Received from NetGalley for review.
The mountains were her friends.
The Snow Angel is the perfect story for a cold, rainy day, where you can hide yourself away with a hot chocolate and a fluffy blanket, and delve into Makena’s world as she experiences heartbreak, magic, and miracles. Venture from Nigeria, with its chaotic streets, vibrant colours, and crime ridden slums, to the frigid Scottish Highlands. The messages of grief, hope, love, and family come through strongly in the story, and although Makena’s life takes a difficult turn, hope and love ultimately win out.
‘Then you have to make it your mission to get another. Everyone has to have a mission. Without that, why would they get up in the morning – except to see the sunrise? That can be yours. One day you’ll fill a new jar with snow.’
Makena, a young Nigerian girl, is obsessed with mountains and mountaineering – her father’s job as a mountain guide has always fascinated her and she dreams of climbing mountains with him. Her happy life is shattered, however, when her parents die and she finds herself abused, scared, and alone. Taking refuge into Mathare Slums become her only option, and we are given an insight into the very real problem of life is slums that many people around the world face. She finds herself in a dark place, wondering if she can trust Snow, the albino girl who befriends her, or the sparkling fox who seems to show up just in time. A series of events leads to her arrival in Scotland, another thing that just doesn’t seem to go right – except for the wild beauty of the mountains.
But what the mountains of Scotland lacked in height, they made up for in windblasted ruggedness. The wildness of the crags and clouds that sent dragon-shadows swooping across the village set Makena’s skin tingling.
Although The Snow Angel deals with a lot of serious themes – forgotten children, poverty, death – it also showcases how magic can exist in the most unlikely places, and how nature can heal us when we are at our most broken. Despite her struggles, Makena always finds some inner strength and, helped along the way by a little bit of magic and some incredible people, she never gives up. That prevalent feeling of hope never disappears – your heart will break for Makena, but you’ll never stop rooting for her and hoping that things work out in the end. Could there be a better story to enjoy on a crisp, winter day in front of the fire?
Read: November 5th-8th 2017
4/5 stars
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