WILLA R. FINNEGAN RECEIVED THE HIGH HONOR OF A READERS' FAVORITE 5-STAR REVIEW! CHECK IT OUT BELOW!
Willa R. Finnegan’s book Snow: Cursed features many characters from well-known fairy tales and mythology. Very few have been omitted, from ancient Greece to modern-day films. This story starring Snow White takes a very different path from the one we all know. She is a very capable and resourceful heroine with nerves of steel and a very modern outlook. In turn, she meets many storybook characters in a frantic attempt to lift the curse placed on her at birth. She has more than one enemy who conspires to take her life, and in the process, she, who has always been as pure as the driven snow, in turn is forced to commit heinous crimes. The overall message in this book is that none of us is all good, nor all evil, but a combination of both behaviors.
Willa R. Finnegan takes us on a whirlwind tour of a host of fairytale characters, showing both imagination and humor. I particularly loved the tree-climbing crocodile. The pace was excellent, and the story never lagged as it moved from one point of view to another. It brought back memories of my favorite childhood books and swashbuckling adventures. It is packed full of spells, magic potions, curses, shape-shifting, and a heroine with courage. There are so many characters to meet and think about, whereas in the past, we have met them before, but in an entirely different light. The snappy dialogue is very amusing. The descriptions of the various landscapes are well drawn, especially the underwater scenes. I liked the cliffhangers at the end of the sentences, enticing the reader to devour more pages as the pace never flags. The mixture of humor and horror is excellent, and the ending was a huge surprise; I did not see that coming. You have to read it for yourself to get the full impact. As a first novel, Snow: Cursed shows great promise.
-Lucinda E. Clarke, Readers' Favorites
WILLA R. FINNEGAN RECEIVED THE HIGH HONOR OF A LITERARY TITAN 5-STAR REVIEW! CHECK IT OUT BELOW!
Snow: Cursed takes a classic fairytale and shatters it like glass underfoot. We start with a familiar image: Snow White, pale as snow, hair black as night. But instead of dwarves singing in the mines, we get blood, betrayal, and wolves with names like Big Bad and Dummy. This story spins out into something entirely new, grittier, darker, and painfully human. At its heart, it’s about identity and control. Who are you when the world decides you’re evil before you even take your first breath?
What stood out most to me was the prologue. Finnegan immediately immerses the reader in a morally ambiguous space, blurring the lines between good and evil. The opening passage reads like a blend of philosophical reflection and personal testimony. Statements such as “no one is truly good, and no one is truly evil” are particularly striking, establishing the thematic foundation for the rest of the novel. Rather than presenting a simple fantasy, the prologue invites deeper reflection on the assumptions we make about people and the lasting impact of the roles society assigns them.
Snow herself is fascinating. She starts out fragile and frightened, learning that her own father plans to burn her alive because of a curse. That scene involving Merlin and the journal was particularly impactful and emotionally resonant. When she finds out about her supposed destiny and how her father lied to her for fifteen years, it’s devastating. And then she breaks out of the castle, climbs the wall, and everything flips. There’s this moment where she takes down Big Bad, the alpha wolf, and suddenly she’s “Red Riding Hood,” drenched in blood, leading a pack. That moment was striking, intense, and deeply affecting. It vividly conveyed her transformation, which felt palpable through the page.
While Finnegan’s writing occasionally leans toward directness in the dialogue, it’s balanced by a refreshingly original voice that brings a distinctive energy to the narrative. It’s dramatic and fast-paced, but it never takes itself too seriously, and I appreciated that. There’s a kind of campy magic in how she blends fairytale with modern sarcasm. When Snow throws a dagger near Dummy’s neck to shut everyone up, it’s brutal and hilarious. That blend of horror and humor works surprisingly well. The side characters are uniquely compelling, with Midnight the wolf standing out in particular. Her character arc is both surprising and dramatic, culminating in a plot twist that is as unexpected as it is effective.
The ideas in this book stick with you. Finnegan messes with traditional fantasy in a way that made me uncomfortable, but in a good way. There’s a recurring theme of rewriting your story instead of letting it be written for you. Snow literally goes from princess to fugitive to alpha to maybe something even darker. And that evolving identity is central to the whole thing. It's not always clean or elegant, but it's full of grit and soul.
Snow: Cursed is a fairytale for anyone who’s tired of black-and-white stories. It's for readers who like a little bite with their magic. Readers are likely to find this story thoroughly engaging. It is intense, emotionally charged, and at times brutal, yet undeniably compelling. I found it difficult to put down.
