Stealing Snow is a YA, fairy tale adaption of The Snow Queen.

I had no idea what to expect from this book and I still don't... I think I'll need the sequel to better understand how I feel about this book... But at this time, I don't know if a sequel is going to be made?!

Stealing Snow is based on The Snow Queen but has lots of elements of Snow White. Honestly, my local book store pegged it as Snow White to me, so I was a little shocked. I picked this book up because I loved Dorothy Must Die (plus it was on sale at my local book store and I'm a sucker for sales... go figure).

This book didn't blow me away as much as Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (this author) did. It really felt like this book needed the sequel to keep moving the story going because it was left at such an odd place. I wanted more at the end... It wasn't just a cliffhanger, it just felt like the editor had cut out a large chunk. I felt a little bit cheated.

That being said, it was a good book! I'm not as fluent in The Snow Queen (even though I have read it, it's just been a while and there aren't many adaptions out there that I've read) so I didn't connect as well with this story as I wanted. I did re-read the fairy tale before I picked the book up, but it didn't help me much.

I see so much potential in this series - the potential love triangles, the heroic action scenes that could come, the fairy tales that could be woven in - but it didn't hit all of the marks in just this book. It really needs it sequel. Seriously. Danielle better write it. Don't make this book a one off, it won't do the book justice.

What I didn't like about this book:
1. Snow's mental illness felt... weird. It felt forced and out of place. Sure, she has a mental illness (potentially) but she bites people and takes pills. It wasn't flushed out enough for me to believe it or respect it.
2. She's special. Every girl in every YA seems to be the chosen one, but the trope didn't feel right here (at least, not with the twist ending...).
3. There was way too much going on. I felt like my brain was being attacked because there was so many different plot points and half of which didn't get resolved. I like having my books able to stand on their own as well as be in the series - like most movies series.

Things I did like:
1. Kai and Bale. I don't know why, but I kind of enjoyed it and I want more. I want to know more about that part of the story, but I've always been a sucker for love triangles in my YAs so that one is on me.
2. Danielle has the most elegant writing style. She's truly an artist and is SO GOOD with her words. I can't express enough how much I love reading her books because she knows how to write and connect with the reader.
3. The potential is extraordinary. With so many plot points introduced, this book is set up to be a series. I'd like to see what Danielle does with this story.

Overall, this book wasn't as bad as the reviews led me to believe. I do want to keep reading this series because Danielle is wicked cool with her words (pun intended) but I don't know what to expect.

Two out of five stars. ( )

I didn't like it. The situation changed constantly with no character development. ( )

DNF at page 130

Why I DNF'd: The story. Where the heck was the story??

I wanted to like this so bad!! You see, I don't read a lot of fantasy, but I want to try to broaden my horizons and read more of it. I've had luck with retellings, so this was all over my radar!! Alas, I was just not feeling it.

It starts with Snow in a mental hospital, and that was the only part I liked. I felt like that world was explained and the characters felt real. Once she left there it was like an outline took over instead of an actual book. There was no world, it was just oh you fell down a tree and here you are in Algid... and BTW it's cold here & you are a princess with powers. And Snow's just like-- are all these guys here single??(cause she crushes on EVERY guy she comes across). After that random things started happening just to happen. It didn't feel believable, it felt... lazy? I don't know where this book goes from there, but I don't really care. I don't feel like the author took enough time to care about the world, so I'm not going to take time to care to read it.

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After reading this, I am shocked by all the negative reviews on this book. I loved Danielle Paige's writing style. I felt engaged the entire time reading this book. I may be a bit biased because fairytale retellings are my favorite, but I loved it! It is a retelling of The Snow Queen but it starts out with our main character locked away in an insane asylum until she sees the boy she loves being pulled through a mirror and is forced to travel to this other world called Algid to save him. A lot of people mentioned the world building of this book, but the whole time I was reading it, I was imagining a world very similar to Narnia when everything is snow and frozen over. I loved all of it and can't wait for book 2 to come out next year! ( )

Really enjoyed this! Read it in one sitting and can't wait for more from Danielle Paige. See my full review at www.coffeeandtrainspotting.wordpress.com.
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