Girls Made of Snow and Glass

by Melissa Bashardoust

At sixteen, Mina's mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone - has never beat at all, in fact, but she'd always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image, at her father's order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do - and who to be - to win back the only mother she's ever known...or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything-unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

• ISBN10: 1250171261
• ISBN13: 9781250171269
• Publish Date: 5 September 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a quiet yet powerful reimagining of “Snow White” that focuses on relationships rather than action. While the pacing is slow at times, the novel shines when showing readers the love between Princess Lynet and her stepmother and all the obstacles, both external and internal, they need to overcome to keep it.

The first half of the novel was my favorite because it focuses on Lynet and Mina and really delves into their hopes and dreams, their struggles, and all the forces that have made them who they are. Both have somewhat disappointing fathers, as Lynet’s is obsessed with her dead mother (to the point where he seems a bit one-dimensional as a character, to be honest) and wants Lynet to be just like her, and Mina’s father has always been out for himself; when he interacts with Mina, it’s just to get her help in obtaining something he wants.

It’s rather beautiful to read their alternating chapters, as the book shows both the past, where Mina fought to become a queen and feel she had some power in the world and over her own life, and the present, where Lynet and Mina have a loving relationship in spite of all the people who never wanted them to become close. Bashardoust’s skill really lies in drawing these complex women and in drawing all the lines that connect them to the people around them.

Because I was kind of just interested in watching the characters grow and interact, I thought things got a bit boring once the climax of the novel hit, when the “Snow White” retelling part really takes off, as Lynet flees the castle to be safe from her stepmother, etc. I do think the pacing was off here, which didn’t help. It felt slow for a while and then got fast suddenly at the end, but Lynet and Mina without each other were also simply less interesting. Bashardoust still tries to explore their feelings, their choices, their fates in this section of the book, but I just wanted them to get back together to see what happened then.

Overall, I enjoyed the book because of the deep look into interiority readers get. The “Snow White” aspect was vaguely interesting, and the magic and the world building had their moments, but I wouldn’t recommend the book for those things. If you want a book about strong female relationships or about complicated family relationships, this is a gem. If you want an original and exciting fairy tale retelling or complex magic system, there are better books to choose.

Review posted at Pages Unbound.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a very well-written book. It deserved the hype it got, and managed to be true to its roots as a Snow White retelling while still having its own unique angles and twists. I really, genuinely appreciated it.

I appreciated it, but I didn’t always enjoy it. And that’s an awkward place for me to live when it comes to reviewing books, because I try really hard not to let my personal enjoyment shade my review. The star ratings I give books are breakdowns of various categories, and “personal enjoyment” is only one category for this precise reason – I can appreciate that a book is incredibly well-constructed, clever, and creative… while not being enamored by it.

When it comes to fairytale retellings – particularly popular ones like Snow White, it’s easy to fall back on time-used tropes. One of the things Melissa Bashardoust did extraordinarily well is take this story and make it her own. We still have a lot of the key figures: a daughter, a step-mother, the huntsman. We have many of the key events: the father’s death, the sleeping curse, and the queen’s penchant for fruit for examples. Even though Bashardoust included these things, it feels like it’s more referential – the story is more than just the elements of the original fairytale. In many ways, she took the elements more literally. I don’t want to spoil the bits and pieces, but if you’re looking at this book purely from a retelling POV… this is one of the most successful retellings I’ve ever read.

Each of the characters has their own wants and needs, and the villain is positively slimy. You know those books where you can side with the villain, even when you know they’re evil (or at least highly complicated)? Gregory is not like that at all. You can see his motivations, and how they make sense to him, but you can not sympathise with him in the least. YA is filled with sympathetic villains, and the ones that are garishly black-and-white. There’s a lot to be said with a rounded villain who you still can’t like.

I also appreciated that Bashardoust rebuilt the step-daughter/step-mother relationship. Snow White and Cinderella have built a very negative stereotype around step-parents that still permeates, and it’s good to see a retelling of one of these create an emotional, complicated relationship instead. Mina, herself, is a wonder. I found Lynette fairly uninteresting, but the Queen was complicated and wonderful.

I said at the beginning of this review that I appreciate Girls Made of Snow and Glass, but didn’t love it. The reason for this lies in the pacing – which dragged a little at times, mostly in the beginning – and personal taste. Girls Made of Snow and Glass is emotionally-driven and has a lot of tragic, dramatic descriptions and it’s well done. Genuinely and truly. But these things just aren’t my favorite, and I really need to be in the perfect mood for them. I found myself impatient with certain gestures or arcs, all things that would not bother many other people. It’s a bit heavier than what I like to read, and heavier than most retellings in general. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. It’s just taste.

For those who enjoy retellings and would like something fresh and deeply creative and well-written, I wholeheartedly recommend Girls Made of Snow and Glass. I’m glad I read it, and I’m glad I know what all the hype is about. I’d certainly pick up another book by Melissa Bashardoust. Fans of The Wrath and the Dawn will enjoy this one, as well as the collected community of retelling appreciators.

[Veronica 🦦]

C-/D+ | This is such a disappointing book. I actually threw this into my DNF shelf but after drinking iced coffee, I decided to just finish the rest of the book because I was so close to finishing it. I’m only writing this right after I finished reading the book cuz it’s like almost 9pm here in Manila and I’m still on the coffee high. Will this review make sense??? Idk !!

You know what the saddest thing is? I was REALLY enjoying this book. I was in love. But then NOTHING was happening plot wise. Yes, I am all for character driven stories, but if I’m at 40% or something into the book, I should already see ACTION. Instead, about 55% of the book is introductory stuff with nothing major happening. Then when the plot does occur, it just is so ridiculously rushed?

Both Mina (the Queen/Stepmother) and Lynet (Snow White) are interesting characters who did feel alive (Mina more so than Lynet which is lmao), but at the same time, they weren’t fully fleshed out enough. Mina did feel more fleshed out, but wow Lynet just felt bland.

The character motivations thus felt super — idk, subpar. I didn’t and couldn’t believe them, especially Lynet. I didn’t feel like Lynet was in danger at any moment because she had such quick control over her magic which is just ridiculous to me.

Overall, Mina was a better written character but even she suffered at the half way point. The jump between past!Mina POV and present!Mina POV was just a whiplash. It helped because at least it was easier to understand her motivations, but lord after the halfway point when the action happened, I just cringed. Her emotions just didn’t feel REAL and it’s such a shame because I did enjoy Mina’s backstory.

The worldbuilding was also lacking.

The entire thing just felt rushed and wow I’m honestly sad that I didn’t like this book.

[HekArtemis]

Great story but you can really tell this was a debut novel. Room for improvement when it comes to writing style, but I look forward to seeing how Bashardousts writing does improve in the future.

[Jo]

Trigger Warning: This book features child abuse; neglect, lack of love, manipulation, verbal abuse.

I have wanted to read Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust for such a long time; an f/f retelling of Snow White, where both the Snow White and Evil Queen/Queen Grimhilde characters get their story? I was sold! But I had been put off by someone saying they didn't think much of it, so I left it until F/F February Reading Challenge was announced and I realised it was out in paperback. And it was incredible!

Sixteen-year-old Mina has never known love. Her mother died when she was a young child, and has been left with her unloving and abusive father. Then she finds out why: her heart is made of glass. Her father, the magician Gregory, replaced her real, damaged one when she almost died, but now she is no longer capable of love nor can be loved. But she is very beautiful. When the King grants Gregory and his daughter a position at court after saving the life of his daughter, and Mina sees the King, she sees a way to find love. She can use her beauty to get the King to fall in love with her - a kind and warm man she believes she, herself, could love - and when they marry and she becomes Queen, the people will love her.
Fifteen-year-old Lynet is the spitting image of her mother, and she hates it. Everyone, including her father, the King, has expectations regarding who she is and who she will become because of the way she looks. No-one sees Lynet, not the person she is, only the former queen. Except for her stepmother, Mina - the one person who doesn't put pressure on her to be someone she's not - who Lynet loves dearly. When she discovers that she is made from snow - that the King had Gregory create for him a daughter who looked exactly like his deceased wife, when Gregory couldn't save the Queen - Lynet's world is turned upside down. Who she, Lynet, is doesn't matter; she was always meant to be Queen Emilia mark two. A duplicate, not her own person. When the King decides she is now ready to bear the duties of a queen, he tells both Lynet and Mina that Lynet will from now on be responsible for the South - which had always been Mina's responsibility. Lynet will replace Mina, to be the person she was always meant to be, and Mina will be left with nothing. Lynet can feel the shift in her relationship with Mina, and sees how Mina looks at her with jealousy and resentment. Only one can be queen, but Mina will not give up everything she's worked so hard for, so easily.

Oh my god, I absolutely loved this story! It's told from both Mina and Lynet's perspectives; Lynet's narration is in the present day, while Mina's starts when she was sixteen, and eventually catches up to the present day. While the story really builds on the basics of what makes the Snow White story, it still has most the elements we'd expect - a talking mirror, the desire for Snow White's heart, a huntsman, Snow White running away, poison - though they may not look how you expect, or the reasons behind them have changed. Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a fully realised high fantasy retelling, with such a wonderful, lush world!

I loved the relationship between Mina and Lynet, and although not similar in regards to plot or story, it felt very reminiscent of Disney's Maleficent. As far as Lynet is concerned, Mina is her mother. Mina married King Nicholas when Lynet was still quite young, and so has been there for most of her life. There is a tenderness and acceptance from Mina that Lynet doesn't find anywhere else. Oh, her father loves her, but it's more like he loves her for who he thinks she is or will become, rather than for herself. Lynet looks up to Mina as this strong, fierce woman, and she's who she trusts and confides in.

When Mina's narration catches up to the present day, we get to see their relationship from her point of view, too. She may not admit it, but Mina is fond of Lynet, if a little jealous. How everyone loves her so easily! Even though she realises they love her for her likeness to a dead queen than for herself. She knows how this upsets Lynet, and makes her uncomfortable, so she allows her to be herself. A sort of bond has formed between them over the years - who could turn away a young child who looks at you adoringly? - but she has always known there would come a time when Lynet would replace her, which has caused her to hold back a little, though Lynet is unaware.

And it's so heartbreaking to see how everything changes when Lynet finds out the truth about her creation, and King Nicholas decides she should take over the South. Lynet then becomes Mina's rival, through no fault of her own; Mina and Nicholas' marriage is one only in name, and the people of Whitespring despise her for not being Queen Emilia, so the South is all she has, her only source of love - if it can be called that, when she never sees the Southern people. If Lynet takes over, and becomes queen, Mina will have nothing. She has always believed what her father told her - no-one can love her, and she cannot love - and she has constantly tried to prove him wrong, and, as far as she's concerned, has always failed. You can't help but feel for Mina. She's not the Evil Queen from Snow White you expect. She's a woman who has been treated badly her whole life, who has the worst self-esteem issues, and has done all she can to try to find love. She's so desperately unhappy.

Meanwhile, Lynet is reeling from the truth about her creation, and the fact that she's been lied to her whole life. And you can't help but feel for her, too. She's struggling with who and what she is. And the fact that she was never meant to be her own person, was only ever meant to be another Emilia - not just look like her, but expected to be her in every way possible. How she's constantly had people telling her who and what she is, because of how she looks, but because her dad intends for her to be exactly like her "mother". (Although it doesn't come up at all in the book, and doesn't come across like it, can I just say that, to me, it is incredibly creepy that King Nicholas had a child made in the image of his dead wife - who he is obsessed with - a child who will grow up to look exactly like her, who he expects to act and behave like her. There is something seriously dodgy there. At the start of the book, I did worry for a while that the King was going to fall in love with his own daughter because she looks like his dead wife. I just found it really creepy. Especially how he dotes on her, yet also tries to shape her into his deceased wife. Though nothing untoward happens in the book, or implies that their relationship is anything other than father and daughter. I just thought it was weird.)

Everything that happens to Mina and Lynet is down to the actions of men. It might not come as quite a surprise to hear that Girls Made of Snow and Glass is quite a feminist retelling. The book has a lot to say about what society wants of women; what is acceptable, or what it expects us to be. Because she has been told by her father that she can't love nor be loved because of her glass heart, Mina has bent and shaped herself into the person - the woman - she thinks she needs to be in order to be loved (why does that sound so familiar?); she wants King Nicholas to love her, she wants to be Queen so the people will love her, and she knows she can love the King because he's handsome, warm and kind. King Nicholas had Gregory make Lynet to look just like her "mother", and she feels this constant pressure from her father and her people to be this woman she never knew, rather than be herself. There's also the confusion of who - or rather what - she is. She wasn't born, she was created. From snow. Is she even human? ('"So what am I, then?" she said, her voice more like a croak. "Am I just... a doll?"' (p71)) One is trying to be someone they're not to feel accepted and loved, while the other has people wanting her to be someone else entirely.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass also has something to say about beauty - which is unsurprising, as it's  at the heart of the original story. Gregory tells Mina that if she will be loved for anything, it will be for her beauty. She embraces her beauty in the hopes it will bring her love, and uses the knowledge of her beauty to try and seduce the King. She uses her beauty coupled with facial expressions to go along with her tales sadness and loneliness - although true, she's learnt King Nicholas is more receptive to her when she is unhappy - to win him.

'That was one of the tricks she'd learned from their walks together, to speak bold words in a demure manner. Pointing your chin downward encouraged a man to lift it up again. Stumbling while walking invited him to give you his arm. Faltering over words made him listen more closely, his eyes drawn to your lips. Weakness was more enticing than any seduction.' (p122)

Lynet, however, is made to look like her "mother"; her beauty - her face - is not her own, it's that of a dead woman, and so she is at odds with her beauty. Yes, she is beautiful, but her beauty isn't hers, and there's so much pressure that comes with it. One uses her beauty to her advantage, while people have expectations of the other because of her beauty.

I could be reading too much into it, but the story also seems to be saying something about being made, or shaped. Society tells women who they should and shouldn't be, how we should and shouldn't behave, what we are to expect or not expect. "This is who and what you are," society tells women. "This is who we allow you to be." We see this in how Mina is treated by her unloving father who created for her a heart of glass, and in how King Nicholas had Lynet made to be another Emilia. Are you what makes you, or do you have a say over who you are?

The romances in Girls Made of Glass are as simple as breathing for Lynet, if a very slow burn and confusing, and complex for Mina, because of what she believes. When a new surgeon, Nadia, comes to Whitespring, Lynet is attracted to her almost instantly. But she doesn't recognise it as attraction. She doesn't know about same sex attraction, because she's never seen it or heard of it. So her feelings are overwhelming and confusing, when she thinks of Nadia as a friend. They have themselves a moment or two, but Lynet doesn't know what they mean, nor why she's blushing and feels awkward around Nadia. It's such a slow burner, but it's beautiful and sweet, and I completely adored their romance. But with Mina... Mina could never truly be loved by King Nicholas for herself, because she was very rarely herself when trying to woo him. And then she's not loved by him anyway, as he's obsessed with a ghost. And yet love comes from an unexpected source. I don't want to spoil things, but it links back to whether you are what you are made, or whether you have any control over who you are and who you love, in more ways than one.

I absolutely adored Girls Made of Snow and Glass. It's such an incredible story, and a wonderful retelling! It's heartbreaking, and hopeful, and just so beautiful. And I'm so looking forward to Bashardoust's as yet untitled second novel, coming out sometime later this year, a retelling mash up of Sleeping Beauty, Rappaccini's Daughter and Persian/Zoroastrian mythology, about a princess who is poisonous to the touch. I'll pretty much read whatever Bashardoust writes from now on, Girls Made of Snow and Glass was that good. I can't recommend this enough!

[jeannamichel]

A wonderful, yet flowery, take on Snow White like you've never seen it before. Review to come.

[Kait ✨]

My expectations were high for this book and it was disappointing for me. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I did feel that the plot, writing, and character development was overly simplistic and unsophisticated. I think Lynet was supposed to grow more mature as a character but I felt she was increasingly childish. Ultimately this reads very much like a debut novel... not in a good way. I'd be interested in reading more of Bashardoust's work but Girls Made of Snow and Glass was not a great reading experience for me.

[Joséphine]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: What I most liked about this book was the setting, and how it was intgrated so well into the plot. Characters were interesting too. Pacing was a little off towards the end, with some crucial gaps to bridge the resolution. Language was suited to the story and atmosphere, though generally simple with some odd similes thrown in. All in all, quite a sweet retelling filled with imagination.

[Ashley]

Such a great story. ♥ I loved the two different characters. Their relationship was really interesting and I loved the backstory there. The king was totally nuts.

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

I have very rarely met a retelling I didn't like. Girls Made of Snow and Glass immediately caught my eye when I heard that it was a Snow White retelling. I love that fairytale (even if I don't love the film from the 30's) and I'm always looking for a unique take on it! I'm fairly confident that the Frozen comparison wasn't on the original synopsis I read, but I love that one too so I was excited to dig in!

There are two MCs in this story - Mira and Lynet. It was a little jarring to read this book from both their perspectives. Mira's POV began during her childhood and each time she had a chapter it came closer to merging with the present. Lynet's chapters began in the present and stayed there. While this style did end up working okay, it was hard to get used to at first.

Lynet is approaching her sixteenth birthday when this book begins. She has always been physically compared to her mother and is forever expected to become her, both in demeanor and occupation. As her birthday approaches she learns that her father is about to give her control of the southern territories, a responsibility she really doesn't want. Not only will this assignment force her into a role she's never wanted for herself - it also has the potential to ruin her relationship with her stepmother, Mina.

Mina has spent her life grappling for power in an attempt to make people love her after a lifetime of being told she cannot be loved. Her rise to power is a very interesting and heartbreaking one and made me feel more strongly for Mina than Lynet in the end. I've read other reviews that claim this book doesn't pit the stepmother against the stepdaughter because of looks, but that really isn't true - Mina definitely spends a fair amount of time worrying that Lynet is more beautiful and will be more loved because of it. Although this is the case, Mina doesn't fall into every Snow White trope. This story definitely diverges enough to be very unique among retellings.

I want to take a minute to discuss the romance in this book. If you're interested in Girls Made of Snow and Glass, you're probably aware that it's marketed as F/F Romance. There are two romances in this book and the main one is not between Lynet and Nadia - it's between Mina and her male love interest. Without getting into spoiler territory, the romance between Lynet and Nadia might be the absolute slowest burn I have ever seen and nothing romantic happens until near the end. Let me tell you friends, if you go into this looking for a swoon-worthy lesbian love story, you might be disappointed.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass truly has an incredibly concept to work with. I love the Snow White and Evil Queen characters being so close before things go south. I love the feminist angle of both women working towards what they want instead of what's expected. And I love the idea of Snow White falling for a woman instead of Prince Charming! Unfortunately, this story was just a little bland. It was extremely (ex-treme-ly) slow and even the big, exciting moments kind of meandered across the page. There was no real sense of urgency or danger, even when lives were on the line!

While I did enjoy parts of the world building in this book (mostly Whitespring Castle and its snowy surroundings), it did ultimately leave me wanting more. Characters in this book seem to have Fast Travel skills and we learn next to nothing about Lynet's journey or the South other than people wear different clothes. Something else I really liked was the magical elements, although they weren't very logical, but I won't dig into that here. It was fun and I can totally see why the Frozen comparison is there now.

I really wanted and fully expected to love Girls Made of Snow and Glass! I think there are great ideas here and some parts of the story were great, but this turned out to be just an okay read for me. The characters were fine, the world was fine - everything about this book was just fine. If you love retellings and don't mind books that are on the slower side, you may very well enjoy this one!