4.5/ 5 and I HAVE A LOT TO UNPACK HERE. This was described as Mad Max meets Frozen. That's still true if you add drugs, smugglers, buddy team adventures and found family nonsense, and...monsters made out of body parts of other people(?) Right. Remember what I said? We are unpacking a lot.

Is Winter, White and Wicked perfect? Not by a long shot. For about 4.5 hours I was taken an on absolute fever dream where nothing made sense and everything made sense at the same time.

We follow a lot of people with more Y's in the middle of their names than the children of middle class white people.

Sylvi is a long haul trucker living a modest life driving her big rig across an island of eternal winter. She has the ear of the winter spirit that dominates the land. Her life is changed when her best friend runs away with a group of rebels fighting against the oppressive late stage capitalist ruling class that dominates the land.

Mars Dresden is a black eyed smuggler that has learned to enslave the spirit of winter to his will, and he needs Sylvi and her truck for a long and dangerous journey. Our story follows Sylvi, Mars, and his small team across a desert of ice. They face sociopathic rangers, vicious wildlife, island natives, and winter's fury on their journey.

What sets this apart to me is the incredible amount of gore and violence for what I believe is technically considered a YA novel- Winter White and Wicked does not hold back in it's viciousness. I would go so far to argue that the book has actually carved out a whole new genre of YA Grimdark, pushing the limits of what would normally be considered acceptable for a teen audience. No character is safe from immeasurable suffering.

At it's core, One could argue that "Winter" is about deconstructing belief and the foundation of belief- as we are introduced to several impactful moments of radical faith (bot religious and political) Whether it's Sylvi's unrelenting belief in the spirit that haunts her, the numerous island based faiths that drive the brutal lifestyles of their inhabitance, or warring political parties that use humans as slave labor. The absolute truths believed by almost every character they meet swell into a dark and cold world of violence that makes driving a truck turn into a death sentence.

Unlike many YA novels of today, "Winter" does not focus much on things like romance, instead investing deeply into the powerful growing bond between Sylvi and the smugglers that she is driving. The character driven warmth of this book carries you through the darkness of this world and keeps you invested until the end.

I struggled to stay focused with this more than I would have liked.

**trigger warning for sexual assault of a minor**

“Winter, White and Wicked” tells the story of an island plagued by an eternal winter and when rig driver Sylvia takes on a new haul to bring her friend home she begins to wonder if the stories she knew and the history she had with the icy spirit are true or if they’re all a ruse to keep her from looking to the sky and hoping for the sun.

To start I felt like I was thrown into this book a solid 30 pages too early and there was a lot going on in terms of mythology, political conflicts and character introductions that I had to put it down for another day. With that being said there were a lot of elements here that I enjoyed but as a solid work I think it failed to deliver.

The comparison to Mad Max: Fury Road is spot on and those are my favorite sections because, like the rig, the pace of these scenes were quick with the stakes high and tension thick and I felt like I was trying to keep up but in a way that had me involved in the action but it did take away from other aspects especially the political stuff which I completely forgot was an issue up until the last couple chapters.

It’s made very clear that the final destination is a rebel camp but everything about the political struggle is lost as we follow along on this life or death journey where the sole villain is Winter itself. I feel like Winter as a threat was very well done and had that just been it and we were trying to ride the island of that entity I think I might have enjoyed this more because there was so much exposition thrown in and I’m still not clear on how it all works together especially the kol and twyl stuff and how she works between a certain duo but maybe that’s a topic for a different day.

My biggest worry is that I don’t see how another haul can happen for the next book in the series so it will lose a lot of what makes it stand out from other books in this genre which might lead it to fall into old tropes but I think this is a series I’ll continue with until at least book 2.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This book was amazing! Strong plot! Powerful characters! A plot that held my attention the entire time!!!! I couldn’t put it down. I needed to find out what happened next!

*Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this book ahead of its release date. All opinions are my own.*


When I first heard about the acquisition of this novel, I just had to follow its progress, from all stages right up to the cover reveal, which did not disappoint. I knew right away that this was going to the book for me.

Set in the icy world of Layce where winter is eternal, trucker Sylvi accepts a job from a famous smuggler in order to get to her friend, who'd run away to join a rebellion. The world-building around this frozen land puts you right in its icy clutches. It's cold, and it's relentless. Along for the ride are two foreigners, Kyn and Hyla who become more than just a job to Sylvie, and a spirit called Winter who may or not be the protector Sylvi thinks she is.

This book throws you right into the action and leaves you in mystery right off the bat. Why did Lenore leave Sylvi to join the rebels? Who is this spirit Winter and why does Sylvi not want to call upon her magic to aid her? The info trickles in slowly, which can be frustrating to some people. For myself, I did not get a sense of urgency from Sylvi on why she cared so much about rescuing her friend and why she thought she was in so much danger that she'd risk her life offseason to get to her. A lot of aspects f the book happened too gradually and I could not get a sense of things as early on as I wanted to.

Sylvie, as a character, was what I look for in a heroine. Fierce, flawed, and intelligent. But as I stated above, I felt as though I missing something from her. Maybe some emotional inner monologue that would have tied me to her plotline to rescue her friend. I did not feel as connected ot her as I wanted to be.

The side characters were enjoyable especially Kyn. The different races were unique, though I wished I had a little bit more time with them. The writing was top-notch and put me right there in the snow and chilly winds

WINTER, WHITE AND WICKED sets itself apart from YA fantasy in its magic system and its setting. I look forward to the sequel.