Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by hdabru
The Winter King by C.L. Wilson
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I liked this book despite myself.
It had a lot of annoying aspects. Like I get that they were political enemies, but the fact that they constantly, especially him, expected the worst of each other over and over throughout the book, always assuming betrayal, always with the stupid misunderstanding and miss-communications, drove me nuts.
I’m also not a fan of when books always make women the conniving, betraying side characters. I will grant that there were a few good female characters and one conniving male character, but it was a bit biased.
And it was cheesy, and I rolled my eyes a lot, and the ending felt rushed and predictable, but like I said, I liked this book despite myself. Somehow it did bring a lot of great elements to it. Good chemistry, a heroine that grows and becomes powerful rather than in need of rescue all the time, great fantasy elements, and seriously, Wilson knows how to drive a plot forward and write very compellingly and interestingly, so that regardless of the content or tropes I didn’t like, I never felt like it dragged or that I didn’t want to keep going. That’s some serious talent, especially for 600 pages.
All in all, not sure if I’ll read anything else by this author but not mad that I read this one.
It had a lot of annoying aspects. Like I get that they were political enemies, but the fact that they constantly, especially him, expected the worst of each other over and over throughout the book, always assuming betrayal, always with the stupid misunderstanding and miss-communications, drove me nuts.
I’m also not a fan of when books always make women the conniving, betraying side characters. I will grant that there were a few good female characters and one conniving male character, but it was a bit biased.
And it was cheesy, and I rolled my eyes a lot, and the ending felt rushed and predictable, but like I said, I liked this book despite myself. Somehow it did bring a lot of great elements to it. Good chemistry, a heroine that grows and becomes powerful rather than in need of rescue all the time, great fantasy elements, and seriously, Wilson knows how to drive a plot forward and write very compellingly and interestingly, so that regardless of the content or tropes I didn’t like, I never felt like it dragged or that I didn’t want to keep going. That’s some serious talent, especially for 600 pages.
All in all, not sure if I’ll read anything else by this author but not mad that I read this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, War
Minor: Emotional abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail