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.

 

Book Review: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Wintersong – S. Jae-Jones

*Warning – may contain spoilers*

Author: S. Jae-Jones

Publisher: Titan Books

First published: 2017

Edition: First edition paperback

Pages: 508

Blurb:    All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen, Liesl can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl must journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds – and the mysterious man who rules it – she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.

History of my copy: Wintersong was the featured book of the 6^th Illumicrate box, from February 2017. See my unboxing post here. It came with a letter from S. Jae-Jones, a bookmark and a signed bookplate.

Wintersong isn’t the sort of book I would pick up for myself to read, despite my love of music and its obvious connections to that. However, I absolutely adored it, and that is one of my favourite things about book boxes – being introduced to books that I wouldn’t normally read.

Plot: Wintersong follows Liesl, the eldest of 3 siblings, who is overlooked by everyone. Her sister is kidnapped by the Goblin King to become his bride in a retelling of Labyrinth. Liesl’s job is to save her, without getting lost in the Underworld herself. However, that is easier said than done. After all, the Goblin King is still looking for his Queen…

Setting: As you can gather, a large part of the book is set in the Underground home of the Goblin King. I’ve never read a book where the setting, which should be so desolate, was so simply enchanting. Despite the savagery that comes with the goblins, the whole book is so beautifully described that you can’t help but fall a little bit in love with it all.

Characters: I related to Liesl so much she is my favourite. She had so many issues that are delved deep into throughout the story. She’s a composer but is told to ‘grow up’ and ‘focus on other things’ whilst being lost against her beautiful sister and brilliant musical brother. Whilst I tend to get a little fed up of the ‘selfless heroine who is constantly in the shadows but is actually super lovely and talented’, I couldn’t help but adore Liesl.

                I also loved the character of the Goblin King. Sorry not sorry but I’m an absolute sucker for a bad guy that is just lost underneath it all. I like villains that aren’t true villains, enemies that you can learn to love, and the Goblin King is one of them. This book is just as much about them finding each other as it is about them finding themselves.

To read or not to read: Read. Read. Read. I absolutely adored this book!

Illumicrate Number 8 Unboxing (August 2017)

Continuing my Illumicrate unboxing theme, this is my unboxing of the 8th box from August 2017.

Check Illumicrate out here!

As you can see, the box is full of goodies, including two books!

Silly me forgot to take a photo of the packing list, so here is what was included:
- Copy of Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo with red sprayed edges and a pin badge
- Red Church Tea
- Shakespeare zip bag
- Wisdom journal
- Alethiometer coaster
- Sticky bookmarks
- Extras: Ringer bookmark, After the Fire bookmark, The Bear and the Nightingale bookmark, Moxie badges, Nyxia arc and bookmark



I will admit that I wasn't too keen on the book choice. I'm not a DC fan, but I will give the book a go.

This tea, quite simply, ruined my life. It got me into loose-leaf tea which has cost me a bomb, but I love it. This tea was delicious!

I use this cute little pouch as a book case for any smaller paperback books I'm reading, so that they don't get damaged in my bag.

This is a cute little dot grid notebook which I am sure I will use at some point!

This coaster is gorgeous! Although I haven't finished His Dark Materials, I do love the books and this lovely golden coaster has a special place on my desk to hold my coffee mug.

I adore this book jar! Although it's actually a money box, I'm eventually going to use it to store the names of all my TBR books so that I can pick my next read randomly from it.

I'm not someone who annotates books as I read them, but I'm sure I'll put these cute sticky notes to use when doing university work!

I love the bookmarks Illumicrate adds! They give me ideas of new books to buy, and are cute essentials.

I love to match the bookmark to the book I am currently reading, so that I use all the bookmarks I own (and it aesthetically pleases me...)

Like bookmarks, the postcards are a cute addition, especially ones that advertise books.

Another bookmark!

I'm not a pin badge person, but I do think they're cute! Illumicrate has since (spoiler alert) included a badge banner, and I can't wait to fill it!

Nyxia was the ARC included. I can't wait to read it!












Thanks for reading!

Illumicrate Number 7 Unboxing (May 2017)

Following on from my February 2017 Illumicrate unboxing, here is my unboxing of the 7th box, from May 2017.

Check Illumicrate out here.

This box was jam-packed with goodies, as you can see! See the packing list below:

Truth Or Dare by Non Pratt was the included book this month. It was signed, with little additions, by the author and came with a letter too. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I am excited to!

The Feyre mug included is really cute! It currently sits on my shelves by the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.












I am a huge fan of candles and, as you can imagine, I was so happy when I found this gorgeous Mermaid Lagoon candle included! It smells amazing!

This Harry Potter inspired keyring in an exclusive colour was a great addition. I love the colour blue, and it's all sparkly and looks so good when the sun catches it. 











In case you didn't know, I am a humongous fan of Beauty and the Beast. The original animated Disney film is one of my all time favourites! Because of that, this print and door hanger are 2 of my favourite Illumicrate additions as they are so pretty!








I loved this little page-corner bookmark that was included.

Now onto the little extras included in the box.

A large poster promoting Windfall was included.












This cute Gender Games badge was also there.

I adore these little cards promoting Taste of Blue Light and I'm sure they will be featured on bookstagram at some point. My favourite is definitely the one in the bottom right.















The final item in this month's Illumicrate was a letter, bookmark and ARC of The Waking Land by Callie Bates, which I can't wait to read!










And that's it for the May 2017 unboxing of the Illumicrate box! Hopefully I will catch up with these soon so that I can post up-to-date ones.


I'm now on summer holidays after my second year of uni. And guess what? I've made it into third year! Hopefully I will catch up on all my delayed blog posts over the summer and set up a plan to keep posting regularly next year.

Illumicrate Number 6 Unboxing (February 2017)

Following on from my November 2016 unboxing, here is my unboxing for the 6th Illumicrate box from February 2017.

Check Illumicrate out here.

I do love the initial feeling when the unique Illumicrate box arrives through the post!

 Here is the full contents of the box. This box had a less items compared with the last box, but there was an ARC instead!

As always, I hid the packing list as I unboxed so that I didn't ruin the surprise for myself, but I did have a quick read afterwards to confirm everything was there (I'm a little paranoid!)

The main book this month was Wintersong by S. Jae Jones. Although the review isn't up yet, I absolutely adored this book! Probably not something I would've bought for myself, which makes the Illumicrate box even better as it encourages me to read books I wouldn't necessarily go for. The book came with a letter from the author, a bookmark and a signed bookplate.

My favourite item from the box has to be this gorgeous Bare Necessities pouch! Although I'm not a fan of The Jungle Book, the pouch is gorgeous and I use it as a pencil case for uni (hence the little mark on it).

This magic and mischief lip balm tastes amazing and is a lovely little extra to the box.

These magnets from A Darker Shade of Magic are cool, although I haven't read the book or have anywhere to put them. Maybe when I get my own place they will go on my fridge!

I love Newt Scamander so much, and so this bookmark quickly became one of my favourites! The drawing is gorgeous and the quote always makes me laugh.

Now onto the additional extras included in the box!

This little bookmark is from Following Ophelia, which I haven't read, but is on my to read list!

An exclusive sample of Flame in the Mist was included, and I can't wait to give it a read!

I love the postcard from Gilded Cage and I imagine it will make a feature on my bookstagram, but never be used as a postcard.

The best extra included in Illumicrate this month was the exclusive ARC of Red Sister. I really can't wait to read it!










And that's it for the February 2017 unboxing of the Illumicrate box! Hopefully I will catch up with these soon so that I can post up-to-date ones.

Illumicrate Number 5 Unboxing (November 2016)

I keep meaning to do an Illumicrate unboxing but, like every great blog post idea I have, I rarely find the time to actually put pen to paper (or should I say fingers to keyboard?) and actually get it up on my blog!

I have been longing for a book subscription box for a long time, but as a university student I could never justify >£30 a month on one. Then, however, I discovered Illumicrate, which is quarterly. At £29.99, with free postage I found I could spare just £10 a month! So with that, I ordered my first box back in August 2016 (for the November box) and have been a huge fan ever since.

Check Illumicrate out here.

 There is nothing more exciting that having your Illumicrate box turn up in the post!










Here is a photo containing all of the items from that month. Not only are there obvious amazing goodies (books, signed book plates, socks, etc.) but the Illumicrate boxes always come with little extras such as bookmarks, postcards and posters.

The boxes always come with a packing list too so that you can check what you have, just in case something is missing (although this has never happened to me, it is reassuring!) I always avoid looking at this until I've unboxed it all, as I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The main book this month was The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid. I still haven't got around to reading this one yet, but it sure does sound interesting!



The book also came with a bookmark (with a discount code for another copy of the book), a letter from the author about her inspiration for the story, and a signed book plate.

 Up next was a gorgeous coffee cosy from Sparrow + Wolf! I use this every day when I'm at uni to not only keep my coffee a little warmer for a little longer, but to stop me from burning my hands. It's also super pretty!

 The box contained an exclusive AIDAN candle by Meraki candles. I haven't burnt it yet, but it does smell gorgeous when you open the tin!

 An exclusive Evil Plans notebook by House of Wonderland was
a nice addition, although I do wish it was lined instead of blank. Despite that, I am using it to make coding notes.








Happy Socks have been a well-worn addition to this box, wrapping up the seven main gifts! Having stalked the #illumicrate tag on instagram, I saw that there were a variety of styles randomly allocated to the boxes. These socks were so comfy and snazzy.

 Now onto the little extras!

This Six of Crows case is lovely! I wish I still had a bus pass that I could use it for.

A lovely Caraval postcard was included. I keep meaning to buy this book!

 This little Replica poster/flyer was a vibrant addition too.

Temporary tattoos for Wolf by Wolf were a quaint extra.

I really enjoyed the snippet of The One Memory of Flora Banks that was included. Read my review for it here.

 This was a cute little Christmas gift tag (that I will hoard and never actually use).

I really liked these double sided posters! 

The final part of the box was an Unconventional post card.

As you can see, this Illumicrate box was full of amazing gifts! I hope you enjoyed my unboxing post - leave your thoughts below!