Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly is a wonderful feminist take on the traditional story of Snow White that we all know and love. Donnelly has twisted the original tale to produce a beautifully dark novel, which is now easily one of my favourite retellings of all time.
Sophie, the protagonist, is a young princess, set to inherit the throne to her kingdom, though her stepmother has sent out her huntsman to steal her heart before that can happen. Miraculously, she survives this incident and the story follows her journey to reclaim her heart and her throne, finding and coming to terms with herself on the way.
This was an incredibly fast-paced book and I was hooked from the start, finishing the whole book in one sitting. I thought the world-building was great and I found it incredibly easy to connect with all the characters. Initially, I did have a few issues with Sophie's naivety, but she definitely grew as a character, learning from her previous mistakes to become a stronger, more independent person.
A character I really enjoyed reading about was the queen. She's a morally grey character, although she is perceived as a key antagonist by many of the main characters. It was interesting to see the different layers to her character, and understanding why she is the way she is. It was also lovely to watch the relationships between all the characters form, as they come together to help Sophie in her quest for her heart, highlighting the power and significance of companionship.
I thought it was particularly clever how every little, seemingly unimportant detail in this book somehow added to the plot and was revisited at a later stage, which kept me guessing about what significance everything held, resulting in twists and turns that kept me guessing about what significance everything held.
The only real issues I had with this book were that the romance did feel like insta-love, though this did not take away any enjoyment from the story, and that there were a number of passages where the readership is directly addressed that seemed deep and meaningful at first, but slowly became quite repetitive.
Apart from that, this was an amazing book, and is definitely one of my favourite reads of the year!
Sophie, the protagonist, is a young princess, set to inherit the throne to her kingdom, though her stepmother has sent out her huntsman to steal her heart before that can happen. Miraculously, she survives this incident and the story follows her journey to reclaim her heart and her throne, finding and coming to terms with herself on the way.
This was an incredibly fast-paced book and I was hooked from the start, finishing the whole book in one sitting. I thought the world-building was great and I found it incredibly easy to connect with all the characters. Initially, I did have a few issues with Sophie's naivety, but she definitely grew as a character, learning from her previous mistakes to become a stronger, more independent person.
A character I really enjoyed reading about was the queen. She's a morally grey character, although she is perceived as a key antagonist by many of the main characters. It was interesting to see the different layers to her character, and understanding why she is the way she is. It was also lovely to watch the relationships between all the characters form, as they come together to help Sophie in her quest for her heart, highlighting the power and significance of companionship.
I thought it was particularly clever how every little, seemingly unimportant detail in this book somehow added to the plot and was revisited at a later stage, which kept me guessing about what significance everything held, resulting in twists and turns that kept me guessing about what significance everything held.
The only real issues I had with this book were that the romance did feel like insta-love, though this did not take away any enjoyment from the story, and that there were a number of passages where the readership is directly addressed that seemed deep and meaningful at first, but slowly became quite repetitive.
Apart from that, this was an amazing book, and is definitely one of my favourite reads of the year!