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A review by branomir
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
3.0
I'm sad to say that this is my least favourite Tiffany Aching book so far. Which isn't to say that it isn't well written, indeed it is still much better than most books out there and the only reason I put it on my Dissapointed shelf is because the previous two books were among my favourites and I therefore had really high expectations for this one.
My issue was with the plot. It wasn't the best, kind of slow and not building very much, I found the subplots concerning Miss Treason and Annagramma much more interesting and Roland's story line was much too tacked on and should have been more involved. I really wish we could have seen more interactions between Tiffany and him especially.
What really bothered me however, was that the main plot is about an immortal elemental spirit who's fallen obsessively in love with a 13-year-old girl, barely a teenager. It just made me really uncomfortable, especially seeing as no one in the book seem to take issue with the fact that she was barely out of childhood and this winter spirit obsessively stalking her wasn't particularly adressed as problematic. Worse still, Tiffany even seemed flattered by it and In the end she doesn't even bare any ill will towards him at all, she feels sorry for him...her stalker...when he's immortal and she's 13. I mean, at one point, he refers to her as "child" and "bride" in the same chapter. It all just made me super uncomfortable.
Much like the characters in the book, none of the other reviewers seem that bothered by it, not even the ones with low star ratings, so maybe I'm taking this more seriously than I should? Whatever the case, I couldn't shut off my unease, so it really negatively affected my reading experience.
Well written book, with some great moments, but I just really hated the plot.
My issue was with the plot. It wasn't the best, kind of slow and not building very much, I found the subplots concerning Miss Treason and Annagramma much more interesting and Roland's story line was much too tacked on and should have been more involved. I really wish we could have seen more interactions between Tiffany and him especially.
What really bothered me however, was that the main plot is about an immortal elemental spirit who's fallen obsessively in love with a 13-year-old girl, barely a teenager. It just made me really uncomfortable, especially seeing as no one in the book seem to take issue with the fact that she was barely out of childhood and this winter spirit obsessively stalking her wasn't particularly adressed as problematic. Worse still, Tiffany even seemed flattered by it and
Spoiler
ends up getting him to his senses by kissing him in the end. Reasonably sure it was her first kiss too. And she makes a ring in his memory. Thankfully she doesn't end up keeping it, but still.Much like the characters in the book, none of the other reviewers seem that bothered by it, not even the ones with low star ratings, so maybe I'm taking this more seriously than I should? Whatever the case, I couldn't shut off my unease, so it really negatively affected my reading experience.
Well written book, with some great moments, but I just really hated the plot.