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A review by toritoot
Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip
4.0
I've never read a book quite like this, where so much of the story happens in the subconscious, characters fading in and out of a dream-world, a shadowy realm. So much of the story is Roi having cryptic conversations with other-worldly beings, traversing the same wood over and over again, visiting the same crumbling house in said wood over and over again, pining over Corbet, fretting over her sister, having strange dreams that aren't dreams. It was a frustrating read, as I felt like I was grasping at wisps of evaporation, unable to grab hold of anything solid. I rarely felt like I understood what was going on or what anything meant. And there's so much pining throughout the majority of this book with two characters believing themselves in love with the same man, but very little evidence of the legitimacy of their feelings for him. I worried how McKillip would bring it all together.
I'm glad I stuck it out though, because the ending brought the story together for me. Based on how things play out in the last chapter, I think this was McKillip's attempt at exploring the concept of love, what is it and how do we know we're really experiencing it or fooling ourselves into thinking we are. If this book had ended any other way, I would definitely be writing a very different review.
This is the first book I've ever read by McKillip, while I think her prose here definitely got in the way of my ability to understand what was happening, I recognize her talent. Her prose was beautiful, and even though the characters were behaving in ways I found foolish and head-scratching, I really liked all of them. Now that I better understand what McKillip was trying to do here, I'm eager to re-read this at some point and pick up on the things I didn't get before. I'll also be picking up some of her other books as well.
I'm glad I stuck it out though, because the ending brought the story together for me. Based on how things play out in the last chapter, I think this was McKillip's attempt at exploring the concept of love, what is it and how do we know we're really experiencing it or fooling ourselves into thinking we are. If this book had ended any other way, I would definitely be writing a very different review.
This is the first book I've ever read by McKillip, while I think her prose here definitely got in the way of my ability to understand what was happening, I recognize her talent. Her prose was beautiful, and even though the characters were behaving in ways I found foolish and head-scratching, I really liked all of them. Now that I better understand what McKillip was trying to do here, I'm eager to re-read this at some point and pick up on the things I didn't get before. I'll also be picking up some of her other books as well.