Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly is a fairy-tale re-imagining of Snow White for a Young Adult audience.
To rule, once must be strong and powerful; there is no place for kindness and the gentle hearted. Or at least, this is what Sophie has been told her entire life. According to her step mother, Queen Regent, and the rest of the court, weak, foolish, silly Sophie doesn’t have what it takes to be the ruler her country needs. So when the huntsman pulls out his knife and plunges it into her heart, Sophie shouldn’t have been surprised.
And even though Sophie believed everything they said about her, it was still a surprise. But, what was more surprising, was waking up.
Given a second chance at life, will Sophie muster the bravery to fight for her kingdom and the will to rule it as she seems fit?
I really enjoyed Donnelly’s Stepsister, so I was excited to pick this one up. And, although it was an entertaining read, I wasn’t wowed by it. I enjoyed it but I could have used a little bit more toward the end. Like Stepsister, the villains, weren’t ordinary villains–they were abstract entities personified. <<And that’s about as much as I can say without giving anything away. And this was interesting, a little preachy at times but it’s meant to be written as a “lesson.”
Now that I think about it, what I liked best about the book, were the side characters. I just loved the hound master’s son, the dwarfs, Will and Arlo, even our villains. But Sophie, fell a little flat for me. We see her journey throughout, both physical and emotional, but she still felt a little two dimensional to me.
This one gets 3.5 stars from me. I’ll be interested to see which fairy-tale Donnelly picks up next.
That’s all for now!
-M-