Winterwood - a Magical Dark Fairytale
Because I am more darkness than girl. More winter shadows than August sunlight. We are the daughters of the wood.
A witch in a cabin in the woods, a boy’s camp for out of control boys, a missing boy, a dead boy, and a snowstorm. This is the premise to Winterwood, a YA fantasy mystery that is the perfect Christmas read if you’re into a more…dark Christmas.
Written by Shea Ernshaw, Winterwood hit shelves on November 5th. This is her second book, the first being Wicked Deep which is on my TBR.
Nora Walker is the latest in a long line of Walker women who live near the Wicker Woods. Each witch has a special power that is unique to them. Nora’s Grandmother could go into people’s dreams and interpret them, and Nora’s Mother can charm bees. Nora though hasn’t discovered her power yet, and with her Mother always gone and denying the magic in their blood, Nora is struggling to keep the tradition alive.
She lives in the Walker cabin which has been around for centuries. It sits buried in the woods near the lake. Across the lake lies a boy’s camp where boys go who are in trouble, or whose parents have given up. During a massive winter storm, Nora wakes to find the roads blocked and the power out, but she’s used to it. She goes about her day like normal. Every full moon Nora can enter the Wicker Woods, a deeper scarier part of the forest, where she can go to find lost things. But this time she finds the missing boy from the wayward camp.
When Oliver awakes in Nora’s cabin he has lost his memories. Nora nurses him to health and then he heads back to the wayward camp. When Nora escorts him back she runs into a girl from school, Suzy, who had snuck up to the boy’s camp to meet her boyfriend Brett. But, because of the storm, she got trapped. Nora lets her come back with her to her cabin so that she’s not stuck with the boys. That’s when Suzy shares that not only was there a missing boy, Oliver, there’s also a dead boy, Max.
And so, Nora finds herself stuck in the middle of a storm, trying to solve the mystery of a murder, and her number one suspect is Oliver. But something draws her to him and he may not be what he seems.
character mood board put together by me
We come from this forest. From the roots and brine and weather-worn stones. We are the daughters of the wood.
This was such a beautiful story. So incredibly well written and descriptive. It’s the perfect read for this time of year, cuddled up on your couch, reading about a frozen lake and a winter storm. The magic in this book is super unique and it’s really great getting to read all about the Walker women over the decades and all their different powers. It reminded me a little of Practical Magic. Lots of herbs, candles, strange ingredients, spiders, bees….just everything magical.
As the mystery unravels you become quickly wrapped up in the world. While I did figure out about half way through what the twist was going to be, it was still a satisfying twist that leads to Nora discovering what her true witch ability is. It’s also a fast paced read, especially when Nora finds herself trapped in a house with the possible murderer.
The climax of the book is quite scary, a forest fire breaks out with all of our characters running for their lives as the forest burns brutally around them. The descriptions of the fire are stunning and it’s easy to feel lost yourself within the forest, ash raining down on you, fire licking at your heels. The lake itself plays a huge part in all of this as well and the terrifyingly thin ice in the middle of the lake is perhaps its own monster. And the antagonists of this story are pretty scary too. It reminded me a little of Stand By Me with teen villains who are drinking, smoking, and intimidating everyone around them. Rhett in particular is a scary piece of work.
Overall, Winterwood is a beautiful tale about a witch in a wood coming to terms with her powers while trying to solve a murder mystery. I highly recommend it for a winter read!
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