Please Note: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.
Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Be careful of the dark, dark wood . . .
Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.
Rumored
to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker
women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods.
And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the
same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and
in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but
here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d
been missing.
But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at
Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she
has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come
to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led
him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that
Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried,
because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on
that fateful night all those weeks ago.
Review:
I loved Shea Ernshaw's previous book, The Wicked Deep. It was full of magic, witchcraft, and ghosts. Winterwood, her second novel, continues with an even more moody, creepy atmosphere, plus characters who will tear at your heart. This was a thoroughly entertaining, spooky book!
What I Liked:
Atmosphere:
The setting is a remote lake in the Pacific Northwest in the dead of winter. One side of the lake has a boys camp for troubled teens. On the other side are vacation homes, empty of summer revelers, save one lone house. Nora, a teen rumored to be a witch, lives a solitary existence. She wanders the Winterwoods on evenings of the full moon, looking for lost items.
I loved the sense of isolation for both the boys camp and Nora. With no real adults around (the camp personnel seem to only minimally supervise the boys), bad thing can happen. The situation becomes even more dangerous as a storm leaves the area cut off with no phones and blocked roads.
Characters:
Nora:
No one talks to Nora at school, and the locals spread rumors about her and her family of women being witches. It doesn't bother her too much because it's actually true. All the women in her family have some extraordinary talent. All except Nora. Even though the circumstances are fanciful, I think every person can identify with Nora. What makes us special? What if there is nothing?
Oliver:
We get another perspective from Oliver, the boy Nora finds in the forest. This is a case of an unreliable narrator. Is he responsible for the death of another boy? He can't quite remember what happened to him out in the woods. Or can he?
Story:
I would say that the story was a slow burn. The author spends a good amount of time establishing the mood of the book, and the story takes a while to unfold. But it is thrilling! How did the boy from the camp get killed? What was Oliver's role? As Nora tries to solve the mystery, the sense of impending doom increases.
We are also left to speculate if the Walker women actually are witches, and if the young men at the camp are a danger. If Nora finds out what really happened, will someone try to silence her?
Rating:
Release Date: November 5th, 2019
Author: Shea Ernshaw
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: YA Fantasy/Mystery
Page Length: 320 Pages
Source: NetGalley
Format: E-Book
Recommendation: Spooky, moody fun!
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Synopsis (From Goodreads):
Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow…
Where,
two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery.
Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep
waters surrounding the town.
Now, for a brief time each summer,
the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so
that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and
pulling them under.
Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny
Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of
the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the
danger he has just stumbled into.
Mistrust and lies spread
quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn
against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets.
And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the
sisters.
But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.
Review:
I have been seeing this book on NetGalley for a long time, admiring the beautiful cover, but not being too tempted to request a copy. But I became much more interested when I attended an author forum at the Bay Area Book Festival in April. I took a chance and was not disappointed. This was a moody, broody tale with some fun twists.
What I Liked:
Setting:
The book is set in a small town in Oregon with a dark history. Nearly two hundred years earlier, three sisters were accused of witchcraft and drowned. Now, in modern times, boys mysteriously drown each summer. Could this be the sister's revenge?
I liked the layers of history in the village. The book alternated between modern times, and two centuries prior. The author walked the reader around town, with many of the same shop buildings still standing, just with different businesses. Not much has changed, including the attitudes of the villagers. The townspeople were still weary of new people. They were also very happy to blame young women for the drownings.
Also in the story island where much of the action takes place, close enough to the coast, but remote enough to have a very different vibe from the town. The wind-swept vistas and rapidly changing weather seems to reflect the mood of each scene.
Characters:
The novel is centered around Penny, who lives on Lumiere island with her mother. She motors across the bay to attend high school, and hang out with her best friend, Rose. But since her father disappeared three years ago, her mom has spiraled into a deep depression. Penny would love to leave the area after high school, but feels guilty about leaving her mom. I do not usually enjoy the "missing parent" trope, but in this case I thing it served a useful purpose. When there are difficult family situations, I think teens do feel conflicted about leaving someone behind.
I also liked Rose, Penny's best friend. I found her character to be very realistic. While Rose and Penny were BFF's, Rose also had other friends. Her world was not centered around Penny. Sometimes Rose was not as clued in to what was happening with Penny, but that is real-life. This was refreshing, as Rose didn't exist in the novel for the sole purpose of being the sidekick.
Story:
This is a story about reflecting on the past and redemption. The town has a lot to atone for, but only some people, mostly women, seem to realize this. I appreciated that the ghosts of the Swan sisters would be hard pressed to forgive the town for killing them. But how long can the sister's revenge go on? Haven't the sisters become just as bad as those who condemned them? If you literally only live for revenge, is that really living?
I really enjoyed how the book alternated between modern times and 1820, when the Swan sisters lived. Of course, the truth about why the girls were accused of witchcraft is much more complicated than one originally thinks. I liked how this unfolded, and got teary when I understood what actually happened.
Twists:
Without giving anything away, there were some fantastic twists in this novel! Some people are not what they seem, while others have hidden motives for their actions. These plot turns were hinted at in fun little ways, so when the big reveal happens, we can accept it.
What I Was Mixed About:
Setting:
Here is my one quibble about the book: I think it was a stretch to believe that a town would use the tragic drownings of young men as a tourist event. While I liked the creativity of the various traditions the town had (bonfires marking the beginning and end of the season, ringing a bell when a body is found), I found it strange that people just accepted that boys would drown each summer. There didn't seem to be much investigating by the police as to what was happening. And I think tourists wouldn't be clamoring to witness these deaths.
Rating:
Release Date: March 6th, 2018
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Author: Shea Ernshaw
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Length: 308 pages
Source: Bought
Format: Hardcover Book
Recommendations: A fun, moody book about revenge and redemption.
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