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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve had Winter sitting on my bookshelves for years. I finally picked it up because I was doing a read-a-thon here on Goodreads and needed a book with a one-word title to complete my team’s mini-goal. As it was the last day by then, I naturally selected the shortest one, which brings us back to Winter.
It’s always fascinated me how well John Marsden can write the characters of teenage girls, considering he’s a 62-year-old man. Somehow he manages to pull it off flawlessly though, and his main character, Winter, feels just like a teenage girl should. I don’t think I could do the job half as well, and I’m a female who just turned twenty.
Winter is looking for answers and acceptance regarding the deaths of her parents twelve years ago. To do this she returns to her childhood home and grows into the role required of her. A lot of the things she does are quite stubborn and immature, but that’s to be expected for a girl of her age. In any case the journey she goes on brings her out the other end as a wiser, stronger person on the road to adulthood.
It was only quite a short book, as I said, but if it had have been any longer it would have involved unnecessarily dragging the story on. That’s another skill John Marsden has: he seems to be able to pinpoint when his stories need to end quite well.
It’s always fascinated me how well John Marsden can write the characters of teenage girls, considering he’s a 62-year-old man. Somehow he manages to pull it off flawlessly though, and his main character, Winter, feels just like a teenage girl should. I don’t think I could do the job half as well, and I’m a female who just turned twenty.
Winter is looking for answers and acceptance regarding the deaths of her parents twelve years ago. To do this she returns to her childhood home and grows into the role required of her. A lot of the things she does are quite stubborn and immature, but that’s to be expected for a girl of her age. In any case the journey she goes on brings her out the other end as a wiser, stronger person on the road to adulthood.
It was only quite a short book, as I said, but if it had have been any longer it would have involved unnecessarily dragging the story on. That’s another skill John Marsden has: he seems to be able to pinpoint when his stories need to end quite well.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this as a tween when I smashed through all the John Marsden books and I don’t think I particularly liked it - I enjoyed it so much more now when I can see the effects of trauma and growing up feeling displaced have had on Winter and not just sort of write her off as a rude teenager who asks a lot of questions and somehow is allowed to live by herself at the age of 16. The heart of this story is about coming home, making peace with the past and making a better future for oneself.
This book bored me a bit and there is no way that a 16 year old would act the way Winter did in this story.
As you'd expect from John Marsden, very well-written and thoughtful, though dreadfully short. I wanted the book to go on for three times as long as it did.
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A long, forgotten reread, so the ending wasn't as startling, but I can only imagine how I felt reading it for the first time. John Marsden never fails to exceed my expectations.