★ ★ BLOG TOUR: THE WINTER PEOPLE by Rebekah L. Purdy REVIEW by the POPPY FAIRY + GIVEAWAY ★ ★

Title: The Winter People

Author: Rebekah L. Purdy

Release Date: September 2nd 2014

Published by: Entangled Teen

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books 

Synopsis:

An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.

Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn't forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
 


Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she'll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.

Goodreads

Review:

It’s been soooo long since I last read a faerie book so when the opportunity to read The Winter People came in, I immediately grabbed it. Plus, the blurb said that it’s “perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater” and as I am completely powerless against anything that has Cashore or Stiefvater in it, I just let myself be guided by the flow. And as expected, The Winter People has no similarities whatsoever with the two authors’ works other than the genre which I think is what the blurb really meant by it. HOWEVER, The Winter People has a lot of great qualities in it and I am not only recommending it to fans of Cashore and Stiefvater, but to everyone who’s into the fantasy genre.

I love The Winter People as a whole but I have to admit that the beginning put off me at first. The plot was a little slow and a love quadrangle was introduced. I’m not a huge fan of love triangle, much less a love quadrangle but for me, it’s not the kind where you have no idea who the lead’s going to end up with so I was pretty chill about it all throughout the story. The plot picks up as well after a couple of chapters and from there, all the beautiful things just keep happening and before I knew it, I was completely absorbed into the book.

Salome is not really my type of protagonist. She’s a perfect damsel in distress and there were times that she annoyed me but I loved how she matured as a character and towards the end of the book, I found myself actually cheering for her. The boys were interesting characters too, but the one Salome chose for herself holds a special place in my heart that’s why I’m really happy that they got together in the end. There were some other characters that would’ve been spectacular too if better developed, but all in all, I am quite satisfied with the cast as well as the story as a whole.The mystery that had been nagging at me since the beginning was well-justified and the writing, superb! Salome will just suck you in with her grabbing narration and the vividness of the world-building wouldn’t let you put the book down until you finish it.

I received an e-copy as part of The Winter People blog tour in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 fairy wings

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

I was born and raised in Michigan (just look for the giant mitten on the map—it’ll likely throw a snowball at you). I spent most of my time in Michigan, but while in the army got to call KS, SC, MO, and CA home for awhile as well.

As a kid my family moved around a lot. Try spending both your freshman and senior years at new schools (yeah, loads of fun). I could’ve changed my name to “new girl”.

I love writing for teens because those are the years I remember falling in love with most of my favorite books. Some of the authors I couldn’t put down were L.J. Smith, Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine, Richie Tankersley Cusick, Joan Lowery Nixon, Lois Duncan, amongst several others.

My husband and I have a large family. There are six kids total! So we have LOTS of fun on vacations (although hours on the road, cooped up in the Expedition is kind of stressful—although we pass the time with MAD LIBS and hoping no one gets carsick).

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