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A review by miss_berry315
The Winter King by C.L. Wilson
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
If there was ever a time to not judge a book by the cover, it's this book right here!!
Strong FMC who is stubborn and sticks her nose up to authority and refuses to be told no? Emotionally damaged MMC with every reason in the world to be on a path of revenge? Showing grief and pain and emotions in a variety of real, raw, and completely understandable ways? Sign me up! This book was unexpectedly amazing!!
The world building is so complex and full of history, descriptions of beautiful places, kingdoms and war, interesting fantasy creatures, and felt big enough that I truly wish I could explore the entire planet. I never felt like there was info dumping, the information is given in a way that makes sense to the moment in the story and never interrupted the flow of reading.
The characters feel so real, they're complex, they have strengths and flaws and make choices that sometimes go not quite as well as they wanted them to. The emotions are so real, everything just makes sense.
The book definitely has it's cheesy parts though. Like there is a significant amount of sex (I mean, they are trying to make a baby, so it's to be expected) the communication often made me roll my eyes, and the last few chapters had my eyebrow up going "pfft, ohhkay, suuree" every now and then, but I wouldn't change a thing! So worth it to have the cheesy bits for everything else being amazing and wonderful!!
Not a fan of the almost SA/rape towards the beginning. Though he stops himself, its explained as being due to some fated-mates instincts, and he shows regret at various points - which kinda makes it a teeny bit better, but I do wish there was a scene of acknowledgement and apology from him.
Strong FMC who is stubborn and sticks her nose up to authority and refuses to be told no? Emotionally damaged MMC with every reason in the world to be on a path of revenge? Showing grief and pain and emotions in a variety of real, raw, and completely understandable ways? Sign me up! This book was unexpectedly amazing!!
The world building is so complex and full of history, descriptions of beautiful places, kingdoms and war, interesting fantasy creatures, and felt big enough that I truly wish I could explore the entire planet. I never felt like there was info dumping, the information is given in a way that makes sense to the moment in the story and never interrupted the flow of reading.
The characters feel so real, they're complex, they have strengths and flaws and make choices that sometimes go not quite as well as they wanted them to. The emotions are so real, everything just makes sense.
The book definitely has it's cheesy parts though. Like there is a significant amount of sex (I mean, they are trying to make a baby, so it's to be expected) the communication often made me roll my eyes, and the last few chapters had my eyebrow up going "pfft, ohhkay, suuree" every now and then, but I wouldn't change a thing! So worth it to have the cheesy bits for everything else being amazing and wonderful!!
Not a fan of the
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Gore, War, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Torture, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual assault
Also CW: drugging people's drinks the summer king wants to ensure that Wynter and Khamsin consecrate their marriage the night of, so he drugs their wine with an herb that increases sexual desires. Both Wynter and Khamsin would have wanted to have sex that night anyway, but that obviously does not take away from the fact that neither of them consented to taking those drugs.
Rape is mentioned multiple times throughout the book, never in detail, never happens on page. Some perpetrators are explicitly punished for their crimes, while others are not really mentioned as receiving punishment.
The physical abuse is fairly graphic, though the absolute worst of it does not happen on page, though there is plenty of detail given about the injuries afterward. the injuries become life threatening and septic, but a full recovery is made
The miscarriage is given with moderate details and is initially not described as such to the woman experiencing it, though it is fairly obvious what is happening due to the description. Khamsin is unaware of being pregnant, is in a town with Wynter and other guards, gets kicked in the stomach hard enough to fall down, and ends up having a miscarriage after that keeps her bedridden for days. Descriptions of blood and cramping only in the initial scene. She is informed of it later on and feels anger. If you're curious, spoilers follow for the ending she does end up getting pregnant again and has two healthy babies!