Snow, Glass, Apples
A chilling fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairy tale by bestselling creators Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran.
A not-so-evil queen is terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter and determined to repel this creature and save her kingdom from a world where happy endings aren't so happily ever after.
From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Nebula Award-winning and Sunday Times-bestselling writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods) comes this graphic novel adaptation by Colleen Doran (Troll Bridge).
'Like Ray Bradbury before him, [Neil Gaiman] writes lovely little horror stories, fairy tales and fantasies which are as familiar as they are fabulous, stories that are never quite what the reader expects...' A.V. Club
Original Title: Snow, Glass, Apples
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Colleen Doran
Hardcover: 64 pages
Edition Language: English
Publishing Date: 08/20/2019
Publisher: Dark Horse Books (August 20, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1506709796
ISBN-13: 978-1506709796
Mini Review
Faux Pas!
***This review is the residual product of me loving the novel, composing an amazing review on it (in Goodreads) and a glitch on the site not letting me save it and it getting lost in the abyss due to 'the title not existing' apparently as per GR!!!! - I'm a dumb... for composing it directly on the Goodreads site vs in MS Word, where I usually write my reviews first to ensure THIS does not happen!!! Grrr.***
Amazing illustrations!
I don't want to say that I am becoming a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, but so far I really enjoyed the few books by him that I have read - the last being 'Stardust'. His award-winning works stand to reason for his unique, macabre flavor and his incredible talent in the storytelling craft is superb.
This retelling of Snow White starts off beautifully with the widowed king falling in love with the future stepmother of Snow White at the opening. This is not a graphic novel you can hand to your children...as it depicts explicit coupling scenes, albeit tastefully created, illustrating love and lust. I foremost was enamored with the visually stunning images, which some of them held secrets to discover upon second glance while all of them were bright and enchanting.
In this version of the tale, Snow White is a creepy, evil character, who shows no remorse in her father's demise and is devoid of the smallest inkling of affection towards her stepmother, who certainly has tried to gain it and to like her too. Fearing for her life and safety, the stepmother boards up the windows and doors of the castle until she makes an inevitable decision...one that should keep the kingdom safe and prosperous.
Like the apple in the original tale has become the well-known symbolism for Snow White, the heart that the stepmother cuts out of Snow White in this twisted tale to hang among fruit to dry should be the one Snow, Glass, Apples is to be remembered by. To the queen, the heart devoid of its beat becomes the indicator of her kingdom's security and prosperity while Snow White slumbers in the woods.
So, of course, there is a prince to enter the tale. He is a handsome one but riddled with a peculiar affliction, one that the queen's warmth cannot cure. In greatest moments of despair, his coldest and most urgent desires are met, taken by vengeful force sending beats of the once dead in rhythmic drums of danger, foreboding that what was once dead has woken anew.
This twisted tale has Gaiman written all over it. I love the fantastic illustrations and could have kept on reading. If it wasn't for me having to recreate this review half as good as my original writings, I'd swoon a bit more. Despite my grumblings about this mess-up and my rather small and pathetic review, this novel made my five-star rated list of graphic novels to recommend.
I hope you will enjoy this novel too :)
