I thought Stitching Snow was fantastic! But then, I haven’t read the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Anything negative that I’ve heard is only that Stitching Snow isn’t the Lunar Chronicles. Well, of course not! Does Marissa Meyer hold a patent on fairy tale retellings set in space? So for me, this book was incredibly fresh and exciting.
I started the book and was immediately sucked in by the main character, Essie. I wanted to know more, and to see where she was going. Do you remember the old TV show Firefly? I was getting to know the main character, Essie, and I was picturing Kaylee from Firefly. Like Kaylee, Essie is a very strong, independent young woman who is incredibly talented at mechanics and computer programming. In fact, the title of the book refers to Essie’s hobby of “stitching” computer circuits to repair a malfunction in equipment or to create a new computer program. I will always be a big fan of highly intelligent heroines. A bonus: not only is Essie smart, she also kicks butt. Literally. She’s definitely not a “damsel in distress,” and her gritty, rough edges only serve to add to her humanity.
Coming in a close second in my list of favorite characters is Dimwit, a mining drone who helps Essie. I think it’s safe to say that he’s “Dopey” of the famous dwarves. The author gives so much “life” and personality to Dimwit the drone! Dimwit is just one of seven mining drones that Essie works with, but he’s definitely the most developed. I do think that the author could have given a little more personality to the other drones to add to the story, but this wasn’t enough of a hang-up to ruin my enjoyment of the story.
Stitching Snow also has good world development. The action moves between three planets, and I really felt like I could picture all of the different landscapes in my head. The book never tends toward dry descriptions; rather, the author has the characters make observations about their environment as the plot advances. There is a time and place for lengthier, more detailed passages, but that would have drastically slowed down this stand-alone novel. For this book, the subtle setting descriptions are my favorite. For example, when Dane and Essie land on Windsong (her birth planet, and the capital), she observes how much sunnier it is, and how she wears lighter clothes than on Thanda (the planet she’s been hiding on) due to the warmer temperatures. On Thanda, a secondary character reminds Essie to wear a coat, as it’s cold outside. Showing is always better than telling when it comes to setting (and character) development!
While this wasn’t the most exciting, edge-of-my-seat read (it’s a fairy tale re-telling; of course there will be a little predictability), this was definitely an enjoyable ride. The space setting; the active rather than passive Snow White character; the action; and, of course, the drones make this a one-of-a-kind novel.
I started the book and was immediately sucked in by the main character, Essie. I wanted to know more, and to see where she was going. Do you remember the old TV show Firefly? I was getting to know the main character, Essie, and I was picturing Kaylee from Firefly. Like Kaylee, Essie is a very strong, independent young woman who is incredibly talented at mechanics and computer programming. In fact, the title of the book refers to Essie’s hobby of “stitching” computer circuits to repair a malfunction in equipment or to create a new computer program. I will always be a big fan of highly intelligent heroines. A bonus: not only is Essie smart, she also kicks butt. Literally. She’s definitely not a “damsel in distress,” and her gritty, rough edges only serve to add to her humanity.
Coming in a close second in my list of favorite characters is Dimwit, a mining drone who helps Essie. I think it’s safe to say that he’s “Dopey” of the famous dwarves. The author gives so much “life” and personality to Dimwit the drone! Dimwit is just one of seven mining drones that Essie works with, but he’s definitely the most developed. I do think that the author could have given a little more personality to the other drones to add to the story, but this wasn’t enough of a hang-up to ruin my enjoyment of the story.
Stitching Snow also has good world development. The action moves between three planets, and I really felt like I could picture all of the different landscapes in my head. The book never tends toward dry descriptions; rather, the author has the characters make observations about their environment as the plot advances. There is a time and place for lengthier, more detailed passages, but that would have drastically slowed down this stand-alone novel. For this book, the subtle setting descriptions are my favorite. For example, when Dane and Essie land on Windsong (her birth planet, and the capital), she observes how much sunnier it is, and how she wears lighter clothes than on Thanda (the planet she’s been hiding on) due to the warmer temperatures. On Thanda, a secondary character reminds Essie to wear a coat, as it’s cold outside. Showing is always better than telling when it comes to setting (and character) development!
While this wasn’t the most exciting, edge-of-my-seat read (it’s a fairy tale re-telling; of course there will be a little predictability), this was definitely an enjoyable ride. The space setting; the active rather than passive Snow White character; the action; and, of course, the drones make this a one-of-a-kind novel.
