This book was published on September 5, 2017. I read an advance reading copy, so there will undoubtedly be some differences between the version I read and the published edition.
To be honest, I read this book at the same time as another reading friend I have. If they hadn't also been committed to finishing the book, I probably would have given up on this book.
That being said, here's the amazon summary without all the reviews in the beginning, "Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone―has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.
Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do―and who to be―to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.
Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything―unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
First things first, there is past/present storylines in this book. You see present day Mina, and also sixteen year old Mina. From the description, I thought Mina was going to be the sixteen year old stepmother of fifteen year old Lynet. That's not the case.
Second things...second, I just don't like how many intricacies of the plot is revealed in the description, while they gloss over mentioning important character. Like the surgeon, or the huntsman... anyways.
Mina has been ostracized by the villagers in the southern part of the kingdom for being the magician's daughter. The villagers don't really like the magician, but they tolerate his presence because he can help them with what ails them. Word of his abilities has reached the king in the northern part of the kingdom, so the magician is summoned to heal the queen. The magician doesn't manage to save the queen, but does manage to save her daughter, Lynet. Mina also fell very ill as a child, and her father managed to replace her heart with a glass heart. She has no heartbeat, and her father also told her without a real heart, no one could love her and she could not love them in return.
Lynet has grown up within the walls of Whitespring as a rather rambunctious child. She is frequently climbing trees, sides of the castle walls, and dodging every kind of class she's been forced to take. A new surgeon, Nadia, comes to Whitespring and out of curiosity, Lynet begins to follow Nadia around. They meet, and after a few times, Nadia reveals that Lynet was crafted out of snow by the magician by the king's orders. Lynet is supposed to look exactly as her mother did. The king (Lynet's father) is very protective of Lynet, and often tries to persuade her that she will become more like her mother with time... but Lynet has her doubts and doesn't really want to be like her mother.
That's enough summary.
Why did I almost give up on this book? There was a lot, a lot, of just EMOTIONS running rampant in this book. I usually like that, but there were times I felt as if I could skip an entire page or two and I wouldn't have really missed out on anything besides the characters' internal turmoil. That was pretty much my number one reason. I also thought Lynet came across as anywhere between 8 and 19 depending on what part of the story was happening. Not in the time leaping sense, but just in the present day sense. There were times in the story where Lynet was legit young (3-4?) but those were the past passages.
There were also aspects of the story that felt like they were inspired by Snow White, and also The Snow Queen. I wouldn't say this was a retelling of either story, but I think there was definitely some inspiration drawn from those stories.
I also disliked how the magic was presented to function. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER, but Lynet is able to control the snow, Mina can control glass, but neither of them are required to shed any sort of blood like the magician is to manipulate their elements. Likeeeeeeeeee, what? I think there could have been some passage, some quip somewhere about why blood is required sometimes but not other times. It's entirely possible I missed that passage.
Spoilers over.
I thought the King was a pretty one note character, and kind of Mina's father as well.
In the version I read, there's a map of the whitespring castle, but there's not a map of the kingdom. I just thought that was kind of funny. Like I, the reader would need help understanding where the north and west towers are in relation to each other, but not the north or the south kingdom. Or where the frost line might be.
...I don't know, I just wasn't that impressed. The ending was not particularly inspiring either.
Happy reading!
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