mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a really sweet middle-grade book, with its wintery, frolicky adventures and cute illustrations. The perfect escapism! Plus the heroin is into word enigmas - she's a champion of word ladders - and the readers are encouraged to unravel the mystery alongside her. The light touch of magic was well incorporated, and the lovely friendship blossoming between Elizabeth and a young inventor was a pleasure to follow. Bonus points for a swoon-worthy library and full-page illustrations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
christabelle_v's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The premise of the book was good and solid. It's not a bad book, it's good,but not fantastic. Felt like it was missing something. I'll start with the positive: the atmosphere is good. It's winter but cozy. The writing has some strong beautiful moments and at one point my heart was racing. The problem I had was connecting with the mystery, the characters and the pacing of the book. I was surprised by turn to darker and creepier things. Regarding pacing and characters, half way in, my interest dropped. Elizabeth began to act impulsively and annoyed me as she appeared...stupid. It didn't line up with her character in the first half of the book. She was this intelligent girl who could pick up on mysteries and solve puzzles but her behavior baffled me at that point. She disregarded her friend's feelings. Later she realized she was wrong, but she did same behavior two more times. The author appears to try to explain this later but it bothers me that she didn't try to fight it. She simply went with it, ignoring all voices of concern. And then when everything is wrapping up, she does the very same thing a third time, making me feel that her character did not develop or learn from her mistakes. Lastly, the pacing was off for me; being fast then slow, then fast, then slow. Perhaps it needed to be a bit shorter. so the characters didn't feel fully fleshed out and the book was a tad too long. Not bad but could have been tweeked.
Spoiler
by hinting she was moved my a mysterious force, perhaps GraycelaSpoiler
The motive for the villian was "because I want to"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
kaylalynn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was a really cute middle grade mystery book. Middle grade is not something that I read very much of but I am interested in read the rest of the WinterHouse series. I enjoyed that adventure that the characters go on and the mysteries that they uncover!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Toxic relationship and Car accident
More...