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A review by inuyasha
The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
update 10/19: bumping this up to five stars because its been four months and this book still lives in my head rent-free
this book is so beautiful and charming and filled with all the themes and motifs I've been hyper fixating on for a few years now - slavic mythos, swans, complicated sister relationships. you ever read a book that feels like it was written purely for your own enjoyment? finding out a few chapters in that this was written as an homage/retelling of the goblin market, one of my favorite pieces of written work, made it feel even more so.
all of the characters in this are dynamic and rich and rossner blends myth and history effortlessly. the inclusion of magic/fantasy in this comes on really fast and strong in the beginning but makes more and more sense as the novel goes on. the only reason this isn't five stars is because the last chapter - especially paired with the ending note that explains the parallels to the history of the town the book is set in - came across as a little ham-fisted to me, and was the only time i remembered i was reading a book classified as young adult.
this book is so beautiful and charming and filled with all the themes and motifs I've been hyper fixating on for a few years now - slavic mythos, swans, complicated sister relationships. you ever read a book that feels like it was written purely for your own enjoyment? finding out a few chapters in that this was written as an homage/retelling of the goblin market, one of my favorite pieces of written work, made it feel even more so.
all of the characters in this are dynamic and rich and rossner blends myth and history effortlessly. the inclusion of magic/fantasy in this comes on really fast and strong in the beginning but makes more and more sense as the novel goes on. the only reason this isn't five stars is because the last chapter - especially paired with the ending note that explains the parallels to the history of the town the book is set in - came across as a little ham-fisted to me, and was the only time i remembered i was reading a book classified as young adult.