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A review by mothwing
Winterling by Sarah Prineas
3.0
Solid and entertaining middle grade read with a female heroine who goes off to fairy land to fulfil confront the usurping fake fairy queen who makes the land and its creatures sick and seek both her past and her Destiny. It is also one of the few kid's books with a female heroine, other female characters and so far absolutely no romance plot (that's my reason for the three stars instead of two since that means it's an endangered species). It's fast paced and kept my interest enough for me to want to read the sequel, but since I'm an undistinguishing book glutton easily blinded by covers that doesn't really say much.
Characters
The characters were ok. Fer, Rook and The Lady did keep my interest and Fer refreshingly DOES things and influences the plot, but some of her decisions she really should have gone over with someone before making them. She does not really prepare for anything, and the world is laid out in a way where she doesn't have to, but I don't really see a reason for that. Being prepared is something that should also happen in middle grade fiction. I had read before in other reviews that she has a wild spirit, and upon reflection I think that is because she likes being outside and takes action in a book while being girl. There isn't really any wildness, and this being a stories with fairies in it I would have appreciated a wild spirit.
I did have problems with the adults around her. Her grandmother is laid back to the point of neglect, and while you can read the brief exchange they have about her going off as Fer's will-power to be just too great and destiny calling and all that, but really, there is no reason why it had to go this way. There would have been several responsible reasons to let her go ("We were both going to go but I can't cross over with you", "the land is sick and Only You Can Help"), but instead we get the brief "You can't go!" - "Yes, I can!" - "Oh, alright then"- exchange that I hate when I encounter it in kid's books. Kids can convince adults, but they need reasons, not adults who don't care. I think it's there so we can see that Fer Does What She Wants and her grandmother is fine with it because nobody can hold Fer down, but that's not realistic. Or if it was, other things would be different along with it.
I did enjoy the fairies and the way they negotiate allegiance in their world of oaths and promises. I didn't enjoy how Fer is so uncaring about it. If someone is magically tied to someone else, you don't keep offering to tell them secrets that can harm them as much as you, and yet she does, with Rook. She never really stops to think about anything, and the world of the book makes it work out for her. The other characters do think and plan and scheme, and that makes them much more interesting than our main lady, to me.
World Building
We never learn- or at least I don't remember reading about where Fer lives, normally, but the fact that she seems to speak English, wears western clothes and is brought to school by a bus as well as the nationality of the author suggests the modern USA. Try being a teen and running away from school and you neglecting grandmother for six weeks. There are going to be a whole lot of things that happen to the people in your family if you do that in our world, unless you already live in a place that doesn't really care about school attendance. I think that even Fer's grandmother would have mentioned them on her return, but then, who knows with that woman. Fer doesn't really seem to care about school and fair enough, why not have her be home schooled, no attendance issues there. It would also explain why there is nobody from her world apart from her grandmother that she seems to care about.
Characters
The characters were ok. Fer, Rook and The Lady did keep my interest and Fer refreshingly DOES things and influences the plot, but some of her decisions she really should have gone over with someone before making them. She does not really prepare for anything, and the world is laid out in a way where she doesn't have to, but I don't really see a reason for that. Being prepared is something that should also happen in middle grade fiction. I had read before in other reviews that she has a wild spirit, and upon reflection I think that is because she likes being outside and takes action in a book while being girl. There isn't really any wildness, and this being a stories with fairies in it I would have appreciated a wild spirit.
I did have problems with the adults around her. Her grandmother is laid back to the point of neglect, and while you can read the brief exchange they have about her going off as Fer's will-power to be just too great and destiny calling and all that, but really, there is no reason why it had to go this way. There would have been several responsible reasons to let her go ("We were both going to go but I can't cross over with you", "the land is sick and Only You Can Help"), but instead we get the brief "You can't go!" - "Yes, I can!" - "Oh, alright then"- exchange that I hate when I encounter it in kid's books. Kids can convince adults, but they need reasons, not adults who don't care. I think it's there so we can see that Fer Does What She Wants and her grandmother is fine with it because nobody can hold Fer down, but that's not realistic. Or if it was, other things would be different along with it.
I did enjoy the fairies and the way they negotiate allegiance in their world of oaths and promises. I didn't enjoy how Fer is so uncaring about it. If someone is magically tied to someone else, you don't keep offering to tell them secrets that can harm them as much as you, and yet she does, with Rook. She never really stops to think about anything, and the world of the book makes it work out for her. The other characters do think and plan and scheme, and that makes them much more interesting than our main lady, to me.
World Building
We never learn- or at least I don't remember reading about where Fer lives, normally, but the fact that she seems to speak English, wears western clothes and is brought to school by a bus as well as the nationality of the author suggests the modern USA. Try being a teen and running away from school and you neglecting grandmother for six weeks. There are going to be a whole lot of things that happen to the people in your family if you do that in our world, unless you already live in a place that doesn't really care about school attendance. I think that even Fer's grandmother would have mentioned them on her return, but then, who knows with that woman. Fer doesn't really seem to care about school and fair enough, why not have her be home schooled, no attendance issues there. It would also explain why there is nobody from her world apart from her grandmother that she seems to care about.