The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley Blog Tour

Book Blurb:

When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora--a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.

Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.

Note: I know we hardly put anything but books of the Paranormal Genre on our blog, but when I came across this book and was given the opportunity to review it, I just had to jump at the chance. But 95% of the time you will see me with books that deal with the Paranormal. This is one of the books that fall into the 5%.

My Review:

Sophie has always lived with her father, isolated from everyone else, she was accustomed to not having any contact with anyone in fear that the curse that haunts her would hurt the ones that got close to her, or at least that is what her father tells her…But after Damien, a boy she has gotten close to, tries to take her away and is shot by her father, she is introduced to a family she had been told did not love her and blamed her for her mother’s death. The Color of Snow is a book about self discovery and making your own future.

First I want to say that most of the books I read are mainly that of the Paranormal, Scifi, Fantasy genre, but I love to come across books that can grab my attention and drag me in just as easily. The Color of Snow did just that for me. Brenda Stanley has engulfed me by her writing, as throughout the book I felt as if I was right aside Sophie, feeling what she felt and encountering everything through her eyes. For those who watch Lifetime, I am sure you know how some of their movies can have you awing and tearing up easily, I felt as if a Lifetime movie was unraveling before my own eyes. 

Sophie is introduced to a family she didn’t think would want her, but slowly and surely starts to connect with them in a way that she hasn’t been able to before. Though, like some of the girls from many books, Sophie is so stuck in what she had been raised to believe that she starts to push Damien, the boy that loves her away in fear of getting him hurt. Sophie had been told that anyone that loves her and kisses her will die, and because of that she has kept to herself so that she does not feel the burden of their death on her. I am happy to say that towards the end we see a much more mature Sophie who realizes that she is the one in control of her life and the “curse” does not control it. 

The emotions and characters from the book are incredible as each draws you in more closely, like I said its as if you are right there with them, the emotions come clear across from the pages and you have no trouble connecting to them. I especially loved Stephanie, she was the voice of reason and the only one that really told Sophie how it is. 

This book will have you astonished, wide eyed with tears as you go on the journey with Sophie about discovering the truth, coming into the realization of your future and love, love of family, friends and the one who you can’t live without. 5/5 Bats.

~Marie

You can also find my review on Goodreads and on our Facebook page in my personal review album

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About the Author:

Brenda Stanley is former television news anchor and investigative reporter for the NBC affiliate in Eastern Idaho. She has been recognized for her writing by the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Hearst Journalism Awards, The Idaho Press Club and the Society for Professional Journalists. She is a graduate of Dixie College in St. George, Utah and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She is the mother of 5 children, including two sets of twins. Brenda and her husband Dave, a veterinarian, live on a small ranch near the Snake River with their horses and dogs.

To find out more about the Author visit her website > Brenda Stanley