Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly

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.

Reviewed by Kim Deister on

4 of 5 stars

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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!

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Reading updates

  • 14 January, 2022: Started reading
  • 22 January, 2022: Finished reading
  • 26 January, 2022: Reviewed