Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with a copy for review.

This fantasy retelling of The Goblin Market (with the addition of folklore and Jewish Ukrainian tradition) follows two sisters, Liba and Laya, who discover a deep family secret and are forced to navigate this new and confusing world alone when their parents have to leave to visit their dying grandfather and attempt to make amends of a long family feud that is threatening their home. Each sister is charged with protecting the other and guarding their family's secret - the secret that their father and Liba can transform into bears and that their mother and Laya can transform into swans. Danger follows them wherever they go and their lives, both as people who can transform and as Jews, are under constant threat.

This book looked very promising and I really enjoyed delving into the folklore of their village and their ancestors as we learn more about the story. I have never read The Goblin Market so my knowledge of it is limited, but it was really interesting to read a retelling of it that could expand on it in this way and that built up a strong realm in which it could take place. The world was really intricately designed and I loved the inclusion of colloquialisms and phrases that added to the atmosphere of the book and taught you something as you read, especially if you refer to the glossary that explains these phrasings.

I was expecting this book to be heavily fantasy based and, though there are large fantasy and magical realism elements, I was surprised to discover the level of romance that it contains too and the fact that romance seems to be one the most prominent genres for the novel. The more I read of the book, the more I found these scenes to be long and repetitive, but it was great to understand the characters in such depth and it is definitely a good read if you are interested in romance. The characters themselves were good, though I did often get a little confused between Liba and Laya and the dilemmas that each of them were facing.

Overall, I liked this book and I was definitely recommend it if you enjoy character-led novels. The perspective of the novel constantly switches between Liba and Laya making it easy to read and I really liked how Laya's sections were written in poetry, something that I feel is an ode to the original's poetry form and that, as an added bonus, definitely speeds up your reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, Rena Rossner and Little Brown Book Group UK for my ARC of Sisters of the Winter Wood.
Ok, mixed feelings about this one at first. But end feeling is definitely a good one.
This has been highly anticipated for me and many of my friends in the bookstagram community, and of course the cover is stunning.

Liba (17) and her sister Laya (15) live on the outskirts of the woods in a small village with their mother and father. Their family despite being devout in the Jewish faith are not really accepted in town because their mother is a convert. One night Liba witnesses something which will change their lives forever. And right in the middle of it their parents are called away, leaving the two girls to fend for themselves.
This is a story of fairytales come real, animal transformations, goblins and changelings. But it is also a story of faith, religion and persecution.

This was a lot to put into one story. At the end the (very interesting) author's note states that she was inspired by many fairytales, folklore and true events and there is a definite intertwining of these different things in the story. But it does work. For a fairytale influenced Eastern European story, it wasn't quite as dark as I'd have liked but at the same time I think, as these sorts of stories have become increasingly popular in recent times, Rena Rossner brings a new take on it. All I would say is there were two things that made my feelings mixed; the story was told in chapters from the POV of both sisters, Laya's chapter was always in rhyme which made no sense to me and I found it quite distracting from the story itself. Secondly this is marketed as adult but I'd definitely say it falls more into the category of YA as it is a coming of age story and the two main characters are teenage girls left to fend for themselves by their parents.

However, this was still a great story despite my two little niggles. I love Eastern European folklore stories and I love stories inspired by the goblin market and goblin king. I also loved that this was a completely new take on it, at one point I feared it was going down the route of Wintersong and would be too similar but it totally didn't and I really liked the idea that was put forward instead. I also think the author did incredibly well to tie the Goblin Market story to that of persecution of the Jewish people.

Overall this was an interesting and fresh take on a popular story with new and interesting twists and depths. There were some cliches (but when is there ever not) and once I'd got a couple of chapters in I really enjoyed the rest of the book.

It’s been FOUR DAYS, and I’m not even halfway through this thing. Usually I’m done and dusted in TWO.

Mostly, my issue lies with the fact that this book is…

Yeah, you guessed it – choppy AF. But let’s start at the beginning.

PLOT

Sisters Liba and Laya have spent their lives in a snowy, foresty little German village. While their family is Jewish, their Mami is a convert, and so faces a lot of subtle abuse from the villagers. One night, Tati’s brother shows up: their grandfather, who disowned his son a long time ago for marrying the girls’ mother, is dying. Filial duty kicks in and the girls are left to fend for themselves while the parents race to the invalid’s bedside. But before they go, the family secret is revealed.

Liba, like Tati, is a clunky bear. Laya, fathered by Mami’s lover, is a delicate swan instead. The two girls proceed to attempt living by themselves and do a terrible job of it. A group of boys have set up camp in the village, selling delicious fruits and causing mysterious disappearances; flighty Laya immediately falls prey to this goblin market, and it’s Liba’s job to rescue her.

She does a terrible job of it.

CHARACTERS

I wanted to like Liba, because her jealousy over not being a pretty swan was pretty heartwrenching, but her character was so inconsistent. At nearly 18, she’s the elder one, the responsible one, the one who’s physically stronger and mentally more grounded. She knows Laya is liable to wander off and even knows that she’s fallen in with those strange goblin boys.

So what does Liba do? LEAVES HER TO IT.

I actually couldn’t believe this, and it happened MULTIPLE TIMES. Example: they’ve gone to the village to do some shopping. Laya, as usual, drools over the boys selling fruit. Cue the following conversation:

Laya: Pwease, pwease let me buy some fruit!

Liba: NO. They’re weird boys. I don’t trust them.

Laya: Please, they’re soooooo hot… if you let me, I’m going to run straight there and climb that boy like a tree!

Liba: Okay, Laya, you’re allowed to go off for a little while now. But whatever you do,, do not run and climb that boy like a tree!

* Laya: Runs off and climbs boy like tree *

This happened ad nauseam, literally every few pages. It got a bit difficult to believe Liba’s dedication to keeping Laya safe from the goblin market when this kept happening. Another time, she knows Laya is off in the woods getting majorly drunk with the weird boy, and what does she do? GO TO DINNER AT HER CRUSH’S HOUSE, LEAVING HER LITTLE SISTER IN THE WOODS AT NIGHT, INTOXICATED, WITH A BOY SHE DOESN’T TRUST AND AROUND WHOM PEOPLE HAVE DISAPPEARED.

I’m struggling to decide which of the sisters I want to strangle more. Despite being well into their teenage years, with Liba nearly 18, their ability to look after themselves without parental input hovers in the negative digits. They also barely spoke to each other, a ridiculous plot device that existed solely and ridiculously to make the story more ‘mysterious.’ Basically, their relationship was paper-thin. Just like the romance.

Infidelity is a hard pass for me, so their Mami’s rep has taken a nosedive from my perspective too.

WRITING

Liba’s POV is written normally, but Laya’s is all poetic and stuff to reflect her swanning, flighty nature. The only reason I lasted for four days is because the fairly pretty writing disguised the randomness of the plot and its plot holes. But, like… WHY? Why wouldn’t their parents tell them anything about how to deal with their animal forms? It was just a tortuous way of keeping the book’s drama and mystery notched up.

The best bit of the book was the discussion of problems Jews face, both internal and external. Fascinating to read. Unfortunately, if there’s anyone here looking for another Spinning Silver, jog on.

In a faraway land, where a village lies among the woods, Liba and Laya live a quiet life with their parents. Protected from people who persecute Jews, but also from their parents' families, who have cast them out, the girls believe that they will lead an ordinary, uneventful life. But when their father receives news of their grandfather's illness, their world will turn upside down. Their family has been holding secrets, ones that directly affect them, and the girls are going to be tested in dangerous situations that are about to come. Liba and Laya, found suddenly alone, will have to use their family's magical properties in order to survive.

The Sisters of the Winter Wood was, for me, a highly anticipated book. With a very interesting and highly unique concept, its main plot is a twisted fairy tale that has acquired inspiration for lots of different myths and folk tales. I recognize and appreciate the author's attempt to create a magical tale. However, I have been quite disappointed by what I have read, and here are the main points of why I have rated this book with just 2 stars:

The flow was bad. In their attempt to be unique, the author created a writing style that is difficult, full of "bumps" that actually hinder the flow of the story. The story was also too descriptive at parts, creating sectors of almost irrelevant narrations. Half of the book is written from Laya's perspective and it is constructed in verse. I found the writing style unsuccessful: instead of helping the flow, this actually severely hindered it. The vocabulary was, at times, too heavy; instead of resembling a fairy tale, it looked more like a pompous essay.

It took too long to get to the main part of the plot. An introductory part to the story is very welcome and, of course, needed. But in The Sisters of the Winter Wood this part was way too long, resulting in the reader's interest rapidly declining.

The characters were not well constructed. It was very hard to empathize with any of them. Background stories seemed hastily constructed, and not very well thought about. The mother's background story was badly designed and left little room for sympathizing with her struggles; the father's story was a lot similar. As for Laya, she seemed very lost in her own world, which didn't help with me liking her a lot, either.

Lastly, the plot could sadly not hold my undivided attention. Although I started reading this book enthusiastically, it couldn't hold my interest after page 10. It was a struggle to read this through, which is very sad, since the summary of this story seemed very interesting.

I started reading this but I dont think I'm going to continue as it's not for me unfortunately, which is a shame as I was really looking forward to reading this. Books won't always fit the audience which is understandable

"'He is a hunter, or did you not know that? All men are beasts inside. Some just show it differently than others.'"


Liba and Laya are two Jewish sisters that live in a small village surrounded by forest. When there is a knock on the door one night, it wakes Liba up, and as she eavesdrops she hears and sees more than she thought would be possible. Her grandfather is dying. And Liba's father is needed at his side. After hearing this news, Liba's father reveals his true self; a giant bear with dark fur and blue eyes. Before her parents leave for Kupel, Liba's mother tells her the family's deep secret: her father is a bear, and her mother is a swan. Laya will also be a swan one day. And Liba... Liba will soon become a bear. Terrified of managing without her parents, and even more terrified of her own true nature, Liba does what is necessary to prevent Laya from finding out the truth.

To be honest, my synopsis doesn't give this book justice. It only shows one small portion of the novel and it's story, but I'm not entirely sure my limited semantics will allow me to put into words just how unreal The Sisters of the Winter Wood is.

This novel is a dark fairy tale, a retelling of Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. It contains immense elements of fantasy versus the appalling truth of our world's history and antisemitism. I have never read anything quite like it before. The entertainment and appeal was there wholly; yet the nasty, honest undertone that was ripe in the 1900s was there in its true, uncovered discriminatory form. Rena Rossner was knowledgable, picking upon true events to give the story an extra edge; a texture that proved necessary. When I read the Author's Note, I genuinely cried.

I'll be frank, I really didn't like it at first, I found that the language was too foreign and unfamiliar for me to make sense out of anything, or to read smoothly, since I had to keep stopping and stumbling over words that I was clueless on how to pronounce.

I persevered. It was worth it.

Eventually, I got used to the unknown colloquial language, and the story soon began to take the shape of what it is: a sisterly love combating all sorts of dangers ranging from forbidden love to anti semitism. It was immersive and wonderful and I felt like I was sat around a campfire listening to woodland animals. The imagery produced from the poetic narrative was simply magical. It was historical yet ominous. Unfamiliar yet familiar.

The characters were well thought through; their respective introspection was deep and insightful, identifying with human beings as people, rather than to individual reader needs. I favoured Liba over Laya. I always find myself relating intensely to characters who are uncomfortable with themselves. Liba was one of them. Scared of who she really is, and the unfathomable damage she could cause, Liba has to learn to let go, whilst Laya has to learn to find home.

One gripe of mine: Laya's point of view is written in verse. It's not everybody's cup of tea. And I didn't think it would be mine at first until the storyline dragged me under and I would have read any word the author had written, be it in the book, or not. I began enjoying the verses, next the blocky narrative of Liba, the alternating points of view and the prose in which they were written reflected the characters inner selves. Liba: stout, honest, strong. Laya: graceful, lithe. These characters were well worth the fairytale the author had painted.

I will be purchasing this book when it is released 27th September 2018.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had been looking forward to reading this for a long time - mainly because the cover is so beautiful & I'm very much a reader who chooses books by their covers (although I don't judge them thusly)!
The book has a number of inspirations, from Snow White & Rose Red to Christina Rosetti's Goblin Market, one of my favourite poems. It is narrated by the eponymous 'sisters' who are very different in nature. One, Liba, is very grounded, practical & almost prosaic in nature, The other, Laya, is flighty, impractical & can't bear being 'trapped'. To this extent Liba's chapters are written in prose & Laya's are written in 'poetry' - I put this in inverted commas though, because actually these chapters are just written in prose that is simply laid out on the page to look like poetry, which I felt was really irritating because the lay out actually interrupted the flow of the writing, rather than assisting it. In addition, the lyrical language that is used throughout Liba's sections, as well as Laya's, detracted from her practical nature. I just felt the metaphors of the prose and 'poetry' were very heavy handed and unnecessary - it would have been far better to use language to reflect their differing natures rather than these structural choices.
Despite these, honestly quite small, frustrations, I actually really enjoyed the story, although I did feel on occasions that there was a bit too much going on and the different aspects of the story (trying to avoid spoilers here!) such as their origins as well as the conflict with the 'Hovlins', felt like the author was trying to include a little bit too much in the story. But it did all work, on the whole, although I did feel the ending was a little rushed, compared to the level of detail at the beginning. I also felt there was slightly too much of an 'information dump', when the girls' origins are revealed.
I enjoyed the semi-historical setting, and the use of historical events upon which base the fantasy was created. I also liked the Jewish setting, as this felt refreshing and different, even for a 'historical fantasy'. Despite this, I did feel like there was a little too much Hebrew/Yiddish, which I just felt was a bit unnecessary, and again, a bit heavy handed, especially as the translations quite often followed. It is one of the difficult aspects of writing a book set in a different country, in English. Obviously, all of the speech is effectively translated into English, out of necessity, therefore the use of native language seems out of place & ineffective. Obviously, this is just my opinion, I'm sure many others enjoy the use of language in this manner, but for me, I just feel it doesn't quite work, especially with how much Hebrew/Yiddish is used in this book.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, and as a debut, I felt it was mainly successful, however there were problems with it that could do with being addressed in the author's future forays.
I received a free e-arc in return for an honest review.

The Sisters of the Winter Wood got off to a truly amazing start, I love the way that the story switches between the sister's points of view. Both Liba and Laya are really interesting and I also love the differences between their prose, steady and descriptive Liba and poetic and flighty Laya. This was really unique and I really loved it.

There were so many amazing fairytales woven in to the story, it was wonderful to see familiar favourites as well as finding new ones. The Sisters of the Winter Wood was a beautifully written and darkly enchanting fantasy tale which I just did not want to put down.

The character development of the two sisters is a big focus in the book, and I love both of the sisters and how different they are. It's so interesting to see how the two sisters cope, in their own way, with their parents leaving them alone in their house. I felt a kinship with Liba, as an older sibling myself, and the lengths as which she goes to hold everything together and to protect her younger sister.

There is a darkness to the tale which I found really enchanting, you feel compelled towards it, just as Laya is compelled towards Fedir. I found the fact that the two sisters were both experiencing their first love, in very different ways, in parallel was a really great way to drawn the narratives together. It was wonderful to highlight the differences between us all.

I loved the fairytale elements to the tale, they really added a richness to the world of the Winter Wood. But the elements of reality, which were also woven in to the story made The Sisters of the Winter Wood really incredible. It's really interesting to have a window in to a Jewish family, and the Jewish community of the town.

For me, the message I took away from The Sisters of the Winter Wood, is that is it sometimes what we don't say that can cause the most hurt. This seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the books.

Overall, I absolutely loved The Sisters of the Winter Wood and I would definitely recommend it to any fantasy fans, and especially those who love fairytale retellings.

If we ignore the parents telling their children they are in fact a bear/swan,then faffing about a bit,then heading into the unknown,leaving the sisters both confused and without food supplies.... let's ignore that.
I REALLY enjoyed the idea of people who changed into animals,and the mystical brothers on the fruit stall.... tied in with the persecution of Jews it could have been gripping stuff.
For me it rarely hit magical though... there were a few times when Layas shorter sentences gave more urgency to the words that I almost felt it... but the switch between characters came too soon and too often.
Others nothing wrong with this book,it just didn't quite live up to what I'd hoped.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit and Rena Rossner for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Sisters Of The Winter Wood.
I found I was drawn to the book by the cover and after reading the description, I was hooked.
This book is a beautifully written and an engrossing tale.
When I read a book of this calibre, I find myself at a loss for words to describe how wonderful it was to read. There are no words that would do this book justice.
I would highly recommend this book

I have to start by saying the cover of this book is absolutely stunning!
This is a beautiful story that follows two sisters as they navigate a world of magic and whimsy.
The ambience of this book really makes for a truly enchanting read - highly recommend!

I'm not sure there are enough superlatives to describe this book. First, there's the magnificent cover. It sets the tone for the book better than any cover I've seen. The story was beautifully written--much of it in a prose poem style that works fantastically well to convey the thoughts and conversation of the characters. Two girls lost in the woods. How many fairy tales have had that theme? But this book twists and turns the cliche into something breathtaking and fascinating and new. (See how many superlatives I've already used?) One of my favorite scenes describes a Shabbat dinner. The food, the table settings, the people around the table, and love in the room--all were unforgettable. I'm not Jewish, so I also appreciated the opportunity to learn something of a religion I'm not that familiar with, a time I know little about, and a place I know nothing about. Such a lovely book. I'm convinced it will be an instant classic.