Winterwood Published by Simon Pulse on November 2019
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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Be careful of the dark, dark wood…
Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.
Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.
But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.
For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why.
Be careful of the dark, dark wood…
Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.
Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.
But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.
For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why.
I loved Ernshaw’s debut The Wicked Deep so I was eager to read this one.
The atmosphere really got to me. The loneliness and isolation of the location was such an intense character in the story. I really liked how it was described as well as how it effected the characters.
Nora’s and Oliver’s chemistry was very realistic. Each was wary of the other, cautious and so it took time for them to find a deeper connection but I liked that. The entire book moved slowly, as if slowly thawing from a long winter’s night and that added suspense and mystery. I had guessed what was going on early on, but that didn’t make the book any less enjoyable.
I do wish there was a little more. More action, more family dynamics, more friends or foil characters, more tension at the end. Nora is so cut off, with only memories of her grandmother really making an impact on the reader. Her mother is around, but absent and though this adds to Nora’s isolation it doesn’t end itself to giving us a clearer picture who Nora really is and where she comes from. We only catch a glimpse of Nora around another girl who is not a friend or an enemy. Most of the story centers around Oliver and Nora and it works in some ways but didn’t in others.
Overall, Winterwood is a creepy and atmospheric story about magic and death and things we don’t understand. I really enjoyed reading it and Ernshaw has cemented herself as an auto buy writer for me.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
I recently finished this and it still lingers in my mind. Especially that ending.