I understood that, and I pitied him, but I also hated him. Corbet is helpless against the tide of the curse, against the pull of the fey woods. In fact, it’s a choke-hold: What is the true nature of Corbet’s curse? Why is he back? Which sister does he really love? Can Rois save Corbet? Will she want to save him, even if he doesn’t love her back and has literally destroyed her family? There were moments I grew to hate Corbet. Trust McKillip to take the old Tam Lin legend, and turn it on its heel, give it a makeover unlike any other version! Almost, almost, the suspense is unbearable. A disastrous love affair follows: both sisters fall for Corbet, who seems to be under a generations-long curse. It brings back Corbet, the long-forgotten heir to the Lynn estate bordering the woods. Come spring, she will marry her childhood sweetheart. Her elder sister Laurel is the practical one, caring for the family. The feeling of snowfall, simultaneously beautiful and oppressive has lingered with me.Rois is the herb-woman of the village, knowing the woods in-and-out. I did appreciate the story and images of winter. I know, I know, it was a spell or.something? But I don't like cheating, even when it's fairy-induced.

I also don't tend to love the cruel whimsy of fairies, so there's that working against it too. I don't like that, and that intangibility will make this a story that does not stick with me very long, like a dream that already starts disappearing and not making sense as soon as you wake up. I feel like there was a lot of 'Because, fairies' and not much else of substance provided. I don't feel like I have a firm explanation on why some things happened the way they did, or even on what exactly happened in a few cases. I'm not a reader who likes the 'dreamscape' feeling, so I really didn't like McKillip's foggy, dreamy wanderings into the vague fairy world. It is on one hand evocative and mood-setting, while on the other hand bloated and annoying. DNF Explanation: The Vanishing Island by Barry Wol.ĭense and dreamy, this book contains a very simplistic and nice fairy tale-like story dressed up with a lot of fancy language and imagery.Book Review: The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy.

Book Review: Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip.

Book Review: The Art of Disney's Dragons by Tom Ba.

Winter rose patricia a mckillip