Reviews with content warning for Gore - Winterset Hollow

My thoughts about Winterset Hollow come in two halves. The tone of Durham's writing feels very put on at times. Between that and the numerous typos, the technical aspects of the book feel very much like the work of a debut author. On the other hand, the actual themes of the story are fascinating. The story being told through the characters, ignoring the stilted dialogue and the faux-British narrative style, is definitely something to come back to more than once.

Winterset Hollow clearly takes inspiration from Watership Down. Despite the story itself being set in the Pacific Northwest and the fact that the author himself is not British, it seems as though he's trying to fully imitate that style of narration and it does not work. It's clunky and it detracts from what parts of the story actually work. Bits of prose feel somewhat pretentious at times and Durham does a lot of preemptive thinking for the reader, as though he wants to be positively sure that the reader will come to the same conclusion as him no matter what.

That said, the actual story of Winterset Hollow is beautiful, wild, and devastating. As someone who grew up with Watership Down and Grimms' fairy tales, this story means a lot. The four antagonists are usually more interesting than the other characters--with the exception of Eamon, who also has a lot going on--and the way that Runny, Flackwell, Finn, and Bing all try to cope with their traumas and seek vindication are treated as complexly as they should be.

Spoiler

Finn's rage and his inability to stop hunting Eamon to the death no matter how his friends try to reason with him is bittersweet with an emphasis on the bitter. He's a terrible person but there's also something to relate to with never wanting to forgive your abusers.

If Durham can improve his technical skill, I will be thrilled to see what other writing he publishes in the future.

Content Warnings