Faerie Winter
Janni Lee Simner
Published: April 5, 2011
Book from Around the World Arc Tour
The long-awaited sequel to Janni Lee Simner’s breathtaking YA fantasy debut, Bones of Faerie. Liza is a summoner. She can draw life to herself, even from beyond the grave. And because magic works both ways, she can drive life away. Months ago, she used her powers to banish her dangerous father and to rescue her mother, lost in dreams, from the ruined land of Faerie.The long-awaited sequel to Janni Lee Simner’s breathtaking YA fantasy debut, Bones of Faerie.
Born in the wake of the war between humanity and Faerie, Liza lived in a world where green things never slept, where trees sought to root in living flesh and bone. But now the forests have fallen silent. Even the evergreens’ branches are bare. Winter crops won’t grow, and the threat of starvation looms. And deep in the forest a dark, malevolent will is at work. To face it, Liza will have to find within herself something more powerful than magic alone. Here at last is the sequel to Bones of Faerie, for all those fans of dark fantasy and dystopian adventure who thrilled to Janni Lee Simner’s unique vision of a postapocalyptic world infused with magic. – Goodreads
*Spoilers for Bones of Faerie Possible
I signed up for this tour on Around the World ARC Tours without reading the first one, Bones of Faerie. It had been on my TBR list for a while so I figured it was a good way to get me to read it and then I would have the second one soon. I read the first one and really enjoyed it so I was happy to be getting this one soon!
I think I liked Faerie Winter even more than Bones of Faerie. They are both great but there was so much more going on in Faerie Winter. The book starts a couple months after Bones of Faerie – with winter in full swing after Liza brought autumn back to the land. At one time the trees were blood thirsty beings that didn’t relent and now they are slumbering peacefully in the forest – and Liza can’t even bring them back with her summons. When Liza and Matthew find a burned body in the woods and a young fire starter who doesn’t know how to control his power, they take him in and find out that the Fae have left their world and are trying to destroy all humans in theirs.
This book was so good. There were so many twists – I really had no idea how Simner was going to get the characters out of the situations they were in without everyone dying. She does an amazing job of developing the story. Even thought Bones of Faerie was satisfying – there were still questions left unanswered and Janni answers them. We get the background story of Liza’s mom, Tara, and Kaylen, how the War between the Fae and humans started, and where Kaylen and Karin came from and why they are helping the humans now.
I very much enjoyed this book. I love that it’s a dystopian faery book and it is beautifully written. Simner draws the reader into a world that is heartbreaking and scary while keeping the characters real and the story interesting.