If you’re looking for a YA book to get you into fantasy, look no further! Other than the epic adventure our main character goes on, when I read this, I wasn’t heavily informed with so much information about another world. I could enjoy it enough to escape, but not too much to question. Where the hell am I?
When Winter’s dad goes missing during his nightly patrol of the wood, it falls to her to patrol the time portals and protect the travelers who slip through them. Winter can't help but think there's more to her dad's disappearance than she's being told.
She soon finds a young man traveling in the wood named Henry who knows more than he should. He believes if they can work together to find his missing parents, they could discover the truth about Winter’s dad.
The wood is poisoned, changing into something sinister—torturing travelers lost in it. Winter must put her trust in Henry in order to find the truth and those they’ve lost.
via Goodreads
I indirectly mentioned this at the start, but I really liked the story. Not only was it full of twists and turns, but the fantasy element of it kept me on my toes and I could visualize it easier than other fantasy books I have read. Even though it’s just ‘The Wood’, once you enter it, it’s an entirely different experience for not only our main character, Winter, but the readers too! From start to finish, the story flowed well, which gave it a steady pace. The writing was simple and straight to the point, but descriptive enough so that it wouldn’t drag. Even though I expected a few things, they were executed well and for good reason.
The world-building was enticing. It sort of reminded me of Harry Potter in some way. Maybe it was the council or the dark elements of The Wood at night. I loved the idea of Winter going into The Wood and being brave enough to search for her dad. She wasn’t a cliche or whiny main character who depended on someone. She was thoughtful and knew what her ‘mission’ was. Her family are guardians of The Wood and escort travelers from past and present back to where they came from. The overall concept and purpose of The Wood was so original to me because here’s a teenage girl attending school, but once she’s home, she goes into her backyard to do rounds of The Wood. Simple yet exciting.
As I’ve sort of mentioned Winter, I wanted to also talk about Henry, who is obviously mentioned in the blurb. Usually when travelers arrive in The Wood, Winter helps them back home, but for this guy who came from 1789, he’s there with a purpose. His parents are missing too, along with Winter’s dad. Winter keeps him in the modern world with her, and together they try to figure out what happened to their parents. Henry was a breath of fresh air, in terms of a love interest and supporting character. He’s from a different era and treated Winter like a young lady. He was sweet and friendly and so curious about the world he’d just enter. Henry wasn’t a cliche fantasy love interest who would betray or act like a douche toward the girl in order to get what he wanted.
The romance didn’t feel forced between Winter and Henry. Yes, they had their cute moments and their frustrating / arguing moments, which contributed to their overall friendship being realistic. The action / adventure really intrigued me as Bobulski has such a simple way of writing to engage you in the story. When it was daytime and Winter had to go back to school, I just couldn’t wait for her to return to The Wood!
Overall, it’s a well written engaging book and I’m happy with the ending. Not only was it realistic in terms of what happened and had to happen to the characters, but Winter also took everything well. She didn’t lash out or complain; she accepted it and that’s another thing I admired about her. She took responsibility and accepted things as an adult. I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending so I highly recommend this book, which I ended up giving four stars!
