Release Date: October 14, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Page Count: 338
Format: ARC
Princess Snow is missing.
Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.
Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.
When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.
I originally found out about Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis while looking up new YA retellings, this one stood out as a sci-fi Snow White one so I picked up an ARC of it. With a interesting cover and Cinder-like premise it sounded good enough so I read with high hopes. While it could have been better in some aspects it still turned out to be a fairly good read.
Stitching Snow takes place on several planets, from the harsh snowy Thanda to several other planets. One planet focuses on mining, one on technology, one contains the "rebels", and one of them is where the royalty live. Altogether it was a good display of world-building, however I do wish more planets and space fighting had been included. The planets were all unique with different cultures, environments, and type of people. R.C. Lewis made the settings play nicely with a classic tale like Snow White, changed as it was. Although there were a few rough parts, the world-building and settings were good enough to get a passing mark.
While the majority of the characters kept me interested, there were one or two that could have been better. The kings new wife didn't get that much of an explanation and she straight up started trying to murder Essie (plus that abrupt death at the end was rushed). The king as well could have been described more and more of his actions could have been explained. Essie and her drones on the hand were incredibly well-written and kept me hooked the whole time. To be honest, the drones were my favorite characters despite not actually being people. The scene at the end where they were all reunited with Essie actually may or may not have brought a tear to my eye. Dane, Kip, and the others were all well written as well but the drones and Essie were the true high points of this book.
For a Snow White retelling on it's own Stitching Snow didn't do so badly but compared to amazing books like Cinder by Marissa Meyer it falls short. However, I will pick up the sequel and my hopes are still up for a improved second book. Stitching Snow would be a good pick for people who like retellings, fairy tales, and sci fi books.
4/5 - Fairly good book
It seems like this was a good book, but that it could have been even better if they explored the planets and their environments more as well as extended things within plot so it wasn't so rushed, and character. But it sounds like a nice read as well.
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