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A review by ghosthermione
The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed this audiobook.
The plot was complicated enough with too many ministers for me to fully keep track of, especially in audio format, but the ones that mattered were distinct enough.
The characters were diverse, with nonbinary secondary characters with "they" pronouns without it being ever pointed out, which made it feel natural and normal. I appreciated that. The character is also very open about her sexuality and we're given to understand that it's perfectly usual in this world for princes and princesses to marry regardless of gender - even in this pretty abusive family. It's a breath of fresh air in fantasy, to be honest. The main relationship is really entertaining and I like the way it unfolded, though I'm not sure it made sense for the main character to be so antagonistic to the love interest for so long. The reasons were a bit fuzzy.
The MC was honestly... I don't know, I kinda wanted to slap her at times, she acts like she's 13 and not 16, but then again I've never had anyone drop on me the sh*t that was dropped on her. I think she went on an important journey throughout the novel; even if I did not like her actions at the beginning they were internally consistent, and I really appreciate the way the character grew throughout the story and learned to be a better person despite her absolutely toxic family. Learning to navigate your own relationships when you had crappy parents and role models is something I can relate to.
The worldbuilding was subtle, but interesting, as we get glimpses of the world beyond the duchy through the delegates and politics in the background, and of the "Duchy Below" via Ekata's obsession with it and with science in general. It's a world I'd like to see more of.
I was not sure how it would unfold in the end, but it was really satisfying both for the protagonists, and for the people of that Duchy in general. The fact that the needs of the people in general, and the push for a parliament in particular, kept being brought up throughout the book is something I also really liked. I think that we too often lose sight of that in fantasy that focuses on the elite, with endings that solidify the status of the people in power. I was glad that this was not one of those books.
The plot was complicated enough with too many ministers for me to fully keep track of, especially in audio format, but the ones that mattered were distinct enough.
The characters were diverse, with nonbinary secondary characters with "they" pronouns without it being ever pointed out, which made it feel natural and normal. I appreciated that. The character is also very open about her sexuality and we're given to understand that it's perfectly usual in this world for princes and princesses to marry regardless of gender - even in this pretty abusive family. It's a breath of fresh air in fantasy, to be honest. The main relationship is really entertaining and I like the way it unfolded, though I'm not sure it made sense for the main character to be so antagonistic to the love interest for so long. The reasons were a bit fuzzy.
The MC was honestly... I don't know, I kinda wanted to slap her at times, she acts like she's 13 and not 16, but then again I've never had anyone drop on me the sh*t that was dropped on her. I think she went on an important journey throughout the novel; even if I did not like her actions at the beginning they were internally consistent, and I really appreciate the way the character grew throughout the story and learned to be a better person despite her absolutely toxic family. Learning to navigate your own relationships when you had crappy parents and role models is something I can relate to.
The worldbuilding was subtle, but interesting, as we get glimpses of the world beyond the duchy through the delegates and politics in the background, and of the "Duchy Below" via Ekata's obsession with it and with science in general. It's a world I'd like to see more of.
I was not sure how it would unfold in the end, but it was really satisfying both for the protagonists, and for the people of that Duchy in general. The fact that the needs of the people in general, and the push for a parliament in particular, kept being brought up throughout the book is something I also really liked. I think that we too often lose sight of that in fantasy that focuses on the elite, with endings that solidify the status of the people in power. I was glad that this was not one of those books.