THE RAVEN AND THE REINDEER BY T. KINGFISHER {review}

Hardcover, 191 pages

Published February 7th 2016 by Red Wombat Tea Co.
Rating: ★★★★★

There are not many stories about this sort of thing. There ought to be more. Perhaps if there were, the Gertas of the world would learn to recognize it.

What a delightful book. Quick and fun, The Raven and the Reindeer is filled with magic and wonder. A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, it is clever, modern yet wholly reminiscent of the fairytale I read as a child.

Kay and Gerta are born only days apart, their grandmothers the best of friends. Kay is born with frost in his eyes, blue like a husky's, and it leaves him cold, cold, cold. To Gerta, Kay is her best friend, the one person she loves most in the world. To Kay, she's the neighbour girl and is alright. Then one night Gerta wakes to see an ethereally beautiful woman in a sleigh pulled by giant otters, watches while Kay get into sleigh of the Snow Queen and is driven away.

Thus starts Gerta's adventure, as she loves Kay too much, she cannot leave him to the machinations of the Snow Queen and starts off north. She runs into a witch who enchants her, a talking raven, a clan of bandits, and a whole plethora of fantastical things and people. Among the bandits she endears herself to a beautiful girl with dark skin and a soft heart, who kisses Gerta and puts doubt in her heart about her love for Kay.

I adored the cadence of Kingfisher's writing. It's plain but very, very fairytale, in turns innocent and sweet, at times dark and bloody. Gerta is adorable; she's not the smartest or the prettiest but she's kind, hardworking, and determined, and that's endearing. Janna is a bright spark, brave and bold, changing Gerta's mindset.

The magic in the story is so interesting, mixing Finnish folktales and Sami culture, fitting naturally into the world, as natural as the trees. The idea of the snow queen and changing into animals is more fantasy, but the way it was weaved into the story felt more like magical realism. I liked that Gerta dreams of such interesting things, particularly when she dreams of the feelings of her surroundings.

"Words are like fish and you catch them and you get to keep them forever."