Jennifer Donnelly has done it again! I loved her twist on Cinderella’s story in Stepsister and then she released Poisoned, a spin on Snow White and it is so good! The characters were charmingly funny and sometimes devious, the writing was exceptional, and the story incorporated the core of the fairytale while still making its own. Classic fairytales are often enjoyable, but it’s always great delving into the darker roots from where they came from. I’ve fallen in love with her stories twice now and I’m so excited and hopeful for another one!
Snow White’s nemesis is her stepmother in the original story and I loved this spin on the devious character. You can tell she doesn’t want Sophie hurt, which means she’s harsh to help her. She’s setting her up much like parents do with their kids, disciplining them so that they are ready for the real world. That’s kind of the way their relationship works. Countless times she sets out to harm Sophie on the orders of someone else and the true villain but manages to escape. It takes Sophie’s character a long time to learn Adelaide’s lesson, which goes perfectly with the theme of fairytales and they are there to teach us lessons. Yes, Adelaide tries to hurt her multiple times so her approach isn’t right, but at the core, you can tell she feels for the girl. I think she sees a bit of herself in her, which makes it harder. Donnelly didn’t paint Adelaide’s character with a vicious stroke and I enjoyed this slight creative change because it redeemed her character a bit, kind of like Regina in the earlier seasons of the TV show Once Upon A Time. These characters are more complex than the original texts and that helps to show that people aren’t just one thing, good or bad. They have gone through things that have influenced them to react the way that they do when situations present themselves. I can see multiple sides of Adelaide which weren’t present in the original story and I loved that!
Snow White’s nemesis is her stepmother in the original story and I loved this spin on the devious character. You can tell she doesn’t want Sophie hurt, which means she’s harsh to help her. She’s setting her up much like parents do with their kids, disciplining them so that they are ready for the real world. That’s kind of the way their relationship works. Countless times she sets out to harm Sophie on the orders of someone else and the true villain but manages to escape. It takes Sophie’s character a long time to learn Adelaide’s lesson, which goes perfectly with the theme of fairytales and they are there to teach us lessons. Yes, Adelaide tries to hurt her multiple times so her approach isn’t right, but at the core, you can tell she feels for the girl. I think she sees a bit of herself in her, which makes it harder. Donnelly didn’t paint Adelaide’s character with a vicious stroke and I enjoyed this slight creative change because it redeemed her character a bit, kind of like Regina in the earlier seasons of the TV show Once Upon A Time. These characters are more complex than the original texts and that helps to show that people aren’t just one thing, good or bad. They have gone through things that have influenced them to react the way that they do when situations present themselves. I can see multiple sides of Adelaide which weren’t present in the original story and I loved that!