Reviews with content warning for Death - Winterset Hollow

this book is devastating. it's about the trauma behind the fairytale. the double-edged sword of revenge. how hatred can turn inwards and outward. how love can bloom from pain. there was something deeply comforting about winterset hollow despite how disturbing it is. the tiny snippets of banter and comedy and love are almost a healing balm against the brutality of the animals' existences.

there are a few particular things that struck me. the first example of violence in the book is runny mutilating his ear in self-hatred. it was so jarring and unexpected, so sad and desperate, that the image still sticks in my head. and the aftermath - blood dripping from his bandaged ear onto the dining table, or runny itching his ear every now and then - struck me too. it was such a poignant example of self-harm. and when eamon tries to hurt him and is disturbed by how much runny enjoys it... that's always going to stick with me.

i really loved how sympathetic the 'villains' were. their deaths were particular were really satisfying. i cried when eamon lay runny next to flackwell and their hands fell together. and the image of finn coming out of the burning maze with his fur burned from his body was beautiful and harrowing. bing's character arc was also really upsetting and sad, and olivia's occasional appearances were interesting too.

there was also a parallel i really liked. eamon says that he used to run away from his foster homes as a kid and go back to the forest. then at the end of the book, he returns from the mainland to the island. his perspective shows how easy and comforting it is to return to trauma. and when he realises his fate was inescapable and he can't let another child fall into the same pattern? it was beautiful. similarly, finn states at the start of the book he loves to play the game because he always wins, even if the game is fixed. his arc was about reclaiming power through violence. when you've always lost, finally winning must be intoxicating.

this was a stunning book. runny, flackwell, bing and finn are all forgivable. their deaths don't feel just, or fair. in fact, their lives are tragedies. whether they choose mercy or not, they're still trapped in their respective imaginary cages, each of them banging their heads against the bars and praying for a release that never comes.

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monsterofidaho's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

My thoughts about Winterset Hollow come in two halves. The tone of Durham's writing feels very put on at times. Between that and the numerous typos, the technical aspects of the book feel very much like the work of a debut author. On the other hand, the actual themes of the story are fascinating. The story being told through the characters, ignoring the stilted dialogue and the faux-British narrative style, is definitely something to come back to more than once.

Winterset Hollow clearly takes inspiration from Watership Down. Despite the story itself being set in the Pacific Northwest and the fact that the author himself is not British, it seems as though he's trying to fully imitate that style of narration and it does not work. It's clunky and it detracts from what parts of the story actually work. Bits of prose feel somewhat pretentious at times and Durham does a lot of preemptive thinking for the reader, as though he wants to be positively sure that the reader will come to the same conclusion as him no matter what.

That said, the actual story of Winterset Hollow is beautiful, wild, and devastating. As someone who grew up with Watership Down and Grimms' fairy tales, this story means a lot. The four antagonists are usually more interesting than the other characters--with the exception of Eamon, who also has a lot going on--and the way that Runny, Flackwell, Finn, and Bing all try to cope with their traumas and seek vindication are treated as complexly as they should be.

Finn's rage and his inability to stop hunting Eamon to the death no matter how his friends try to reason with him is bittersweet with an emphasis on the bitter. He's a terrible person but there's also something to relate to with never wanting to forgive your abusers.

If Durham can improve his technical skill, I will be thrilled to see what other writing he publishes in the future.

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

What a peculiar little book.

The concept was fantastic; what if the anthropomorphic animals from your favorite classic childhood book were real? But what if their stories weren't quite so sweet - and they were out for murderous revenge?

The plot was imaginative and I think the author's skill was best utilized during the excerpts of the story within a story (written as epic poetry). Seriously, the poetry was awesome.

I also enjoyed the characterization of each of the four main animals. I loved the initial playfulness, and the wonder & charm at meeting these literary characters come to life.

However, the greater content of the book fell flat for me. It was painfully overwritten. Every single sentence was streeeeetched out, unnecessarily so, and it often felt like "fun time with a thesaurus". I love lyrical writing, but I did not find it to be particularly well done or at all justified here. It felt like an attempt at pretentiousness without depth, and it just made my head hurt. (It was hugely ironic that there are two characters within this book who speak in an unbearably academic way - the others poke fun at them.)

I'm sure this is partially because of the writing, but the pacing was very mismatched. The first 100 or so pages were a real drag to get through, and I'm sure many readers gave up before we even got to the juicy action. And even when everything exploded and the horror began, we rushed through some exciting moments and painfully lingered on others.

My other major gripe was the amount of perfectly timed moments and coincidences. Everyone was saved from death at the last possible second (JUST as the knife was going in, etc.). Characters came back from death (well, the very brink of death I guess) so many times that their final deaths lost their impact on me as a reader.

There were some eloquent quotes & reflections towards the end of the book that gave me pause. Overall, excellent concept with some high quality moments ... but ultimately weakened by the prose.

CW: violence, death, murder, self harm, slavery, animal cruelty, animal death, suicidal thoughts, death of parent, abandonment, confinement

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gia023's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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