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thestoryprofessor 's review for:
Winterset Hollow
by Jonathan Edward Durham
I thoroughly love this author and this book. Jonathan Edward Durham is such an amazing, gentle person, and we must all love and cherish him as the gift he is to us.
Anyway, the book is also amazing. Imagine if the anthropomorphized and joyous animals of the Redwall series were real, an author came in and wrecked their world to make a profit off their lives and culture, and then as an act of revenge many years later, those animals set an annual trap to rollout their own homegrown Hunger Games. Then you've scratched the surface of what this book has to offer.
More importantly, this book has a lot to say about how ignorantly destructive humans tend to be to the natural world that we have been given charge of. This book, without being preachy, calls us to action to take more seriously caring for the planet we have been given, the animals that live here with us, and respecting nature as it is and not asking more of it. The final message is that violence begets violence, selfishness shapes revenge, revenge is a cycle, and unless we work hard to break these cycles, the violence and selfishness will continue. Durham's message is expertly woven through the meat (that's a bad metaphor to use) of this story, and I found it to be convicting, personally.
*SPOILERS*
Additionally, each of the depictions of the three main animal killers is heartbreaking. I cried when each's story, consequences, and ultimate outcome playout because though they are the antagonists of the story (they're not the villains; I'd leave that label for the man who abducted them), they are only such because of what was taken from them. It is powerful, thought-provoking, and unique characterization, and I loved it to pieces.
*SPOILER*
There is a slight plot contrivance that I keep thinking about in that the main character grew up with a survivalist father in a forest in the woods. The trauma of such an upbringing is explored, but eventually it feels like it was a backstory that justified why the main character knew how to survive.
If you are looking for your next Hunger Games fix, I would say this book will serve you well but will invite you in on a conversation that everyone needs to have. If you grew up with any sort of childhood series akin to the Redwall series, you will feel right at home... and then have that home uprooted in a wonderfully, exhilarating, uncomfortable way. This book is worth reading and rereading, and I hope it finds a place amongst your shelves.
Anyway, the book is also amazing. Imagine if the anthropomorphized and joyous animals of the Redwall series were real, an author came in and wrecked their world to make a profit off their lives and culture, and then as an act of revenge many years later, those animals set an annual trap to rollout their own homegrown Hunger Games. Then you've scratched the surface of what this book has to offer.
More importantly, this book has a lot to say about how ignorantly destructive humans tend to be to the natural world that we have been given charge of. This book, without being preachy, calls us to action to take more seriously caring for the planet we have been given, the animals that live here with us, and respecting nature as it is and not asking more of it. The final message is that violence begets violence, selfishness shapes revenge, revenge is a cycle, and unless we work hard to break these cycles, the violence and selfishness will continue. Durham's message is expertly woven through the meat (that's a bad metaphor to use) of this story, and I found it to be convicting, personally.
*SPOILERS*
Additionally, each of the depictions of the three main animal killers is heartbreaking. I cried when each's story, consequences, and ultimate outcome playout because though they are the antagonists of the story (they're not the villains; I'd leave that label for the man who abducted them), they are only such because of what was taken from them. It is powerful, thought-provoking, and unique characterization, and I loved it to pieces.
*SPOILER*
There is a slight plot contrivance that I keep thinking about in that the main character grew up with a survivalist father in a forest in the woods. The trauma of such an upbringing is explored, but eventually it feels like it was a backstory that justified why the main character knew how to survive.
If you are looking for your next Hunger Games fix, I would say this book will serve you well but will invite you in on a conversation that everyone needs to have. If you grew up with any sort of childhood series akin to the Redwall series, you will feel right at home... and then have that home uprooted in a wonderfully, exhilarating, uncomfortable way. This book is worth reading and rereading, and I hope it finds a place amongst your shelves.