✨ jami ✨'s Reviews > Girls Made of Snow and Glass

“Every time you shudder from the cold or wrap yourself more tightly in your furs, it reminds me that somewhere, the sun shines more brightly than it does here. You carry it in your skin.”

I'm not a huge fan of retellings (unpopular opinion I know) I usually just find them boring and feel as if they don't live up to the original. Girls Made of Snow and Glass added so many unique elements to the Snow White story that really developed it beyond the original and I think that, on top of the interesting characters, was what really ended up selling this book to me.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass follows Mina (the "evil stepmother) and Lynet (Snow White). The development surrounding Mina and Lynet was my favourite aspect of this book. Mina especially was such an interesting character with some shades of moral grey and I just really enjoyed reading her perspective. I also think Lynet was developed really well, and the way the story followed her progression was so subtle you almost don't notice how well her arc is constructed throughout the story.

The fantasy elements, especially that these characters are literally made of snow and glass added so much for me to this story. I absolutely adore fantasy and I think that this element was added into the story really well. Bashardoust uses this element to further the themes, especially alienation and ostracisation. If you like books with magic you'll definitely like this because the use of magic was so awesome and I loved how it functioned within the book

“There are worse things in the world to be than delicate. If you're delicate, it means no one has tried to break you.”

For me one of the big ways in which this book fell flat was romance wise. I was so excited for an f/f romance between Nadia and Lynet but I found it to be underwhelming and not as developed as I would have liked. The two barely have chapters together so it felt like something tacked on, and I just think more time needed to be put into it to make me invest. I think they're fine, but it didn't make me really care which is a shame. I actually found the side f/m romance between Mina and Felix more compelling! Because their fraught dynamic and the complications in their relationship were more heavily explored. Although I did appreciate Nadia taking the role of the "kissing prince" away how incredible.

This book is also on the slower side plot wise. for me that wasn't a problem because I enjoyed the character interactions so much the plot fell on the wayside for me. But I can definitely see this being a problem for other readers. However, I genuinely think the character development and interactions are interesting and complex, and that the book plotwise doesn't suffer overall.

Because for me this book isn't exactly about the plot. it's strength is in it's examination and critique, and in these elements it excels. Girls Made of Snow and Glass carefully identifies and subverts fairytale tropes - but why I think it did this so well is that it recognised which tropes are inherently sexist or homophobic or racist but are hiding underneath a thin veneer that makes that -ism almost unrecognisable. Nadia replaces prince charming, and on top of that she's a surgeon - a role always given to men in fairytales. There are no seven dwarfs, because they're not needed.

Despite how Mina and Lynet fathers tries to control them, politics and power play a much more interesting an important role then beauty or fulfilling traditional gender roles. This book constantly looks at the ways in which women are perceived through a gaze, and then gives these characters their own narratives, centring them in stories about them regaining their own agency, because they need it. Motherhood is also explored, especially why it's important and what it means to different people.

For me these elements were so interestingly developed and compelling enough to keep me steamrolling through this without worrying about the plot as much.





I genuinely think this is such an enjoyable, well constructed, well thought out book and it isn't getting the hype is deserved This is feminism that actually centres and represents marginalised people, and a novel which thoughtfully subverts known tropes in a way that's surprising. If you liked The Language of Thorns I think there is something here for you in Girls Made of Snow and Glass - it takes the same basic story elements and develops them in a way that's same same but different.

And finally, I listened on audio so as always I'll let you know about the audiobook. It's singular narrator, but I think the narrator does a really great job at giving both Lynet and Mina different voices and inflections that really made them sound so different to me. I also loved that the narrators voice is slow so if you have this in 2.5 speed it sounds "normal speed", it made me get through this so much faster.

“Weak or strong - she didn’t know what they meant anymore. Maybe they didn’t mean the same thing for everyone.”