Blood in the Snow by Sarah Pennington

The Synopsis:

Her destiny is decided — but betrayal breaks even the best-laid plans.
Baili, the princess of the Kingdom of Seven Rivers, has always known what her future holds. Declared the fairest of all by the fabled Dragonglass, she is destined to fulfill an ancient prophecy and unite her homeland with its long-time enemy, the Kingdom of Three Peaks. And in doing so, she may save her country from death and ruin.
In order to fulfill her destiny, Baili must travel to the Kingdom of Three Peaks and marry its prince, Liu Xiang. But all Baili’s plans and expectations are turned upside-down when her servants and soldiers, acting on her stepmother’s orders, turn against her on the road. Baili narrowly escapes with her life, but she’s left alone and adrift among strangers.
Fortunately, Baili finds refuge in the home of seven animal keepers: servants and slaves to the emperor of Three Peaks. Yet time is running out. Her servants’ rebellion was only a small part of a much larger plot. Within weeks, her stepmother plans to unite the two kingdoms, not by contract, but by conquest. Baili must reclaim her rightful place and unite not just two kingdoms but many peoples in order to stop the plan. And if she fails, two kingdoms will be plunged into ruin.

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

If you haven’t noticed by now, Snow White retellings have a special spot on my bookshelves. I love the diversity that the imaginations of talented writers bring to one of my favorite fairy tales.

Blood in the Snow did not disappoint me in the least! The tale of Baili and her unique storyworld took the classic story and added a bit more originality and twists that cunningly disguised its relation to Snow White, however it was just similar enough to still recognize it.

I can’t believe that the author fit so much world building into a novella! I hardly feel like it was even a short story; it’s complexity and characters where just so well done and lacking in nothing that it felt like a full length novel. It is quite literally the perfect length, perfect pace, and how much more perfect could Prince Liu Xiang be?!

“My heart shall ache until I see you again.” -Prince Xiang

Seriously?! He is the absolute definition of “Prince Charming”! Where can I get one of him??

The content is clean, no sexual content or cursing, however the battles do get bloody *ahem the title has “blood” in it*. The themes might be presented as “dark” to some readers because of the relationship between blood and powers that are present (causing some characters to cut themselves in order to release those powers).

But, overall, Blood in the Snow is a book that I am very happy to have come across and I do encourage fans of fantasy short stories to pick up a copy. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!