Unique but disappointing - Dwarves of Calcus ARC Review

*Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader's Copy from Netgalley in exchange for review consideration. This does in no way affect my opinion, and all thoughts expressed in this review are unbiased and my own.*

Title: Dwarves of Calcus

Series: Fairytale Galaxy Chronicles

Author: Katie Hamstead

My rating: 2 hearts

Genre: New Adult, Retelling, Romance

Pub. date: March 6th, 2018

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Synopsis: When she was thirteen, Snow Sabbia crash landed on the dwarves' home planet of Calcus. After fleeing from her step-mother's huntsman, seven brother dwarves took her in to hide and protect her. She has hidden for years on the peaceful planet, tinkering with old automobiles and pushing papers in the mine office.

Then, Timothy White shows up.
The shy, nervous, nerdy heir captivates Snow before she even knows who he is, and quickly she falls in love. But his high profile in society draws unwanted attention from her vengeful stepmother, who wants Snow dead.
Geneva believed Snow died years earlier and she had consumed her innocent heart. With her late husband's wealth, Snow's inheritance, in tow, she married a young lord, Conrad. Both are using each other--Geneva for his title and to have a child, Conrad for her money and beauty. But when Conrad lays eyes on his boyhood rival's lovely fiance, Snow, his overwhelming desire for her reveals the truth to Geneva, that Snow lives.
Desperate to hold onto her wealth and power, Geneva seeks to kill Snow properly this time. Snow has the power to wield the one thing that can destroy her, so she cannot let the girl claim possession of the family heirloom, the Nevollo Sword. 
Snow soon learns her step-mother knows she is alive. But she is a pacifist, so she must outwit Geneva and remain hidden... until Geneva, disguised as a child, presents her with an apple. (synopsis from Goodreads)

I have to say I was really disappointed with this book. I absolutely loved the first book, and enjoyed the second book, but this one just wasn’t for me. The pacing was too slow, although the ending felt rushed, and the romance was also very rushed. It didn’t feel realistic to me. And while I like the characters well enough, I couldn’t really bring myself to care about them. But I did like the take on the fairytale.

I wasn’t too fond of Snow.

She’s an interesting character, sure. She grew up on Calcus with seven dwarves, after she was almost killed. She hasn’t met a human since then, so she’s excited when a human shows up on Calcus and shows an interest in her. She’s not shy to tell him exactly what she feels, and she’s good at helping Timothy get out of his shell. So far, so good. But, she’s a little too much damsel-in-distress for me to be able to like her. She’s just always waiting for someone to save her, and she lets everyone else deal with her problems, which just bothered me.

Then there’s Timothy.

I have mixed feelings about him. He’s really shy, and gets embarrassed very easily. I thought he was cute, but again, I didn’t really feel that much about him. His voice just wasn’t relatable, and I struggled to follow both the characters. He’s protective of Snow, which is understandable, but I think he takes it a bit too far sometimes, and that bothered me.

The romance felt way too rushed.

Okay, so Timothy comes to Calcus to meet Snow, because she works at his father’s company there, and when they meet, sparks fly. Not that I felt any. But they were definitely interested in each other from the start. The problem for me was that they fell in love pretty much overnight. Their relationship evolved way faster than what’s realistic, so I didn’t really like it.

The plot was a bit slow.

For a big part of the book, the most exciting thing was to follow the villain’s thoughts from time to time. Now, she’s interesting. But, back to the point, nothing really happened through most of the book. Then a lot happened at the end, which made it feel rushed.

But the twist on Snow White was great!

The thing that makes me give it two stars is that as a retelling, it’s good. It feels fresh and new, even though I know the fairytale by heart. It keeps the basic structure of the original story, but twists it enough that it feels original and unpredictable.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book. Definitely try the first one, because it was amazing, and the second one, but this one just didn’t live up to my expectations. I wanted to like it so much, but I just couldn’t really bring myself to care about the characters, and the pacing really didn’t work for me. But it’s a unique take on Snow White.