Hello, it’s
Heather here! I hope all those celebrating Christmas are having a wonderful
time, I was in the midst of panicking over last minute Christmas presents when
our book blog received an email granting us access to read this enchanting
novel! Initially, I danced in joy with the thought that if the book was good,
it would make a charming present, but now I see that the book would look at
home in my own bookcase (and only the best books are allowed on there). I think
the other two will also be reviewing this one shortly too.Author: Melyssa Williams
Published:
November 2016
Publisher:
Red Team Ink
This book
is so heart-warming, I struggled to tear myself away from reading it. For this
time of year, it is absolutely ideal. I found myself immediately relating to
the protagonist, Ree, who dreaded her family’s Christmas party for the many
awkward encounters the night would probably entail (let’s face it, sometimes we’d
much rather be curled up reading a book), but also looked forward to her
godfather’s inventions with mounting anticipation. And wow, they were certainly
impressive gifts. Being a keen mechanic herself, Ree helped to create the first
one, but the next two were shocking even for her. The plot took a swift turn as
he presented the guests with two clockwork figures, both of which enthralled
Ree with their realistic quality – this section has some really brilliant
imagery, so you feel the same excitement as Ree does. Her fascination with the
dolls leads her to a thrilling adventure out of the comfortable world she had
become somewhat bored with.
The style
of the book reminded me of Phillip Pullman, which I was delighted with, being
an avid fan of this type of book. The world it’s set in is similar enough to
ours to make it easy to visualise, yet refreshingly magical with some nice
fantasy features, most of which I haven’t seen before, like the reindeer
children. I was talking with a friend the other day about how fantasy is a
genre that has so much potential – limitless possibilities – and can be
stunning when the author puts in the effort to communicate the little details,
this book certainly falls under this category. Many masterpieces are from this
area, think of Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings trilogy – these are
all such successful and cherished stories because the author successfully
whisked us away to somewhere new, where we could follow captivating adventures.
The usage of clockwork was very different and well executed.
Ree is such
a great character to lead the story, firstly because she’s a girl that spends
little time waffling and is blunt about what she thinks without appearing rude
or conceited, also as her sarcasm and sass is faultless and to top this, she
admits any mistakes she makes. She goes stubbornly against what her sister
claims is proper; yearning for adventure, passionately delving into mechanics
even before the novel is set and actually fighting when necessary. Every ounce
of fear and happiness that she feels is radiated through the language: she is
not fearless, labels herself as claustrophobic at one point and screams a fair
amount later on in the book. I think it’s important for authors to address that
being scared is not weak, at no point does Ree stand up and say “Okay guys,
this was fun but now I want to go home,” and walk away, that’s what really
matters. Another plus point to her character was that though she often admired
the boys, the story does not end with a cliché and emotional kiss, nor does she
spend a long time pondering dates. I look forward to when the author writes a
sequel (please write one) so these kinds of relationships can form, but the
chemistry between Ree and Nikolai was perfect.
If you
want a nice book to keep you company on these long and cold winter days, I
would highly suggest this one. I’ve included some links below to help you all
find it and hope that you do so. This author has so much potential, I cannot
wait to read her next book and feel she will definitely grow in popularity
soon!
OR buy it
on Red Team Ink: https://www.redteamink.com/shop?olsPage=products/once-upon-a-winter-melyssa-williams&olsFocus=false
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