Poisoned

by Jennifer Donnelly

From Jennifer Donnelly, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Stepsister, comes a fairytale retelling that'll forever change the way you think about strength, power, and the real meaning of "happily ever after."  Once upon a time, a girl named Sophie rode into the forest with the queen's huntsman. Her lips were the color of ripe cherries, her skin as soft as new-fallen snow, her hair as dark as midnight. When they stopped to rest, the huntsman pulled out his knife . . . and took Sophie's heart. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule -- a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen.  ;And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she'd heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie from becoming too powerful, too strong . . .  ;With the help of seven mysterious strangers, Sophie manages to survive. But when she realizes that the jealous queen might not be to blame, Sophie must find the courage to face an even more terrifying enemy, proving that even the darkest magic can't extinguish the fire burning inside every girl -- and that kindness is the ultimate form of strength.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Romance, Audiobook, Fairy Tales, Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2020

About the author

Jennifer Donnelly is the author of fourteen novels - Beastly Beauty, Poisoned, Stepsister, Lost in a Book, These Shallow Graves, Sea Spell, Dark Tide, Rogue Wave, Deep Blue, Revolution, A Northern Light, The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose and The Wild Rose - and Humble Pie, a picture book for children. She is a co-author of Fatal Throne, which explores the lives of King Henry VIII's six wives, for which she wrote the part of Anna of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife.

In 2023, she published Molly's Letter, the first in a series of novella-length stories called Rose Petals set in the world of her three-volume Tea Rose series -- followed by Where Roses Fall in August, 2024.

Jennifer grew up in New York State, in Lewis and Westchester counties, and attended the University of Rochester where she majored in English Literature and European History.

See Jennifer's full bio on Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Jennifer Donnelly]

To all you lovely advance POISONED commenters: THANK YOU! Your enthusiasm and kind words mean the world to me. I'm SO excited to share Sophie's story with you, and get your feedback when I do!

So ... since you're here, I'll share a few spoiler-free tidbits about POISONED:

Q: What is the POISONED story based on?
A: Snow White. But the older, Grimmer version of Snow White than what you may have seen or heard as a kid. It's not pretty. And mine is even a little less pretty than the Grimms'. The huntsman, for example, is sent by the Evil Queen to cut out Snow White's (Sophie's, in POISONED) heart. In the Grimms' version, he feels sorry for her, gets an animal heart and presents it to the queen in place of hers. In my version, he goes through with it: he cuts out Sophie's heart. It's agonizing for him, but he's so afraid of his queen that he does it anyway.

Q: If Sophie dies, where's the story?
A: Well, this is a fairy tale, and the forest is enchanted. Seven mysterious men of the woods happen upon Sophie's lifeless body, and with a little magic, they fashion her a clockwork heart. It ticks and clicks and whirrs in odd ways, but it works. There is, however, a problem: this heart feels too much. For Sophie, a princess set to inherit and lead an entire realm, this is a very big problem indeed.

Q: Who/what is in the Evil Queen's mirror on the wall?
A: I thought you'd never ask! That's the question that inspired POISONED. Since I was a child, in every version of Snow White I read, I could never get past wondering: Who was she talking to? What did he want? Why did the queen give him so much power over her?

But I never believed for a second that the queen could care less who was the fairest of them all. I mean, she's the queen of the land: she commands armies and controls great fortune. Is she really going to fret about a few wrinkles? Does she really care if she's the most beautiful woman in the realm? Of course not. So in POISONED, she doesn't ask "who's the fairest of them all?" She asks something much more relevant ... and for her, much more frightening. That's one of the major themes of the story.

Q: What animals/creatures are you obsessed with this time around?
A: A small clever hound, a gray wolf, two snakes, a scorpion and and CROWS! I have fallen in love with crows and a very special one -- "special" not to be confused with nice or friendly or kind in the least -- features large in POISONED.

Q: Where can I learn more about POISONED?
A: Watch my video sneak peek! It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvnGzQt62u0

Q: Where can I pre-order POISONED?
A: Everywhere!  Links to booksellers are on my site here: https://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/book/poisoned/

[Charlotte May]

My copy just arrived today 😁 🍎

*********************

Yes yes yes! To all of this!

Thank you Jennifer Donnelly for bringing us all of the feminist retellings!!!

[Brooke W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teacher: "Does anyone have any questions?"
Me: "Do you know where I could find my low expectations?"
Teacher: "You lost them in the Darkwood when we took our field trip there."

Actual rating: 2.75-3.25

I really loved the concept of this story, it was brilliant. I was all for it, but it didn't quite meet my expectations. My expectations were unfairly high after this masterpiece and this gem. This book wasn't all bad and it wasn't what I was expecting. I am glad that as I spend more time away from this book it feels more like a solid three stars.

The plot was very good. It wasn't more, wasn't less. I felt like it might have dragged out a little which pains me to say. I loved the adventure in this story, at least the characters were always learning, always moving. That was nice at least.

This book was set in a world very similar to Germany. That made me unnameably happy. I really enjoyed the world, with palaces, dark forests, and magical creatures. Donnelly didn't reveal much about the world until the epilogue, which I found to be slightly irritating but what she reveals was just so mind-blowing.

One of the only two reasons I did not stop this book and save it for later was because I was waiting for Sophie's character arc. Because to be frank, in the beginning, Sophie was an idiot. She had NO CLUE what she was doing, the effect she had, or how to stop. She didn't know how to take care of herself or make good decisions. I hate the old Sophie.

But I love the new Sophie. I heard her character arc was one of the better parts of the novel, and at least her arc didn't disappoint. I love her growth, the lessons she learns, what she teachers the readers, and the leader she becomes.

"She requires no mirror to tell her what she always knew."

The last five chapters(they are very short chapters) and the epilogue was so redeeming of this novel. They were packed full of life lessons, lovely writing, and there was just something about the last 30 pages that was eye-opening and so filling to read. I set down Poisoned feeling full.

While I loved the end, the first 160 pages were not very good. It wasn't until page 250 where Sophie stopped making odd comparisons. Without all of the weird comparisons, this book might have been a solid three stars.

I liked the side characters, especially Arno. I love his type of character. Sarcastic, humorous, and there is more about them than meets the eye. His type of character is often so important to the story and the main character's growth. I also enjoyed Will's character, he was very caring. But honestly, and I hate to say it- I didn't really care for any of the characters. *wincing* Arno was the only one I REALLY liked. I could list plenty of reasons to love Arno and the stories he weaves. I won't say the characters are bland, but they all kind of blend together. Sophie falls into a few bookish stereotypes. This kind of thing is sort of unavoidable because Donnelly was going by the real Snow White fairytale. She definitely put a spin on it though. I've just read a LOT of retellings.

I loved the darkness of this story. I know that sounds odd but I loved it!



I admire Donnelly's creativity. Even if I didn't like what I was seeing, at least I could see it clearly. Jennifer Donnelly let her imagination loose while writing Poisoned. I love the creatures, the forest, just EVERYTHING about her descriptions of darkness, palaces, war- it was just- *wipes tears*

This is where Donnelly's talent shines. My words can't amount to my appreciation and awe of the magic element of this story.

The romance was alright. It had a bit of a love-triangle esque to it but that was quickly dissolved. It was never really an option for me because I loathed one of the love interests. There was some insta-love but that also faded pretty quickly. It wasn't needed but it was nice, it added humor and a bit of light to this story.

I loved the brothers. They just were amazing. Some of them felt like they were the same person, but at least they were good people. I had a really hard time telling who of the 7 of them were speaking. They were kind, had faced trauma, and survived together. They were just such a perfect element in this story.

Haakon. I hate him so much. He hadn't even tried to kill someone and I hated him.

"Champagne makes my head spin. It is the undoing of me." But Haakon wouldn't take the glass back. "Well then you cannot have me either," he said. Quite loudly. "For I will make your head spin." He tugged at the knot in the bottom of the silver laces that ran down the length of Sophie's bodice. "And that will be the undoing of you."

CAN YOU FEEL MY BURNING HATRED?

I also love the feminist spin on this story and how Donnelly uses the original fairytale, the one with blood and death, not castles and crowns. She shows us that fear is a choice and that we don't have to listen to others.

The These Shallow Graves and Lost in a Book references made my heart so very happy!

I am just so conflicted on this book. I went in with very high expectations. I strongly disliked half of it. The other half was one of the best parts of a book I have ever read.

I recommend this book to people who want to try a retelling and who enjoy the original Grimm Brother's fairytales!

Thank you for reading my very conflicted rant!

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started out interesting but the end unfortunately didn't wowed me. I loved stories with people having two face where one was likable but deep down they have other intentions. The wicked stepmother was truly wicked. She was constantly disgusted by Sophie's kindness. The seven dwarfs in this story were cool and funny. I like this retelling for the adventures of Snow White's deep sleep. Her adventures taught her many life lessons and gave her the opportunity to act with her own beliefs.


This book started with a prologue, following the Huntsman, told in the first person point of view, taking the Princess out into the forest to kill her. He admitted to killing her. Then the story began, a day before, with Sophie, 17, a Princess soon to be Queen, told in the third person point of view. She's living a lie to satisfy her stepmother but inside she's opposite. The third view was Queen Adelaide and Sophie's stepmother. She has been Queen regent for 6 years since Sophie's father died. She believed a ruler should be cruel and the people should live in fear to run a successful kingdom. She punished others to teach Sophie a lesson when she caught Sophie acted cowardly. The fourth view was the 7 dwarfs named Jakob (blacksmith), Schatzi (tailor), Julius (herbalist), Jeremias (hunter), Joost (carpenter), Josef (farmer), and Johann (clockmaker). A spider named Weber (cook) was among them. In the Darkwood, the 7 brothers found Sophie laying in a pool of her blood. They tried to rescue her before the strange man and woman arrived. Sophie was about to married Prince Haakon when her life ended. She went to search for Haakon when she realized he's not coming. Along the way, she learned the harsh truth through life threatening lessons.


Poisoned offered an interesting retelling of Snow White. Instead of deep sleep she went on an adventure. I loved everything except the ending with Fear and Death. Will was a great character. I loved how he brought home as his grandma called it, "stray cat, stray dog, stray girl" etc. I loved Oma's comment about unhappy people! Gretta's sassy was great! I liked the hate to love romance, though very light in this case where middle grade readers can read it too. I enjoyed the humor. If you read, I'm curious what you thought of this book!

xoxo, Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

Many thanks to Scholastic for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who’s the fairest of them all? I adore a good fairy tale retelling, and Jennifer Donnelly writes gorgeous stories with plucky heroines, crafty twists on familiar stories, and lovely prose. We all know the story of Snow White, the Queen, and the Huntsmen. There may also be seven dwarves involved as well as insects, crows and other woodland creatures. This story is also about love, betrayal, and finding your inner strength. Sophie is told she is weak. That she lets people in too easily. Perhaps she does. Perhaps weaknesses can also be a strength. While the first fairy tale retelling in this series (Stepsister—which I also loved) seemed to turn a classic tale on its head, this one felt more like a retelling in the author’s own way. It was beautifully imagined with Germanic/Scandinavian lore and even a bit of romance.

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man this book dragged. As much as I loved Stepsister, this book was it's opposite in every way. The main character (Sophie) is not compelling. I didn't give a crap about the two love interests. The plot meanders all over the place. Donnelly made me sit up and shout in glee when reading her last book and this one was just very good. I think I was hoping more of a Snow White story a la Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle. This one was exhausting and as one character said, kept doing stupid things. I didn't get a you go girl moment at all in this one. Instead, I just shook my head and sighed when we finally mercifully got to the end.

"Poisoned" is a retelling of Snow White. Donnelly begins the story with the Huntsman, who in this story does not deceive the Queen. He instead kills Princess Sophie and takes her heart back to the Queen. Sophie is saved though by seven brothers, one of who puts a clock in her heart to keep it beating. The story then jumps back and we see why the Queen despises Sophie. She sees her as too soft and too kind to rule. And there is someone speaking to the Queen via her mirror, but not who you may think. The book follows Sophie as she does what she can to get her heart back and take back her kingdom from her stepmother.

Sophie is not developed at all. Honestly. The book did a better job with the Queen and I was more interested in her and her backstory.

The other characters just love Sophie cause...reasons. I guess. Honestly.

The writing was not as great as in Stepsister. The book's narration just takes you out everytime. Sometimes the book is told via the Huntsman, another narrator that is not named and then we do third person POV's of the Queen, Sophie, and other characters I am forgetting about. The flow was just poor after we get past the first 10 percent of the book. The book drags to the point that you hope that you are nearing the end. The only saving grace was that as I saw the percentage complete on my Kindle I felt happier cause I knew that I was almost done with this.

The setting of the book is beyond confusing. You hear about other kingdoms and even meet some of the princes and all of that but the book is just all over the place. You have ogres, goblins, and a bunch of other fairytale characters that felt out of place in this story. I liked how Donnelly tied in mythology to the story of Cinderella and made it work in that book. This one was just a lot. Especially the whole reveal on who the King of Crows was....I maybe laughed and rolled my eyes.

The ending felt like a threat to readers cause it sets up more retellings and now I am worried about how badly those books may go.

[Cortney - Bookworm & Vine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love Poisoned as much as I loved Stepsister... Unfortunately it was a mediocre follow-up.

I just couldn't connect with the story or the characters. There were definitely some shining moments, and Jennifer Donnelly just has this incredible ability to craft sentences that bring tears to my eyes, but this Snow White retelling with just not for me.

[Grace A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The protagonist was physically weak but with a strong heart, and was picked apart by the antagonist for 80% of this book. I grew weary of defeat after defeat. But, it was Sophie, the main character’s internal battle (kindness, courage and love) vs. Fear, death, pain, and a wicked queen. It was a fierce battle and well fought. 3 stars.

[Χριστίνα Ψύλλα · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο «Η Άλλη Χιονάτη» είναι ένα αυτοτελές έργο που ακολουθεί το μοτίβο των retelling όπως «Η άλλη Σταχτοπούτα». χωρίς όμως να υπάρχει κάποια σειρά στην ανάγνωση. Μπορείτε να αρχίσετε με όποιο σας τραβάει περισσότερο.

Στο συγκεκριμένο έργο -Η Άλλη Χιονάτη- η συγγραφέας ακολουθεί την γνωστή ιστορία της Χιονάτης, δίνοντας της μια πιο σκοτεινή αίσθηση, πράγμα που συναρπάζει καθιστώντας το πιο ώριμο και προσιτό στους νέους.

Αγάπησα την Σόφι (την Χιονάτη μας) που ακόμα και αν όλοι την κατηγορούσαν, αυτή έμεινε πιστή στον χαρακτήρα της και μας έμαθε το ταξίδι για την ανεύρεση της εσωτερικής μας δύναμης και την πίστη στον εαυτό μας. Υπέροχο ήταν το γεγονός που η Κακιά Βασίλισσα παρουσιαζόταν με έναν διαφορετικό τρόπο, έτσι ώστε να προσπαθήσουμε να την καταλάβουμε και όχι να την μισήσουμε ή δικαιολογήσουμε.

Είχε μια πιο βαθιά ψυχοσύνθεση, που την έκανε την ιδανική villian.

Όσον αφορά το romance ακολουθούσε το hate to love trope το οποίο πραγματικά ήταν πολύ καλογραμμένο, προσδίδοντας όχι μόνο μια ρομαντική αλλά και μια διασκεδαστική χροιά. Όπως και οι νάνοι, που ήταν αξιολάτρευτοι και πολύ αστείοι.

Τέλος, λάτρεψα το γεγονός ότι η Σόφι δεν έπεσε στον βαθύ ύπνο της χιονάτης, αλλά ξεκίνησε την δική της περιπέτεια με τους συντρόφους της, σχηματίζοντας ένα μαγευτικό ταξίδι. Το τέλος με μπέρδεψε λίγο, και ύστερα από τόσες μέρες δεν έχω αποφασίσει αν μου άρεσε ή όχι, αλλά θα περιμένω και την δική σας γνώμη στα σχόλια παρακάτω.

[Rachels_booknook_ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Are you frightened by what you see when you look into the mirror? Too much? Not enough? All wrong? Never right? Hear me, child. You should be far more frightened by what sees you.



I like the messaging of this Snow White retelling, but the execution was pretty lackluster.

While the obstacles were supposedly overcoming a brutal regime and ruler, as well as getting through the monsters surrounding the castle, it was really just the princess recovering from a series of half-hearted (lol) assassination attempts and traveling, while an incredibly milquetoast romance sort of brewed. I legitimately wasn’t sure if that’s how I was supposed to be reading the dynamic until almost 80% of the way through, and at that point I wasn’t invested anyway.
Also, I don’t think the wicked queen worked very well as a foil. She was sort of evil, as in mean to animals and children, etc. But then we are given a bit of backstory to humanize her, but not enough to be successful. We also aren’t given enough evil deeds after the first 10% of the book to hate her enough. I get that she was a pawn, but as such a traditionally important part of this fairytale, it made it confusing in terms of how we should feel about the ending. I mostly felt apathetic because we aren’t given enough to empathize with her earlier in the book, and the evil deeds dropped off the map after the initial groundwork is laid. She felt very one note, and almost like an abandoned character.
The actual monsters around the castle didn’t prove to be very admirable foes either, and weren’t given enough pages to be fleshed out or interesting.


Side note: the “big” villain reveal was…I’m sorry, but what? Was that a reveal? It just felt so random and lazy and didn’t fit the world we were in. Not that there was much in the way of world-building, because retellings, why bother I guess?
So many things were just sort of thrown in the pot to add to the plot, but the elements didn’t work cohesively, and didn’t actually add much in the way of tension or intrigue.

This one was a miss for me.

[Nastassja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I am too old for this book or maybe not old enough because I couldn't close my eyes on so many silly things taking place in there. And it would be fine because, after all, it's a fairytale. But the fact this fairy tale aims for dark and gruesome couldn't bode in my head with the fact how airy and ridiculous it was. It's too grotesque to my taste.

I am still a big fan of Jennifer’s compelling writing and think warmly of her previous book Stepsister, which was the epitome of a dark feminist fairytale. Brothers Grimm would be proud!

Poisoned, unfortunately, turned out to be not my kind of poison.

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man! Just like with Stepsister, Poisoned had me completely sucked in. There was just something about Sophie, aka Snow White, that kept me engaged and entertained. Of course, there's also Will and I completely shipped them together. Sometimes people ship the huntsman and Snow White together.. depending on the story but nope - not this time. I was on team Will for sure.

Honestly, this retelling was a lot different. Unlike the previous ones, the main character wasn't named Snow or any other version of Snow White. Her name was Sophie - which I completely loved. Then she doesn't really go into nap mode. This book had some pretty funny moments, even when it was supposed to be sad. Or maybe I've just had way too much coffee and I'm about to go into nap mode myself.

Either way, I was entertained and really enjoyed this book. The ending did confuse me a little because they mentioned three potential fairy tales to dive into. I'm not mad about it, just confused, because now I have no idea what the next book will be about. Or if Jennifer will even have another book.

Please do! I'll read them all.

[h o l l i s · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was keen for this retelling because of how much I had loved STEPSISTER, the author's previous fantasy reimagining, and yet almost from the get-go I knew this wouldn't have the same kind of magic as the Cinderella-inspired story did.

While there was a lot of creative elements at work within Donnelly's version of Snow White, I was, sadly, bored and uninspired by much of it. I missed the hard feminist edge that we've had in the author's aforementioned work. It wasn't totally missed here, there were some interesting points about the stepmother and her role, and I loved how that was spun, but.. that was really the only highlight.

If you have yet to read this author, I would definitely start with this one if you want a dark fairytale reimagining, but I think starting with STEPSISTER will leave you as disappointed by this one as I was. That same spark just isn't here.

If the author has more dark reworkings in her future I will still pick them up. But my expectations will be quite a bit lower.

----

This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.

[Vaso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Η Σόφι είναι μια πριγκιπησσα, που η μητριά της θεωρεί μαλθακή για να μπορέσει να κυβερνήσει το βασίλειο με την πυγμή που χρειάζεται γι' αυτό και διατάζει τον κυνηγό της, να της φέρει πίσω την καρδιά της - κάτι που εκείνος κάνει με προθυμία και χωρίε να διστάσει καθόλου.

Η Jennifer Donnelly γράφει ένα retelling της Χιονάτης βασισμένο στην αρχική ιστορία των αδερφών Γκριμ με έντονα "σκοτεινά" σημεία που για μένα την έκαναν πολύ πιο ενδιαφέρουσα. Η κακιά βασίλισσα, έχει έναν εξίσου κακό και μοχθηρό σύμμαχο στην προσπάθειά της να "σκοτώσει" το καλό. Γιατί η Σόφη, αυτό αντιπροσωπεύει. Την καλοσύνη, την ευγένεια, την αγάπη.
Άραγε θα τα καταφέρει?
Ποιος θα νικήσει σε αυτήν την μάχη, το καλό ή το κακό?
Η ελπίδα ή η μοχθηρία?

Έχοντας διαβάσει και το προηγούμενο retelling βιβλίο της συγγραφέως Η άλλη Σταχτοπούτα, μου άρεσε που αυτή τη φορά επέλεξε να το κάνει πιο ατμοσφαιρικό και πιο σκοτεινό.

[✼ Hollie ✼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Slander a King and the slanderer will lose his head. Slander a Queen and the Queen will lose hers.”
- The Evil Queen

Yes, she killed hundreds of puppies. Yes, she had a young boy whipped into submission. Yes, she taxed the poor beyond their pay cheque and forced them out of their homes. Yes, she tried to have her stepdaughter killed on numerous occasions. Yes, she stole farmland and refused to help her own injured soldiers… What was I talking about?

THE POINT IS: Miss Evil Queen made a fair point with that quote. That is all.

[May R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo leí hace un mes y medio para Literali jeje

[Μαρία Αλεξοπούλου · Rating 3 out of 5]

Συγκριτικά με την Άλλη Σταχτοπούτα, είναι κατώτερο γιατί διαφέρει σε λίγα σημεία από το κλασικό παραμύθι της Χιονάτης που δεν ήμουν ποτέ και ιδιαίτερη φαν. Προς το τέλος με ενθουσίασε γιατί διαφοροποιήθηκε αλλά και πάλι μου άφησε γλυκόπικρη γεύση σαν να κατάπια εγώ το φαρμακωμένο μήλο.

[Fiebre Lectora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ay, no sabría decir si ha sido porque Hermanastra me gustó tantísimo, que ahora venía con las expectativas demasiado altas, o es que Envenenada no ha llegado a ser tan emocionante y sorprendente como el anterior. Y realmente no es porque haya habido nada particularmente malo en esta historia, de hecho me ha enganchado mucho, y la vuelta de tuerca que le ha dado me ha parecido original, pero... siento que le ha faltado alma y sentimiento.
Reseña completa: http://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/202...

[Lenore .]

after the glory of stepsister i would ready any fairytale retelling by this queen

[Markéta Forejtová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bylo to překomnbinované? Ano.
Ale bavilo mě to? Ano!
Líbil se mi vývoj postav? Dvojité ano!
Byla jsem nadšená ze stylu psaní? Trojité ano!
Takže mě Donnelly nakonec zase přesvědčila.
4/5*

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that ending was ridiculous.

If I hadn't enjoyed the story so much, I'd have been annoyed by it. But fortunately, I did like Donnelly's take on the Snow White fairy tale for a couple of reasons, mainly that she went for the Grimm version that pulls no punches (the stepmother tried to kill Snow three times, mind you, don't believe Disney!), and that the world her retelling is set in is basically a thinly disguised Germany masquerading as an invented fantasy place. Snow White is the one tale I consider German (yes, I know the other versions worldwife and its older origins, but I'm speaking of the Grimm tale here, which is the most famous one of 'em all, and that one is 100% German), but rarely do I see a retelling that pays homage to the country. However, I do believe the worldbuilding could've been better, because Donnelly doesn't draw the line between invented world and our real world quite clearly; there's stuff that are clearly from our world inserted in this fictional world without change, for ex., the Black Forest cake exists in a world where there's no Black Forest, only the Darkwood.

I also liked that she built a good case for the villain. Lots of authors want to make the evil stepmother sympathetic by making Snow the unsympathetic one or even the real villain, which to me is a cheap cop-out. Here, Queen Adelaide is a villain, but isn't the true villain. She has a reason to be like she is, as all villains have one, but whilst that reason does make her human and explains her outlook in life, it doesn't make her sugary sympathetic nor redeems her. Of which she's conscious. Snow's characterisation doesn't suffer to make her stepmother sympathetic. Even the true villain is more of the "I'm just following my nature" sort than the Snidely Whiplash sort. Though I can't say all characters avoid the mustache-twirling stereotype.

Is there a feminist message in this retelling? Yes, there is. But it doesn't go for the no-males-need-apply cliché. Sophie does get help, lots and lots of help, but she's shown to have earned the help she gets. She's not rescued simply because she's the princess in distress, she's rescued because she's the princess in distress that helped others in distress that now want to pay her kindness back. That's stressed on every single time she runs into difficulties, and in the end her outcome is one she worked hard for. The romance is also not primary to the plot, but important for her character growth.

Still, that ridiculous, ridiculous ending!

I'm going to just pretend the book ended before the Epilogue and ignore what I read there. I have my suspicions that Donnelly wrote that as a lead-in to future retellings she's planning to write, specifically Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, to judge by the clues she left as Easter eggs. And I'm going to be thrilled and over the moon happy if my suspicions are confirmed, because I've loved her retellings warts and all so far. Even so, did she have to write that ridiculous ending?

[Oyinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this was so good. So so amazing. After reading Stepsister, a Cinderella retelling by the same author, I went into this with a lot of expectations. This book made me love Snow White. It was off to a slow start for me and I thought it was going to be another Snow White retelling I'd end up not liking. However, Jennifer Donnelly did a madness here. She broke down the old tale into bits and took each one and remade it, and rewrote it into something beautiful. The way she rewrote the dwarves, the Magic Mirror, and the Queen's attempts on Sophie's life, and so many other parts of the story. In her style with Stepsister, she added her own original twists and elements to the story to make it shine.

Snow White isn't my favorite fairytale princess by any means, because I feel like she was so dumb. I read a Snow White retelling some months ago that I just didn't like. Snow White reiterations all over books and even TV mostly annoy me, and even in one of my favorite fairy tale retellings on TV, Once Upon a Time, the character of Snow White wasn't my fave. This book made me like Snow White a little more, even though some of what I didn't like about many other Snow Whites over literature and TV were still here, and even a character in the book pointed it out - stop being stupid. I always felt her so dumb, and I'm glad she grew out of that in this book.

I also really appreciate that romance wasn't at the forefront of this book. It played into many parts of the book, but it wasn't majorly a romance book. It was more of a girl's journey towards finding and following her heart.

If you're like me and you love fantasies and fairytale retellings, this is a book you'd love!

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

This is a Snow White retelling in case you couldn't tell by the cover. :) It's an interesting take on the story while still holding pretty close to the original tale. You get to know the Queen better, making her more real and not just some villain in a story. I also love the additional villain that is added here gives it something different. Sophie is not what you expect for a Snow White. While she is soft-hearted and kind. She is made to believe that is a bad thing and makes her unfit to rule.

Likes:
~Snow White retelling
~Plot twist
~Absolutely amazing cover

Dislikes:
~Never really got into it
~Took far to long to read
~Never got really invested in the characters

While I did enjoy it. I found that I wasn't really into it. I couldn't stay focused on it for long and had no interest in picking the book up once I set it down. It took far too long read. I wanted to love this one too. The cover is amazing and in general, I really enjoy retellings. All in all, I'm glad I read the book, but there won't be any rereads in the future. I'll probably read the next retelling Donnelly does. Just because I feel a lot of potential here.

[Booktastically Amazing · Rating 4 out of 5]

For full review please visit: https://www.booktasticallymazing.com/

Okay. I liked this. I liked it a lot. Was it as good as Stepsister? As far as my memory(which is NOT that good to start with) goes, no. It is not as good as the first book, but they seldom are. Also, OH MY GOODNESS THIS AUTHOR'S MIND IS GOLD. Like, I do not understand how someone has such a great gift, even when the story shifts to middle grade in the last half. No hate on my part though just rants, as usual, *snort*.


RATING: 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐ 4.0

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ABORT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET!













This book gave me CHILLS. It made me feel so many things! From sadness to hope and from anger to desperation. It was so good! And then they introduced Sophie. Um, okay. I enjoy quite a LOT fairy tale retellings. When done well? They are absolute masterpieces. But then things like this happen, they are so intent on changing the main character (mostly female, because they're mostly useless in the originals) to be stronger, they just don't reach that goal. I mean how dumb and stupid Sophie was. Throughout it all. The character development was nice, not going to lie, but there was just something missing. A little something called 'not being a doormat' and...

[urwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF-ing this at 64% I just can't deal with Sophie's stupidity anymore. The plot is dragging and going nowhere. I don't care for any of the characters. Was kinda interested in the evil queen but she barely has any scenes and seems to be just as stupid as her stepdaughter, blindly following the crow man's directions like a fool. This hurts because I wanted to love it so bad after Stepsister, plus it's the BoTM for my book club (which ironically I recommended, sorry guys!), and I am a sucker for fairytale retellings. Though I haven't been impressed by a single Snow White retelling. (yes I'm looking at you Snow from OUAT)

[giulia ✿]

Jennifer Donnelly turns her feminist eye to this most delicious of fairy tales and shows Snow White as she's never been seen before. JENNIFER DONNELLY IS OUT THERE SAVING THE RETELLING GENRE. I SAID WHAT I SAID.

[Sayantoni Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not read any Snow White retelling before. I know there are many out there, but this one's my very first.
First of all, let me begin with the cover. It's PERFECT. I mean Snow White and apple, fits right?

Then comes the plot. Donnelly really has her way around words. She warped some of the finer parts, blew ripples across others, and moulded a few to her liking. End result, it's a masterpiece. Am I being carried away since it's my first retelling? Well, may be. But don't blame me yet, listen to my end of the bargain first.

Sophie is Snow White, yet she's way more in her own craft and mien. All the tv shows and movies portrayed Snow in a way that was patronizing and sans free will. I was glad to find a portrayal that defied those character traits and brought some novelty to the chronicle.

If dark fantasy with an utterly sensitive humane character is your jam, grab this one.

[Athena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Καλή η αλλαγή του παραμυθιού και ωραία τα μηνύματα που ήθελε να περάσει, αλλά με κούρασε.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie, the Snow White of this fairytale retelling,
is a kindhearted character who’s consistently told that her sensitivity is weakness. This princess is made to believe she is unfit to rule because she cares too much about others. It is only when the figurative source of emotions - her heart - is cut from her chest that she learns what strength truly is.

I adored the timeless lessons woven into the narrative; truths that are often contorted by society, just as they were for Sophie by her stepmother. While Sophie did prove naive for a good portion of this book, she demonstrated great strength of character as she rose above the cruelty she’d experienced and clung to her own sense of justice and compassion. She matured throughout the journey as the lies she’d been told began to lose their grip on her. I think her path is one that all of us travel as we grow into adulthood. Some of us may take the fork in the road that leads us to become more like Adelaide, the hardened queen, while others may never gain the wisdom that helped Sophie prosper. Hopefully, many of us will learn how to manage our emotions wisely and never solidify the softest parts of our hearts.

I truly loved the allegorical nature of the story, which was especially apparent toward the end. Donnelly writes with such grace and possesses a profoundly poetic understanding of human nature. While I’ve only read two of her books so far, they’ve both been magically captivating. Poisoned eased its way into my top reads of 2020 before I’d even finished the story.

If you’re looking for a meaningful tale with an awkward and wholly human heroine, you’ll want to pick Poisoned up! It’s a special book that will stay with me for a long time.

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

"She requires no mirror to tell her what she always knew."

Fairytale re-tellings are a wondrous thing. 'Poisoned' is a Snow White re-telling with delightfully twisted elements and unique characters that bring more life to an already well-loved story.

Occasionally slow-paced with rather choppy chapters, this novel follows Sophie (alt. Snow White) and her quite oddball group of friends as she attempts to win her heart back from The King of Crows. It's a nice change from the standard "Prince saves Princess" kind of fairytale, but this felt a little rushed at times, and then in others it really felt far too long.

“Love is a soft thing. It smells like woodsmoke and sounds like rain. It tastes like sugared apples. It costs nothing to give yet is more precious than a sea of diamonds.”

Sophie is often annoying which deters from the plot-though she does seem to grow into herself by the end of the novel-and I never truly felt any endearment towards the romance, but it is still quite the enjoyable read. It adds sprinkles of a dark fantasy novel to a classic children's fairytale.