Der Winter des Bären (2018)

Enjoyable for the strong female protagonist in Mila and strong supporting characters in Pipa and Rune, but too many repetitions of Mila's emotions roiling in her gut/stomach, gasping, hands tightening became annoying and distracted from the flow of the tale. And the father's remorse for destroying the heart-tree was forgiven too quickly. To me, he symbolized we humans tearing down the forests and destroying wildlife, and that is a huge problem not to be easily fixed. Yes, he promised to plant a new heart-tree, but one does not re-plant old-growth overnight. I would have wished for the father's revelation coming earlier in the book, with more time taken for remorse and the difficulty of restoration while building up to a reason for hope in all people coming together to help. ( )

Amazing style and language but I felt the plot was too simplistic and let it down. Characters also felt unoriginal. ( )

In the fifth year of winter, Mila and her sisters wake up to find their brother has left. Sanna believes Oskar willingly left them, like their father once did, but Mila is convinced that Oskar was taken by last night’s unsettling visitors -- and is determined to rescue him.

I didn’t find this as emotional and as compelling as Hargrave’s previous books. I don’t know if that’s because this is a simpler narrative or because I didn’t listen to the audio book -- a good narrator adds liveliness and emotion. But Hargrave’s prose is lovely and I liked the fairytale quality this story has.

Some folk moved from their frozen land, but most stayed and, as people do, changed to fit their changed world. They changed their stories too. Gone were tellings of honey and plenty: tales became warnings, sharp as bee stings. ( )