The Winter King

This was... bad.
Like, physical pain is worlds better than the mental suffering I put myself through every time I even looked at this book.

The FL is so annoying. She is not strong or independent or awe-inspiring. She is annoying.

The ML is just as bad (I suppose in this aspect, they're truly made for each other). We start the book off with him in his stupid youth and then, following some much-needed but poorly guided character development, he becomes a dark and brooding mess.

Sufficed to say that beginning this book was almost as difficult as continuing it.

To truly illustrate how much I despise them, I will now provide evidence and some backstory.
—————–SPOILER WARNING————–



Now, the start can be basically summarised into:
* big bad powerful winter king comes to summer land because he wants to organise his demands for the enemy kingdom to follow after their war (winter won)
* his demands are: he wants to marry one of the summer princesses and make them birth his heir.
* meanwhile, our FL, Kham (a neglected princess), is in her rebellious era

So, OF COURSE Kham has to mess with the visiting warlord to prove something to herself, right? WRONG.

Now, don't get me wrong, the summer king is a bastard although, he was correct in one respect: KHAM STAY OUT OF THE POLITICAL SHIT FOR CHRIST SAKE.

Not only does this girl send a threat to the visiting conquerer (using her weather magic) but, AFTER BEING EXPLICITELY TOLD TO LEAVE THIS MAN ALONE BEFORE SHE GETS HER ENTIRE KINGDOM MURDERED, she ventures into his room to steal some sentimental objects stored there.

When this occurred I was astounded. You would risk angering the man - who is balancing the lives of your ENTIRE KINGDOM on his pinky - for A HAIRBRUSH AND BOOKS? GIRL BFFR.

Although, the Ice King isn't any better at all. For some reason, he is weirdly obsessed with letting the reader know he is not a rapist. This is fine. I myself am quite fond of non-rapists. My only problem with his statements was that THERE WAS ALWAYS A BUT.

Doubt me? Okay:
“He was many things, most of them unpleasant, but one thing he'd never been was rapist. He had to let the girl go. But another, far more primitive and fierce, part of him refused. He had to touch her. Just this once at least. He couldn't explain the compulsion, but he couldn't deny it either.”

This line singlehandedly made me lose all faith in humanity. My heart shriveled up into my SOUL.

Also, the amount of growling was truly unnecessary. But, if you're feeling frisky, a drinking game whereby you take a shot every time he growls is one way to have a very fun - and very short - night.

But, enough from them. Three characters which were indeed my saving graces within the first 50 pages were the ‘beloved' summer princesses. Autumn, Summer and Spring. I mean, not only were they beautiful, but they were also funny, caring, protective and just an all-around lovely break from our main characters. I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THEM.

But for some STILL UNKNOWN REASON, they were described with such misogynistic fervor that I wanted to beat someone FOR them.

Context: The first demand from the Winter King following his arrival at the Summer land is that he wants to dine with one of the princesses. Of course, the summer king sends all three and they - very admirably, might I add - entertain this disgusting pig of a man as he makes advances and does things to purposefully make them uncomfortable. But they, as the wonderful angels they are, do not show much of a reaction to this (besides slight tells) and handle the entire situation very professionally. BUT FOR SOME REASON HE USES THEIR RESTRAINED REACTIONS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO POINT OUT/CRITICISE WHY THEY ARE SO PROUD AND HAUGHTY?? LIKE DUDE, ARE YOU EVEN PRESENT?? DO YOU EVEN REALISE HOW DISGUSTING YOU ARE?? The fact that anyone could even mildly TOLERATE this pig astounds me.

Quote:
“They did not disappoint. He'd seen the flash of defiance in Spring's eyes just before she lifted her own wine cup to his lips as he'd commanded, the resentment in Summer's when he'd ordered her to sing while he ate, and the way Autumn's fingers had curled around the knife when he'd told her to cut an apple and feed him the pieces from her own hand after she had taken a bite from each. But he'd also seen each princess shiver when he ran a finger across her soft, pampered skin or leaned a little too close for comfort, and he'd watched each stifle her own flare of temper and bend herself to his will.
They were proud and haughty,”

When we got all this judgment from him, paired with his deplorable treatment of our lovely princesses, I was eager to see how he would respond to our grot FL. Obviously - with the power of FL magic - he was utterly enthralled, rather than disgusted, by her complete lack of decorum and intelligence.

And... it was at this point that I gave up. I admit it, I skipped through the book.

This was gross. I did not like it.




This book described in three words: ACOTAR, furry, and weather.

I had high expectations for this book. Too high, perhaps. I think I wanted a fantasy romp with some romance, not a romance novel spiced up with fantasy elements. Let me explain what I mean.

Fantasy novels are more epic compared to this book, which was more fantasy lite. Fantasy novels often focus on building the world and magic while this one has just light touches of world building. The magic system isn't explained terribly thoroughly, for one. Instead the book focuses on the back and forth between the hero and the heroine.

This pleased the romance reader in me (their interactions are pretty typical of a romance novel imho). But the fantasy reader in me was frustrated with the simple fantasy plot and convenient deux ex machinas at the end.

But what frustrated me most were the villains. I am afraid I have been completely spoiled by works like Game of Thrones, where you actually are torn on which side to support! Winter Kings bad guys are laughably one dimensional, from the evil evil arse of a father, to the jealous admirer - common characters in many romance novels.

Still, I believe many romance readers will find WK a step above many romance novels because of the scope and depth it goes to develop a world. But this book is by no means “epic” to fantasy readers used to more complex work.

Ignore the 90s bodice ripper cover, please. If you like a bit of fantasy romance with solid world building and magic, this was a fantastic read. I finished in a day and a half, and while it isn’t a perfect novel by far, it’s ability to capture your attention and pace well through the plot made it an excellent time.

I felt like this book was too slow but I did stay up too late reading it, so what does that tell you?

Also, if you're not a fan of the miscommunication trope (I am not), be warned it comes up a LOT in this book (for justifiable reasons mostly but still not my fave thing). Also there was pretty much no nuance to the villains. Like, the maid who was poisoning Kham literally being named Belladonna? Or Reika's last name being Villani (villainy). Like...lol

But overall I did like it!