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A review by paradoxically
The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston
2.0
I am of various minds about this book. The Winter Witch tells the tale of Morgana, a girl who hasn't spoken for years, being married off to Cai, a widower who needs a wife because his job requires he have one. You have a supernatural flair as Morgana is a witch (though magic not something she can control so easily), and a fairly somber tone throughout the entire book as Morgana discovers enemies and circles around Cai warily.
First off, the book is both in first person (through Morgana's POV) and third person (a more omniscient one, though it centers mostly around Cai). I have never ever liked this (I hardly like POV switches, but I particularly dislike switching from third person to first and vice versa). Your mileage may vary, of course, it makes me think the story is messier than it actually is.
While pretty and holding my attention in the beginning, I rapidly lost interest as the story progressed. There is something about doom and gloom and misunderstandings that never seem to lighten that just makes me wander away. You get brief flashes of Cai and Morgana getting along with one another, but that lasts for scarcely a page before BAM, more misunderstandings and hurt feelings and back to both of them angsting over the other. Yeahhhh no.
You get a series of misfortune that just come one after another, and while you think that maybe Morgana can do something about any of it--no, sorry, nothing. At least she's defiant in the face of her enemies, but other than that she doesn't amount to much until the end of the book (and, in my opinion, that still doesn't amount to much, for all that she can do).
The characters themselves weren't too awful, but they brought nothing new to the table. Beyond that, I was rather bored--Morgana and Cai kept doing their push/pull thing, the antagonist was very consistently awful--I just expected a little more and didn't get it.
Maybe I just wanted to read a different sort of book. The ending felt anticlimactic. It had a very distinct and so life goes on and everything is pretty much wrapped in a little bow. I wanted to feel for the characters, but mostly I was thinking that it's a little bit cold in my house and, oh, what should I do tomorrow? In other words, it never grabbed onto my attention, I was never fully sucked into the world (because I can read slow books! Just not boring ones. There is a difference). All in all, 2 stars.
First off, the book is both in first person (through Morgana's POV) and third person (a more omniscient one, though it centers mostly around Cai). I have never ever liked this (I hardly like POV switches, but I particularly dislike switching from third person to first and vice versa). Your mileage may vary, of course, it makes me think the story is messier than it actually is.
While pretty and holding my attention in the beginning, I rapidly lost interest as the story progressed. There is something about doom and gloom and misunderstandings that never seem to lighten that just makes me wander away. You get brief flashes of Cai and Morgana getting along with one another, but that lasts for scarcely a page before BAM, more misunderstandings and hurt feelings and back to both of them angsting over the other. Yeahhhh no.
You get a series of misfortune that just come one after another, and while you think that maybe Morgana can do something about any of it--no, sorry, nothing. At least she's defiant in the face of her enemies, but other than that she doesn't amount to much until the end of the book (and, in my opinion, that still doesn't amount to much, for all that she can do).
The characters themselves weren't too awful, but they brought nothing new to the table. Beyond that, I was rather bored--Morgana and Cai kept doing their push/pull thing, the antagonist was very consistently awful--I just expected a little more and didn't get it.
Maybe I just wanted to read a different sort of book. The ending felt anticlimactic. It had a very distinct and so life goes on and everything is pretty much wrapped in a little bow. I wanted to feel for the characters, but mostly I was thinking that it's a little bit cold in my house and, oh, what should I do tomorrow? In other words, it never grabbed onto my attention, I was never fully sucked into the world (because I can read slow books! Just not boring ones. There is a difference). All in all, 2 stars.