Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis

Stitching Snow

by R. C. Lewis

A futuristic retelling of Snow White in which seventeen-year-old Essie, a master at repairing robots and drones on the frozen mining planet Thanda, is pulled into a war by handsome and mysterious Dane after his shuttle crash-lands near her home.

Reviewed by Berls on

4 of 5 stars

Share
This review appeared first on Fantasy is More Fun.

I decided to request Stitching Snow from NetGalley when I heard it was even better than The Lunar Chronicles. This I HAD to see. My verdict? I wouldn’t say it’s better, but Stitching Snow is in a similar league.

When I started Stitching Snow, I was a bit worried. It may have been because I had it setup in my mind as a comparison to The Lunar Chronicles, but it seemed a bit TOO familiar. The main character, Essie, is basically a mechanic. She has built and constantly repairs all these drones that work in the mines. These drones have personalities and are all a little “off”. There’s Cusser, who (as his name implies) has a gift for foul language. There’s my favorite, Dimwit, who is like a faithful puppy. He follows Essie around and can’t be trusted to get much right – she never sends him into the mines. But he’s great and I dare you not to love him. Does all that sound a little like Cinder to you too?

Well, I’m really glad I didn’t put too much stock in those similarities because that’s pretty much where they ended. Stitching Snow was actually very different and had quite a few surprises in store. So don’t let the beginning shut you down!

I really liked the world for Stitching Snow. There’s a brief hint that we’re in the future – so far into the future that earth is part of a game (kinda like Risk) and Essie doesn’t even recognize the map as a real place. There are several planets belonging to this system, ruled by a King and Queen. There’s a war going on between the royal planet and the exiles – who happen to have some “magical” abilities.

The story line was lots of fun – Stitching Snow was action packed and there were quite a few unexpected twists and turns. I really liked Essie – I’m always a fan of a female character who’s in a traditionally male role, and that’s Essie. She’s a self-taught mechanic or engineer or whatchamacallit – she calls what she does stitching – and she earns extra cash by cage fighting with the miners. Yep, the girl is both smart and tough! She does have her secrets and insecurities though, and I enjoyed unweaving those twists.

There is a romance element to Stitching Snow – after all Snow White needs her Prince, right? I liked Dane, a boy who crash lands on Thanda and Essie helps to repair his shuttle. I thought R.C. Lewis did a pretty good job making him complex and making him more than just the dashing hero. Because Essie is the hero of her story, Dane’s just along for the ride – which I loved. Their romance itself was just ok. It definitely took a backseat to the rest of the story for me and while it worked, I didn’t particularly care too much about them ending up together. I just cared if they both survived.

And that tells you something about Stitching Snow–> I cared if they SURVIVED. This is more of a sci-fi action story than a romance – which may be a disappointment for those who like their fairytales sweet and romantic. I most definitely wouldn’t call Stitching Snow sweet – I was surprised by some of the brutality and even more so by a sub-theme of sexual abuse – but it was handled well and helped transform the sweet romantic fairytale into something a bit more serious and way more action-packed. I definitely recommend it for fans of Sci-fi & Fantasy, regardless of how you feel about Snow White.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 18 October, 2014: Finished reading
  • 18 October, 2014: Reviewed