This book hurt to read for a bit. Let's face it, following Rois makes us sad because of her love. But she goes further and listens to what the wind tells her. The tale is full of relationships and all kinds of love - romantic, familiar, friendship - which helps Rois grow.

It's been a long time since I finished a book in a day due to my hectic schedule. This book I couldn't put down. Starting with Alphabet of Thorn, and now this novel has made me a McKillip fan. ( )

I wasn't sure what to rate this one, but I did stay up until 1:30 am to finish, so it must have been good! I think my hesitation is because Tam Lin has never been one of my favorite fairy tales. But this one was really well done and I was so drawn into the story. I loved Rois and her unconventional ways. ( )

I guess this book was ok not great just ok.Was a little confusing in spots.I've liked her other books but this one just didn't do it for me.3 stars ( )

This was the first book by Patricia McKillip I've ever read, and the first fantasy novel I've read in quite a long time. I was impressed by how evocative McKillip's writing was; there was a sense of "place" that was both dream-like and tangible. I identified with her protagonists' sense of never quite belonging as well as her inexplicable yearning for something she couldn't quite name. The intricacy of the family relationships, particularly between Rose and her sister, were also well done. Somehow, she manages to create a narrative that gets away with weaving between the "real world" and something like a waking dream without coming across as too hallucinatory. This was a novel that made me remember why I love fantasy so much. ( )

an eerie fairy tale that mixes dreams, magic, and different worlds into something haunting and mysterious. at times, i wasn't quite sure what was going on - but the story has some elements of the folktale tam lin that oriented me somewhat, in that the main character, rois, falls in love with a man, corbet, who seems caught between two worlds, the human and the fairy (or something like fairy). her efforts to save him, herself, and her sister, who falls in love with corbet, follow a tangled, tortured path back to humanity which at one point includes rois trying to "hold onto" corbet no matter what form he takes. some of the language and images were striking and beautiful, but i couldn't really engage with the characters. i don't know if it was the strangeness of the story, or its rather open ended aspect and conclusion, but i felt distanced from its events and people - except for the relationship between rose and her sister, the only thing relatively solid and clear amidst a landscape of shifting dreams and realities. not that i don't appreciate a book that leaves much to speculation and questions, but unfotunately the questions i had after reading winter rose left too conspicuous gaps that got in the way of understanding the characters at least on same basic level of connection. ( )

In this beautifully written short novel, Rois, a young woman known for her unconventional ways (she wanders the woods barefoot, seeking healing herbs for her potions), falls in love with the strange young man who suddenly appears in the village. Is he a ghost, returned from the distant past? Or a true heir to the estate bordering Rois' home? To complicate matters, he falls in love with Rois' staid sister, and she with him. The story is developed through an odd mix of fantasy and realism--a dream world or visions (caused by wine? drugs?) cross over into reality, and it's difficult to know which is which. Beautiful writing, but the story isn't always easy to follow. ( )

Winter Rose is more of a fairy tale than an ordinary fantasy novel. It's about two sisters, one wild and free, other steady and stable, whose lives are changed by a new neighbour, Corbet Lynn. He returns to the family mansion where his father slayed his grandfather. The grandfather, a rather nasty person really, cursed his son on his last breath. But what was the curse about, exactly, and is Corbet threatened by that curse? Nobody seems to remember the exact words.

Rois, the wild sister, is enthralled by the curse and the mystery Corbet represents. Laurel, steady and to be married soon, falls for Corbet in different way. It's a busy autumn that eventually turns into a long, dark winter, with ill consequences. Patricia McKillip has weaved a beautiful story, perhaps a tad slow for my tastes, but very atmospheric nonetheless. Like I said, Winter Rose owes a lot to fairy tales and legends (Tam Lin is an important reference). Beautiful words, but I wouldn't have minded a slightly swifter plot.

(Original review at my review blog) ( )

An amazing book. I first read this book as a teenager and even now fall completely into it every time I read it. It's just mesmerizing. The story of a girl who falls in love with someone who may or may not be mortal in a winter that seems to never end. ( )

The first time I read this book, a few years back, I did not understand it. I loved Patricia McKillip's imagery and writing style, but I seemed to get lost in it, and could not untangle the plot in all of Rois's dreams.

Having finished the book a second time, I can now say that it makes sense. I am finally able to reconcile what happened to Rois, Corbet, Laurel, Perrin and the others during that winter. And now I understand who the mysterious lady was who Rois saw behind her at the well.

Since it took two readings to sort out the meaning in my head, I only give this book three stars, despite McKillip's talent for beautiful prose. ( )

Weaving several stories that involve roses this is an interesting read. It seems to take it's primary inspiration from Snow White and Rose Red but there are aspects of Beauty and the Beast as well there. McKillip manages to evoke a very fairy tale aspect to the story. It does lag occasionally but the tension is kept up throughout the story, and even though it is a fairy tale you're never sure what the exact outcome is going to be.
I did enjoy it but it's not my favourite of the type. ( )

This was a reread for me. I have McKillip's latest, Solstice Wood and since I knew that was about descendants of the characters in Winter Rose it seemed a good idea to reread that one first.

This is classic McKillip. The writing is dense, lyrical and beautiful. The tale is told in a tangle of metaphor and illusion that drags the reader in. Winter Rose is build from the basis of a retelling of Tam Lin, but McKillip takes the tale new places and tells her own, new story all the same.

The story threads are never crisp in a McKillip tale; they are wrapped up in and occasionally obscured by her lyrical writing but the story always comes through as they do in this case.

It's years since I last read Winter Rose, and I came away with a feeling that I had a clearer understanding now than I had before. It was worth the reread and makes me want to find space to put more McKillip in the TBR shelf to see what else I can discover in her other books. ( )

http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/w... ( )

A very warm story. ( )

This one was pure poetry. Reminded me very much of Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, although a completely different story about a completely different season, almost like the other side of the coin. But the dream-like language casts the same evocative spell over the reader... This sort of story is hard to describe without giving too much away, but I will tell you it's about harshness of Winter, the pain of love, and way all things - good and bad - will eventually pass... There's a simple plot here, a love triangle, a tale of two sisters, one wild and one domestic, and a boy who comes between them, but for myself, I also found a deeper metaphor... the only way to know your true self, is to dream it... ( )