Review: WINTERCRAFT by Jenna Burtenshaw

Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw

Genre: fantasy, YA

About Wintercraft:

Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort.

Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane – the High Council's most feared man – recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace.

The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft – a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft...

Source: Info in the About Wintercraft was taken from the book's official website at http://www.wintercraft.co.uk/ on 17/04/2010.

Review:
My advise is, do not read the caption at the back of the book! It's misleading!!

This book was a slow starter for me but it picked up around about chapter three or so. I would say this book has a moderate pace. The best thing about the book that I liked best is the character development. Ms. Burtenshaw paints us characters so vivid that they feel like people I could touch and talk with. Characters I relate with. The thing I didn't like about this book is that the main female protagonist is kind of stupid and gullible. It's so flippin' obvious but she just doesn't get it! It's irritating to read at times. This looks to me like an obvious attempt by the author to create a dilemma for the story so that the heroes could save the world. *sigh* Story telling quality? A 3 out of 5. The ending closed the book nicely while pointing to the next book in the series without being a cliffhanger. A 4 out of 5.

I enjoyed this book, stupid protagonist and all. And would give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Book Link(s):
www.wintercraft.co.uk