Achieve Robbergirl Authored By S.T. Gibson Listed As Paper Copy
book really had me having a full sob fest on the bus, So thanks for that While not as hard hitting or as compelling as A Dowry of Blood, still a really fun, atmospheric book.
Robbergirl by S, T. Gibson was a wellwritten retelling of Hans Christian Andersens The Snow Queen, Set in Sweden around Christmas time it has plenty of atmosphere and heaps of snow and ice, Get on a bonechilling adventure with thieving princess Helvig who risks everything when she brings a stray witch home to the robbers camp.
The witch Gerda is not planning to stay as she is on a quest to save her brother from the evil Snow Queens clutches.
It was a very entertaining read with beautiful winter scenes, folklore, ghosts and a colorful cast of welldrawn characters.
f/f young adult, no explicit scenes
Themes: a Swedish winter, a den of thieves, a witch on a quest, young love.
"I would follow you down to death if you asked me, Just to make sure the Devil didn't have his way with you, "
finally, someone looked at the Snow Queen story and thought the same as I: the perfect sapphic potential.
rounded up
I would read S, T Gibsons grocery list and still give it Helvig, the teenage daughter of a Swedish robber king, haunts the frozen winter roads hoping a rich merchant will fall into her grasp.
Instead, she captures someone more intriguing: a beautiful young woman traveling alone who claims to be a witch, Helvig brings her back to the robber hideout and begs her father to be allowed to host her for a while.
Gerda, the witch, seems driven by an urgent, foolish, and dangerous errand she wants to keep traveling North in the dead of winter in search of a brother who went missing years ago.
Helvig convinces her to stay with the robbers until she's regained some strength, And so the two begin a winter of uneasy cohabitation, building a friendship and sharing a bed at night, but both keeping back secrets of their pasts and fears.
A delightful, Sapphic retelling of "The Snow Queen" fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson as a young adult novel, This is a story I heard several times in my childhood, so I was familiar with all of the elements and it was a real pleasure to see how they had been reworked and transformed.
Beginning the story with the meeting of Gerda and the Robber's daughter an event that takes place in the middle of the original story was a smart choice, and the amount of deeply queer yearning woven through kept me on the edge of my seat.
A reading that is pure luxury for the reinvention of a fairy tale that here goes hand in hand with powerful protagonists.
This story is one of those little hidden gems that deserves more attention, i have a new favorite and i will never stop talking about it stars
This book is so underrated it HURTS my soul.
It is so good and such a gem, I have read a lot of retellings in my time and this is definitely one of the best I have ever read.
It manages to be so true to the original and at the same time being its own thing,
Plot
It roughly follows the exact same plot like the Snow Queen tale except there being a few changes and overall differences between the characters.
I loved how the author intertwined a lot of the original tale in a different and interesting way,
Characters
The dynamic between the two MCs Gerda and Helvig is so unique.
It has enemies to lovers vibes, but also not quite, They are both very interesting characters on their own, Helvig goes through an entire character arc, I still cannot comprehend how complex she and her personality is, There were moments I found her a bit annoying or selfish while the arc is unfolding, but everything gets an explanation and a reason and Helvig learns and grows so much.
I could write an entire essay about her and her character development that is BETTER done in apages than in some YA trilogies.
The romance is PEAK, I want whatever Gerda and Helvig have and not settle for less, Gorgeously written before a wintery backdrop, we follow the story of Gerda and Helvig and their journey to kill the fabled Snow Queen.
Helvig, the selfproclaimed Princess of the mongrel dogs and Godforsaken bastards, means to rob Gerda on the side of the road until she realizes that Gerda is a witch so she takes Gerda instead.
The two girls are drawn to each other with such tenderness and earnestness throughout this cold story of grief, loss, and revenge.
At its core, this short standalone is a strong story of love and family that I absolutely fell in love with.
CW: kidnapping, sexual harassment brief, internalized homophobia, death, grief, references to past toxic abusive romantic relationship These were the longestpages Ive ever read.
I had high expectations of this book because its a sapphic snow queen retelling, written by the same person who wrote a dowry of blood.
THE SAME PERSON WHO WROTE A DOWRY OF BLOOD, THAT BOOK IS MY BIBLE FR,
But it was just bland,
The story begins with a group of thieves, haunting the road in the search of travelers, and when they find a random girl who proclaims to be a witch, they kidnap her and for some reason the protagonist expects her to become her friend and eventually fall in love with her.
And they do.
They fall in love,
Yes.
WHAT
Stockholm syndrome my favorite romance trope
So thats the whole plot, Theres no characters or plot development nor deeper motives for them to act, just random stuff and weird relationships.
It gets more interesting by ending, when they FINALLY go in search of the snow queen, but it was a really bland ending and battle.
IT HAD POTENTIAL, Maybe if the protagonist had kidnapped the “witch” because of an actual reason, like needing her for a heist or something, and if the said witch considered her her enemy, just waiting for a moment to escape and continue her way to the snow queen, it would have been better.
If she had tried to flee or fight when they took her, and not just randomly stayed there, waiting for them to act.
So the reason why theyre still together is because the protagonist offered the witch a bargain: if she helped them with the heist, she and her thieves would help her to get to wherever she wanted to, and even if they dont trust each other, they fall in love throughout the way.
And so the heist is somehow related to the snow queen, so theres no waste of time with random scenes.
maybe it would have been a better start if the book started with the protagonist at the thieves camp, telling her father, the “Robber King”, about a failed rob which is the third in that week and he tells her they wont survive the winter without souvenirs/money or smth, because an enemy group of thieves if gettin more powerful or something, and we get introduced to her reasons of WHY does she needs to kidnap the witch, to have a successful heist, because there was someone who hired them to steal something, Snow queen related, and its their last chance to regain power.
So when the witch finds out, she betrays them all and takes it, because it would help her to find or kill the snow queen, and the protagonist goes after her, saying shes gonna kill her and take the thing back, but actually because she loves her.
Having a shared pov, also, and making the relationship between the protagonist and her thieves who should have their own reasons to act a deeper one, would make this better.
Look, this plot I just made out of nowhere istimes better than the actual thing,
I should be a book editor, istg, sapphic snow queen retelling. what more do you need I absolutely loved this book! looking for nightmare comfort scenes looking for incredible ambience looking for “Ill follow you into the unknown” moments this book is for YOU.
TW: violence, parent death, animal death, kidnapping, child death brief mention, past, drug use non consensual, abusive relationship past, homophobia minor
Just saw this book on some list and remembered I read it last year and loved itStars for Robbergirl audiobook by S.
T. Gibson read by Abby Graden,
This was such a wonderful story, The Robbergirl and the Witch end up on a quest to kill the Snow Queen and along the way they find love.
.