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Book Review: The Sisters of the Winter Wood Sampler by Rena Rossner

The Sisters of the Winter Wood Sampler by Rena Rossner

*Warning – may contain spoilers*

Author: Rena Rossner

Publisher: Orbit

First published: 2018

Edition: Illumicrate Sampler

Pages: 28 

Blurb: Every family has a secret … and every secret tells a story.

 In a remote village surrounded by forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya have been raised on the honeyed scent of their Mami’s babka and the low rumble of their Tati’s prayers. But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell – despite their mother’s warning to be wary of strangers. As dark forces close in on their village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret about a magical heritage they never knew existed. The sisters realise the old fairy tales are true … and could save them all.

History of my copy: I received this sample within an Illumicrate box.

 

This is only a review of the sampler, not of the whole book, which I have not read.

Plot: This sample includes the first 7 chapters of Rena Rossner’s debut novel, The Sisters of the Winter Wood. We meet the main characters, Liba and Laya, in their forest home with their parents, in what seems like an ordinary world. However, it climaxes with Liba discovering that Mami can turn into a swan, and Tati into a bear, along with the assumption that her and Laya can too.

Setting: Although the writing is a bit cliché in places, it is descriptive. However it feels quite forced, with embellishments added simply for the sake of it.

Characters: Nothing much stands out about the characters from this sample, apart from the familiar trope that one child is exactly like the father, and the other a mirror of the mother which are, unsurprisingly, polar opposites of each other. Liba feels very young and childish, and perhaps she is, but I can’t see how they become the main characters of the book, unless there is a time jump that occurs in the full story.

 

To read or not to read: Not read. I had high hopes for this book from the blurb. It might not have been set in a location I would typically go for, but I do like books which are based around fairytales. However, this one fell flat. The writing style didn’t feel very refined, and the contrast between Liba’s chapters being text and Laya’s being poem confused me further. This is likely expanded on in the full story, but the sampler did not leave me itching to buy the book.