The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy Pages: 320
Published by Entangled Teen, Macmillan on September 2, 2014
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Love & Romance, Young Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher
An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn't forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she'll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her
The Winter People was great. It ended up being very different than I thought it would be. I’m not going to ruin the book by telling just what brand of fantasy or magic this was. I had an inkling while I was reading, and maybe it will be way more obvious to everyone else reading, but not knowing exactly what was going on or what exactly everyone was, was part of the magic of reading The Winter People. And it made me yearn to read more books like it. I really enjoyed the cold wintery atmosphere that Rebekah created.
I will warn you now, there is a love triangle- or really a love Quadrangle is more accurate. At one point there were so many guys that I didn’t know what on earth was going on. But that feeling quickly passed and I was down to two viable guys. I will say now that I did go back and forth a couple of times throughout the book, but I am very pleased with the way everything turned out. I also really like that this is a standalone book. I love series, but every now and again you just need a good standalone to read from start to finish and have closure with the characters.
Even though the love and romance was a big part of the story— and it was a great part, but the whole mystery of the curse was excellent as well. I loved watching Salome try and piece everything together. The history and background information was really detailed and well executed, but never over whelming.
I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been on Salome, being labeled as crazy for her “episodes”, especially when her mom and grandmother knew more than they were letting on to them. The most frustrating part about the whole book was the withholding of information from Salome. It was infuriating. I understand it was all part of the curse, but I still feel like the people in her life could have made more of an effort so she was so alone and in the dark about it all. But it was easy to see that her family did genuinely care about her. I also do wish that the issue of her father was resolved a little better. But that was just a minor detail in the course of the book.
The Winter People works fabulously as a standalone, and the result is a very satisfying story from start to finish. You will feel the bitter cold that Salome does, and you get to experience the whole curse, and lots of guys right along with her. She was an engaging character that was easily likable. I think the Winter People will appeal to all kinds of fantasy and magic fans.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
kindlemom1
This seems to be one of those books that you either love or hate. So happy you really enjoyed it!
laura thomas
I’be been hearing many good things about this one. Happy you liked it and thanks for the giveaway. Crossing my fingers and toes:)
Lauren M.
I’m 80% through this book. It’s driving me crazy because I can’t figure out the end! LOL I should be done by tomorrow.
La La in the Library
I have this! I won it from Goodreads First Reads. I am so glad you liked it. I think I will move it up on my TBR. This is the first review I have seen for it. 🙂