Review by bookrecsbyjess - A Winter by the Sea

bookrecsbyjess 's review for:

A Winter by the Sea by Julie Klassen

4.0

slow-paced

A Winter by the Sea by Julie Klassen is the second book in the On Devonshire Shores series. It mainly follows Emily Summers and her sister Sarah Summers. While book one had Viola’s point of view as well, this book only follows two of the sisters. This series is best read in order since the events carry from one book to the next.

While I enjoyed this book, I didn’t like it quite as much as book one. I think this was because the pacing seemed a bit slower, Viola was no longer a main character, and I didn’t care for a few of the new characters in this story. It wasn’t bad by any means, but I do prefer book one over this one.

So much of this book was spent on Emily and her romance as well as her writing career. I felt very frustrated with her for how she handled the men in her life. I think she was too indecisive, and this ultimately hurt the men that cared for her. I did however feel bad for how she was treated in regards to her writing. Because she was a woman, she was looked down upon and taken advantage of when all she wanted was to do something with her love of writing.

While Sarah was a main character again in this book, I didn’t really care about her story in this particular book. I am hoping that her story gets better in future books because I didn’t like the character she spent so much time with in this book.

One thing I did enjoy about this second book was the historical pieces that were included. I didn’t know much about Queen Victoria as a child, so it was neat to see how the author incorporated some facts from real life.

Another thing I liked about this book was Mrs. Summers and how her character had made major improvements from the first book. She had a bit more time in this story, and I liked her interactions with the other characters.

I listened to the audiobook of this and while I enjoyed the performance, I think it would’ve been better had there been a second narrator for the second point of view.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you enjoyed the first book in this series, and I do plan to read the rest of this series soon.

Content Warnings