Review: Once upon a time...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 24, 2013
* Squeal* Fairy Tales! I absolutely love reading them! I don't know how many times I've read Snow White or Rapunzel. Although it comes a bit boring after some time, since the story is always the same and you know what's coming. But even then it won't lose its magic. I still love reading them ^^ Therefore I love to read  retellings of my favorite ones. A retelling usually focuses on details you've forgotten or gives the story a different twist. It makes well-known  fairy-tales "fresh" and enjoyable. It gives you a whole new story to enjoy, with the same magic of the old one.That's also the case with First Frost. To be more specifically: this book is kind of a retelling of one of my favorites: Snow White. Although I had to refresh my memory, since the story doesn't use the Disney version, but the much darker, original story of the brothers Grimm. Apparently I've forgotten some little details (like the fact that she was almost killed 3 times... how could I forget that?). It was fun to read it again and see how Liz DeJesus twisted this story around. In her book everything that happened in the story is real. Except for the little fact that the prince didn't kiss her awake, he jut found a wizard who could undo the spell ^^ Ha! Had to laugh out loud when reading that one ^^ And Bianca is apparently a descendant of Snow White! With magical powers! How cool is that?What's even more awesome is the museum, full with stuff from fairy tales. It becomes even better when said stuff turns out to be magical! Each object in the museum can do something different. Some are bad, while others are good. Like Rapunzel's hair, that becomes longer when you say the spell and is unbreakable! Or Little Red Riding Hood`s cape, which shows you the quickest way to get somewhere? Amazing! Why isn't something like that available in the real world? Even though all of it would be fake, it would be cool to visit ^^Furthermore there are a lot of little details which made the fairy-tale fanatic in me laugh a lot. Like the cliché of the prince on the white horse. Who turns out to be very differently than the ideal he stands for. And what would a story be without witty sidekicks? Bianca's friend is one of the best wittiest sidekicks I've ever read about. She says her wily remarks at just the right moment. I've spent most of my time giggling while reading this book ^^So we've got a good story, lots of fairy-tales and great characters which will make you laugh. Then why only 3 hearts? That's because I missed something while reading this story: emotions. Not the emotions Bianca has to go through but mine. I didn't feel angst during fights. Would someone get injured or die? I just couldn't care. I didn't swoon during romance time, I just didn't feel anything except a vague feeling of amusement and the desire to giggle. It was therefore a bit hard to really bind myself to the story and softened the impact this story could have on me. It became more of a rainy afternoon book than a book I want everyone to read. Such a shame, cause it has all the right ingredients!Conclusion:  3 hearts. There's terrific story: a retelling of Snow White. What happened afterwards and what is real and what is made up? There's also a very cool museum with a lot of stuff from fairy-tales, who have magical properties. We've got lot of fun little details for fairy-tale lovers and very witty remarks made by funny sidekicks. Only set back was the lack of emotions I felt while reading this book, no angst or swooning. The story didn't really came to life. Which was a bit of a letdown.