Red Winter (Red Winter Trilogy #1)

It is not often I leave book reviews, but after reading Annette Marie’s steel and stone series, I felt compelled to give my opinion on this book. I would have said the steel and stone series was the nest series I had ever read until I got to the last chapter of the series. This of course left me slightly bitter and angry. It is with this feeling that I started reading the authors newest book, Red Winter. I was nervous of starting something I would love only to see it end horribly. Of course, I read it anyway. I was pleasantly surprised at the sheer uniqueness of this book. The paranormal aspects and mythology this book are based on are very different for an American author. I have always been familiar with Japanese mythology and literature so this was a very pleasant surprise (especially then the male lead turned out to be a fox youkai, every shoujo fanfirls dream!). The only thing that kept me from rating the book at 5 starts was the first quarter to third of the book. Although I realize the beginning was a necessary evil for those who are not familiar with Japanese folklore, it was so slow and tedious for me to get through. It was EXTREMELY descriptive in order to educate the reader. Although it was very informative, it was difficult to move the plot along at a reasonable speed. This changed quickly about a third through the book. Thats when things get awesome and cant put the book down. Over all – great book even if the beginning is slow. However, it is perfectly set up for a bittersweet ending or open ending like steel and stone…. so I have a bad feeling things won’t be happily ever after at the end of this trilogy.

Best read for high school girls.

I downloaded this series after reading another series by this author that was fair.
I honesty don’t know what people see in this series.
I would rather read about a broom and it’s life in the closet.
The tragedy is that after hating book 1, I downloaded the trilogy later based on the reviews, forgetting that I had already read book 1 (extremely memorable..not), so then, after purchasing it twice, I felt as I paid for it twice I may a well proceed and I would see what others see..nope. Hate it still..more so for making me live it twice.
One word “mundane”.
Main character is an empty vessel of endoctrination. I know we are mean to empathize but I dislike main chracters that I can’t relate to on any level. Youth adult book indeed.

Red Winter is a deep exploration of the universe of Japanese Mythology, with a world ruled by the magic of Ki (life force). Humans are pawns of the power struggles of the Godlike Kami spirits, with Yokai – supernatural creatures – living on the fringes of reality, sometimes helping humans, sometimes betraying them.
Emi Kimura, the main character, is a shrine maiden marked from birth to be the servant of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, but her attendants are not telling her what horrors that really entails.
The Japanese language terms for the different mythological concepts can be a bit daunting at first, but then again, the joy of entering any fantasy world is discovering how that world works, and Maries fantasy Japan is an absolute delight.
Emi Kimura herself moves through being anxious and passive at first to being filled with purpose and righteous fury as she finds out exactly how the Kami treat their human subjects. There is one glorious scene, halfway through the book, where Emi calls out the high priest of her temple for his deceit. Of course after this, Emis in hot water again; we know shes going to survive at the end of the book, but the question is how.
Of Japans notable Yokai, one of the other main characters is a Kitsune (fox-spirit), and the Tengu (crow-spirits) play a major role in the action. Im hoping my favorite Yokai – the amphibian Kappa – will be in Book 2, which Im planning to read soon.

This is a story inspired by Japanese culture and the Shinto religion. It is the best rendition of an Asian-inspired YA novel in English I have ever read! You can tell the author studiously researched the Shinto religion and how the temples worked. She built a world respectful of the beliefs of Asian demons and gods, but arranged it to be completely clear at how they operate, without the confusing haze of inconsistent legends and myths. To be able to clearly convey how gods walk among humans and construct the spirit world of the yokai is impressive. You dont need to know anything about Japanese culture to understand the story.

The characters in this story are impressive, too. They are all distinct, and although many are flawed, Annette Marie does not pass judgment on them. She understands that all people can have good sides and bad sides, but those who are meant to help are in the end good although, perhaps, misguided. I respect that view of the world and it makes the read much more enjoyable. The story isnt bogged down by jealousy or stubborn blindness. Thank goodness because those emotional tropes are often cheap tricks to propel stories in my opinion.

As some other readers said in their reviews, this story starts off slow for modern stories. Personally, I think its necessary to build the world and show the readers the personality and history of Emi, the main character. It is still interesting though because the world is so different and you really want to know whats going on and why Emi is the way she is. Once Shiro shows up, about 20% of the way through the story, the story really picks up and moves at a fast clip, filled with action and, well, fun.

The romance here is both passionate and sweet. You can see why the characters fall for each other. It doesnt feel forced or fake.

The story makes you wonder where the author will go from here. I fully trust in Annette Maries skill and voice.

Red Winter is a beautifully written novel that completely embraces its source material. It is set in modern-day Japan, but it is easy to forget this at times as a majority of the story is set at traditional shrines and deep in oni-infested woods. The novel is easy to get in to, although does contain a lot of Japanese words and concepts. However, even if you are unfamiliar with Japanese culture and mythology, the novel does contain an extensive glossary of terms. It helpfully also includes a pronunciation guide to help readers with the character names, which I thought was particularly useful.

The novel is told in the first person from the perspective of Emi, a young girl who has been groomed from youth and lead a very sheltered life as she has been chosen to be the vessel for a kami to be reborn on earth. While Emi’s narrative becomes more engrossing as the story progresses and she learns more about what this fate entails, early chapters are a little slow. While Emi’s world is fascinating, she is incredibly sheltered and unable to go anywhere unaccompanied. This means it takes almost 100 pages for the book to actually feel as though it is truly starting to move.

While the stakes are high for Emi and there is a sense of urgency in the novel, this is not always felt by the pacing of the story. While the novel is always well written and I certainly never got board, there was not a lot of action to be found until the end of the tail. The author also had a bit of a habit for repeating information, with Emi often expositing the same information to readers over and over.

However, once the novel passed its half-way mark, I was certainly hooked. While the novel ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger, it did wrap up this clear first-stage of Emi’s journey, making it clear what is expected of her in the sequel.

The main protagonists in the novel were very bold and memorable. While Emi seemed almost painfully naive at first, this was clearly a product of her upbringing and you certainly felt her growth as the story progressed. However, my one small criticism of Emi was that I would have liked her to show a little more independence. Emi is always relying on someone else for protection in this story, despite being proven to be a decent archer. Hopefully, this will be an area that she can grow in the sequel.

Shiro also made for a great male lead, with a mysterious past and tricksy personality. He brought a lot of heart into the story and his forgotten past is a great hook for the next instalment. I also liked the way that the romance in the story built, as this was slow burning and never truly blossomed into anything solid in the story. The seeds are clearly there for a true relationship between the characters to form later in the tale.

However, the one thing that I would have liked to see in the story were more female protagonists. Emi’s circle of close friends are all male in this story, and all of them act as her protectors at various points. The few female characters only really have superficial roles, ranging from a jealous shrine miko to a carefree school girl. It would have been nice to see these characters fleshed out more, and hopefully it is something that will be rectified in a future instalment.

So, all in all, this is a very strong start to the series. I can’t wait to see where Marie will take this story from here.

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