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A review by klreeher
The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Extremely solid early novel. The characters grabbed me by the throat from the first and kept me hooked. NGL, the marketing as YA is a little confused? It's about a 16 year old, I suppose. No titties get touched, but it's otherwise not something I'd peg as YA.
It feels a little like a 7 pound bag of world building crammed in a 5 pound bag -- and sometimes that's a little distracting. Overall, I found the world fresh and interesting, and if there are not more books that explore it, I *may riot*.
I liked the overall conflict between "my family is awful" and "yeah but they're still my family". It also interplays interestingly with the "shit i inherited an absolute monarchy that i really don't want" and the rumblings of people wanting a representative government.
I *adored* Inkar. One of my early notes was:
> THIS MAD GIRL DISASTER GRAND DUKE JUST MARRIED A PRINCESS WHOSE NAME SHE DIDNT EVEN KNOW BC SAID PRINCESS WAS A JOCK HOTTIE WHO WASNT RUDE TO THE STAFF. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
and honestly, I stand by that. But also, she was a great foil for Ekata. I really enjoyed them comparing their families and the discussion about their desired leadership styles.
It feels a little like a 7 pound bag of world building crammed in a 5 pound bag -- and sometimes that's a little distracting. Overall, I found the world fresh and interesting, and if there are not more books that explore it, I *may riot*.
I liked the overall conflict between "my family is awful" and "yeah but they're still my family". It also interplays interestingly with the "shit i inherited an absolute monarchy that i really don't want" and the rumblings of people wanting a representative government.
I *adored* Inkar. One of my early notes was:
> THIS MAD GIRL DISASTER GRAND DUKE JUST MARRIED A PRINCESS WHOSE NAME SHE DIDNT EVEN KNOW BC SAID PRINCESS WAS A JOCK HOTTIE WHO WASNT RUDE TO THE STAFF. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
and honestly, I stand by that. But also, she was a great foil for Ekata. I really enjoyed them comparing their families and the discussion about their desired leadership styles.