THE WILDEST THINGS, by Andrea Hannah, Wednesday Books, Feb. 25, 2025, Hardcover, $21 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
Snow White must kill the Evil Queen’s daughter in order to save her kingdom from blight in The Wildest Things, by Andrea Hannah.
When her glass coffin unexpectedly shatters, Snow White awakens to anything but a dream. The land is rotting. The animals have mutated. In the twenty years that have passed since Snow bit into the poisoned apple, the kingdom of Roanfrost has transformed from a luscious wild land to a blight-ravaged nightmare. In search of answers and a way to restore her kingdom to its former glory, Snow sets out on a dangerous journey that will test the strength she never knew she had.
Friends will become foes.
New alliances will form.
The Queen with the blood red lips will stop at nothing to seize her power as well as her heart.
If Snow has any chance to survive and restore not only her kingdom, but all of Garedenne, her only option is to become the Seasonkeeper and access the life-giving magic that will heal the plague. But the path to becoming the Seasonkeeper is more treacherous than she could ever imagine―because the wild things have awakened and Snow’s darker impulses yearn to set them free. —Synopsis provided by Wednesday Books
The Wildest Things is billed as a sapphic Snow White retelling, which it is, but author Andrea Hannah’s setting is the star of this novel.
Hannah’s world-building is exceptional. You truly get a sense of the rot plaguing not only the land, but the plants, creatures and people who inhabit it. It’s dark and twisted and truly sets the tone.
The magical system, too, has a sort of dark tone. It’s almost as if Hannah treats it like a character unto itself, so it’s only as you progress as a reader that it starts to make sense.
I really wanted to fall in love with The Wildest Things but the “romance” element just falls flat. There’s a lot of telegraphing early on that feels forced. I would have been fine without those spots at all. The biggest problem is that when the two love interests meet, it’s an instant connection — there’s no growth, no getting to know each other.
I wish that Hannah had made The Wildest Things into a dual character study between Snow and the Queen. The moments where this happens, Hannah’s prose shines.
The Wildest Things is a queer reimagining that isn’t perfect but still has merit. I suggest checking it out from the library prior to purchase to make sure it’s a good fit.
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