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itsreirei's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Grief
ssheehan1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The good: I fell in love with this book instantly just on vibes alone. The author’s writing is incredibly beautiful and atmospheric, and she made a blizzard on an isolated lake into something so much more. I think the Wicker Woods are my favorite creepy, sentient forest that I’ve encountered yet, and I felt for them more than some of the actual characters in the book.
The bad: this book (at least the edition I have—the OwlCrate edition) needed another run through an editor. There’s some sentences that are blatantly missing a word in order to make it a complete sentence, and it happened enough that it would pull me out of the story each time. And as much as I adored the prose of the book, it became incredibly repetitive at points. Some of the repetition could have been the author’s attempt at a callback to something that happened early on in the book, if only she hadn’t mentioned it twenty other times since the first time. It was bad enough that it made the book feel slow at points, and it got to the point where I got tired of reading the same sentence about miners offering items to the forest, even though it does play an important part in the plot. The repetition seemed to cause the author to lose the plot at some points, and I had to remind myself a few times what the central plot point of the book was supposed to be.
Overall I definitely enjoyed the book, and look forward to future releases from Ernshaw.
The bad: this book (at least the edition I have—the OwlCrate edition) needed another run through an editor. There’s some sentences that are blatantly missing a word in order to make it a complete sentence, and it happened enough that it would pull me out of the story each time. And as much as I adored the prose of the book, it became incredibly repetitive at points. Some of the repetition could have been the author’s attempt at a callback to something that happened early on in the book, if only she hadn’t mentioned it twenty other times since the first time. It was bad enough that it made the book feel slow at points, and it got to the point where I got tired of reading the same sentence about miners offering items to the forest, even though it does play an important part in the plot. The repetition seemed to cause the author to lose the plot at some points, and I had to remind myself a few times what the central plot point of the book was supposed to be.
Overall I definitely enjoyed the book, and look forward to future releases from Ernshaw.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Alcohol
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kassidyreads's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
laurenleigh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I’ll start with my negatives so I can end on a positive note lol. I really didn’t care for this writing style. There were so many incomplete sentences. All the time. Constantly. Like they’d never stop. 😅 I totally get that we don’t think in complete sentences all the time, but would it kill you to use a conjunction? It just took me out of the story and felt half-baked. Despite that, I did like the overall plot. I kind of saw the twist coming, but that doesn’t bother me so much. The vibes were immaculate, helping bring me back into the plot when the writing bugged me. Pro tip: when it’s 115 degrees out, read a book set in the dead of winter! I could really feel the chilly, witchy, forest energy throughout the text.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
kaigar96's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
starlesscircus's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
maple_dusk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw is an atmospheric, dark book follow the MC, Nora Walker. Nora Walker is descended from a long line of witches, all born in an old house beside the Jackjaw Lake. The Walkers have always shared a special connection to the Wicked Wood, the forest surrounding the Fir Haven. One day, Nora Walker finds a boy, Oliver Huntsman, who disappeared from the camp for wayward boys two weeks ago. While Nora attempts to discover how Oliver survived in the forest for that long, and how he got there in the first place, Oliver has his own secrets to keep. Ones he'll never unearth.
I Liked
I Liked
- The dark atmosphere
- The idea of an MC, being separated from the rest of society :)
- The action (scenes) (apparently, I like action combined with thriller)
- The ENDING :O HOW DID I NOT SEE IT COMING?!
I Didn't Like
- The romance (sorry, I don't ship it)
This was the first book in a while that I didn't want to stop reading. While not a favorite read, I think this was worth it.
Later in life, she preferred the way Chinese vowels curled off her tongue, and she spoke it while walking through the autumn aspen trees reading from her favorite book.
Keep in mind, Chinese is not a language, rather, an umbrella term for multiple Chinese languages/dialects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
cyan_altaria's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
This book is just like an old, spooky fairytale. I liked how the characters reacted to each other. Oliver and Nora's romance was pretty cute. The way the Ernshaw handled the wicker woods was amazing, especially in the latter half. I also loved the pages on the different people in the Walker family. Unlike a lot of other people, the twist did surprise me. However, this book could get a bit repetitive a points, with all of the Oliver mysteriously leaving, then Nora trying to find him that happened in the middle. The ending also felt like a cop-out. Other than that, this was a great book.
Who do I recommend this to? People who like dark fairytales, not knowing who to trust, and interesting MCs
Who should skip this one? People who are easily bored, especially by repetition, people who dislike not knowing whether a character is good or evil, and people who hate disconnected endings/endings that undo previous events.
Will I read more by Shea Ernshaw? Yes. I liked this book quite a bit, and I've heard lots of good things about her other book The Wicked Deep.
Who do I recommend this to? People who like dark fairytales, not knowing who to trust, and interesting MCs
Who should skip this one? People who are easily bored, especially by repetition, people who dislike not knowing whether a character is good or evil, and people who hate disconnected endings/endings that undo previous events.
Will I read more by Shea Ernshaw? Yes. I liked this book quite a bit, and I've heard lots of good things about her other book The Wicked Deep.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Blood and Grief