Review: Snow And The Seven Huntsmen

Snow And The Seven Huntsmen by Zoe Blake
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

There are time when fairy tales retold are marketed as "erotica" and my hopes are brought up ... expecting delicious deviancy and depravity. Then when I read the story, it's just meh. I guess this is because my comparison is usually against the Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice. It is pretty difficult to top that one in my book. Fortunately, Ms Blake does a lovely job of achieving the dark erotica with this fairy tale retold.

Snow White's tale of how she became an outcast is nicely condensed with a bit of a modern twist. The focus is not so much on the Evil Queen but on Snow's time with the seven huntsmen. Snow only knows that her time to live is quickly running out, with her stepmother painting her as unstable. With no where to turn and locked away, Snow is stuck in limbo. This is until men burst into her prison, abduct her and then force her to be their sexual slave.

Full disclosure, I like dub con and non-con kink. Is this how real life BDSM should be? No, of course not. This is a dark erotic fantasy and it is delicious. Snow may be a bit of a prude and she does come off as a princess which is not a compliment. When the seven huntsman take her to task, it is a delight. The kink is brutal, rough and at times, punishing. I reveled in Snow's deflowering and sexual corruption. She is taken down several pegs and it is lovely to see her at the mercy of the men. From a kink perspective, this tale is a 4 star. I enjoyed every stroke, violation and scream for mercy.

What bothered me a bit in this story is the lack of communication between Snow and the men. She didn't understand or figure out their purpose. The clues were there. She came across as so ignorant. I wouldn't consider her too stupid to live or a vulnerable innocent. She just seemed clueless and lacked the understanding of reality. She is a princess who definitely needed to be rescued because there is no way she could have saved herself. The other part of the story which bothered me with the ending. It came swiftly and a bit too down pat. Still, this is an homage to a story which wasn't that lengthy to begin with, so I shouldn't quibble about the fast conclusion. I guess I just hoped for perhaps a more deviant and dark ending. Mayhaps the Queen sort of winning out as the Domme over them all. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the evil queen. This fairy tale re-told is recommended to erotic readers who enjoy a tale of sexual descent.

* I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.