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A review by lenabrary
Daughter of Winter and Twilight by Helen Corcoran
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A big thank you to O'Brien Press and Helen Corcoran for sending me an ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.
I was a big fan of Queen of Coin and Whispers from the moment I read it first back during the first lockdown of 2020. What's not to love? Determined queens, even more determined soy masters, intrigue, love, murder plots... It hit all the right spots for me. Which is why I was both super excited for this book and super worried. I mean, how could Corcoran follow up the absolute perfection of the first book?
Reader, I needn't have feared.
Daughter of Winter and Twilight can be read as a standalone - though I urge you to pick up the first book because it's fantastic. It features a world where queerness is a simple fact of life, not something to be an angsty plot point where the main character has to overcome stigma and intolerance, which was just so satisfyingly refreshing to read. Emri is queer, and so are her parents - Lia and Xania, the Queens of Edar - and her friends. We get introduced to non-binary characters and it's never something to be gawked at, just a simple fact of life.
It took me a little while to warm up to Emri, as it usually does with new characters, but once I did I rooted for her through the whole book. She faces her challenges with grace - and yes, fear and anger and heartbreak and self-pity at times which is absolutely wonderful to read because it makes her human! - and always strives to be the best heir to the throne she can be.
The character who I really fell in love with, however, was Melisande. At first she seems like a typical Cool Girl but I adored her relationship with Emri, how she fought to stand by her cousin and never let her hand go during the moments that really mattered. Gabi and Theo, the other heirs to the thrones who get roped into Emri's quest, are fully fleshed and I'm not going to lie, I would love to read a whole book about an older Gabi who rules her queendom.
Magic was dormant, never dead - that tag line really sets you up for this novel. Goddesses are real and they are inhuman, merciless and they want the recognition they (think) they deserve. Lady Winter is one hell of a scary character, gives me major Lady Dimitrescu vibes.
Big, big fan of this book, make sure to preorder a copy!
Daughter of Winter and Twilight is coming out on September 4, 2023.
I was a big fan of Queen of Coin and Whispers from the moment I read it first back during the first lockdown of 2020. What's not to love? Determined queens, even more determined soy masters, intrigue, love, murder plots... It hit all the right spots for me. Which is why I was both super excited for this book and super worried. I mean, how could Corcoran follow up the absolute perfection of the first book?
Reader, I needn't have feared.
Daughter of Winter and Twilight can be read as a standalone - though I urge you to pick up the first book because it's fantastic. It features a world where queerness is a simple fact of life, not something to be an angsty plot point where the main character has to overcome stigma and intolerance, which was just so satisfyingly refreshing to read. Emri is queer, and so are her parents - Lia and Xania, the Queens of Edar - and her friends. We get introduced to non-binary characters and it's never something to be gawked at, just a simple fact of life.
It took me a little while to warm up to Emri, as it usually does with new characters, but once I did I rooted for her through the whole book. She faces her challenges with grace - and yes, fear and anger and heartbreak and self-pity at times which is absolutely wonderful to read because it makes her human! - and always strives to be the best heir to the throne she can be.
The character who I really fell in love with, however, was Melisande. At first she seems like a typical Cool Girl but I adored her relationship with Emri, how she fought to stand by her cousin and never let her hand go during the moments that really mattered. Gabi and Theo, the other heirs to the thrones who get roped into Emri's quest, are fully fleshed and I'm not going to lie, I would love to read a whole book about an older Gabi who rules her queendom.
Magic was dormant, never dead - that tag line really sets you up for this novel. Goddesses are real and they are inhuman, merciless and they want the recognition they (think) they deserve. Lady Winter is one hell of a scary character, gives me major Lady Dimitrescu vibes.
Big, big fan of this book, make sure to preorder a copy!
Daughter of Winter and Twilight is coming out on September 4, 2023.