Sometimes it is hard to know if I’ve judged a book harshly or not… Midwinterblood falls into that category. There were some very interesting aspects, but overall, it didn’t work together terribly well. The story actually goes backward in time (is that a spoiler? Probably, oh well, there you go, it goes backward) so the reader is thrown into this futuristic world that is a bit unfamiliar. I found this bit of the story not terribly engaging. The initial main character Eric Seven is a journalist on assignment to visit a mysterious place called Blessed Island where technology isn’t used and the inhabitants are very closed mouthed about what actually happens on the Island. There is no industry. There are very few comings and no goings. Eric is greeted by Merle with whom he feels an instant connection. He is also drawn to Tor, the enigmatic leader of the island. As Eric explores the island he discovers some of its secrets, and the reason why he feels so close to Merle. Just when we have THAT story safely filed away we switch back in time to 2011, where archeologists are working on a site hoping to see viking era remains. The locals of the island are a bit odd, particularly a teenaged boy who stands watching the archeologists work each day. We soon find out his name is Eric, and his mother, Merle… So now you get the gist. Basically, the readers sees a lot of the Eric and Merle characters throughout time. Sometimes they share a familial connection. Sometimes they are romantically connected. Occasionally, they are just people who find connection to one another in different ways. But always the characters have great love for one another through out time.
This is a difficult type of novel to keep together. Sedgwick ambitiously has to write a series of short stories that further the narrative but are unique unto themselves. Unfortunately, I felt this fell into the frequent YA pitfall which has a unique story but does nothing to develop characters so the actions don’t always meet what the motivations might be, but the reader never knows because they don’t understand enough about the underlying characters. Also, in some of the episodes the “scene” was very undeveloped and lacking. The stories are supposed to take place on the same island, but the island as described and written had a completely different feel to other iterations of that island. If the mysterious location is supposed to be a character of this novel (and as a reader, it is more powerful if it is) then there needs to be an underlying consistency. Now, let us talk a bit about how Sedgwick addresses romantic love. The Eric in the first story we read falls in love at first sight (I joke not, there are paragraphs about it… gag) with Merle. Now, I am trying to remember when I was a teenager if I really got into stuff like this and found it amazing and romantic, but as an adult who has lived through a relationship or two in my day, I find the romance cringe inducing. Again, I am willing to concede that I just might be too old for this book and I am not the intended audience; however, I do thing great fiction can cross age, race, gender, cultural, and religious lines to be recognizable and interesting. So Midwinterblood is not going to get my vote for compelling fiction.
Another challenge that Sedgwick faces due to the style of the book, is keeping each separate story as interesting and compelling as the next. This is where Sedgwick really didn’t do a great job. Some of the stories as stand alone works were actually quite good. Others were bad. When taken as a whole narrative, those bad bits drag down the whole tone of the books and I find that those stories are the ones I remember. These are the main reasons I disliked the book. There are others (dialogue inconsistencies, areas of too much vs. too little detail, etc) but this review can’t go on forever. In short, I do know a couple of friends who really get into YA fiction that might enjoy the back building style of this book and the content, but for general audiences, this is a pass. There are better YA books out there and better examples of interesting narrative time delivery. Most people will want to skip this book.
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