Book Review: Stealing Snow (Stealing Snow #1), Danielle Paige

Title: Stealing Snow
Series: Stealing Snow #1
Author: Danielle Paige
Published: 06/10/2016, Bloomsbury Childrens
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: 3.5/5
Seventeen-year-old Snow lives within the walls of the Whittaker Insitute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she doesn't belong there, but she has no memory of life outside, except for the strangest dreams. And then a mysterious, handsome man, an orderly in the hospital, opens a door - and Snow knows that she has to leave...

She finds herself in icy Algid, her true home, with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change everything. Heroine or villain, queen or broken girl, frozen heart or true love, Snow must choose her fate...
A wonderfully icy fantastical romance, with a strong heroine choosing her own destiny, Danielle Paige's irresistibly page-turning Snow Queen is like Maleficent and Frozen all grown up.

Stealing Snow, in my opinion, is a wonderful, original take on The Snow Queen with a bit of Snow White thrown in. It is a quick and engaging read and I just didn't want to put this book down.

Stealing Snow begins in a mental asylum, Whittaker Institute, before travelling to the fantasy world of Algid. From my own limited knowledge of mental asylums, the setting felt fairly realistic. I mean I imagine mental asylums would have set routines for each patient. However, I feel that there could have been a bit more world-building when it came to Algid.

I felt that the setting related very well to the main character, Snow. I think she does believe she belongs in the asylum anyway. That is until she learns her true heritage.

I actually quite enjoyed Snow as a character too. Sure, she's very quick to accept her "true" life, but I also felt that she actually took it in her stride. There was no breakdowns or "why me's" anyway. I also liked that she was extremely distrusting of the magic potions that everyone in Algid uses willy-nilly. This completely ties in with her past experiences at Whittaker Institute being force-fed pills. She wants to keep all her wits about her which I really liked. Snow is also quite sarcastic so of course I loved that.

The secondary characters all brought something different to the story too. I particularly like Jagger and Gerde. Each character helps Snow acclimatise to her true heritage in the own way. However, I'm still unsure who Snow should be trusting - I'm still waiting for someone to stab her in the back. There is also the slight makings of a love triangle/square which I didn't like as much. However, I can't wait to find out more about all the characters in the sequel.

Stealing Snow is told from Snow's perspective. The story is slightly predictable in places, however I did not expect the twists (particularly the major one at the end). Stealing Snow is a very quick read. There was always something happening and maybe too much at times. It was sometimes hard to keep up! But the ending was very climatic and impossible to put down. There are still plenty of unanswered questions, but I'm looking forward to finding these answers in the sequel.

I really enjoyed Stealing Snow. It really is a brilliant mix of both The Snow Queen and Snow White, however I do wish there was a bit more world-building and a bit less love triangle. I would definitely recommend Stealing Snow to fans of fantasy and retellings though and I look forward to the sequel releasing next year.

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