Maybe I’ve read too many great winter setting books of late, but Midwinter Folk was just not working for me. As this is my third time in two years trying to get into it; I’m officially setting it aside.
There seems to be a couple of issues with it:
1) it feels like we are dropped into London with very little context about who our leading gal is. There’s a minor info dump in chapter one but then suddenly we are thrust into plot elements with no context on who our girl narrator is
2) it’s difficult for me to accept that odd things are happening to our gal when I don’t yet know the world she lives in. It’s London, but I could have used info like: timeline, our world or magical, relative societal placement of our gals family, and so much more.
3) Midwinter Folk just fails to grab me. Our gal is hearing voices (we think), encountered possible bad guys, on her own (it seems), and overall just not very intuitive at first, but somehow the next day she’s brilliant at sensing people… just too many contradictions that weren’t working for me.

That’s not to say that someone else might love this, or get into it right away. I think there’s something interesting here and I (usually) love books set at winter, or during magical winters. I thank my locale as a Canadian where it snows a lot, and Narnia for my personal link that sometimes snow means magic, and other times it means death.

Overall, I’m finally crossing this one off my TBR and it’s officially a DNF.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I enjoyed this book and enjoyed the pure escapism and mystical places it took me in my mind's eye. It's the first book I've read by this author and I'd definitely read more.

I was drawn to this book by its beautiful cover.
This was a nice, magical read. This was a complete page turner.
An avaerage read

Unfortunately, it was not possible to download this book in time. The 5* star rating was chosen in order to not hurt the book sales or ranking, even though it was not possible to read it.

Young teens will likely enjoy this story. It's has a nice fairy tale-ish quality to it that I am sure will draw in the young teens. Magical!

Thank you for providing this book.

Unfortunately it was not my style, but a good one nevertheless

Is definitely a book for teens, with teens problems that they faced daily, and a need to escape to a whole new world.

After reading a couple of chapters, I came to the review section to see if this book had been wrongfully tagged. It feels very young and I thought maybe it was meant to be in the middle grade section. Only to read that there are scenes later on in this book that are definitely not suitable for children so, I just don't know.

From the short amount I did read, I thought the writing quality was very good. However, I don't feel this is the type of YA for an adult reader, so I will not be continuing it further.

DNF @ 20% in.

I tried for a while to get into this book since the premise of it sounded like everything I would love but it ultimately failed to capture my interest and caused a minor reading slump as well.

Just not the book for me!

Interesting book that the only reason I didn't really care for was because I didn't care for the personality of the protagonist. I feel she was a bit more forgiving than I would be in her circumstances and the ending felt a little thrown out at you, but maybe I didn't pick up on the buildup the author sprinkled throughout the book.

eBook received for free from NetGalley in return for a review.

I found Midwinter Folk an interesting read, with lots of adventure and mystery. Parts of the story were predictable and the main character was slightly annoying at times, but I think that's more to do with my being older than the target audience. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this book.

O my second try, I got to location 4726 before I put this book down. While there are some beautiful images and passages, the dark bits in-between are too dark and unsavory. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters, and the premise seemed forced. I won’t be posting a review.
Thank you anyway.

Thank you to Troubadour Publishing Ltd/Matador for a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Midwinter Folk’ by Rebekah Clayton in exchange for an honest review.

When Rowan’s parents divorce, her brother Luke turns ‘cold and strange’, and suddenly Rowan starts hearing voices. Is someone stalking her or is she going mad? London is caught in the grip of the coldest winter on record. The Thames freezes over and the streets are half-buried by snow.

Rowan soon realises that Luke has been snared by the enemy; the voracious Hunters who want ‘power over all’, and finds that she is running for her life across the increasingly bizarre landscape of the frozen city. It takes a journey into the treacherous depths of Midwinter to save not only Luke, but all that she holds dear.

I really enjoyed this book. It has all the makings of a great adventure tale.
The pace was fast and the story flowed very well. The world building was by far the best part of this book. The reader was submerged into a wintery world.
The main character has a lot to deal with at such a young age but she develops well throughout the story.
I did however find that some characters just fell off the map and we don’t get any closure on them.

I really did enjoyed reading this book but felt that the target age group for this book may be a bit too young. There are definitely some dark and mature themes that would be considered inappropriate for a young audience.

I was ready to love this book but unfortunately, I just can't. There are too many things about it that I can't disregard. Thankfully, there were also quite a few things I did enjoy, so I thought I'd first talk about those and then get into the issues.

Things I liked:
1. The story is engaging from the get go. And the fast pace keeps it that way. From the first page, it got my attention and spiked my curiosity. It made me want to keep reading to see what would happen to Rowan.

2. The setting is magical and Rebekah Clayton does such a lovely job with the descriptions. She paints a vivid picture of a winter landscape which is beautiful and deadly. Some of those scenes made me feel like a child reading Narnia for the first time.

Things I struggled with:
1. Is this a children's book or is this YA? I'm not entirely sure. At first glance, this is definitely a children's book. Young protagonist who's innocent and good gets thrown into a Narniaesque world of adventures. But Clayton constantly tackles some more mature issues that are honestly way too intense for a children’s book. Seriously, I’m not one to say that lightly. I don't believe children should be overprotected or shielded from anything and everything. But, I do believe they shouldn't be exposed to abuse, rape, and more, all in one book. (Those themes could be toned out a lot to reach the right audience.) This confusion meansI can't recommend it as a children's book due to some of its mature themes and I also can't recommend it as a YA book because so much of the story is set up for children.

2. While reading, I often felt like the story wasn't fleshed out enough. I kept waiting for things to get explained but some of them never were. Or were given such a thin explanation that I was left wanting more. Why is Rowan the Durae, why is the world the way it is. What is this ancient fight she's thrown into? I kept feeling hungry for more and I just didn't get it.

3. It often felt like the book jumped from one scene to the other without much of a transition, leaving me to try to figure out what was going on for a few paragraphs, sometimes rereading a page a few times until I finally got the context. That could just be a me problem but I think having smoother transitions would've not only made the reading experience better, it might have also helped flesh out the story and set up clearer connections between events.

Conclusion:
So here you go. I almost loved Midwinter Folk. Clayton sets up a compelling story and I could've honestly disregarded most of my issues with the book if I wasn't constantly confused by its intended audience.

My thanks to Troubadour Publishing Ltd/Matador for a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Midwinter Folk’ by Rebekah Clayton in exchange for an honest review. It was published in September 2019 and my apologies for the late feedback.

The protagonist of ‘Midwinter Folk’ is Rowan. Her age isn’t given but she’s stated as being in Year Six at school, which makes her 10-11. Following her parent’s divorce Rowan is disturbed when her older brother Luke becomes ‘cold and strange’. Then Rowan starts hearing voices. Is she going mad?

With London in the grip of the coldest winter on record, Rowan and Luke are sent by their mother to York to visit their grandparents. Yet the countryside proves even stranger and then Luke goes off with a sinister group oblivious to his sister’s concerns.

Rowan learns of the dangers facing them and of her own destiny after she befriends Charli, a girl of her own age who is a member of the Wandering Folk. Charli’s Aunt is a wise woman who is able to alert Rowan as to the nature of the danger facing Luke and sends both she and Charli on a quest into the Otherworld. There they make contact with Faerie and magical creatures and again are sent on a journey.

This was a hard story to summarise though I was delighted at how artfully Rebekah Clayton embraced the folklore and mythology of Britain to weave this fantasy with its mixture of the modern and the timeless.

I know that judging a book by its cover is dangerous but I loved this one by artist Amanda Clark and after reading the novel it was clear that it had well represented the enchantment within.

I found that the descriptions were vivid and lyrical. Most of all ‘Midwinter Folk’ evoked a sense of nostalgia for those classic works of British fantasy where young people stumble into a wider reality. The winter setting and the sinister hunters especially brought to mind Susan Cooper’s ‘The Dark is Rising’ sequence. Yet there were also reminders that it is set in the modern day with references to popular culture and technology.

Still, I did have concerns. ‘Midwinter Folk’ is listed on U.K.’s school reading list site as suitable for ages 12-16. Given its dark themes and some disturbing scenes, this feels right though Rowan’s young age might well attract younger readers. In addition, that stunning cover feels more suitable for a children’s book.

Aside from the age appropriate issues, I also felt that there were aspects of the plot that weren’t explained leaving me a bit confused. The ending also felt rather rushed and a bit disconnected. I wondered if this was intentional or if a sequel is planned to further explore Rowan’s destiny.

Overall I enjoyed it.

Rowan doesn’t understand why her brother Luke has turned so “cold”towards her. They have always been best friends. Wen she goes skating with a friend on the Thames River, Rowan is followed and attacked by dogs. She doesn’t get hurt but she is scare. Her mother gets a phone call and must have
Luke and Rowan go stay with grandma. Grandma says yes but grandpa is ill. They take a train to the village. Rowan gets almost attacked by the same dogs but is saved by the conductor. When she and Luke arrive at the village no one is there to take them to grandma’s home. After a short period of time a friend of Grandma’s picks them up explains that they will stay at her place as she has more room at her home. It will make it easier for grandma to take care of grandpa. One day Rowan follows Luke to see what he is doing. Along the way Rowan gets a new friend named Charli. Charli takes Rowan to the healer in their gypsy camp. Charli and Rowan decides that they must discover where Luke wen when he disappeared after doing a spell. They do the spell and go to follow Luke. Will they find him? Will they get back to grandma’s friend?

This was a terrific action-pack, adventure-filled story. It is good vs. evil. I loved following Rowan’s journey to find her brother. The novel involves the whole family in different ways as they try to find understand what their role is after their parents divorce. It’s also about learning to trust yourself and to do the right thing.

Readers who adore the old-fashioned Fairy Tales (prior to dilution for modern consumption) will adore MIDWINTER FOLK, a beautifully detailed and lyrically imagined panorama of a slightly near-future London and Yorkshire (think ICE DIARIES), in what appears a new Ice Age; and the "other worlds," those of the Fae and the Foul Folk--so close to mundane reality that if we could only "polish the glass" we could see. So close....that they can reach through and touch us...with their icy wintry fingers...and their blazing-eyed hounds....

This is a lovely, rather old fashioned children´s fantasy, in the sense that like many classic children´s tales it is heavily inspired by fairy tales, in this case celtic folklore. There is little focus on technology and more on relations between the characters as the main character is also dealing with her parents divorce, her mum is turning every penny and her father is not much around and her brother has become alienated from the family. Although of course in this case there turns out to be an underlying sinister reason for why all of this has happened to this family. I´m sure a lot of today´s children can relate with many of the every day challenges Rowan has to deal with and at the same time enjoy the fairytale that unfolds as well. I find it a bit hard to judge the proper age group for this book, the main character is still a child and thinks and acts as one, so I would say that on the whole this would be a suitable read for 9-12 years old, but at the same time there´s hinting about darker subjects that would suggest an older reading group.


Thank you #TroubadorPublishing and #RebekahClayton for providing me with an E-ARC of #midwinterFolk via the good people at #Netgalley.

Thanks for the ARC of this book. I really enjoyed this magical book. I was able to get lost in the story for a few hours and that's how you know a book is good. I'm not sure I would label this a children's book, however. Can't wait to read more by the author.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

It was a very nice and interesting read.
And i really, really liked the front page, with that in mind - the pages flew by and the book felt sort of magical. Though this sadly, is not a favorite book of mine.