A review by writerrhiannon
The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta

5.0

What a great read! I was excited about this book as soon as I was contacted to review it. I was drawn in as soon as I started reading the story but was worried that 500+ pages would cause me to lose interest somewhere along the way. That was not the case. It is hard to describe this book because I haven't really read anything like it. This is a book that is difficult to fit into a single genre but I will try. The setting is not dystopian nor post-apocolyptic but occurs in a time after The Great Chaos. The village is modern yet rustic, (there is a library and upholstered furniture but no technology.) I got a feeling of "The Lord of the Rings" in that there are other villages, journeys, and deeper lessons in every action, but this novel contained no magic or fantasy creatures. There are sex lessons but this is not erotica. The story is a feminine retelling of warrior training stories. Where other such stories focus on physical strength, brutality, pain, and imminent battle, this story tells of young men being trained to maintain The Peace by being taught to honor other tribes, to read someone by their body language, use their intelligence, and resort to combat as a final option in defense of their villages. I'm pleased to hear that the author is currently working on another book to accompany this one that will tell the story from a handful of other characters' points of view.

Read my full review here: http://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-winter-boy-by-sally-wiener-grotta.html