Dead of Winter

"My dark precipise has been reached. I throw back my head and roar as comprehension takes hold. I am Death."

3 STARS

Okay, so I've said it before and I'll say it again: I HATE LOVE TRIANGLES. I feel that they are overused, a cheap plot device, and often take over the story so completely that the main theme of the book is lost beneath picking 'teams' on each side. Now, saying this, you can understand why I had some issues with this book, but I think that this triangle was rather interesting, but I honestly don't think I would pick either guy if it came down to it. Death/Aric is manipulative, abusive, and a thousand other negative qualities, but Jack has a dozen faults too, though I do acknowledge that they do have their good points as well. I don't like love triangles, but this one did have me questioning how the book would end, but of course she ended up with Jack as anyone would predict. But enough of my rant and on to my actual review.

CHARACTERS

Evie: Okay, so the cheerleader archetype for a protagonist has never enthralled me in YA books, but I feel that Evie has grown a lot throughout this series. She went from someone very shallow to someone who cared about not only others but how her actions would impact the entire world. But, I feel that Evie was very wishy-washy in this book, both from waffling between Aric and Jack and because she seemed to me very weak except for when she released the Red Witch persona of her Empress powers, but she did have her moments that shone through with her powers and personality, but I would have liked to see a lot more from her.

Jack: MY GOD JACK DEVEAUX YOU HAVE GROWN. Okay, so Jack is by and large my favorite character in this book, not only because of his astounding character development, but also because I always liked his personality as a whole: dark, powerful, yet sensitive. In Dead of Winter Jack really starts to make his mark on the world and I couldn't be happier. I was annoyed about his macho complex to throw himself into danger, but I understand his line of thinking in it to motivate his soldiers. I wish we could have seen a bit more of him actually, because I would honestly much rather read in his perspective than Evie's. He became a lot more well rounded in this book and showed such promise that I haven't seen since the first book with any of the other characters.

Aric:

Aric has never appealed to me, and I'm really glad Evie decides to dump his ass in snow. I appreciate that he is a scholar and that he could provide for Evie, but that DOES NOT EXCUSE HIS ACTIONS.

He is a manipulative bastard and he I don't think he really loved Evie, I think that he loved the idea of her because she's the only one he can feasibly be with without killing. I understand why the author included this love triangle, but I still think that the book could have been fine (and probably a lot better) without the droning back and forth between Aric and Jack. I do appreciate that Aric grew some in this book, seeing his wrongs and trying to right them for Evie, but it still does not exonerate him from his misdeeds. Secondary Characters I really wish we could have seen more of the rest of the characters, like Finn and Matthew and such, but I obviously we had to focus on poor Evie's heart and love issues instead of the actual game at hand. I will say that I liked how Selena and Evie became closer in this book, especially after Evie rescued her from the Lover's Shrine in the mountain, but I really wish we could see more from the other cards.

WRITING

I have never liked this author's writing style, and maybe it's because Evie is the narrator or maybe it's just not my taste, but I can never get over all the exclamation marks and the short sentences and just...ugh. I wish there was more sentence variation and higher language and maybe I sound like an arrogant ass, but I just want more.

STORY THIS. THIS is why I stay with this series. I absolutely ADORE the involvement of the Major Arcana and tarot mysteries and subjects; I find it fascinating and it is used very little in modern books, if any at all besides this. And my, my that ending

Overall, I think that this story had a lot of promise, but it's gone downhill from there, but I have faith that in the next book it will get better now that the love triangle is mostly resolved, and I will be definitely purchasing the next installment.