal guard named Gibril. The plot takes a turn with the entrance of the King of Eldr, his name is kol. The draconi of Eldr can shape shift into dragons and have two hearts. One heart is human and the other is dragon. Seeking Irina’s help to rid his kingdom of an ogre invasion the newly crowned king finds himself trapped and transformed into a terrible predator. Loraleigh must battle the evil queen and her formidable ally to both rescue her kingdom and stay alive.
This story in a new entry into the realm of retelling faerie tales albeit with a twist. In this tale Snow White is a sorceress powerful enough to challenge a wicked queen who has stolen her father’s throne. The huntsman is a prince who can shape shift and not some lackluster bounty hunter. He is a good guy but forced to do an evil queen bidding. For those who like the retelling genre you are sure to like this. I just cannot convince myself to believe that people can shapeshift into dragons.


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