Friday, 30 January 2015

Review: Nameless by Lili St Crow

Title: Nameless (Tales of Beauty & Madness #1)
Author: Lili St. Crow
Published: 20 March 2013
Source: Penguin Teen
Reviewed: Sapphireddragon
SapphiredDragon Rating: *** 3/4


Nameless (Tales of Beauty & Madness #1)
 by Lili St. Crow


When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow thrilled legions of fans with her dark paranormal series Strange Angels. Now she has crafted an evocative update of Snow White, set in a vividly imagined world and populated by unforgettable new characters.



Review: 

This story is set up as a Snow White retelling but set in a dystopian/magical setting that was both alien and familiar. The author, Ms St Crow, feeds the reader pieces of the world as the story continued, which was a little confusing but ultimately did not harm the telling of this tale.

While the story took a little longer than i would have liked to set up, once it had I was drawn into this rich, evocative, haunting tale and eager to see where and how it would progress and in the end was not disappointed. Although the important elements of a Snow White tale where kept, Ms St, Crow completely turned the tale on its head with re-imagined tale and on the whole, at least for me, it definitely worked.

I liked Cami, Nameless' main character. She was strong yet vulnerable in a way that made her a sympathetic character that you wanted to see conquer her challenges. I also liked her friends Rubie and Ellie and could see two more fairy tales in the making with these two characters but I think that just gave me a better understanding of them.

For some reason though I didn't like the character of Nico at all. There was something about him that made me really wary of him that had nothing to do with the way the story unfolded. I couldn't seem to find any connection with him which saddened me a little and made me much less sympathetic to him as a whole.

Ultimately I am glad that I picked up and read this story. The writing evoked rich images so I could visualise the tale the whole way through and it was this writing that pulled me into the story and allowed me to be taken away bu the tale..

I give this story 3 3/4 stars.

Sapphired Dragon xx


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