Poisoned

by Jennifer Donnelly

Beautiful Sophie, with lips as red as blood, skin as pale as snow, and hair as dark as night, is about to come of age and inherit her father's throne. But Sophie's stepmother wants rid of her - beautiful she may be, but too weak and foolish to reign. And Sophie believes her, as she believes all the things that have been said about her - all the poisonous words people use to keep girls like her from becoming too powerful, too strong.

When the huntsman carries out his orders of killing Sophie, she finds a fire burning inside her that will not be extinguished, and sets off to reclaim what was taken from her. 

Jennifer Donnelly turns her feminist eye to this most delicious of fairy tales and shows Snow White as she's never been seen before.

• ISBN10: 133826849X
• ISBN13: 9781338268492
• Publish Date: 20 October 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Imprint: Scholastic Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

Poisoned is a feminist retelling of Snow White that is based on the Grimm version rather than the Disneyfied version that most think of first. In many ways, it’s darker even than the Grimm tale!

One of the things I loved most about Donnelly’s version is the reimagining of the mirror for the Evil Queen. It always seemed odd to me that such a powerful woman would care so much about being the most beautiful in her land. Her question to the mysterious mirror in Poisoned is very different and, in my opinion, much more in keeping with who the Evil Queen truly is at heart.

I also loved that the Snow White character, Sophie, took her fate into her own hands to solve, rather than being sent into a sleep as she waits for others to save her. Her personal quest allowed her character to grow and strengthen, and I loved the empowerment that gave her character.

The first third did drag for me a little bit, but the last two thirds made up for it. It just took too long for Sophie to work her way up to taking her life into her own hands. Truthfully, the flighty girl she was at the beginning was annoying. In some ways, that really kept me turning the pages, wanting to see her character arc develop into something more, which it definitely did.

The story line was imaginative and dark in all the best ways!

[tweetybugshouse]

This is a fabulous dark retelling of Cinderella that focuses on how much you let those around you control how you see yourself. In this dark retelling their an aspect of steampunk introduced as well as the aspect that what others say about you does not have to be who you are. If you believe your strong and can rule a kingdom then you only need to reach out and take a hold of that dream. Donnelly does a great job of compelling you to keep reading to find out just where this tale is going. It truly was an enjoyable read.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Poisoned in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Jennifer Donnelly is famous for her retellings of classic fairy tales, and her writing adventure is far from over. Most recently, she's taken to retelling Snow White, in Poisoned.

Sophia has always been told that she would make a horrible queen. That she was too emotional, too kind, too caring, to do what was needed. So she wasn't surprised when one day, her death had been ordered. By her stepmother.

What did surprise Sophia is the adventure that followed. She may have had her heart stolen – literally – but that wasn't enough to keep her down. Thanks to a seven kind strangers, at least. Now she's on a quest to get her heart back, and save her kingdom.


“Mirror, mirror on the wall...who will bring about my fall.”

I adore fractured fairy tales and retellings, so naturally, when I heard of Poisoned, I just knew that I had to give it a try. Snow White has always been one of those stories begging for a retelling, at least in my mind. But I had never dared to dream of seeing a feminist spin on it.

In hindsight, that is exactly what the tale needed. More than that, Poisoned heightened many, if not all, of the messages within the original tale. It speaks of kindness, doing what's right, bravery, and love. All while also teaching about how to be a confident woman, with a feminist undertone to boot. It's perfection.

I will confess, the beginning of this book was a little rough for me. It starts off with the threat of animals getting hurt and killed (a threat that is later followed through on, though thankfully not shown). Once I got past that scene, things got a little easier for me.

The infusion of new elements, lore, and character depth was a great decision on Donnelly's part. It made the world feel larger and so much more realistic, all at the same time. Well, realistic in the fantasy sense.

There were a few things I wouldn't have minded seeing done differently, but then again, there was certainly a fairy tale feel to the way things fell in place for Sophia. Given that this is a fairy tale retelling, I can't complain too much about that!

Admittedly this is the first novel I've read by Jennifer Donnelly, but I will say that I am over the moon with her story, and will be checking out the rest of her backlog in the very near future.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks