Book Info
Shattered Glass by Michaella DieterRating:
Book ratings explainedGenres: Fantasy
Pages: 377
ASIN: B0B8BXRGJ4
Published: 19/12/2022
Available on
Purchase at: Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU
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Mirror, mirror, on the wall
My world is destroyed when my mother is killed and my father remarries Morana, a beautiful sorceress with a dark heart.
Her thirst for power is matched only by my desire for revenge. When the glass shatters and the pieces fall, only one of us will be left standing.
My name is Snow White, and
I will be the fairest of them all.
* Shattered Glass is a dark paranormal fantasy fairy tale retelling. It is written in the style of a fairy tale (happily ever after and all) and is set in a fantasy world in the equivalent of our Middle Ages. All intimate interactions between the main couple (MF) are consensual and 18+.
This book is written in first person with multiple POVs. Only the prologue and epilogue are in third person.
** Please note that this book contains extremely dark themes and is not suitable for under 18s. Please go to www.michaelladieter.com for CWs.
Shattered Glass - My Review
After reading the Vengeance series I was super excited to read a fairytale retelling from the mind of Michaella Dieter. Shattered Glass takes the story of Snow White and draws upon other fairytales, myths and legends including cameos from the likes of Beast, Captain Hook, and Robin Hood.
This is a multi-POV book with the prologue and epilogue written in the third person, as it should be in all good fairy tales. Snow White aside, we hear from Cassian (the Huntsman’s son) and Morana (the evil queen). The story travels linearly, starting with Morana thinking of her family history and watching a young Snow through the mirror as her life turns dark. Only months later Morana’s darkness becomes apparent as she enters the castle and becomes stepmother to Snow. We watch Snow share her doubts about her stepmother, moving along to the horrors she faces while still at home in the castle.
Cassian has his own story to follow. Aged 17, instead of rescuing Snow from her stepmother’s clutches he’s sent by his father to the Beast of Granton, in order to train and learn to aid Snow to defeat Morana. Over the years he learns his own family history and quests to the Forbidden Isle to seek the oracle that will guide him on his way back to Snow. Meanwhile, the Huntsman’s final act is to steal Snow away from the castle and leave her in the care of the seven dwarves, allowing her to recover and heal, and finally train as a warrior destined to defeat the evil queen.
I really enjoyed reading Dieter’s approach to the classic story, especially the way other stories were woven into both the supporting characters and the situations they found themselves in. At 377 pages long the book was sizeable but didn’t feel that way. In fact, I wanted more depth to both the storyline and the characters’ inner thoughts and emotions. Cassian’s training and subsequent quest deserved more attention, as did the period of Snow’s recovery and their finally coming together. Beyond the first chapter Morana’s backstory was mostly told by the gods and it was suggested that she had twisted events in her mind. I would love to read that same story from her point of view and see how her thought process changed over time. She is very much a villain and not even a relatable one at that, but her journey into darkness would make an incredible story.
The book has its dark moments but these are mainly confined to the beginning chapters and don’t come close to the darkness of the Vengeance series. The fairytale nature of the story means that the evil queen’s cannibalism and human sacrifice aren’t conveyed in the shocking way they would be with a book set in the modern day.
I’m hoping Dieter writes more within this world, especially for The Beast or Hook and the Lost Boys. There’s so much potential for both darkness and happily ever afters.
About Michaella Dieter
A former American, Michaella now calls Scotland home. When she isn’t checking out men in kilts or chasing the wild haggis through the glens, you can usually find her skulking about the online bookish community.
Michaella has always been fascinated with the darker, more macabre facets of the human psyche, and doesn’t shy away from controversial, taboo, and dark themes in her writing. She can also be found writing sweet and sexy romances under the pen name Kayla McKinney.
A self-proclaimed book nerd, she’s happiest curled up on the sofa with a good book and a margarita or two, while merrily adding more book boyfriends to her already overflowing harem.
