A review by housedesignerking
The Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved this as much as I loved book one. The Midwinter Festival is coming up. Traditionally, the girls compete in a magic competition to become the Midwinter Witch, and the boys compete in some sort of a shifting competition to become the Midwinter Shifter. There's a new character in this particular installment, but I feel like it would be giving away a spoiler to mention them with specifics.
Aster, along with Sedge, Charlie, and Ariel go to the Festival. In the pictures (this is a graphic novel), it looks somewhat like a ski resort, which would definitely hide it from the... non-magic folk? I'm assuming the word 'Muggles' is completely off limits; and Rowling's and WB's recent homophobic decision means that really is for the best for more than the legal reason (Yes, I'm a bit salty about it; but that's neither here nor there, so I digress).
Sedge is slowly becoming a more likeable character even though he's in the background. I'd say he's one of my favorite characters in this series. I mean, I like most of them, but yeah. In this story, we delve more into Ariel and her backstory into finding out more about her family when she doesn't really want to. Charlie is basically along for the ride as is Sedge given something from book 2. There's also...genderphobia(?) coming directly from the mother again. She doesn't want Aster to compete in the Witch tournament, but encourages Ariel to do so (sexist!). Once again, we find a situation that could be compared to homophobia (and sexism!), and really brings you closer to the characters.
Seeing as this doesn't seem to have a finality to it, I'm hoping that means Ostertag is going to be writing more in this series. 5 out of 5 stars.
Aster, along with Sedge, Charlie, and Ariel go to the Festival. In the pictures (this is a graphic novel), it looks somewhat like a ski resort, which would definitely hide it from the... non-magic folk? I'm assuming the word 'Muggles' is completely off limits; and Rowling's and WB's recent homophobic decision means that really is for the best for more than the legal reason (Yes, I'm a bit salty about it; but that's neither here nor there, so I digress).
Sedge is slowly becoming a more likeable character even though he's in the background. I'd say he's one of my favorite characters in this series. I mean, I like most of them, but yeah. In this story, we delve more into Ariel and her backstory into finding out more about her family when she doesn't really want to. Charlie is basically along for the ride as is Sedge given something from book 2. There's also...genderphobia(?) coming directly from the mother again. She doesn't want Aster to compete in the Witch tournament, but encourages Ariel to do so (sexist!). Once again, we find a situation that could be compared to homophobia (and sexism!), and really brings you closer to the characters.
Seeing as this doesn't seem to have a finality to it, I'm hoping that means Ostertag is going to be writing more in this series. 5 out of 5 stars.