I read every Far Out Fairy Tales graphic novel I could get my hands on in 2018. When my library stopped buying them I assumed the series had finished and thought no more of it. Boy, was I wrong. I have so many to catch up on! Woohoo!

Getting the twisted treatment this time around is Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, which I haven’t read. Yet.

We meet best friends, Gabby and Kaden, in the not-too-distant future. They love doing fun things together like building robots, virtual reality (VR) gaming and hoverboarding. Incidentally, Kaden’s hoverboard design isn’t all too dissimilar from Marty McFly’s so we know the kid has good taste.

Feeling insecure because Gabby always wins at gaming, Kaden is on the lookout for something that will level the playing field. Enter the Megabrain 2000!

Unbeknownst to Kaden, he’s about to get trapped inside the game with S.N.O.W., a lonely AI. Now it’s up to Gabby to play the game of her life to rescue her friend before it’s too late!

This is a fun, action packed addition to the series. The story was engaging and the characters were easy to connect with.

I did wonder how “ultra-secret” the VR headset could be if Kaden learned of its existence from a magazine. I don’t remember ever finding out what the acronym S.N.O.W. stood for. These are only quibbles, though.

I adored Omar Lozano’s illustrations. The colours are vibrant, the characters are expressive and the urgency of Gabby’s quest is evident.

The gutters change from white to black whenever the characters are in the VR world. I loved the snow bees and the Rose Boss but the character that delighted me the most was Prince.

I always enjoy the bonus material at the end of Far Out Fairy Tales: a summary of the original story, some of the differences between the original and Far Out versions, questions to encourage the reader to think about what they’ve read and a glossary that explains potentially tricky words.

I can’t wait to catch up on the stories I’ve missed.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stone Arch Books, an imprint of Capstone, for the opportunity to read this graphic novel. I’m rounding up from 4.5 stars.