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A review by mackle13
Winterling by Sarah Prineas
3.0
When I saw the blurb I can't say I was overly impressed, but I do like me some faeires and the author wrote another series, The Magic Thief, which I enjoyed, so I figured I'd give it a shot. In the end, it's a cute story with a strong role model for girls, but there's nothing particularly stand out about it.
I do like the way that Prineas takes faerie lore and both manages to stick with it generally, but also change it enough to make it her own - like the Mór being an analog to the Morrigan, what with being a warrior and the crows and all.
I think my biggest complaint, though, is that the characters are all sort of one note, even Fer, our heroine. The blurb describes her as spunky, and she is definitely willful, but all of her emotions and thoughts just felt too surface. Not in the sense that we're told she's spirited but never see it, but more in the sense that any fears or doubts or anything she has are thought and then dismissed. They never go beyond fleeting ideas, and so she never seemed fully real or developed.
Same goes for Rook and Gran and, well, everyone, really. They have their primary character trait, and that's pretty much it.
Also, I felt things just came a bit too easy for Fer. Yes, there's some reason for that in the story, but that doesn't change the fact that it's less exciting reading about an adventure and a triumph when things never really seem like they could fail. And the ending was pretty anti-climactic, I felt.
Lastly, I was a bit bothered and disappointed by the continuing tradition of equating beauty with goodness. Fer, more than once, thinks something along the lines of "she's so beautiful, how could she be bad?" I wouldn't mind if it was used subversively, but it wasn't. For a story which seems targetted for girls, it's a bit sad to see so much focus on that old trope.
All that said - it was a quick read, and it was an entertaining story. Part of it was because I liked some of the world stuff. I do think that it's possible that this could grow into a better series, and I'm not opposed to continuing the series. I didn't actively dislike the book - I'm just a bit disappointed because I think it could've been better.
Sort of 2.5.
I do like the way that Prineas takes faerie lore and both manages to stick with it generally, but also change it enough to make it her own - like the Mór being an analog to the Morrigan, what with being a warrior and the crows and all.
I think my biggest complaint, though, is that the characters are all sort of one note, even Fer, our heroine. The blurb describes her as spunky, and she is definitely willful, but all of her emotions and thoughts just felt too surface. Not in the sense that we're told she's spirited but never see it, but more in the sense that any fears or doubts or anything she has are thought and then dismissed. They never go beyond fleeting ideas, and so she never seemed fully real or developed.
Same goes for Rook and Gran and, well, everyone, really. They have their primary character trait, and that's pretty much it.
Also, I felt things just came a bit too easy for Fer. Yes, there's some reason for that in the story, but that doesn't change the fact that it's less exciting reading about an adventure and a triumph when things never really seem like they could fail. And the ending was pretty anti-climactic, I felt.
Spoiler
While I kind of like the idea of the climax really being about her accepting who she is, I would've liked at least some kind of real final battle, too. I mean, it just read like that kind of story - until it wasn't.Lastly, I was a bit bothered and disappointed by the continuing tradition of equating beauty with goodness. Fer, more than once, thinks something along the lines of "she's so beautiful, how could she be bad?" I wouldn't mind if it was used subversively, but it wasn't. For a story which seems targetted for girls, it's a bit sad to see so much focus on that old trope.
All that said - it was a quick read, and it was an entertaining story. Part of it was because I liked some of the world stuff. I do think that it's possible that this could grow into a better series, and I'm not opposed to continuing the series. I didn't actively dislike the book - I'm just a bit disappointed because I think it could've been better.
Sort of 2.5.