Once Upon A Time

Greetings, fair readers!

On today's book review adventure, we'll be stepping through the glass and getting a new perspective on a classic story. We will be stepping back into sixteenth-century Germany, forward into futuristic Scotland, and a few places in between as we travel through time in Shattered Snow by Rachel Huffmire.

Sounds pretty interesting, right? Well, you are correct! While fantasy isn't my usual go-to, I was excited to give this book a try. You see, I've had the pleasure of meeting Rachel Huffmire in person, and I just had to read her book when she finished. Rachel is a friend of my mother-in-law, and I met her a couple of years ago when we were in California for Christmas. We chatted for a few minutes there, but right away, I was impressed. Rachel is the mother of two little boys, and she still finds time to write - and publish - a novel on top of everything else that she does! Not only that, but Rachel is very kind and friendly right from the moment you meet here. She is very positive and keeps encouraging me to achieve my own writing goals. She's just an all-around wonderful person, and when she published her book, I had to read it.

To begin, when I first heard what Rachel's book was called, I was immediately intrigued. Shattered Snow? Snow can't shatter. What's that all about? It was an instant hook for me.

Shattered Snow is a time-traveling twist on the classic story of Snow White. Keltson is a rebellious and wanted time traveler (since time travel has now been banned in 2069), but his purpose of time travel is completely selfless. He works with clients who find people in history that die or experience unnecessarily hard lives, and he helps rescues them from their fate. But, these people that Kelston and his clients save are minor and insignificant in the grand scheme of history, so they won't disrupt how the future plays out.

One of Kelston's clients, Lilia, finds a young girl named Margaretha who succumbs to the sad fate of being poisoned to death. Lilia's goal is to save Margaretha, but as she gets further into her mission, Lilia's goals change. Eventually, Margaretha, a young and unsuspecting sixteenth-century German girl, is thrown into time travel, a terrifying and seemingly evil thing to her. The story becomes one of survival as Margaretha fights to stay hidden and stay alive. Meanwhile, Kelston is trying to avoid arrest and prevent history from changing as Lilia decides to take matters into her own hands. It's a chaotic mess of unraveling history that you hope will be fixed in the end.

While there are several different stories going on at the same time, Rachel does an excellent job at keeping each story straight and easy to follow. The book is for a young adult audience, but it still very engaging for adults and readers of any age.

Even though time travel and fantasy book usually aren't my first pick, I ended up enjoying Shattered Snow very much, reading it every chance I had. The idea behind Shattered Snow is so clever! Personally, this story isn't what I would normally think of as fantasy simply because there is no magic, extraterrestrial travel and creatures, or anything like that. Instead, the story is all about science, and the way that Rachel makes time travel possible is so unique and clever. Plus, Rachel creates excellent characters that really help bring the story to life.

So, if you're looking for a good read that will shatter your expectations, go out and get Shattered Snow by Rachel Huffmire!