Review by CJ

Page count:
242 [excluding acknowledgments and about the author]

Format:
Kindle eBook

ASIN:
B00JH1WUF6

When Snow White’s Prince arrives to deliver true love’s kiss, things don’t exactly go according to plan. Instead of a happily ever after, Snow awakens to a hunger that only human (or dwarf) flesh will satisfy. Can the seven dwarfs and Snow’s Prince save her from what she has become or will they join her in the world of the undead?

That Risen Snow is the first book in The Scary Tales series.

As a huge fan of Disney and horror, I’ve always thought Snow was lucky her Prince wasn’t a fan of zombie lore. Otherwise after having awakened from “death”, Snow would have been more likely to get a head shot than a shot at love.

It probably would have saved everyone a whole lot of trouble if the Prince in That Risen Snow had binge watched The Walking Dead, but it would have left readers without a very fun read that puts an interesting twist on the Snow White tale.

As far as fairy tales go, That Risen Snow is (understandably) a lot darker than even the original fairy tale source material. This is by no means a version of Snow White that is suitable for children. As for the zombie aspect, it is pretty straightforward. The dead rise and want to eat the living. It’s not something that you need to think about too much.

I liked the renaming of the dwarfs from their Disney monikers to similarly themed names. Grumpy became Grouchy, Sleepy became Snoozy and so on. Keeping them in line with arguably the most popular versions was clever. This was made even better by the occasional direct references to the Disney names.

I don’t know if changing Doc’s name to Bones in That Risen Snow was an intentional Star Trek reference, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. In my mind, Bones is always wearing a blue shirt.

I would have liked to have read more about each dwarfs’ past and the “horrors” that brought them to Bones’ collective. The points for each dwarf are touched on briefly and it is mentioned that Bones speaks with each of them one-on-one to try to help them deal with their troubles, but I was still left wanting to know more about each dwarfs’ past. I understand that this is a twisted fairytale, not dwarf psych 101 but it’s still something I feel would have added more depth to the dwarfs.

One aspect of That Risen Snow I thoroughly enjoyed was Snow White’s personality during flashback sequences. When she is shown as a living human, she has a wicked sense of humour, a filthy mouth and a quick wit.

I recommend That Risen Snow to readers who are ready to strap themselves in for a series of twisted fairytales. If you enjoy horror or the original fairytales upon which many Disney movies are based, then That Risen Snow is definitely worth checking out. I’m quite keen to jump into the second novel in the series — That Wicked Apple!

Rating: