Title: Wintercraft
Author: Jenna Burtenshaw
Publisher: Headline
PublicationDate: May 2010
ARC: 288 pages
ReadingLevel: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 6/10
Goodreads Summary:
Ten years ago Kate Winters’ parents were taken by the High Council’s wardens to help with the country’s war effort. Now the wardens are back…and prisoners, including Kate’s uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane — the High Council’s most feared man — recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council’s experiments into the veil, and he’s convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace.
The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft — a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft. To help Artemis, Edgar and herself, Kate must honour her pact with a murderer and come face to face with the true nature of death.
Review:
Wintercraft is a debut novel, which has had quite a lot of buzz leading up to it’s publication date. The cover is awesome and I was very much looking forward to reading this book which is being marketed as an alternative to vampires and angels, and I was definitely up for something refreshing and new.
Although Wintercraft is a solid debut, with good writing and a flowing plot, it didn’t blow me away. The landscape in Wintercraft is vibrant and descriptions of places and scenes are well thought out, unfortunately I didn’t feel the same about the characters.
Kate is a young girl with a gift. She can see into the ‘veil’, the boundary between worlds and see through spirits of others. I found Kate’s character to be rather flat. I didn’t really get a sense of who she was until around a hundred pages from the end, which is when the book kicked into gear for me with regards to excitement and energy. Much of the book we see Kate running, hiding and getting caught, or escaping, running, hiding and getting caught again, which was rather repetitive. Edgar, Kate’s best friends’ role was that of rescuer and not much else.
The character which stood out by far was that of Silas, the evil element to the story. However, he wasn’t evil enough, instead I found myself feeling sympathetic towards him and his plight as a man brought back from death but living with no soul. He wishes for death and thinks that Kate and her gift are the key to getting what he wants. He is the most colourful character of all and his cold, harsh exterior and violent nature, which we really don’t see that much of, hides a small part that is still good. For me, the true evil in Wintercraft is found in Da’ru, a member of the High Council.
I also feel that this book would be more suitable for younger teens because although the main protagonist, Kate, is around fifteen, she is quite a young fifteen and didn’t have the same maturity I have found when reading other young adults books with the same aged protagonists.
Verdict:
Sadly Wintercraft didn’t engage me as much as I hoped it would. I wish the characters were more developed, as I prefer my books to be quite character driven, and didn’t really think that the plot alone was substantial enough to carry the book. However, Wintercraft is a fun fantasy and I’m sure many fantasy fans will enjoy it.
Source: Thank you to Headline for sending me an advance readers copy for review.
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11 Comments
I thought this was an excellent book and loved Silas and his crow. The characters will develop more in the sequels I am sure.
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Susan – I didn't think it was awful just that it's wasn't great. I'm glad you enjoyed the book though
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I'm gonna add to my list. Though you didn't think it was the bomb, I might.
Great review!
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Fredamans – Exactly, my reviews are just my opinions and I know others will enjoy this book more than I did, so I would always encourage others to read it and make up their own minds. I always try a book out for myself, regardless of a review, you never know what you may be missing
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Sounds like an interesting book. I've read those that it seems like it was just in the wrong category. It didn't make the book bad, but it did change the way it was seen. Thanks for the honest review!
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I had the exact same problem with Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising. Some great concepts, and a neat idea for getting vampires into the teen male perspective – but it was a younger aged guy, the action was very middle grade in terms of styling, and it just disappointed. Love Harper Teen, but they need to think about their marketing more.
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The cover looks interesting, though. And I like that you pin pointed what was wrong. However, because the cover dazzles me, I might consider getting it.
Loved your review!:)
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The cover always reminds me of the covers for the series The Ranger Apprentince. This sounds good and my students where interested when I showed them the book trailer. Sounds like – contentwise it would be ok for them as well.
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Melissa – I think even if the book is in the wrong category it still wouldn't have worked for me because the characters just weren't developed enough. But maybe that's because I'm older and looking for something with more depth?
John – I'm not sure what age is 'middle grade' – 10/11? I would say this book is definitely suited for 10-13 year olds.
Yelloluva – The cover is fab! I would have definitely bought this book if I'd seen it in the bookshop! I would definitely try the book out as you may really enjoy it!
Jill – It is a nice easy book – It's a quick read and there weren't any scenes of blood or gore, no swearing or scenes of a sexual nature. It was quite tame really!
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I thought that Kate was an interesting character but I agree that she could have had more depth. It was all about Silas Dane for me, he totally stole the book!
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I am interested to read more about this story just to know exactly what does the wintercraft can give to ts owner. Although I have to agree with you that a colorful and well developed character is necessary to make a plot more okay.
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