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adancewithbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
3.0
The Daughter of Redwinter looked interesting to me and characters that have the abbility to see ghosts I always find interesting. Unfortunately this book did not quite live up to my expectations.
We meet Raine as she rescues a woman in the snow. One that opens up whole can of worms for Raine. To the destruction of her people to her going to Redwinter, the place that trains warrior magicians.
I'm just going to go straight into it, the biggest problem I had with this book is that Raine has little emotions. And that is because someone put a magical barrier in her head after she lost her people. It is such a cop out to not have to deal with the emotional fall out of your own plot. It was so important for Raine to go through that. As a result she also couldn't honestly reflect on the man she was in a relationship with. Who groomed her, started a relationship with her at the age of 16/17 and then was abusive to her. Those emotions haven't been dealt with. She realizes it at some point but the emotions aren't there. And even when that barrier breaks, you'd think that she'd be washed over by all those emotions, but she's not. There is nothing, she just goes on.
And its a shame because there is potential here. The 7 gates one can get through with their magic to get bigger skills and all the work they have to do to be able to do that is really interesting. There are only a few who have managed to get to the 5th gate. The sixth gate is forbidden (contact with the ghosts) and the seventh some believe is not real.
Redwinter itself is also interesting with how it is set up, the role they play in the world and the politics that get played. Though at times it feels very isolated and for us as reader there is very little idea of the political landscape outside of Redwinter.
So overal, really interesting ideas but emotionally lacking.
We meet Raine as she rescues a woman in the snow. One that opens up whole can of worms for Raine. To the destruction of her people to her going to Redwinter, the place that trains warrior magicians.
I'm just going to go straight into it, the biggest problem I had with this book is that Raine has little emotions. And that is because someone put a magical barrier in her head after she lost her people. It is such a cop out to not have to deal with the emotional fall out of your own plot. It was so important for Raine to go through that. As a result she also couldn't honestly reflect on the man she was in a relationship with. Who groomed her, started a relationship with her at the age of 16/17 and then was abusive to her. Those emotions haven't been dealt with. She realizes it at some point but the emotions aren't there. And even when that barrier breaks, you'd think that she'd be washed over by all those emotions, but she's not. There is nothing, she just goes on.
And its a shame because there is potential here. The 7 gates one can get through with their magic to get bigger skills and all the work they have to do to be able to do that is really interesting. There are only a few who have managed to get to the 5th gate. The sixth gate is forbidden (contact with the ghosts) and the seventh some believe is not real.
Redwinter itself is also interesting with how it is set up, the role they play in the world and the politics that get played. Though at times it feels very isolated and for us as reader there is very little idea of the political landscape outside of Redwinter.
So overal, really interesting ideas but emotionally lacking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Domestic abuse
Groomingtessa_b's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Child abuse
grimdark_dad's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence
words_and_dreams's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
*Fantasy adventure mystery featuring the 'chosen one' trope.*
Things I liked:
The worldbuilding was rich and detailed and gave you a feeling of scope and history of the culture. Within the worldbuilding, I enjoyed the magic system and how it worked, it felt different to things I had read before. The sorcerors/magicians are able to access different abilities/powers through different gates. Only a handful have the power to use several of them.
The story was written in a style that I liked with some beautiful prose.
Things I didn't like:
Raine as a main character didn't work for me. She is described as strong etc but things just sort of happen to her and around her. She doesn't have alot of agency until nearer the end of book and even then I was not 100% convinced that she was doing what she wanted to do. She just falls into different groups and goes along with what their mission or culture is. She states near the start of the book that she is going to forge her own path...but then...doesn't.
Whilst the action and intrigue starts pretty much immediately, it took me ages to get into the story. The story involves a series of mysteries, some of which are resolved and some I assume will be revealed in further installments. However I found that I didn't care that much about what happened, maybe because I was not attached to the main character.
Not a bad book and had lots going for it but just didn't quite work for me.
Things I liked:
The worldbuilding was rich and detailed and gave you a feeling of scope and history of the culture. Within the worldbuilding, I enjoyed the magic system and how it worked, it felt different to things I had read before. The sorcerors/magicians are able to access different abilities/powers through different gates. Only a handful have the power to use several of them.
The story was written in a style that I liked with some beautiful prose.
Things I didn't like:
Raine as a main character didn't work for me. She is described as strong etc but things just sort of happen to her and around her. She doesn't have alot of agency until nearer the end of book and even then I was not 100% convinced that she was doing what she wanted to do. She just falls into different groups and goes along with what their mission or culture is. She states near the start of the book that she is going to forge her own path...but then...doesn't.
Whilst the action and intrigue starts pretty much immediately, it took me ages to get into the story. The story involves a series of mysteries, some of which are resolved and some I assume will be revealed in further installments. However I found that I didn't care that much about what happened, maybe because I was not attached to the main character.
Not a bad book and had lots going for it but just didn't quite work for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, War, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual content
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