Blanca & Roja

by Anna-Marie McLemore

The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they re also rivals. They know that one day, they ll find themselves drawn into a dangerous game to determine which sister will stay a girl and which will be cursed to live as a swan.

• ISBN10: 1250162718
• ISBN13: 9781250162717
• Publish Date: 9 October 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

See, here’s the thing: I really wanted to like this book. It’s a retelling of Snow White and Rose Red, with some Swan Lake mixed in. I love the Swan Lake story, so I was hoping for something at least a little entertaining. Unfortunately, this book didn’t deliver in my opinion.

It’s told from several different points of view, which I think really hurt this book. Because the chapters were so short (between two and four pages), having four characters narrate made it impossible to get to know any of them enough to care about them at all. At times I struggled to remember which point of view I was reading, because the character voices were all written the same.

Because of the nature of the magic, I expected a sense of urgency, which would have added to the book. It wasn’t there, and I was left feeling very bored a lot of the time. I almost gave up on the book, actually.

I did like that the familiar tale was remade with Latina sisters. I’ve never seen that done with a fairy-tale re-imagining, and it was really cool. The bits of cultural additions shone through because the author wrote those with confidence.

I felt that McLemore’s writing was very tentative, like she didn’t have confidence in her storytelling. I thought maybe this was her debut book, and she would gain faith in herself, but I’ve found out that she has several others which are award winners, so that must just be what I inferred from her writing style.

I guess when it comes right down to it, this author isn’t for me. I have a feeling that my opinion isn’t the popular one, though, so maybe I missed something.

[girlinthepages]

Anna-Marie McLemore is no doubt known as one of the best Latinx magical realism voice in YA literature. Her prose is always beautifully crafted, her stories otherworldly, and her writing able to take readers into different worlds with a turn of phrase or small action. Her debut The Weight of Feathers was beautifully crafted and reading it was a transcendent experience. Unfortunately, though there were many elements of Blanca & Roja that I liked, I didn't find it as immersive as the prior work I read by the author.

Blanca & Roja is a triple fairy tale retelling, pulling from elements of Snow White, Rose Red, and Swan Lake. I'll admit that I myself am not familiar with the tale of Rose Red so it's possible that some of the imagery and plot points went over my head. The story focuses on the del Cisne family (clever, since "cisne" means swan in Spanish) who have a daughter taken away by "the swans" every generation thanks to a bargain one of their family members made generations ago. The current pair of sisters, Blanca and Roja, have been aware of this curse their entire lives and have been doing everything in their power to stop it by confusing the swans into thinking they are basically the same person. I loved the juxtaposition of the two sisters (one of which is obviously supposed to be Snow White and one is obviously supposed to be Rose Red). I loved seeing them love and support each other and the small, clever methods they took to try to confuse the swans, from eating rose petals the color of each other's names to ensuring one at more bitter foods to counteract her inherent sweet disposition, and vice versa. These little details really made the story seem like a fairy tale.

Throughout the novel there is also a theme of empowerment across multiple types of identities, and I appreciated that McLemore was able to write a diverse cast of characters and have them all show strength and capability in their own unique way. Roja's character especially resonated with me, as she's the one everyone assumes will be taken by the swans (her red hair, hot temper, etc. compared to her sister's striking blonde hair and angelic demeanor) but she is encouraged by her father throughout the novel to use her feisty, less "desirable" traits to cultivate her own type of strength.

Because that power, that anger in you, that is the best thing you have.” He gave her a nod as proud as if she were a son. “So claim it. Pick yourself up and use it.” - Kindle Edition, Location 101

While I really enjoyed the whimsical feeling at the beginning of the novel, I did find it to really drag for me personally by the halfway point. I think this was largely due to the fact that the book is split into 4 POVs (Blanca, Roja, and two other characters who are the romantic interests) and I found myself bored by the chapters that weren't from the sisters points of view. I know most fairy tales (including the ones this book is based on) include romance, however I just found myself bored by it and would have much rather learned more about the del Cisne family, such as: Who were the other sisters who were taken by the swans? Do the sisters who were spared have survivor's guilt? Are the sisters always so polarized in their appearances? These are conversations I wish had happened (although I do know the point of a fairy tale/ magical realism isn't to dissect the details, it's just my own natural curiosity!) I also felt that the ending was a bit abrupt- I was fully expecting the book to keep going and was surprised when I hit the author's note.

“Haven’t you ever seen anything you knew was real even if you knew no one else would believe you?” - Kindle Edition, Location 1841

Overall: Roja & Blanca is a wonderful foray into YA magical realism with a lot of diversity and representation, beautiful writing, and fun fairy tale elements.However, the pace slowed for me the second half of the novel and didn't deliver as strongly for me as The Weight of Feathers.

This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages

[tweetybugshouse]

This ended up being a 3 star rating for me I got to the last 100 pages and the main action scene i was expecting where one of the sisters becomes a swan has not happened. I hate to spoil it for anyone but yeah i was expecting it to happen a lot sooner in the story if it was going to happen. We have two sisters one is good and one is really really bad. One has latched on to the thought that if she can catch a blue eye boy then she can be saved from the curse of being a swan. Enter two boys who have gotten lost in the wood one turns into a bear and the other is running from his family cause he identifies as non gender and does not want to be pressured to be he or she. I have no issue with a character being different weather it gender or sexuality but only if it fits with the story. I really felt that this story was forcing itself to be something it wasn’t.

I really like the first part of the story where the sisters were determined not to fall into the trap of the swans pitting one sister against each other. Where they tried to make it so the swans could not tell who was who. Determined not to fall into the swans trap. I felt their was a lack of world building we basically have a haunted forest, a farm where the sisters live. Their a really good scene between paige and one of the sisters with these really delicious apples that made me want to taste them. I had high hopes for this one as i loved the different takes on this fairy tale but i think i prefer dark breaks the dawn duology by sarah b larson over this one.