The Rundown
According to Kindle, it should typically take 3 hours and 5 minutes for one to finish reading Snow. But it felt way shorter than that and almost every page felt like it had gone by in a blink. This, I say, not in an entirely good way.
The story opens with the main character, Neva, barely conscious on the floor of a room, musing about the darkness. She was turned into a vampire by a stranger who was somehow angry at her. A dark figure watching in the shadows came to her aid and whisked her away, bringing her into the world of vampires. All this while she vividly describes the entire scenario for far longer than is normal. Her elaborate narrative filled the few chapters of the story, including a paragraphs-long depiction of how attractive she was before she was turned and another paragraphs-long about how she became more attractive after. Perhaps, if you like a deeply detailed introduction to the story and the characters, you will not mind this. However, it doesn’t seem to give more space for the plot to fully unfold.
The subsequent chapters flew by as fast as a vampire might move. A flurry of characters were introduced and shoved to the side almost immediately after. She was training on one chapter and travelling and fighting on the next. Even the main characters’ relationship wasn’t given much time to develop; it simply went from point A to point B.
It wasn’t until near the end of the story when the plot starts to become firmly in place, when we are finally given enough information to know the direction this story is heading. It was at this point when things start to become more interesting and Elliot’s nocturnal world is filled with sufficient light for the readers to see it. The unfortunate part was that it was near the end. Consequently, this made the entire book feel like a long drawn-out prologue rather than the first installment of a series.
Snow has a lot of potential and its world has a lot of promise to become as good as those of Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse. However, it just felt like there are too many unnecessary details added and far fewer important plot points laid out to make this a good opening to a series. One could only hope that the next installments will be much better.
The Recommendation
If you like a deeply detailed introduction to the story and the characters, you will not mind such prevalent in this book. However, it doesn’t seem to give more space for the plot to fully unfold.
The Rating
2 Stars (out of 5): Needs work/not ready for publication. This book might have promise, but it is in need of a rewrite and/or extensive editing.
The Pros & Cons
Pros: Believable, Unique StyleCons: Character Developement, Plotline, Starts slow, Very Short
