C. J. Redwine’s The Shadow Queen is an action-packed retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs envisioned as a high fantasy. This Snow White is Lorelai Diederich, the true heir to the throne, but on the run from her evil stepmother, Queen Irina. Lorelai is not the meek maiden who must beg for a huntsman’s mercy. Imagine a Snow White who had Robin Hood as a father and Princess Leia as a mother. Lorelai’s tough, smart, strong, and filled with surprises. Other changes from the original story include a huntsman who has a large stake in Lorelai’s fate, a dying kingdom, and a younger brother, Leo.
I decided to read The Shadow Queen simply because I spent most of the year of 2020 reading Snow White retellings. This was about the sixth Snow White retelling I read, and (quite frankly) I wasn’t looking forward to it. I’m not a fan of changing Snow White’s character so much that she isn’t Snow White anymore. But I had heard good reviews of the book and wanted to find a new version of a familiar story.
I wasn’t disappointed! I enjoyed reading this book and read it in a quarter of the time I had allocated for it. Chapter after chapter flew by, and the narrative gripped me and never slowed down. Redwine is a talented artist who knows how to bring alive a high fantasy. The Shadow Queen would be a spectacular novel even without the Snow White references.
Four or five really creative moments in the story stand out including how the evil queen uses apples. No actual dwarfs in this story, but there are seven of somethings (I won’t give away what). The huntsman, his legacy and his reason for seeking out the fair maiden was expertly intertwined into the novel. All the familiar beats from the fairy tale are here but so much more. This story read to me like Marissa Meyer’s delightful Winter novel (one of the better modern novel adaptations of Snow White) in its tone and scale.
For most retellings, the hook is the source material. Want to read a retelling of Snow White and watch how clever the author weaves in the original with the new take on it? This is often fun, but in The Shadow Queen, this trick works against the novel. Lorelai is a fully-imagined character—interesting, creative, and full of spit and vinegar. She’s a heroine the reader can truly root for. But the one thing she is not is the traditional Snow White. This is the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Wonder Woman standing in for Snow White.
Despite this minor quibble, I highly recommend The Shadow Queen. I immediately bought the next book in the series which speaks to how much I enjoyed it. Wonderfully written with a fascinating world, Lorelai’s journey from fugitive to heroine is a story worth retelling and reading.