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Snow
'Snow' is the story about Maaya, a teenage boy from Tokyo. Intelligent, kind and Compassionate, with bright pink hair, this artistic boy is already well known by those around him, engaged in politics as well as art and eccentric in his own way. He's always been different, and is fairly calm about it when he at 16 comes out and reveals that he's gay.
Though he himself has no problem admitting to it and accepting it, there are others who aren't as approving.
And perhaps he wasn't prepared for the consequences?
Maybe he lacked the cynical abilities to see that people would be bothered by who and what he was?
And then of course... There was Aki, an obnoxious, rude and enigmatic fifteen year old who brought out both contradictive feelings and empathy in Maaya.
Though he himself has no problem admitting to it and accepting it, there are others who aren't as approving.
And perhaps he wasn't prepared for the consequences?
Maybe he lacked the cynical abilities to see that people would be bothered by who and what he was?
And then of course... There was Aki, an obnoxious, rude and enigmatic fifteen year old who brought out both contradictive feelings and empathy in Maaya.
- GenresM M Romance
511 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Olsen
5 books28 followersCaroline Olsen is also known as Carola Elvira.
Author dabbling mostly in the BL genre, influenced by classic and contemporary BL works, but also aiming to bring something new to the genre with a more realistic approach to social and political issues concerning LGBTQ.
Independently published. Debuted in 2010 with SNOW
Followed by Jaded in 2012.
Love Addict, a side-story to Jaded was released in 2014.
Coming September 2021: Change of Heart.
In the process of changing my pen name to Carola Elvira. Books will be updated accordingly.
Minor publications (short stories, excerpts) can be found in the author blog
Author dabbling mostly in the BL genre, influenced by classic and contemporary BL works, but also aiming to bring something new to the genre with a more realistic approach to social and political issues concerning LGBTQ.
Independently published. Debuted in 2010 with SNOW
Followed by Jaded in 2012.
Love Addict, a side-story to Jaded was released in 2014.
Coming September 2021: Change of Heart.
In the process of changing my pen name to Carola Elvira. Books will be updated accordingly.
Minor publications (short stories, excerpts) can be found in the author blog
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 5, 2012
When I picked this book up from the bookshelves, I really didn't expect too much. As it turned out, it was the most pleasantly surprising book I ever read.
The absolutely biggest strength of this book lies in the characters. The characters are well made and very well fleshed out. You do come to love them, and when the inevitable happens, it totally breaks your heart.
The dialogue is also very witty, constantly plastering a smile to your face and even, at some points making me laugh aloud (that's rare).
What's also nice is to find a BL-novel that actually feels real, where the characters are the centre of attention, not the sex, and where the falling in love takes time. It explores heartbreak, new love, friendship, and also addresses the theme of homophobia.
There is one con though, and that is the grammar. There's quite a couple of grammatical mistakes that haven't been cleaned out in the editing process. There's also a few quite funky sentences. However, the characters are so nice, and it's just such an overall well-done story that the grammar is just a tiny detail. It doesn't bother me very much.
I would highly recommend this book, and it's definitely well-worth its price. I believe that even people who are not necessarily BL-fans could love this one, as it doesn't really feel like any other BL-story I've read. The sex scenes (the two there is in this 500 pages book) are not very graphic, not too detailed, nor do you have lengthy descriptions of them. And of course, I can't stress enough about how well-written the characters are.
The absolutely biggest strength of this book lies in the characters. The characters are well made and very well fleshed out. You do come to love them, and when the inevitable happens, it totally breaks your heart.
The dialogue is also very witty, constantly plastering a smile to your face and even, at some points making me laugh aloud (that's rare).
What's also nice is to find a BL-novel that actually feels real, where the characters are the centre of attention, not the sex, and where the falling in love takes time. It explores heartbreak, new love, friendship, and also addresses the theme of homophobia.
There is one con though, and that is the grammar. There's quite a couple of grammatical mistakes that haven't been cleaned out in the editing process. There's also a few quite funky sentences. However, the characters are so nice, and it's just such an overall well-done story that the grammar is just a tiny detail. It doesn't bother me very much.
I would highly recommend this book, and it's definitely well-worth its price. I believe that even people who are not necessarily BL-fans could love this one, as it doesn't really feel like any other BL-story I've read. The sex scenes (the two there is in this 500 pages book) are not very graphic, not too detailed, nor do you have lengthy descriptions of them. And of course, I can't stress enough about how well-written the characters are.
December 4, 2014
Snow is a beautiful book. I stumbled upon it while browsing through Outland (a store for all things fantasy), and was drawn to it because of its beautiful cover. I picked it up, put it back down, then came back a few minutes later and grabbed it anyway, and I’m glad I did.
The book mostly follows a teenage boy called Maya. He is a very responsible and decent youth who has all things set for him in life. He figures out that he is gay, and although he and his immediate environment are very accepting and calm about it, not everybody else is.
The parts of the book where he is discriminated for his sexuality are very short and few, but they make an impact. Maya is in fact admired by most of his peers, because of his looks and his academic achievements, he is a popular kid. He was not bullied per se, but he stood out as an easy target for thugs looking for someone to beat up. It happens in the book (as it often happens in life) that he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. In my opinion, it strengthens the plot when there are coincidences, when not everything matches up perfectly.
Throughout the book, we follow Maya on his journey to discovering himself and his sexuality. He has a high standard of morals and ethics, which has him engaged in tutoring, student council, homeless shelter for animals and political activities outside school, while also pursuing his passion for art. He studies hard in hopes that in the future he will make it into the most renowned university of Japan, Todaii.
With the amount of duties and priorities he has to make, his schedule makes him more anxious than usual, but he copes well. Upon falling in love with his male art teacher, Keiichi, in the middle of realizing his sexuality, Maya learns how difficult it can be to stay true to oneself when love hits you like a thunderclap.
Limits are pushed and boundaries are trespassed, although Maya is not entirely aware of them until he is in the actual situations. As a person always giving other people advice, he suddenly realizes that there are many greys between black and white. While exploring the intimacy in a close relationship, he struggles to find balance between his virtues with his wants, his right to stand up for himself and the “dutiful” sides of him that are eager to please.
I will not spoil the entire book, what I’ve written in this review is about the first half of the book. However, the second half is even more interesting, and had me pick up the book more frequently than the first half. I found the mature Maya more relatable, as well as getting to know more characters that were intriguing to me.
Anyway – to sum up this ridiculously long review: Snow is a wonderful, wonderful read. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like manga and anime, something a little yaoi-ish, but not too cliché or saucy, I would absolutely recommend it. If I were to sum up the book with one word, I would say: Sweet.
The book mostly follows a teenage boy called Maya. He is a very responsible and decent youth who has all things set for him in life. He figures out that he is gay, and although he and his immediate environment are very accepting and calm about it, not everybody else is.
The parts of the book where he is discriminated for his sexuality are very short and few, but they make an impact. Maya is in fact admired by most of his peers, because of his looks and his academic achievements, he is a popular kid. He was not bullied per se, but he stood out as an easy target for thugs looking for someone to beat up. It happens in the book (as it often happens in life) that he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. In my opinion, it strengthens the plot when there are coincidences, when not everything matches up perfectly.
Throughout the book, we follow Maya on his journey to discovering himself and his sexuality. He has a high standard of morals and ethics, which has him engaged in tutoring, student council, homeless shelter for animals and political activities outside school, while also pursuing his passion for art. He studies hard in hopes that in the future he will make it into the most renowned university of Japan, Todaii.
With the amount of duties and priorities he has to make, his schedule makes him more anxious than usual, but he copes well. Upon falling in love with his male art teacher, Keiichi, in the middle of realizing his sexuality, Maya learns how difficult it can be to stay true to oneself when love hits you like a thunderclap.
Limits are pushed and boundaries are trespassed, although Maya is not entirely aware of them until he is in the actual situations. As a person always giving other people advice, he suddenly realizes that there are many greys between black and white. While exploring the intimacy in a close relationship, he struggles to find balance between his virtues with his wants, his right to stand up for himself and the “dutiful” sides of him that are eager to please.
I will not spoil the entire book, what I’ve written in this review is about the first half of the book. However, the second half is even more interesting, and had me pick up the book more frequently than the first half. I found the mature Maya more relatable, as well as getting to know more characters that were intriguing to me.
Anyway – to sum up this ridiculously long review: Snow is a wonderful, wonderful read. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like manga and anime, something a little yaoi-ish, but not too cliché or saucy, I would absolutely recommend it. If I were to sum up the book with one word, I would say: Sweet.
July 8, 2014
OMG OMG OMG. LOVE IT! I would give this book 5 stars, but that's reserved for my al time favorites.
This book is written in such a way as to make the reader fall in love with the characters. It is witty, humorous, lovable, and deals with social issues.
READ IT! I COMMAND YOU!
This book is written in such a way as to make the reader fall in love with the characters. It is witty, humorous, lovable, and deals with social issues.
READ IT! I COMMAND YOU!
August 11, 2013
Snow is written from a Norwegian writer, and English isn’t her native language, but that aside, she does a pretty good job with writing this story. The story itself is good, but for me, it was the characters that really pulled me in. I absolutely loved all of the main characters, and the story itself is very heart-wrenching. I wasn’t expecting to cry while reading this book, and I did.
I don’t want to say that this book would appeal especially to anime/manga fans, but it probably would. So, I’ll still say it.
I don’t want to say that this book would appeal especially to anime/manga fans, but it probably would. So, I’ll still say it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews