Via Amazon Title: The Reflections of Queen Snow White
Author: David Meredith
Genre: Fantasy
How I got the book: I got a free digital copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
What happens when “happily ever after” has come and gone?
On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven’s wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven’s fiancé, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White’s own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one thing:
The king is dead.
The queen has been in a moribund state of hopeless depression for over a year with no end in sight. It is only when, in a fit of bitter despair, she seeks solitude in the vastness of her own sprawling castle and climbs a long disused and forgotten tower stair that she comes face to face with herself in the very same magic mirror used by her stepmother of old.
It promises her respite in its shimmering depths, but can Snow White trust a device that was so precious to a woman who sought to cause her such irreparable harm? Can she confront the demons of her own difficult past to discover a better future for herself and her family? And finally, can she release her soul-crushing grief and suffocating loneliness to once again discover what “happily ever after” really means?
Only time will tell as she wrestles with her past and is forced to confront The Reflections of Queen Snow White.
My Review:
Snow White is not the sweet, whistle-while-you-work princess in this novel. In fact, she’s kind of in the same situation as Cinderella.
The story opens up years later where Snow White is older with gray hair and wrinkles upon her face. Her dear husband, Charming, is no longer with her. He had passed away as well as her happily ever after. She becomes depressed and lonely, forgetting how to live not even being able to look at her daughter.
It’s a few weeks before her daughter’s wedding when Snow White comes across the magic mirror. She takes a look at her reflection when the mirror begins to talk to her and she falls back in time reflecting on her memories.
The story is told in chunks as Snow White remembers bits and pieces of her life and how she got there. Through this, the mirror reminds her to have hope and that she is not in fact alone even if her husband is no longer with her. She has a great life, surrounded by wonderful people, and she needs to realize that again.
I love the way the story is told and I found using the mirror as flashback opportunities were clever. Snow White was a well-developed character. I couldn’t blame her for any of her actions, good or bad, because of the way her past was. She was abused and tormented that she’s bound to be a little stir crazy sometimes.
Charming too was a wonderful character, as was everyone else, but I feel as though we didn’t get enough time with these characters.
The novel is 95-pages long. It’s a quick, easy read, but I think the author could have done more with the story. The story is told beautifully in just a short amount of time, but more definitely could have been done with it. Plus, the story was good that I was hoping for more.
The last line of the novel was so bittersweet and satisfying, which gave this novel brownie points.
The Reflections of Queen Snow White by David Meredith gets 4 out of 5 stars.
Favorite Quote:
“You know there is no forgetting, not really. What happens, happens. The past is in the past and your past is ever a part of you! Only by facing it can you truly leave it behind. Otherwise, it will ever intrude upon your present…” –David Meredith, The Reflections of Queen Snow White
About the Author (bio from Amazon):
David Meredith is a writer and educator originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. He received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tennessee as well as a Tennessee State Teaching license. On and off, he spent nearly a decade, from 1999-2010 teaching English in Northern Japan, but currently lives with his wife and three children in the Nashville Area where he continues to write, teach English, and is pursuing his doctoral degree in educational leadership.
