Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente

She's the daughter of a Crow Indian woman with a white man for a father.  Her mother dies giving her birth and she never sees her father.  He's busy hunting for silver and other mining activities.  However, he does use some of his money to entertain her.  She's fine with that.  The house is big, she likes her private circus and zoo, and she doesn't mind being alone.  Then he marries again...

Saga Press and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can pick up a copy now.

This is an odd little story.  There's really no connection between the original snow white fairy tale and this one.  This one is a girl who knows how to shoot, learns how to take care of herself, and fights for her freedom.  

She is mistreated by her wicked stepmother so she runs away.  The rest of the story is about her fight to survive with nothing but her wits and a few bullets.  She has a good horse and is surviving fine but then a bounty hunter comes after her.  

It's a lot like an old western but many things were unclear to me.  The author makes her main character a lost soul that's wandering with no real goal.  The magic mirror had a boy in it and he comes alive but he's not her brother or her love.  He's not even all human.

The ending could go more than one way and the author tells you that.  Her ending left me a bit unsatisfied.  I wasn't sure what I thought of the book when I started it and now that I'm done, I'm still unsure.  It was interesting.  If you're looking for something different, this is it.