Reviews

Zimní čarodějnice by Paula Brackston

morrigan_le_fae's review against another edition

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2.0

It was an okay book with a very interesting premise and a mediocre execution. There was a lot of fluff and repetition that there didn’t need to be, while actually interesting concepts or tgemes were ignored or skimmed over. And of course, it suffered greatly from not-like-other-girls syndrome.

amibunk's review against another edition

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3.0

This book started out lovely and romantic. The alternating points of view felt seamless and necessary. However, the middle part of the story dragged a wee bit, followed by a somewhat hasty and predictable ending. Still, overall entertaining. Nothing beats the Welsh people for romance.

abumblebeee's review against another edition

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3.0

Number of days it took to complete: 5 days
Number of hours spent reading the book: 8 hours

"Calamity surrounds you. Destruction is ever at your heels."

The Winter Witch is the tale of Morgana, who at a young age, through the loss of her father no longer speaks. This by no means determines her intelligence, though most who meet her deem her to be simple due to her choosing not to talk. Knowing that no one in the village they live in will marry Morgana due to her eccentricities, her mother knows that she is sick and arranges a marrige for Morgana to Cai Jenkins who is a drover that needs a wife in order to be "porthmon: a man of honor, integrity and worth" for the village he lives in because his village has the belief that if a porthmon is not married he will not return from the drove because he will have nothing to come home to. Once back at Ffynnon Las, Cai and Morgana struggle to gain the towns acceptance of their marriage, in part due to the loathing of prominent parties in the town, and in part due to strange occurrences that always seem to center around Morgana. Will Cai become a successful porthmon? Will Cai and Morgana's new relationship flourish? Will the town ever accept Morgana?

This book is a solid 3. If you want a lot of action and adventure, this is not the book for you. A large part of this book is highly in depth descriptions of every little thing, that truly paints the most beautiful picture of the world these characters live in. While reading you almost feel as if you are at Ffynnon Las and are working the ponies and cattle on the farm.

Cai and Morgana certainly are not a case for insta love. They are put into an arranged marriage, and during the betrothal Cai announces that he is not getting married for love because he believes his first wife Catrin who died was his true love. Throughout this novel their relationship is tested time and time again and they have to overcome every obstacle, both from outside the marriage and also from within. You truly feel that these characters get to know each other body and soul in this novel and you want everything to work out for them.

After moving to Ffynnon Las, Morgana faces her first foe Isolda Bowen, and from the start their is instant dislike. This dislike grows as the story continues. Honestly her part in the story was highly predictable and I had no doubt how the book was going to end. There are some original parts to the story that may not have been guessable; however, as a whole the book is pretty predictable.

The magic in this book was very hard to understand. I still do not think that I have a full grasp on it, other than there are good witches and bad witches and they can harness power. A lot of the mechanics of the magic were not explained and how it is used was also glossed over. I understand that in part this was due to Morgana denying she was a witch and her magic throughout her entire life, but I do feel that it could have been more properly explained.

This book was on my TBR shelf for a very long time and I am happy that I picked it up, while it is by no means my favorite, it was a very solid read and I would consider reading another book by Paula Brackston again.

bookguyinva2022's review against another edition

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4.0

Another great witchy tale, got a little bogged down toward the end, but came back with a vengeance. I had read the 3rd part of the series first, so off to the second now to see how it all pieces together.

drlisak's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed this book. I like the switching between point of vies, as well as the atmosphere created by Morgana's relationship with her magic and with nature. The historical time period is fascinating as well. Brackston's language is lovely. All in all a delightful read.

emilymorgan02's review against another edition

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3.0

This was nicely done as an audiobook. I enjoyed the characters and the accent of the narrator.

jezebe11e's review against another edition

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4.0

Despite not being packed to the brim with plot twists and non-stop action, I found the pacing and overall storytelling of this book made it very difficult to put down.

wearethedepinets's review against another edition

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3.0

Not a bad story, but predictable

Overall the story was good, it was just easy to figure out what was going to happen before it did. Being able I guess what would do!a next made the book drag out.

greylandreviews's review against another edition

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2.0

2 stars
This one is okay. Didn't really care about any of the characters or the plot. But I'm still interested to see what happens in this series.
Trigger Warning: persecution for witchcraft, death from childbirth mentioned, v*miting, animal death, graphic injuries and blood, medical procedure, death, graphic animal attack (rats), and buried alive

tatdine's review against another edition

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3.0

Quaint and charming.