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rebelkiss's review against another edition
1.0
I gave it a try because the cover is gorgeous and it sounded fabulous. However, I could not get in to this book. Each time I tried, I couldn't stay interested, I'd start to nod off, and just wasn't enjoying it. So, I didn't bother to finish it.
ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition
The full review can be found at The Book Bratz!
I had high hopes for Winterspell and they just weren't met. To begin with I am not a fan of historical fiction, but reading the summary of Winterspell I figured I would try it. I really tried to get into this book, and I did at one point. The beginning was interesting but as it went the more and more I was getting confused.
Clara was extremely hard to relate with. She lacked so many characteristics, determination was a big one. Also, she was weak in a sense. Her Godfather trained her with weapons to protect herself, and in all honesty she did an okay job with protecting herself, but when it came to her father being abducted she just watched them take him! She wasn't a very good protagonist.
The plot confused me. The prologue made me think that the story was going to be set in Cane. Not, New York in 1898. At first it made sense, then you involve Godfather, the statue, the Doctor, and Plum and you get one big mess that you can't decipher.
I had high hopes for Winterspell and they just weren't met. To begin with I am not a fan of historical fiction, but reading the summary of Winterspell I figured I would try it. I really tried to get into this book, and I did at one point. The beginning was interesting but as it went the more and more I was getting confused.
Clara was extremely hard to relate with. She lacked so many characteristics, determination was a big one. Also, she was weak in a sense. Her Godfather trained her with weapons to protect herself, and in all honesty she did an okay job with protecting herself, but when it came to her father being abducted she just watched them take him! She wasn't a very good protagonist.
The plot confused me. The prologue made me think that the story was going to be set in Cane. Not, New York in 1898. At first it made sense, then you involve Godfather, the statue, the Doctor, and Plum and you get one big mess that you can't decipher.
elizabethtroup's review against another edition
3.0
If you haven't yet finished it, this review contains some spoilers:
Alright...well first off, I loved this cover. I loved the beginning and how everything built up to Clara entering Cane cause I was wondering how all of that would go down. Godfather was an awesome character. I loved his relationship with Clara and how he taught her to fight and mentored her.
Nicholas...was a babe. I loved him. I loved the metallic imagery about him and the fact that he was a statue who came to life. That being said...a little creepy how Clara acted with him previously like it was just a little weird. Plus the fact that he watched her grow up and then fell in love with her...idk I just don't feel so good about that. Other than those aspects, mostly I enjoyed their romance and hardcore shipped them.
Anise was a creep. Her whole relationship with Clara made me really uncomfortable. I did not like the weird sort of love triangle it created from this book.
Toooooo much nudity. It was so unnecessary. Everything did not need to be so sexualized. Just nope.
It also dragged on when I was overhalfway done. I just wanted it to be over.
The descriptions of the world were beautiful. I loved the wintery and steampunky imagery. Really cool.
Towards the end I was afraid Nicholas would die and then I was so sad when Clara left. But overjoyed when she returned to him. It made the ending really sweet. But the fact that he had to wait eight more years for her and then of course he aged even more so it was just a little weird. Like it didn't have to be THAT long. Maybe she should've only been gone for a year so he only aged four years??
I don't know if I'd recommend this book or not. I'm leaning towards not recommending it. I did give it 3 stars because I feel like 2 stars makes it seem like I didn't really like it and I did, just not enough for me to tell you to read it.
I don't really write a lot of book reviews so sorry if this isn't helpful at all but I was just compelled to write this. There are several other aspects I haven't covered, I think these are just the main things that I wanted to address.
One last thing: on the inside fold of the book sleeve it said "14 and up"? I think it should be 17 or 18 and up.
Alright...well first off, I loved this cover. I loved the beginning and how everything built up to Clara entering Cane cause I was wondering how all of that would go down. Godfather was an awesome character. I loved his relationship with Clara and how he taught her to fight and mentored her.
Nicholas...was a babe. I loved him. I loved the metallic imagery about him and the fact that he was a statue who came to life. That being said...a little creepy how Clara acted with him previously like it was just a little weird. Plus the fact that he watched her grow up and then fell in love with her...idk I just don't feel so good about that. Other than those aspects, mostly I enjoyed their romance and hardcore shipped them.
Anise was a creep. Her whole relationship with Clara made me really uncomfortable. I did not like the weird sort of love triangle it created from this book.
Toooooo much nudity. It was so unnecessary. Everything did not need to be so sexualized. Just nope.
It also dragged on when I was overhalfway done. I just wanted it to be over.
The descriptions of the world were beautiful. I loved the wintery and steampunky imagery. Really cool.
Towards the end I was afraid Nicholas would die and then I was so sad when Clara left. But overjoyed when she returned to him. It made the ending really sweet. But the fact that he had to wait eight more years for her and then of course he aged even more so it was just a little weird. Like it didn't have to be THAT long. Maybe she should've only been gone for a year so he only aged four years??
I don't know if I'd recommend this book or not. I'm leaning towards not recommending it. I did give it 3 stars because I feel like 2 stars makes it seem like I didn't really like it and I did, just not enough for me to tell you to read it.
I don't really write a lot of book reviews so sorry if this isn't helpful at all but I was just compelled to write this. There are several other aspects I haven't covered, I think these are just the main things that I wanted to address.
One last thing: on the inside fold of the book sleeve it said "14 and up"? I think it should be 17 or 18 and up.
breakingmandy's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't actually finish this book. I tried, I really did, but I just could not get into it. I found it to be very slow paced, boring and the characters obnoxious. Clara would go for kick ass to a frightened mouse in seconds,Nicholas was much the same and I couldn't stand it. I got it as an Advanced Readers Copy so I may try again in the future, but right now I have other things I'd rather read.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
Ich gebe auf. Nach 30% konnte mich das Buch noch immer nicht fesseln, jedes Kapitel ist eine Qual, das bringt jetzt nichts, vielleicht ein andernmal.
Eigentlich hätte alles funktionieren können. Claire Legrand kannte ich von ein paar Kurzgeschichten, die mir gefallen hatten. Winterspell ist eine Nacherzählung vom Nussknacker und Mausekönig. Was kann da schief gehen? Irgendwie ne Menge. Mich hat das Setting überrascht und mit Steampunk und Feen tue ich mich eh immer schwer. Außerdem hat der Schreibstil mir plötzlich Probleme bereitet. Er ist sehr actionreich und ich habe dadurch oft den Überblick verloren. Es hat einfach keinen Spaß gemacht, schon gar nicht mit meinen hohen Erwartungen im Nacken.
Eigentlich hätte alles funktionieren können. Claire Legrand kannte ich von ein paar Kurzgeschichten, die mir gefallen hatten. Winterspell ist eine Nacherzählung vom Nussknacker und Mausekönig. Was kann da schief gehen? Irgendwie ne Menge. Mich hat das Setting überrascht und mit Steampunk und Feen tue ich mich eh immer schwer. Außerdem hat der Schreibstil mir plötzlich Probleme bereitet. Er ist sehr actionreich und ich habe dadurch oft den Überblick verloren. Es hat einfach keinen Spaß gemacht, schon gar nicht mit meinen hohen Erwartungen im Nacken.
hiveretcafe's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted on my blog, Hiver et Cafe
I received an e-ARC from Simon and Schuster for Young Readers. This does not affect my opinion in any way. This is my honest review and I did not receive compensation in any shape or form in exchange for this review.
This book was certainly not what I expected. I've never actually seen The Nutcracker, but it's a classic Christmas story, so I didn't expect WINTERSPELL to be so dark. (I wiki'd the story of the Nutcracker after reading)
Anyways, like I said, this book is darker than I'd expected. It's not gritty or anything, but there's a war in the other world, Cane, between the faeries and the humans. There has always been a hatred between the faeries and the humans. The humans hated them for being mysterious about their magic, while the faeries hated the humans for cutting them open for experiments and to see how their magic worked. Anise, the faery queen, rules the land of Cane through fear and magic and Prince Nicholas attempts to regain his throne.
I actually quite liked Anise. As Clara met Anise and the confrontations happened, I could understand and see the reasoning behind her actions. I don't like what she resorted to, but I couldn't outright hate her. I like how Anise was written in a way that the reader could see past the fact that she's supposed to be the villain and also just see her as a person.
Let me just say, while I did enjoy, kind of, the steamy bits between Clara and Nicholas, I don't like him. I liked him in the beginning, and then he did the thing and I couldn't understand how Clara could forgive him. Seriously. I don't know what she sees in him. By the end, the only redeeming things about him for me were that he was a good kisser, it seemed like, and that he was hot. Also, it was pretty much stated that Nicholas is much older than eighteen years old and I think Clara is seventeen or eighteen? I'm a bit wary about that age difference.
And Clara. I have some words to say about you, young lady. In the beginning, when she first goes to Cane, it's so clear that she's full of rage over her mother's death, her father's kidnapping and the responsibilities that were thrust upon her because of her father's dealings with Concordia. It also doesn't help that some truths are revealed and she learns that she's been lied to for a very long time. She's eager to just put the blame on somebody, anybody, just to have someone to hate. She's pretty much loyal to a fault and she's very good at manipulation.
I love how even after the book is finished, I don't know which side of the war to root for. Both of them have done terrible things and I just rooted for Clara the entire way. I just wanted her to get in, get her father and get out. Leave the war to those who are involved in it. But of course, she's the protagonist and nothing is ever as simple as that. Also, there's a steampunk sort of feel to Cane since faeries use metal gloves to concentrate their magic as weapons and there's a lot of metal machinery that is woven into beings because of Anise's magic.
I really enjoyed this book, particularly Anise. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy retellings and those who are into this kind of "idk-what-side-to-pick" book. And I guess those who enjoy hot book boys as well. Nicholas. *glares*
I received an e-ARC from Simon and Schuster for Young Readers. This does not affect my opinion in any way. This is my honest review and I did not receive compensation in any shape or form in exchange for this review.
This book was certainly not what I expected. I've never actually seen The Nutcracker, but it's a classic Christmas story, so I didn't expect WINTERSPELL to be so dark. (I wiki'd the story of the Nutcracker after reading)
Anyways, like I said, this book is darker than I'd expected. It's not gritty or anything, but there's a war in the other world, Cane, between the faeries and the humans. There has always been a hatred between the faeries and the humans. The humans hated them for being mysterious about their magic, while the faeries hated the humans for cutting them open for experiments and to see how their magic worked. Anise, the faery queen, rules the land of Cane through fear and magic and Prince Nicholas attempts to regain his throne.
I actually quite liked Anise. As Clara met Anise and the confrontations happened, I could understand and see the reasoning behind her actions. I don't like what she resorted to, but I couldn't outright hate her. I like how Anise was written in a way that the reader could see past the fact that she's supposed to be the villain and also just see her as a person.
Let me just say, while I did enjoy, kind of, the steamy bits between Clara and Nicholas, I don't like him. I liked him in the beginning, and then he did the thing and I couldn't understand how Clara could forgive him. Seriously. I don't know what she sees in him. By the end, the only redeeming things about him for me were that he was a good kisser, it seemed like, and that he was hot. Also, it was pretty much stated that Nicholas is much older than eighteen years old and I think Clara is seventeen or eighteen? I'm a bit wary about that age difference.
And Clara. I have some words to say about you, young lady. In the beginning, when she first goes to Cane, it's so clear that she's full of rage over her mother's death, her father's kidnapping and the responsibilities that were thrust upon her because of her father's dealings with Concordia. It also doesn't help that some truths are revealed and she learns that she's been lied to for a very long time. She's eager to just put the blame on somebody, anybody, just to have someone to hate. She's pretty much loyal to a fault and she's very good at manipulation.
I love how even after the book is finished, I don't know which side of the war to root for. Both of them have done terrible things and I just rooted for Clara the entire way. I just wanted her to get in, get her father and get out. Leave the war to those who are involved in it. But of course, she's the protagonist and nothing is ever as simple as that. Also, there's a steampunk sort of feel to Cane since faeries use metal gloves to concentrate their magic as weapons and there's a lot of metal machinery that is woven into beings because of Anise's magic.
I really enjoyed this book, particularly Anise. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy retellings and those who are into this kind of "idk-what-side-to-pick" book. And I guess those who enjoy hot book boys as well. Nicholas. *glares*
jobananers's review against another edition
3.0
Mediocre book. It had an interesting plot but it honestly felt like it dragged on in a few parts.
I didn't really connect with any of the characters but I liked Clara's character development throughout the book.
Also I found her sexual connection with the statue at the beginning of the book really REALLY freakin' weird. I almost didn't read past it.
I didn't really connect with any of the characters but I liked Clara's character development throughout the book.
Also I found her sexual connection with the statue at the beginning of the book really REALLY freakin' weird. I almost didn't read past it.
laniesmith's review against another edition
3.0
why she didn’t just stay with the pretty and rich faerie queen I’ll never know