Winterset Hollow

Kudos to the author for coming up with a creative premise. I mean, on the surface it seems cliche, but he is creative with it, to the point where I honestly did not see several of the twists coming.

A group of young adults travel to the home of the author who wrote a book they loved (and as someone who once did the same thing myself, I get why people do this) and the poetry that comes from the book within the book is lovely.

However, as the reader can expect, things go sideways fast. And the author does a bloody great job with the descriptions of what is going on - some of the food the frog cooked sounds FANTASTIC - and later, the hunt. You can feel the terror and confusion of the victims as they're set upon by the characters they loved show more as children - the same characters that turned out to not just be characters (which was its own level of initial confusion at first)

In the end, it's not hard to feel bad for the animals despite the horror they visit upon the unwitting and innocent humans. They have the right to be angry, and their initial revenge against the person who actually did them harm was justified. However, they became twisted over time from their own hatred that the initial act did not satisfy them, their bloodlust only increased to culminate in the storyline the reader is reading, long after the perpetrator of the horror against the animals is dead.

In the end, I guess we're all fucked up, eh? 4.25/5 stars. show less

I got into this one almost entirely based on the cover. I knew it would be dark, but I didn't realize how much violence there would be, once the action got started. Very nicely done though. I loved the narrative poem running through the whole thing; that was probably my favorite part, actually. And beyond that, this book definitely had something to say about the interaction between cultures and the often disastrous results when there is an imbalance of power. No easy answers here, just sorrow, rage, and compassion.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your favorite childhood book became real? Imagine if the adorable, innocent animals came to life and invited you into their world. Most of us would think of a place filled with friendship, fun and great adventure. That is not what takes place in this book. The author has taken a magical world full of fluffy, sweet animals and flipped it on its head. I was not at all prepared for the ride that awaited me within these pages. It was sinister and horrifying and one of the best books I've read so far this year. The writing is also very beautiful, which I rarely expect from a horror novel.

5 stars all the way!

This review also featured on Behind the Pages: Winterset Hollow

Around the world, Winterset Hollow is a book cherished by countless people. When a group of fans earn ferry tickets to Addington Isle, they jump at the chance to visit their beloved author’s residence. It’s Barley Day, after all, a day of celebration in the Hollow. But for some this Barley Day will be their last. And they will soon find, that the precious book they all hold so dear, was crafted from blood and lies.

Winterset Hollow is a book that leans heavily on the literature side of writing. Settings are described in great detail, making sure to explore each room and area the characters enter. The vocabulary used is flamboyant and emphasizes the use of complex sentence show more structure. And there is a large amount of buildup and foreshadowing. It is a book that takes a while to move the plot forward as it spends a good amount of time building up each character and the essence of their position in life.

While Winterset Hollow has an extremely slow start, once the hunt begins it does pick up the pace. Though I do wish the sudden aggressiveness of the antagonists was more of a surprise. Foreshadowing was used a bit too much to send red flags to the readers, and I knew something was coming around the corner. Even the way the hunt began was a bit anticlimactic and the first death wasn’t quite unexpected. And while the hunt was intense and nerve-wracking, there were moments where long descriptions cut into the flow of the story and disrupted the pacing. But I will say, Finn, is a terrifying creature to have chase you. He is merciless and cruel. The perfect example of embodied rage and long-held grudges.

And then there is the overarching question of why? Why were these creatures so many humans loved across the world these tattered bitter versions of themselves? The slow reveal and the ensuing journey of discovery our three main protagonists underwent to piece this together was well done. Each new part of the puzzle they discovered was more disturbing than the last, and the final reveal of it all was well worth the wait. I also enjoyed the way the writing style jumped from one perspective to the next, allowing readers a full view of all the motivations and happenings of the story. This version of the third-person point of view was executed well and enriched the overall emotional impact of the story.

Would I compare this to Redwall? No, no I would not. This was pitched to me as a horror version of Redwall and it most certainly is not. The writing style is vastly different and even the origin of the characters in their Hollow is more akin to Watership Down than Redwall. Winterset Hollow is its own brand of dark fantasy, filled with complex characters and haunting revelations. If you enjoy novels that take the time to dive into motivations and develop an intricate set of characters and situations, give Winterset Hollow a try. show less

First, I should say that I love the premise of this book, and there were moments that I absolutely adored. Once it got started, it felt like a Velveteen Rabbit story written for adults, and then taken in a dark direction. Even the omniscient POV, which sometimes got on my nerves, seemed somewhat explainable when taken in the context of children's story told for adults.

But, that said, I've been sitting with this book for a few days and am still struggling to know what to say about it. It's clear to me that a good copyedit could have done wonders for the book, first of all--it's just too over-written in so many ways, with more POVs than are remotely necessary, per book and per scene. The head-hopping and omniscient POV also make for a ton show more of filter language to keep us anchored in whatever head a new paragraph jumps into, and the book as a whole feels like it too often suffers from the characters' dialogue being written to sound clever and entertaining more than natural.

Then, take the plot. As I said, I love the concept. I'm thrilled to suspend disbelief and go to an island of talking animals alongside the author and characters, absolutely! But...once the action starts, it doesn't stop. And while that's not always a problem, the book starts to feel like a slasher, in that there are so many near-deaths (alongside actual deaths, of course) that the characters often feel unkillable--alive and trekking on mostly uninjured long after they should reasonably have been done for--in the fashion of slasher franchises' bad guys. And a slasher on paper can be tiresome at the best of times with just one killer--put together a whole group of them, and a whole group of characters constantly surviving almost-kills that seem to leave them mostly okay even when that shouldn't be the case, and it's flat-out tiresome.

Add in some unexplained plot points, some small contradictions that a decent editor would have caught, and the headaches start adding up.

The ending is also slow-going because, put simply, it feels as if it ends repeatedly and then picks back up again, and altogether just takes too long, as if the author was just spooling out story after story without thinking about actually stopping for some 50 pages or more. By the end, I was just so past ready to be done.

I'm also struggling with the fact that such a whimsical book is taken not just to such a dark place, but leaves readers in a rather melancholoy, unsatisfied state after everything. I feel like a reader who picks up this book is going to be drawn to it by the animals, not the humans, and I'm not sure the author was thinking about that when wrapping things up.

Will I read another book by the author? I'm not sure. The concept drew me to this one and I simply couldn't say no, even when I saw what an odd fit it seemed like for the publisher and suddenly felt red flags brewing. And, truly, I'm curious whether the omniscient, headhopping style was chosen just for this book or whether the author would use it for other books. I'm just not sure I'm curious enough to find out. show less

This book had been on my TBR for a long while. And I am so glad I finally got to it. It was amazingly unique, I loved how magical it was. It was like a beautiful hug from someone you totally love, and then that someone slices your gut open. There was some deep emotional trauma represented here. I'm very used to seeing trauma in humans, but this book did a deep dive into trauma experienced by human-like animals and it was so deliciously fucked up.

I absolutely adored the poetry from the fictional book Winterset Hollow, it was spectacular. I legit would pay good money to own that fictional piece of literary art. The characters, both human and animal, were magnificent. I was attached to all of them in different ways. My only critique is show more the fact that the POV switched on a dime sometimes causing my brain some slight confusion. I also feel like it could have been a bit shorter, I wouldn't say I was ever bored, but there were definitely some parts that were kind of draggy.

Recommend completely, solidly entertaining. show less

Where to begin with my review of this book. Instantly, I am overwhelmed with words like...amazing, spellbound, mind-f**k, prolific storyteller. I could go on and on but you get the idea. Once I started reading, I could not stop. There were many times I found myself re-reading a part. Just because my mind could not fully process what I was reading in a mind blowing way. This book was a fast read for me but at the same time I made myself slow down as I did not want it to end. Readers beware of Barley Day. It is all fun and games until someone is becomes is hunted.

In another alternate world is actually would not be that hard to believe that the human race is not the top predator but is the prey. Thus, part of the believability of this show more story. I would say this book dips in the horror genre but I would not classify it as straight horror. It belongs in its own category. I dare say this book is my top favorite of 2021! I look forward to what author, Mr. Durham comes out with next. show less