Quick Snacks: Nameless by Lili St. Crow

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow thrilled legions of fans with her dark paranormal series Strange Angels. Now she has crafted an evocative update of Snow White, set in a vividly imagined world and populated by unforgettable new characters.

I've immensely enjoyed most of the fairytale retellings that I've read, but unfortunately, Nameless was not one of them. While I could tell that St. Crow had some really great and complex ideas, especially with regards to Cami's mysterious past, the execution of those ideas was much less satisfactory. Part of the problem was that there were just too many elements in this new, alternate world that none were sufficiently explained. This, as well the lagging pace of the plot and my annoyance with Cami's inexplicable propensity to make (what I saw as) stupid decisions, prevented me from truly getting into the story.

Rating: 3.0

Review copy from publisher Penguin