To Rival a Reflection ~ Review

To Rival a Reflection

A Snow White Retelling

The Shattered Tales #10

By Selina De Luca

Snow White knows she is destined for great things. and when an Enchantress offers her the chance to become the fairest in the world, she accepts. But there is just one little stipulation: if someone fairer is found, Snow White is out. And the Enchantress's promise of marriage to a prince will disappear. 

Following her deal with the Enchantress, Snow's life is a lonely existence. There are memories that are fleeting of what she used to have, before her father disappeared. Before she found the mirror that tempted her. Before she agreed to pay the Enchantress's price for magical beauty. But is loneliness worthy a beauty that separates her from her village, from friendship, and any close contact with a living being. A chance encounter with dwarves gives her something to consider. 

But when everything is threatened by her own reflection, Snow must fight for everything she holds dear, or Jardonia will fall to her wicked rival. A rival that she alone knows best. How do you fight yourself? Snow has to decide how best to proceed or the curse she has placed herself under may win.

To Rival a Reflection is an interesting retelling of Snow White. There is no wicked stepmother. Everything is Snow White. She is both protagonist and antagonist in this unique twist. How do you defeat yourself when you have been grooming and objectifying your egotistical self for years? 

The magical elements that dominate Snow's world are both helpful and isolating. And then there is the mirror and the Enchantress it summons/homes. There elements from the original that are easily recognizable but the presentation is unique. I've read several Snow White retellings and this is definitely original. Another addition to The Shatter Tales collection.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

What if Snow White wanted to be the fairest of them all?

As the daughter of the king’s ambassador to Appledale and the prettiest girl in Jardonia, Snow White has always believed herself worthy of a prestigious destiny. When an Enchantress appears to Snow White through a mirror and offers her enchanted gifts and the promise of queendom, she is eager to accept the honor of being the Fairest One of All. There is just one catch: should someone fairer come along, she must forfeit her position as Fairest One—and lose the chance to marry a prince and become queen.

When her reflection begins to fade until it disappears altogether and shows up at her door as the new Fairest One, Snow White begins to see the curse beneath the Enchantress’s empty promises. With her own reflection vying for a place on the throne, Snow White must fight to protect Jardonia from this wicked rival and to keep the love of the prince who has captured her heart.

Will Snow White be able to overcome the curse of the magic mirror? Or will she forever suffer from the bitter poison of her own conceit?

To Rival a Reflection is a retelling of Snow White with inspiration from The Shadow. It is one of twelve novellas in The Shattered Tales, a collection of twelve fractured retellings of your favorite fairy tales. They can be enjoyed in any order, so fall in love with the swoony sweet romance, magical adventures, and tale-shattering twists one happily-ever-after at a time!