Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Winter Duke

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett

11 reviews

jennifermreads's review

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A reluctant young, middle daughter, heiress thrust into the role of Grand Duke of her frozen kingdom? Yes, please! I loved Claire Eliza Bartlett’s We Rule the Night and was excited to read another one of her feminist fantasy novels. Toss in the political intrigue and risk of death by magical curse plus the simply divine hardback cover design and I was ready to be on the edge of my seat because of all the drama.

While I enjoyed it overall, each evening as I set the book aside, I kept hesitating, thinking “What is missing? Why am I not reading until my eyes droop and racing to grab it first thing each morning? Why am I not on the edge of my seat?” By the end, I decided that what I was missing was more development. I needed a little more background on the frozen world that is Kylma Above and the watery underworld of Kylma Below. I needed some elaboration on the Grand Duke’s ministers, their backgrounds, roles, and relationship with Ekata’s father, the previous grand duke. Other than Prime Minister Eirhan, I had a difficult time keeping the who-is-who of the ministers straight in my head.

During the first quarter (at least) of 2025, I am reading from-my-shelf with the goal of unhauling the books that I do not see myself ever re-reading. While I do not hesitate in keeping We Rule the Night, I will probably move The Winter Duke into the hands of another reader. I just do not have the shelf space to keep a book because the cover is beautiful, I loved the author’s other work(s), and/or I have a “liked it but” review at the end.

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thea_elise's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. The world building, the refreshing lack of heteronormative views on relationships and interesting character development.
The mystery of who cursed her family had me hooked.
I would also have fallen for Inkar, had I been in Ekata’s shoes!

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bree_h_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a pretty solid read, which was a nice surprise considering I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book.

The characters felt really well rounded. The MC actually read as a teen thrown into a situation she didn’t know how to handle, but that did lead to moments that I was extremely frustrated with the MC because she came across as incredibly stupid. The rest of the cast I found considerably more enjoyable and she we had gotten more of. I also really liked the character dynamics, both posters and negative. Each character played off each other in a unique and interesting way that I really enjoyed.

The mystery of the book was also really solid. A lot of the conclusions the MC came to I also suspected and pieced together, even if getting there felt a bit rushed at times.

My only issue was the world building. There were a lot of details that felt conflicting with what had been established and what we were seeing on page. And a lot of what was established didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Why was the MCs family so violent and prone to killing each other? What sense did that make? Why was the issue of following the MC was that people believed she killed her family when every leader before her had? I just didn’t feel like it was super consistent at times, despite how interesting most of it was.

Overall pretty solid sapphic fantasy read!

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miraileah's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5. I loved this! I really liked Ekata’s character development, I thought her journey was really realistic and understandable, and I enjoyed reading it (though it frustrated me at times). Inkar was a great supporting character, and Eirhan and Aino were fun to read as well. I did feel that the other council members were sort of samey and hard to tell apart at times, but I also felt Ekata’s confusion was reflected by this choice, so I can respect it. Overall though, I thought the story was really well structured and paced, and I loved the world building and character work.

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buttermellow's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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reign_kaur's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The only reason I think this book counts as YA is because the main character is sixteen years old. If she was a bit older, nineteen perhaps, then I would have rated this book 5 ⭐️
The representation in this book is perfect, people of different genders, cultures, religions and sexual orientation. Most importantly is that the LGBTQIA+ didn't distract from the plot, nor was it the focus. In this fantasy world it was just as normal as assasinating your siblings for the throne.

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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.5

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spacexgay's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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yvonne_cl's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was pretty good. The book’s representation of queer folks and gender diverse characters was very well done. Good slow burn sapphic romance. The political elements were interesting, though the end of the book felt overly complicated in its wrap up of the plot. Overall, this was a decent young adult fantasy but not amazing

Spice level: 🌶/5

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