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Un Hiver De Sang (2014)

by Diana Pharaoh Francis(Favorite Author)

3.95 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

2809433860 (ISBN13: 9782809433869)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Panini books

series

Horngate Witches

review 1: My Initial Reaction…I continue to devour this series, my only disappointment being that there this was the last book in the series.The story is far from over IMHO and I won’t lie, I’m VERY upset that it’s over! In all seriousness, I think this may be the main reason I can’t give Blood Winter 5 stars – it’s not a satisfactory ending to a series, as much as I loved every minute of it.The Story…In Blood Winter Max, Alexander, Kyle, Tory, and Carrie are preparing to go into town to see how the townsfolk have been dealing with the Change when disaster strikes. An unknown witch has gathered followers around him, making himself into the next Jesus – but his self-proclaimed work as “the right arm of God” is to wipe out the evil among them, namely Witches and... more those who consort with them. He brings his mission to Horngate’s doorstep – passing through their wards with four “witches” nailed up to burn. Of course Max and her crew resolve that something must be done about the unspeakable horrors he’s perpetrating against the helpless, but the more they work to defeat him the more powerful they realize he is and the more hopeless the situation seems. The Angel’s are still out and the Grimms (and Spike) take off, leaving the Coven ill equipped to fight without losing more of their family. Not to mention their still reeling from the loss of Niko. All the stress threatens to tear Max, Alexander, Tyler, Thor, Giselle, and the entire coven apart.Like the rest of the series, Blood Winter was non-stop action, complete with painful descriptions of every horrible blow Max, Alexander and the rest of the crew took. For me, Blood Winter surpassed the others in the added element of mystery. Who was this preacher-dude and what hope did they have to defeat him? There were so many twists and I really never knew what was going to happen next, keeping me perpetually on my toes. Diana does an amazing job of capturing the feelings of despair that Max and really everyone were feeling and I definitely had a few teary eye moments. And watching this haphazard family come together at such a depressed moment to fight was arm-tingly, goosebumpy at times. Did I mention I loved this book?Concluding Sentiments…A really wonderful read. Diana Pharaoh Francis continues to weave incredibly unique fantasy with heart-wrenching and painful detail. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for deals on any other books she’s written for sure!*This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.*
review 2: This book. I can’t even describe how many times I almost quit on it. Truly the only reason I didn’t was because I received it from the amazing people over at Arcycling. It just didn’t feel right to DNF it, no matter how much I wanted to at times. So I slogged through and have made it through to the other side. The funny thing is, Blood Winter isn’t a bad book. I wouldn’t even be surprised if quite a few bloggy friends of mine into fantasy would read it and like it. It just wasn’t for me. Let me tell you why.Wordiness. I love beautiful descriptions and depictions of the worlds authors create and the characters that inhabit them as much as the next person. That does not mean, however, that I want 50+ words to describe what you could tell me in 10. I will qualify all of what I’ll be saying about this book by reminding you that since I received it from Arcycling it is an ARC, there may have been some changes. The advanced reader copy I received is 388 pages. It probably should have been closer to 300. There is simply too much description, too much minutia to wade through and that’s all there is to it. Moving on.Style. Francis wrote Blood Winter in a way where we are being told what is happening rather than being able to experience the action along with the characters. This happens. Then that happens. Then some more stuff happens. While there are exceptions to every rule, in most cases I don’t recommend writing in this way because it feels passive, or worse, even distances the reader. It’s like reading a history book where all of the action has already taken place. You aren’t connected, you don’t feel with the characters and because of it the book loses so much potential for readers to enjoy. Meh.The relationship. Gag me with a spork. Alright, please don’t as that sounds quite painful, but this “romance” did nothing for me. At no point did I hope for Max and Alexander’s happiness, feel saddened by their struggles or uplifted by their happy times. I felt numb, kind of like they do at various points in the book. It’s this on again, off again spiral of frustration, it’s a ride they can’t seem to get off of and, at least for me, just gets annoying. I get it, you are fighting, you aren’t the most compatible of people, but can we move on yet? In fact that’s exactly what I’ll do.There are positives in Blood Winter. Arcycling book or not, if I didn’t find some things that interested me I would have DNF’d it after 100 pages or so. Max is actually a great character when she isn’t dwelling on Alexander. She’s a kickass near-superhero type with a sharp sense of humor. Who doesn’t love that? I wish she would have just ditched Alexander in the beginning since she was clearly having attachment issues as it was and moved on to kick everyone’s butt. Alas. She felt the most real out of any character in the book and things from her perspective, as opposed to Alexander’s, just felt right. Give me more Max and less mushy crap and I’d have been hooked.The world that Francis created is also very intriguing. It is teeming with supernatural creatures of all types from angels to “Blades”, from witches to “Grims” plus a host of others. This is where the author’s tendency to go into too much detail was a help rather than a hindrance. You could pick up Blood Winter, which is the fourth book in the Horngate Witches series, and read it as a stand alone without feeling lost. As a reader I understood every facet of the world after about 50 or so pages. If it wasn’t for the style of writing employed I’d be keen on coming back and discovering more.So overall no, I didn’t enjoy Blood Winter. If you are tempted to DNF a book that many times it takes some miraculous writing near the middle and end to save a book, this one didn’t have it. I didn’t like the style, the book could have been a lot shorter to cut down on the wordiness and excessive descriptions and the relationship was grating on the nerves. The positives, Max and the world building, couldn’t outweigh the negatives. Nothing to be done.Rating: 1.5/5 less

Download links for: Un hiver de sang

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