Title: Before the Snow
Author: Danielle Paige
Series: Stealing Snow #0.1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fairy tales, Magic, Paranormal fantasy
Dates read: 8th – 9th January 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Year: 2016
5th sentence, 74th page: “Call me Nepenthe,” she ordered.
Enter a world of elemental magic, forbidden romance, and betrayal in this prequel to New York Times bestselling author Danielle Paige’s upcoming Stealing Snow.
Young Nepenthe is half-princess, half-mermaid. Though she longs for the sea, her father wants her to stay on land. But only love can make a mermaid give up the water, and Nepenthe doesn’t love anyone the way her mother loves her human father. She wants to live as a mermaid and become the River Witch, like her mother.
Then Nepenthe meets Prince Lazar, the son of the all-powerful Snow King of Algid, and she can’t help but fall for him. After a horrible tragedy strikes, Nepenthe joins forces with a young fire witch named Ora to save Lazar and protect the kingdom. But it soon becomes clear that Ora loves Lazar just as much as Nepenthe does… And now Nepenthe must decide: inherit the power of the River Witch, or betray her friend to be with the boy she loves.
And Nepenthe’s role in the prophecy is only just beginning. . . In the future, she is destined to cross paths with a girl named Snow, who will have the power to change Algid forever-for better, or for worse.
I had no idea what to expect from this novella, or even what to expect from the rest of this series. I had just bought Stealing Snow because it was cheap in the Boxing Day Sales. And the cover looked pretty. And it was one of those stories that I’m so glad I did. At least, judging from the first novella (I haven’t got to the actual novel yet).
From the very beginning it is obvious that this is a great origins story. Not just of the villain, but also there is the hint of a key role that the River Witch is going to play in the greater series. Starting with the prophecy that is obviously going to govern the rest of the series drew me in from the very beginning. And the fact that the Prince (soon to be the Twisted King) starts off as an innocent pulled me in even further.
There is something almost sinister about the prince from the very beginning. Partly because there is a lust for power and triumph from his very first moment, but as his relationship with both Ora and Nepenthe develops, it become obvious that there is much more to it. And it isn’t until the final scene that you realise he is already beyond redemption.
Earth and Skye 
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