Review: Beautifully written with evocative imagery that still holds the ‘feel’ of a fairy tale without slanting too far
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 1, 2014
Admittedly I am addicted to fairy tales; the ones I read now just tend to be spicier or darker than the ones I knew as a child.  Giving readers a chance to see what really could happen rather than just wrapping the story up with and they all lived happily ever after, David C. Meredith presents us with a thoughtful and creative look at Snow White’s later years.Snow is grieving after Charming’s death: she is reveling in the grief, being selfish and even a bit callous toward her daughter who is soon to be married.  Seeing her entire life as a fairytale with happy times always, she wanders in to the room that once housed her evil stepmother.  A bit of looking about and she discovers the magic mirror, and is given the choice to re-live her earlier days.What emerges is a series of scenes and flashbacks from her life, most of the memories are dark and hidden deep in her psyche.  Because she had blocked all of the bad, her new loss was taking on an enormous importance, and bringing all of the fear, despair and depression that was just waiting for a moment to appear.  Beautifully detailed, the memories delve into dark and  scary moments, encouraging her to dig deep and face the things she most fears to both heal and honor the love that she held for Charming, and thought was lost forever.The mirror is a character all to itself, being both the antagonist and the nexus of her pain, but it also serves to cheer, coax and goad her on to recapturing her identity and strength, while showing her that love, true love, will endure all manner of trials.Beautifully written with evocative imagery that still holds the ‘feel’ of a fairy tale without slanting too far to darkness or squeaky-peppy cartoon, Meredith has a wonderful style that presents the moral lesson in this sequel to the fairy tale that was missing from the original.I received an eBook copy from the publisher for purpose of honest review for The Jeep Diva. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.