Monday, July 23, 2012

The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley
Publisher:  Tribute Books
Publish Date:  June 1, 2012
ISBN:  978-098374189

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The publisher's summary:  When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora--a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.

Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.


My thoughts: 
 
Sophie has always been told that she's cursed and contact with her puts people in danger. 


The story goes back and forth between Sophie's story today and her father's story sixteen years ago.  This seemed to be an effort to further fill in details.

The writing is ok, but a bit simplistic at times and at other times overly descriptive.  For example, the Aunt is never mentioned without noting her mannish looks.  I got it the first few times, I don't need to be reminded of it every time she's mentioned.

The characters didn't seem to be fully developed.  The only one that was kind of interesting was the cousin and her story wasn't really explained until the end.  Sophie was entirely too bland and I couldn't make myself care about her.  The police officer was made out to be the bad guy, but he came closest to telling Sophie the truth and making her face reality.

The storyline was very transparent, for the most part.  It was obvious as to how it would end and it should have ended several chapters earlier.

The thing that bothered me the most is that it seemed like the author was trying to put a supernatural twist on the story, when there just wasn't one.  It muddled the story even more.

So...basically a tale of family mental illness, an overprotective father, a naive young girl, a kidnapping and finally the truth.  Not for me, but maybe for you?

The book's official site is:
http://the-color-of-snow.blogspot.com/

The Color of Snow Twitter hashtag:
#TheColorOfSnow

The Color of Snow GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13456512-the-color-of-snow

Brenda Stanley's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/brenda.baumgartnerstanley

Brenda Stanley's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/myauthorlife

Brenda Stanley's Website:
http://www.brendastanleybooks.net/

Brenda Stanley's GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4086376.Brenda_Stanley

Tribute Books website:
http://www.tribute-books.com


Tribute Books Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176


Tribute Books Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks


Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186
 

1 comment:

  1. Dawn, thanks for taking the time to read and review Brenda's book.

    ReplyDelete