Snow, White: This is no Fairy Tale. This is a Horror Story.

by Keith Austin

A dark and twisted take on some classic fairy-tale characters, Keith Austin's brand-new novel will have you on the edge of your seat as you find out if there really is such a thing as Happy Ever Ever.

     John Creed's nights are haunted by dreams of a white wolf, his days by the hideous class bully. He's a loner with a stutter and his home-life -- with an eccentric grandfather who wants to teach him folklore and ancient languages -- is isolated and unusual. But then John makes a friend -- Fyre. She's as unusual as John and has her own secrets to keep, but as the truth about John's past starts to emerge, she's the best ally he's got.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

400 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2014

About the author

After attending Parmiter's Grammar School in East London, Keith worked in a local pie, mash and eel shop for two years before joining the East London Advertiser newspaper at the age of 20. After working in East London, Oxford, and Essex, he eventually made it to Fleet Street when he joined The Sunday Times in London.

After stints at the Daily Mirror and the China Daily newspaper in Beijing, he emigrated to Australia in 1994 and stayed for 28 years, working on the Sydney Morning Herald and then becoming a freelance travel writer. It was while in Australia that the inspiration struck him to write the YA horror story GRYMM.

Keith returned to the UK in 2022 and then relocated to Albania for a few months to write FART CLOWNS, his 4th - and most outrageous - YA book (coming soon!).

Reviews

[Andie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My copy of this book is one I received in exchange for a review on Netgalley. I need to thank the publishers at Random House Children’s Publisher’s UK, and the author for allowing me access to this book.

Snow, White follows a thirteen year old boy who is a little bit odd. The novel opens almost like a crime drama on television, with some poor law enforcement guy getting killed off by a big white wolf, a wolf which you later find out the protagonist, John Creed, has been dreaming about for as long as he can remember. John is a quiet kid, who keeps to himself and is bullied mercilessly due to his stutter. He also is subject to speculation and rumours surrounding the mysterious scars on his face. He is told by his grandfather that the scars came from the car crash he was in as a baby, which killed his parents. But immediately you as the reader know that they are really claw marks. I’m determined to make this a spoiler-free review, so that is all I will say about the actual storyline here. It may surprise you though, this is not a retelling of “Snow White” or even any specific fairytale which comes to mind- rather it contains the elements of fairytales.

Throughout this book you also get two other main characters: an albino girl named “Fyre King” (yes, I admit, I laughed.), and the classroom bully who loves to give John a hard time in school, Caspar. As the story develops, their lives are all intertwined.

This novel was a bit of an odd one for me. The first half was quiet strong and I enjoyed it, I got attached to the “sub-characters”…but then the second half of the novel came along, all action and explosions and I just lost interest. I can’t even explain why, I just didn’t really care what was going on. I wanted to know how it ended but I didn’t have that attachment to the characters like I first thought I had. I didn’t care who lived or died. It felt quiet sudden and rushed. A lot of new characters were introduced in the second half of the story and you didn’t really get the chance to connect with them before it all kicked off. I actually wondered if this book was meant to be the start of a series because it seemed to be building up to something massive but I couldn’t see it happening within the last 20% of the book. But happen it did, and it fell a bit flat, honestly.

I gave this book 3 stars because while I did enjoy it enough to finish it, I did find flaws within it. I can see what the author was trying to do , but I just think it was a bit too rushed at the end and didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I would, however, recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of fairytale retellings or fantasy because it does have some good, quite original ideas and of course, you may enjoy it more than I did!

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[Chantal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fractured fairytale with a twist. Interesting use of symbolism with the ravens, wolves and sparrows; relevant inclusion of bullying/self-esteem issues and an unexpected use of fairytale characters and accessories in modern times.

A fairytale that is written with teenage boys in mind.
Recommended for ages 13+ some violence and reference to animal cruelty (which was rather awful).

[Kaity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not a part of the correct age demographic but I did enjoy the story.
I do have to say the horror story portion didn’t really come into affect until the final two chapters, it was more of a mystery then a horror.
I suppose it counts as a horror story for children, which is what it was trying to be.
It was an easy read, I enjoyed it, it was interesting.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted on Nightjar's Jar of Books.

SUMMARY

Twelve-year-old John Creed has been having problems at school for some time - his prominent stutter and the scars on his face from the car crash that killed his parents combine to make him a prime target for bullies. And to make things worse, he's started noticing something strange: Many of his classmates' reflections have wolf heads.

Thankfully, he's also managed to make a friend recently - Fyre King, a classmate who's eager to help him find a solution to his little wolf problem... but she has secrets of her own...

STORY [3/5]

First off, I should reiterate what it says on the cover: This is not a fairytale. There is a vague connection to fairytales that reveals itself about halfway through book, but it is in no way major enough to consider this a fairytale retelling or re-imagining of any kind (and there's no connection to Snow White at all), even though the title and tagline are clearly meant to bring fairytales to mind. That said, I also wouldn't consider this a horror story - it's just not scary enough.

What it does feel a lot like is a mystery novel. The story begins almost like a crime drama, with a scene of a man being killed by a giant wolf, before we're introduced to the actual main characters - and this aspect of the story was very compelling. I feel like a big deal was made of Fyre's secret, however, only for it to be revealed in the least dramatic way possible, to a resounding "meh" from the rest of the cast, and Caspar's trouble with his father played out only marginally better...

In the second part of the book, the tone shifts drastically, and the book almost seems to become an action story, with the main cast all fighting for their lives, which was a somewhat jarring transition that I didn't entirely appreciate. I did, however, really like the ending, which took an unexpected turn and surprised me pleasantly.

CHARACTERS [3/5]

Our main character is John Creed, whose circumstances - the scars and the stutter and the visions - are quite interesting, but whose personality is rather bland. He is, however, a very likeable protagonist, and children in his age group (12 to 13) would probably also find him quite relatable.

His friend Fyre is cut from a similar mould. She stands apart from most her peers because she's an albino (though she's never actually been unpopular), and decides to befriend John because she finds him interesting... and because her mother asked her to. Cool and confident, she makes a good foil for John's shyness, and their friendship is quite sweet to read about.

Lastly, there's Caspar Locke, who is both Fyre's ex-boyfriend and John's chief antagonist. Unlike most books that heavily feature bullying, we actually get to see things from his perspective occasionally, and these brief sections were some of my favourite parts of the story. Caspar initially comes off as just your typical schoolyard bully, but we quite quickly learn that there's a lot more going on with him (though, thankfully, the book doesn't try to use this as a way to excuse his behaviour).

WORLD-BUILDING [2/5]

Snow, White is for the most part set in modern-day London, and therefore doesn't really require much world-building. There is, however, talk of a parallel universe in the second part of the book - a kind of dark fairytale world where the wolves originally came from, and that was once ruled by an Ice Queen. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like the two worlds were very well combined. When the parallel world is first brought up, it seems quite out of the blue, and it's a shame that we only ever see glimpses of it. I did appreciate the brief history that Austin gave us of it, but I think the book would have been improved if we'd actually gone there.

WRITING [3/5]

The writing is enjoyable, but somewhat inconsistent - the book is divided into two parts (and a prologue and epilogue), and Austin's writing style changed noticeably for each one. The first part of the story focused on the mystery of John's visions, and was written in an eerie, haunting style that I really liked. Part two read more like an action novel, which I wasn't such a huge fan of, but the descriptions of John's abilities were both striking and inventive, and the pacing was quick and engaging.

OVERALL IMPRESSION [3/5]

An interesting book conceptually, that's quite well built-up in the first half, but suffers somewhat from too many different styles and genres being mashed together in the second, and from some slightly bland (though likeable) characters. Though it's pitched as a Young Adult book, I think that younger readers are probably more likely to enjoy it.

RECOMMENDED FOR…

Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy will probably like the chilly atmosphere of Snow, White, particularly in the first part of the book - though in all other ways this is a very different kind of story. You might also enjoy this if you liked Emily Carroll's Through the Woods or Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper & the Spindle.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an action packed fantasy novel with fairytale themes. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, and particularly the development of the protagonist, antagonist, and other main characters. It's nice when the tale is unpredictable and you find yourself surprised by its twists and turns.

[steph!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the power of friendship ahh ending - good novel with pretty engaging plot but there were just moments that didn’t resonate. Like Fyre keeps her dead mom in a freezer? And nobody cares? I guess this really is a magical land.

[Nicky Ter.W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dnf

[Thea Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lovely surprise to me as it was one of those books that you go into thinking it will about one things and it turns out that that really isn't what it's about at all, sometimes this can be a bad thing but in this case it was a really good thing and it's a really intriguing book.

The book is set in the good old UK and is about a boy called John Creed, an orphan looked after by his very eccentric grandfather. John lost his parents in a car accident that left him with three horrific scars running down one side of his face. These scars have unfortunately left him wide open to bullies at school and makes John a very tortured character but he is not alone. He befriends a strange girl called Fyre (yes, you read right her name is Fyre, Fyre King.... don't laugh, well go on then as it is a VERY peculiar name), Fyre is an outcast herself as she is an albino. Together they form an unlikely friendship, a friendship that will be tested to the limits as John has been having nightmares about a huge white wolf that is hunting him. Unfortunately for the pair it turns out that this dream is actually a reality and they are about to face a danger that they could never have expected.


Is it a mind-blowingly good?
It's not the most mind blowing thing I've ever read but that does not mean that it isn't a good book. It's a very hard book to categorise as while it is most definitely a young adult book, it's not quite horror (although there are some very graphic scenes), not quite paranormal (although again it does have elements), not quite a fairy tale re-telling (despite a strong fairy tale theme running through it, it isn't quite that either). It's a mix of several genres which makes it quite a mishmash.

Is it interesting?
Yes, I found it to be very intriguing to read. Not what I was expected but then again I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting but what I got was wonderful. The subject matter was interesting and grabbed from me from the first couple of chapters through to the bitter end and the progression of the story threads throughout the book was enough to keep me wanting to read more, and more, and more.


Is it enjoyable to read?
Completely, there were the odd flaws but you can expect that in any book. Overall though the book was very entertaining throughout with the odd graphic horror scene and enough twists and turns to keep everyone happy.

Is is well written?
I think it was written with a very competent hand. The language was perfect for the YA and teen audience and it was thoughtfully constructed. Reading it as an adult I could easily see that it was probably better suited to a much younger audience than myself but as an adult reader there was nothing to make it any less than a wonderful read for someone of my age. The main characters were likeable and easy to root for with the characters, they had flaws but the flaws made them more human and ultimately even more likeable. John's journey was heartbreaking to read in places, especially during the moment of bullying but as someone who was terribly bullied at school I could feel every inch of his pain as I did my own at the time and I have to say it was pretty spot on, sad to read but an integral part of John's story. Fyre was an odd character and I did find myself doubting her motives towards John at times but during the course of the tale you learn a great deal about Fyre and her background. Both of the revelations about her mother were surprises and very unexpected. The characters we aren't supposed to like were written in such a way that they were easy to dislike, hate even and they deserved every inch of the hatred they managed to garner in the pages. Casper, the bully who ultimately is a bully for a reason, as most bullies are, grows dramatically through the story, especially at the end of the book but I did find his turn quite predictable whereas his father is a different story entirely. 'Tapper' starts off as a normal father, he's a policeman and a single father but during the course of the books he gets more and more disturbing, scarily disturbing by the end of the book and very easy to hate. A very interesting character indeed and the character you leave the book remembering the most because of his actions.

Would you recommend it?
Yes, I would. It's a fabulous little read, it may not blow your world apart but it doesn't prevent the book from being a more than enjoyable way to wile away a few hours!

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Random House UK and NetGalley for the early copy.

People who have read this blog will know just how much i love a fairy-tale retelling, so given the opportunity to review this book, i jumped at it. The book opens to a particularly twisted and descriptive prologue, about Mum, the wolf and... the son. Austin successfully integrates a Red Riding Hood theme, that is both shocking and well written. This is where we meet the white wolf of John's dreams, her muzzle covered in the blood the son.

Austin then moves into the story, introducing us too the three children. John who is a shy, stuttering boy who has long scars running down his face. He is doubly insecure because of this and doesn't have any friends. We then have Fyre, an Albino who understands John's insecurities who wants to be friends. Then we have Casper, the class bully who doesn't understand how Fyre can no longer like him. He has ADHD but has rebelled and has stopped taking his medication. The way Austin introduces each of them is both reflective of their individual personalities and gives the reader an insight to each of their problems.

For me, this is a breath of fresh air and a difference to how many different characters are introduced in a book, saying that the book being narrated in third person led to a lot of disorientation when reading with the narrating character always shifting. This left me with a lot of confusion and loss in enjoyment of the book as i struggled to decipher who it was now centered on.

It does pick up a bit later within the book, introducing a dash of blood. This helped me keep reading but it was, although beautifully written, almost too much writing on the page. People who read this book will want less setting-up and more action. Atleast we see john grow as a person and make friends. My highlight was the epilogue, it was done in such a way, that the stories ending felt right. Not immediate in the time frame where John is 13, but in the future where they are all old enough to realize what they have to do.

Overall 3.5/5

Read more reviews like this at http://readbetweenthescenes.blogspot.com

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book. Even as I got into it, the story was really slow to start. It wasn't dull, stuff happened and it didn't drag, but it all just seemed to be setting up. It was John just going to school and his relationships with the other characters, which, while being relevant, felt a little pointless.

The plot itself was good though, I enjoyed it once I got into it and really liked how the epilogue was done. The sparrows were really cool as well, it was an interesting idea and I think it was pulled off well.

I've been fairly negative in this review, but I did enjoy it. It was a bit written down, which I think is quite common in this age bracket (though I really don't think it should be). But it was an enjoyable story and it didn't drag despite the vagueness of the start. Good for younger teens who want a adventure and a bit of violence.

(Crossposted from http://thewhisperingofthepages.blogsp...)

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to be allowed to read this courtesy of Netgalley and really liked the plotline though felt the story dragged a bit at the start and then when I was caught up in the exposition towards the end the conclusion was disappointing when we were told that they all lived happily ever after. I realise that the story continued briefly after that but the actual ending was then predictable which led me to award 3 rather than 4 stars.
This is an up to date telling of a fairy story though more of a mix of the Snow Queen, Snow White and a touch of Narnia thrown in for good measure. It has some quite graphic horror elements to it which would prevent me from recommending it to pre-teens but I would read more by Keith Austin myself.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 stars

This was a really good book! It wasn't your average fairy tale with wolves.
At the start, it was a bit weird and stuff but it developed quite well. By the end of it, I was like, "come on, come on, come on!" It was fast paced and enjoyable and I really liked ending, which you could say was quite a happy ending.

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book, it wasn't one of the strongest I've read.
I didn't mind the characters or any of their weirdness, I just didn't like the style of writing.
I'm sure others will love it because it is a fairytale retelling but it took me personally a really long time to get into it

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what to think about this. I enjoyed reading the beginning then I kept thinking to myself..."What? Did I read that correctly? Where did that come from?" Felt the second part of the book was not as strong as the first part.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't do it for me, I felt it lacked the sense of adventure I crave.

The writing was good but I say its better suited to a younger age group 12-15.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant story, enjoyed reading from beginning to end.

[k i r s t y n ➵ · Rating 4 out of 5]

not much horror but otherwise an enjoyable book