I can’t really say why I dislike this genre. That’s part of the reason I had difficulty really enjoying The Evil Wizard Smallbone, because of the human-animal transformations going on. I don’t like reading fantasies involving fairies, or animal-human hybrids/melds/whatever, or really any sort of “portal” fantasy involving fairy-type lands. One reason is that I’m simply not a fan of the genre of this novel. Winterling falls a little bit in the middle for me, or perhaps, if you go by the rating that I gave it, much further away from even Ash & Bramble. On the other hand, her fairy-tale retellings (like Ash & Bramble) have been somewhat disappointing. On the one hand, I love her Magic Thief series. Rating: 2/5 I kind of have this love-hate relationship with Sarah Prineas. Fer must unlock the secrets about the parents she never knew and claim her true place before the worlds on both sides of the Way descend into endless winter.

But a powerful huntress named the Mór rules here, and Fer can sense that the land is perilously out of balance. Fer feels an instant attachment to this realm, where magic is real and oaths forge bonds stronger than iron. He knows who Fer truly is, and incites her through the Way, a passage to a strange, dangerous land. Then she saves an injured creature-he looks like a boy, but he’s really something else. Not when the forest is calling to her, when the rush of wind through branches feels more real than school or the quiet farms near her house.

With her boundless curiosity and wild spirit, Fer has always felt that she doesn’t belong. Read more of wonder, mystery and danger.Winterling, by Sarah Prineas, was published in 2012 by Harper. An action-packed adventure through a land. And if she loses, she risks plunging her beloved lands back into a terrible darkness. To prove herself, Fer must face the toughest contest of her life against leaders with powers far greater than her own. There are many in the lands who think she should return to her own world. Fer is the Lady of the Summerlands - a magical realm on the other side of the Way. To prove herself, Fer must face the toughest contest of her life.

Winterling series