Sign in with Facebook
Anja H.'s Reviews > The Sisters of the Winter Wood
The Sisters of the Winter Wood
by
by
*2.25 DISAPPOINTED STARS*
/RANT INCOMING/
I'm afraid this book just wasn't for me, even though lots of people are probably going to love this.
This looked and sounded so promising (I mean, have you seen that gorgeous cover?!) and I'm all for discovering new ethnicities, cultures, history and folklore. I was hyped when I read this also involved shapeshifting swans and bears, but I just didn't like the execution at all. This was sooo slow!
My main problem was the writing. I love it when books borrow or use facts that actually happened in real life (like in this case, the pogroms in Ukraine/Russia) and use some words pertaining to that culture, but this was just excessive. The author mixed in so many Yiddish/Hebrew/Russian words, I didn't understand what was going on half of the time, which is why it took me super long to finish this.
I also feel like the book focused more on the YA aspect of it all, like the sexual awakening and romance both sisters dealt with, while I would've been more interested in the actual historic part and learning more about the pogroms and Jewish traditions.
I also didn't like either of the sisters, though Liba was clearly my favorite of the two. I just wanted to whack Laya on the head the entire time. Laya's chapters were also written entirely in verse (to stress the difference between both sisters I guess, or because Laya is supposed to be the dreamier one) which just seemed unnecessary to me. I felt really detached from everything that happened.
The ending was very unsatisfying to me and felt rushed. Everything the book had been building up towards, got resolved in a couple of pages and I just expected more.
I probably would've loved this if the writing was different and the story advanced a bit faster, but maybe that's just me though.
Received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
/RANT INCOMING/
I'm afraid this book just wasn't for me, even though lots of people are probably going to love this.
This looked and sounded so promising (I mean, have you seen that gorgeous cover?!) and I'm all for discovering new ethnicities, cultures, history and folklore. I was hyped when I read this also involved shapeshifting swans and bears, but I just didn't like the execution at all. This was sooo slow!
My main problem was the writing. I love it when books borrow or use facts that actually happened in real life (like in this case, the pogroms in Ukraine/Russia) and use some words pertaining to that culture, but this was just excessive. The author mixed in so many Yiddish/Hebrew/Russian words, I didn't understand what was going on half of the time, which is why it took me super long to finish this.
I also feel like the book focused more on the YA aspect of it all, like the sexual awakening and romance both sisters dealt with, while I would've been more interested in the actual historic part and learning more about the pogroms and Jewish traditions.
I also didn't like either of the sisters, though Liba was clearly my favorite of the two. I just wanted to whack Laya on the head the entire time. Laya's chapters were also written entirely in verse (to stress the difference between both sisters I guess, or because Laya is supposed to be the dreamier one) which just seemed unnecessary to me. I felt really detached from everything that happened.
The ending was very unsatisfying to me and felt rushed. Everything the book had been building up towards, got resolved in a couple of pages and I just expected more.
I probably would've loved this if the writing was different and the story advanced a bit faster, but maybe that's just me though.
Received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Sisters of the Winter Wood.
Sign In »
