Rating: 
Summary: Dark, Adult Recontextualization Of Snow White
Review: The newest entry in Terri Windling's "Fairy Tale Series," this loose adaptation and borrowing from the "Snow White" folk tale is Lee's third visit to this story for material, her earlier retellings being the short stories "Red as Blood" and "Snow-Drop." Here the outline of the original story is largely removed, presented loosely and at a distance, elements such as the seven dwarves, the mirror and the murderous jealousy of Snow White's stepmother recontextualized to address darker and more modern themes, as well as explore the psychological aspects present in traditional mythology.In many ways this is a story that explores and reveals the damage caused by sexual and emotional abuse, both of women and of children, the psychology of victimization which, as another reviewer has stated, causes the main protagonists to exist in an uneasy narrative world of indifference and self deprecation. At times it is difficult for the reader to truly relate emotionally with Lee's characters, but I suspect this is in part the author's intention, to force the reader into the deadening psychological and emotional world of victimization caused by rape and emotional child abuse. While there is an overall and depressing tone of hopelessness and lack of empowerment throughout the narrative, the book's conclusion ends on a note of redemption, despite the ugliness and depravity attending its circumstance. This is not, however, a novel for the emotionally or spiritually weak of heart, and I imagine that the traditional reader of fantasy will not find this tale to their taste, offering a story that is slight of action and is neither obvious in its moral or thematic aspects---any heroic elements are hidden from easy and casual observation. It will prove helpful to the reader for if they are familiar with the traditional and often disguised themes of folklore (in part here they will be helped here by the marvelous introduction offered by Terri Windling), as well as the symbolisms inherent in the Demeter/Persephone cycle of mythology, the triple aspects of the goddess discussed in Robert Grave's "The White Goddess," and the ritual of the king of the wood found in Frazier's "The Golden Bough," as well as Joseph Campbell's "The Masks of God," among other sources. Also, they will need some acquaintance with the Seven Deadly Sins, here associated with the seven dwarves. While I suppose the story can be read without a clear knowledge of these references, it is doubtful one will be able to fully appreciate or comprehend the author's intention without at least some knowledge of Lee's metaphoric and symbolic use of these story elements. This is a tale largely bound to its use of metaphor and symbolism, requiring some mental exercise, and as such maintains a certain intellectual distance from its evolving storyline. Because of this, the narrative and story elements, combined with the author's choice of characters, remained to a degree emotionally aloof for me, never completely engaging. In terms of adult retellings or modern inventions of the traditional fairy tale, I much prefer the work of Patricia McKillip, where the narrative is not so subsumed by intellectual contextualization. Nonetheless, this is a well-written and thoughtful work, which will appeal to those who enjoy gleaning their reading through metaphoric staging.
Rating: 
Summary: black is the wood, white is the snow...
Review: this book is a delirous re-working of snow white that explores the darkest aspects of relationships: love/hate lust/revulsion
all these contradictory themes are what make this book so much fun to read. tanith lee is one of my favorite authors and this book is as erotic, dark, and facinating as all of her work. the only thing about this book that bothered me is the heroine's (Coira)constant indifference... the emotionless way she submits to the (often malicious) intent of others. not to say this book does not do well in explaining how she became that way, it just annoys me nonetheless. my favorite character in the book is coira's lover hephaestion, and their tragic romance is what most affected me throughout the book as well as coira's relationship (or lack of one) with her mother.
Rating: 
Summary: BLAH!
Review: This book was an absolute waste of time. I have to agree with memoryanddreamddd and Eva-Lise's reviews, the characters were entirely without personality. They went through this story completely brain-dead...it was really abnoxious. I felt that the imagery was trite and the story line was poorly put together. I read the story hating every single character (well actually hate would involve some feeling, I should say I was completely indifferent to all the characters). More over, I hated the authors writing style. Her sentences were choppy and confusing. Practically every other sentence I had to read twice in order to simply understand what exactly was being said. After reading this book, I have no desire to ever read another Tanith Lee book again!
Rating:
Summary: BLAH!
Review: This book was an absolute waste of time. I have to agree with memoryanddreamddd and Eva-Lise's reviews, the characters were entirely without personality. They went through this story completely brain-dead...it was really abnoxious. I felt that the imagery was trite and the story line was poorly put together. I read the story hating every single character (well actually hate would involve some feeling, I should say I was completely indifferent to all the characters). More over, I hated the authors writing style. Her sentences were choppy and confusing. Practically every other sentence I had to read twice in order to simply understand what exactly was being said. After reading this book, I have no desire to ever read another Tanith Lee book again!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Exciting
Review: This books is beautifully written, Tanith Lee is a brilliant writer and her imagination knows no limits. This story is a reality inside a fantasy world that left me very satisfied until the very end. It was all worth it, every word of it.
Rating:
Summary: So evilly, brilliantly subtle...
Review: To be blunt, the first time I read this book, I hated it in ways that cannot be described within the 1,000 word limit. I found it confusing and not just a little crude. I picked it up again a year later, determined to make sense of it, and ended up liking it so much the second time around that I bought my own copy. Basically, if you're looking for something remotely like Disney's version of Snow White, keep moving. If you like things that are twisted and original and challenge your imagination, this is a fabulous book for you. I shan't bother to summarize the book as several others have already done this... In response to the people who find Arpazia and Candacis are empty, I'd have to say that they're right. They are, however, far from uninteresting. Arpazia floats somewhere between extreme hatred and a death-like trance. At the same time, the world completely confuses her because she enters a sort of developmental arrest at the age of fourteen. Candacis is half-forgotten by everyone and completely unloved, so of course she's a little cold. Would you rather have the empty-headed Snow White who whistled happily through her stepmother's hatred? I think not. The best part of the book as well as the most infuriating is the wide range of metaphors and symbols. White, red, and black are brought up constantly in connection with paganism, Christianity, and the forces of nature; it gets quite confusing. But at the same time it's amusing because you can read this book a thousand times and pull something new out of it each time you read it. If I had to say anything about the book as a whole... I'd say it's about the whole idea of an Elektra Complex. Mothers and daughters are natural rivals as the mother grows old and the daughter moves into womanhood. They cannot occupy the same role at the same time. To say something against the book, I don't understand Klymeno at all. He's cool and everything, but the boy is just confusing. Hadz is also... special. ^^;
Rating:
Summary: Great characters, lusciously spare prose.
Review: When I first encountered Terri Windling's awesome Fairy Tale Series several years ago, I learned that one of the authors who was working on a tale for the series was Tanith Lee. I anxiously anticipated her book and it was well worth the wait. I truly believe I'd recognize a Tanith Lee-created character just about anywhere. She marvelously writes the most wickedly flawed, but insidiously human people. I also greatly admire her ability to sustain characterization consistently throughout her work. The plot is great here too; a variation on the Snow White tale magically interwoven with the whole Demeter-Hades-Persephone fertility mythos from ancient Greece. This book has tremendous appeal to not only fantasy, mythology, and fairy tale aficionados, but would serve as a great introduction to Lee's work as well; especially recommended would be her Red as Blood collection of fairy stories. Lee is often compared most favorably with Angela Carter; this analogy remains apt with this latest book. The other books in Windling's Fairy Tale Series are also as good as this one.
Rating:
Summary: White As Snow
Review: White As Snow - an adult book written mixed with a child's fairy tale and an ancient tale of Demeter. Growing up, I never really liked the story of "Snow White". The girl seemed too innocent and perfect and the witch mother was too cruel without any explanation. Tanith Lee's book gave me detail and reasons behind everything that I always questioned in the childhood fairytale. It kept me curious as to what was going to happen next. This book was at times a little vulgar and harsh, but that was what gave it zest and what gave me a desire to read on. I also liked how Lee used the tale of Demeter and Persephone to wind into the story. It added depth and a parallel. It's really interesting how both Snow White and Demeter have similar aspects to their tales. The book was so far from reality, but also real in that Lee actually showed emotions like hate and jealousy in which the children's fairy tale doesn't show at all. She makes you get wrapped up in all the hard times and emotions both the witch mother and daughter must have gone through. Although I don't agree with all the mother did (she was so selfish in a lot of her actions), I liked getting an insight into why she did the things she did. "White As Snow" is a good book and an interesting twist to fairy tales.
Rating:
Summary: White As Snow
Review: White As Snow - an adult book written mixed with a child's fairy tale and an ancient tale of Demeter. Growing up, I never really liked the story of "Snow White". The girl seemed too innocent and perfect and the witch mother was too cruel without any explanation. Tanith Lee's book gave me detail and reasons behind everything that I always questioned in the childhood fairytale. It kept me curious as to what was going to happen next. This book was at times a little vulgar and harsh, but that was what gave it zest and what gave me a desire to read on. I also liked how Lee used the tale of Demeter and Persephone to wind into the story. It added depth and a parallel. It's really interesting how both Snow White and Demeter have similar aspects to their tales. The book was so far from reality, but also real in that Lee actually showed emotions like hate and jealousy in which the children's fairy tale doesn't show at all. She makes you get wrapped up in all the hard times and emotions both the witch mother and daughter must have gone through. Although I don't agree with all the mother did (she was so selfish in a lot of her actions), I liked getting an insight into why she did the things she did. "White As Snow" is a good book and an interesting twist to fairy tales.
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