Book Review: Blanca and Roja

Author: Anna-Marie McLemore

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Genre: YA fantasy, YA retelling

Pages: 375

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis:

“The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.

The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.

But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.”

This book was beautiful in every sense of the word. The writing was poetic, the characters were fascinating, and the story was gripping. But, as much as I enjoyed this book there were some serious issues that bothered me inexplicably. Rating this book is extremely difficult for me! It would have easily been a five star read had there not been so many issues.

Starting on a positive note, the characters in this book were amazing. The story follows four main characters who I love with all of my heart: Blanca, Roja, Page, and Yearling. All four of them are wonderfully developed. That being said, I feel like I didn’t quiet know them. I enjoyed their perspectives and they felt stunningly real BUT they felt closer to strangers than book characters should, ya know, considering I’m reading from their brains and all.

The plot in this book was a wonderful twisted fairy tale retelling that was creatively woven into something new. The story itself is immersive, fascinating, and well thought out. After a certain part it’s easy to fall into this story. That being said, it does take a while to get there. This book was hard to get into and a large part of that was due to how the chapters are written. The alternating point of views in such rapid succession made it hard to get into the story and enjoy it quickly. Jumping between the characters made the beginning slow and awkward. On top of that, the character’s perspectives were easy to mix up since they all sound virtually the same. It was aggravating that despite there being FOUR point of views it felt like they all thought the same way, which is unrealistic and frustrating. I was constantly forgetting what character I was reading from and the constant changing made that no easier. This book’s biggest downfall was it’s formatting more than anything.

Another aspect of the story that was confusing was the magic system. It was never clearly defined and left me really puzzled on what could happen and what couldn’t. It’s never clear and It bothers me SO MUCH!! The world was hard to understand and I couldn’t get a clear picture of the plot because the magic system was a muddled mess without a clear set of rules. The magic system made the ending disappointing for me and left me feeling cheated of something more. This book could have easily torn my heart out but was crafted in a way that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I really did enjoy this story. It was fast, gripping, and as I said: beautiful. Unfortunately I just cannot overlook all the issues I had with it or say much about it besides the problems. Its the type of story that’s best understood through your own eyes, meaning that you have to enjoy it for yourself. There’s some great aspects of this book, like the romance, and then a lot of no so great aspects. If you enjoy YA fantasy there is little doubt in my mind you wouldn’t enjoy this book- I’m even sure you’d love it. I was so close to adoring this book had there not been some particular aspects that pushed my buttons.