I liked this one better than Bones of Faerie, but I still had some issues with it. And to be fair, while there was some improvement on some of the things that bugged me from #1, the main reason I enjoyed this one more than the first was that it allowed for more time to be spent in this world and with these characters. (If you’ll recall, my biggest issue with the first book was that it was too short.)
Faerie Winter picks up about six months after Bones of Faerie. Liza and her friends and family have just lived through their first true winter in Liza’s lifetime, as a consequence of Liza’s actions in the last book (basically she’s called true winter back to the world, and it doesn’t want to leave). They’re not sure, though, if spring is going to come. And even though winter means the plants and animals are less dangerous than usual, it also means eventual starvation if spring doesn’t come in time for them to plant their crops (if it ever comes at all). And just as it’s beginning to dawn on Liza and her teacher, Karin (a faerie), that they will have to do something to help spring along, in comes trouble. The Lady (in other books you’d know her as The Faerie Queene) and her granddaughter have decided to wreak vengeance for the destruction of Faerie on the surviving humans of Liza’s world.
Basically the Lady is PISSED because Faerie is crumbling, and the human world appears to be on its way as well, so why the hell not with the murdering and setting things on fire and making humans your slaves with magic? We didn’t deal much with the Glamour in the last book, but it’s a big deal here, and it’s all tied up in issues of power and corruption and equality. The Lady is very scary, also, but I do wish she had been fleshed out a bit more (although it’s pretty easy to assume the death of her world and her already flawed assumptions about her place in the world and how she uses her power have pretty much driven her mad).
We learn the backstory of the war, and while it’s a bit convenient that Liza’s mother and Caleb just so happen to be at the heart of it, I’ll let it pass. This story is also hugely about mothers and daughters. We’ve got Liza and her mother finally coming to terms, the Lady and Karin doing so as well (if with a bit more violence), and Elin and her mother (Karin). I also liked the way this book pushed the worldbuilding. Janni melds the two worlds together more and more as time passes, as the Afters learn to get control of their magic, and the fairies learn one by one to live with humans.
The book was still a little too short and some things were underdeveloped, but I’m in it now. Review for the final book up soon.
[3.75 stars, but rounding up becuase I’m feeling magnanimous]