This was a mixed book with a strong start and brilliant finish but the repetitiveness of the middle really grew stale after a while. The side characters were more prominent than the main character and the main character needed more work..

The magic system worked well and the concept was well-developed and the story fascinating but this was lacking that oomph that it needed to stay apart from other series.

The very first thing that I noticed about DAUGHTER OF REDWINTER is that the feel of it is slightly different from the dark and ominous Raven's Mark books. That's not to say that this book doesn't have its dark moments. Any story where the main character can commune with the dead is not exactly going to be a chuckle fest. But it definitely had a different mood to it as I read it and it felt more like a traditional fantasy with some darkly sinister elements. Honestly, I loved the change of pace and it just made me admire McDonald even more as a writer because it showed me that he's not just a one trick pony.

I'd also like to touch on the main character Raine. Following her journey was truly a rollercoaster ride. To say that she has had her tests throughout her young life would be an understatement. And the fact that she is so young makes it all the more intense as we get to experience her making both good and also very questionable decisions. She possesses a power to see and speak with the dead that she still doesn't full understand and is coming to grips with. Can it be an asset in the potential troubles to come? Can she master it fully or will it remain a wild magical gift that she can't ever completely get under control? And it is obvious that there are others who would like to use (or possibly abuse) the fact that she can do this. So there's also the uncertainty of not knowing who exactly is on her side or who wants to manipulate her for their own purposes.

Another source of enjoyment was how unexpectedly different the writing was from Raven's Mark. Ed writes a tight, clean prose and this felt especially well-edited and polished. Not a page or paragraph wasted; every passage was pertinent and compelling and drove the plot forward while developing the characters further. Raven's Mark was grim, but I would not classify Daughter of Redwinter as a grim story, though it does have some dark moments and heavy themes. Altogether this book felt like a tightly-packaged, well-produced, very well-written story, start to finish. My only complaint is that I'm not a huge fan of the cover. The font and colors feel off-tone to what the story portrays.

This was a beautiful fantasy novel, I have not read any books from Ed Mcdonald before so I didn't know what to expect going into this novel but I was very surprised that I absolutely adored this book.
I loved the writing style so much I want to read so many more of his work, the main female Raine was amazing I liked her and the main story, this fantasy world was beautiful and deadly. Although this is a long book it usually feels intimidating but I didn't feel this with this book I looked forward to spending more time in this world.
I liked the fantasy elements of grave touched individuals. I overall adored this and will be recommending to everyone,

Raine was only trying to help, but the gift of the grave-sight is more curse than blessing. When she stumbles across a wounded girl in the woods, she chooses to try to save her life, never suspecting how terrible a mistake it might be. Demons, monsters, and cursed ancient evil from beyond the veil might just be the beginning. At least you know where you stand with them…

There was a lot that I liked about this book. The world and its magic system are interesting and filled out with some excellent characters. This is a magical school story with a bit of a twist, which I enjoyed. I liked most of the character interactions and found the dialogue believable. But for the first half of the book, I found Raine’s narrative very conflicting. She would say one thing (“I barely noticed time passing”, for example) and then detail something else (cue descriptions of time passing). It didn’t knock me enough to stop me reading, but it definitely had an impact on my attachment to Raine.

By the final third, McDonald had really got into his stride with this novel. The characters settled into themselves, the plot solidified, and I found myself reading far past the time I’d allowed. But it did take me that long to really get into it and care about the next twist.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ✰ ✰
Genre: Fantasy
LGBTQ+ Representation: Bisexual, Sapphic, minor gay character
Trigger Warnings: Death, fantasy violence, descriptions of torture
Would I recommend this? No
Would I read a sequel? Maybe

4 Stars!

This was my first Ed McDonald book, and I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in by the synopsis: a girl who can see ghosts, betrayal, intrigue, magic- sounds right up my alley! The worldbuilding in this book was fascinating, and I really liked the Scottish-inspired setting and clan dynamics.

I was also really happy to see LGBT+ characters included this book, and I liked how the description of those characters' relationships was consistent with the context of the worldbuilding. I liked the simmering tension between some of the characters, and I'm excited to see where some of these relationships go in the future. When romance is included it's very much a slow-burn dynamic, and I LOVED it. All the characters felt fleshed out and real, and they all make mistakes which made them very relatable.

I also liked how the author used the characters' flaws to discuss wider issues like abusive relationships, mistrust, and unreasonable expectations. Raine's journey throughout this book was really compelling, and I felt at the core of this book was a great discussion about numbness/grief/depression and found family (that really isn't afraid to call each other out when needed!). Seeing Raine grow throughout the story was fascinating, and I loved her (flawed) perspective- she's a great heroine and I'm excited to see what she gets up to in the sequel.

As with many first-in-series fantasy books, the first 100-150 pages was a bit slow and difficult to get into. You learn more about the world, the power dynamics and the magic system as you go through the novel, and it's quite hard to connect the dots at the beginning. There are a lot of characters and because of the intrigue and mystery it's hard to know who to trust, and not everyone is being upfront so it's hard to connect with some of the characters at first. But the book really picks up and I basically didn't put it down from page 300-end. You get to know the characters so well, and there were lots of laugh out loud moments towards the end as the mystery came together (the book scene- if you know, you know). The story came together in a really interesting way, and I'm excited to explore the politics of this world more in the sequel!

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a review ARC!

***I submitted this review in error***

Review incoming soon!

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DNF at 30%
Ehat I’ve read so far doesn’t live up to how it’s described. To say simply, its not a book for me but I hope someone else will like it more. It was hard to read and I had to force myself to continue. I wasn't really attached to the MC and didn’t care about what was happening

Okay not loving this book really was my own fault. I saw the cover and my mind went PIRATES and then I read the book and my mind went AHHH DEAD PEOPLE?! WHERE ARE THE PIRATES?
So really I’m partly to blame. The rest though? That was on the author.

Our MC is a pretty typical female protagonist. Described as fierce and strong and really just letting things happen around her. The side characters were trope-y and the plot followed a clear rubric.

BUT the saving grace of this book really did SAVE it. THE ACTION! I read on goodreads that the author of this is a trained swordsman?! WOAH!! And dang did it show! This book catapults you into action from the first page and doesn’t let up. And I mean I have to admit if you were expecting dead people… that part of the book was written pretty well.

But be warned: THERE ARE NO PIRATES!

Following on from his fantastic The Raven’s Mark trilogy, Ed McDonald is back with the first book of a brand new series, DAUGHTER OF REDWINTER.

While Ed’s many fans will be clamouring to pick up his new offering, I do have to say that this is a very different beast. It’s undoubtedly an Ed McDonald book, but whereas Raven’s Mark was a brutal, action-packed grimdark extravaganza, DAUGHTER OF REDWINTER is far slower and a great deal more introspective. The narrative has somewhat a Gothic feel; the development is gradual and tense, laden with heavy purpose, like the final steps of a dying man’s stride.

Again we experience the story from a first-person perspective, perhaps not everyone’s preferred perspective, but Ed McDonald is a master of creating nuanced main characters with whom you share an almost immediate connection.

Our main character here is Raine, a seventeen-year-old woman who, despite possessing a ‘curse’ that would have her killed if known, possesses, initially at least, a tremendous amount of innocence and, to a degree, naivety. Raine is the anchor around which everything else revolves, and as the story develops, we see her becoming more and more self-aware and cognizant of her own power and desires. She is an utterly compelling character, operating in two different worlds, and with so many paths open to her that it’s genuinely exciting trying to predict what she’ll do each time that she’s faced with a tough choice.

As with McDonald’s other work, nothing has been spared when creating the supporting cast or developing the lore-rich history. The characters are all strong in their own ways, their personalities both rough and smooth, and they all possess their own secret motivations and far more autonomy than you’d expect to see in secondary characters.

The world itself is fantastic, medieval in structure and Scottish in flavour. Much like The Raven’s Mark, there is profound, esoteric lore, you want to see it all, but McDonald teases it so deliciously.
In terms of pacing, everything is pretty much spot on. The opener tosses you straight into the action; it’s compelling and a lot is thrown at you, but it then drops into a slow-burn mystery with an abundance of development. The ending was a little quicker and easier than I’d perhaps of liked, but it wrapped up what it needed to nicely. Throughout DAUGHTER OF REDWINTER, the writing is beautiful, poetic turns of phrase, and gorgeous imagery.

As the first book of a new series, I couldn’t have asked for any more, it’s gripping, exciting, and I want more.

Review Posted: https://starlitbook.com/2022/03/10/daughter-of-redwinter-by-ed-mcdonald/

*Fantasy adventure mystery featuring the 'chosen one' trope.*

Things I liked:

The worldbuilding was rich and detailed and gave you a feeling of scope and history of the culture. Within the worldbuilding, I enjoyed the magic system and how it worked, it felt different to things I had read before. The sorcerors/magicians are able to access different abilities/powers through different gates. Only a handful have the power to use several of them.
The story was written in a style that I liked with some beautiful prose.

Things I didn't like:

Raine as a main character didn't work for me. She is described as strong etc but things just sort of happen to her and around her. She doesn't have alot of agency until nearer the end of book and even then I was not 100% convinced that she was doing what she wanted to do. She just falls into different groups and goes along with what their mission or culture is. She states near the start of the book that she is going to forge her own path...but then...doesn't.

Whilst the action and intrigue starts pretty much immediately, it took me ages to get into the story. The story involves a series of mysteries, some of which are resolved and some I assume will be revealed in further installments. However I found that I didn't care that much about what happened, maybe because I was not attached to the main character.

Not a bad book and had lots going for it but just didn't quite work for me.

Raine can see and speak to the dead, it's a gift that always comes with a death sentence. Trying to hide her talents she seeks refuge with a deluded cult. During a rare act of kindness she rescues an injured woman in the snow and everything changes from there. The woman is fleeing from her pursuers and Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king and who will stop at nothing to retrieve what she's stolen.

This book starts by chucking you in at the very deep end of the action, almost giving me whiplash. Fantasy readers know that feeling of utter confusion when you first join a new fantasy world and you have to work out what is happening and who is who, this is no different. Whilst others may enjoy that I do find it quite difficult to follow along at times and there was a bit of re-reading involved.

The world-building was amazing and I could clearly picture all of the scenes being described, whilst the magic system was mostly clear, I do hope we get more in depth information in follow up books. If there was a map that would have been the icing on the cake.

However, once the action part was over the book really slows down and you get the character arcs kicking in. McDonald did a really good job of portraying how grief affects some people as well as building a foundation of relationships that the characters continue to build on for the rest of the book.

The side characters were great and I did like moody Sanvaunt and see him being far more prominent in later books. The rest of the apprentices may get fleshed out later but it was nice to see Raine making female friends rather than being used by men.

I will say the glossary in the back was very helpful but the issue with kindle reading is that it appeared at the end so I only found it much later! Maybe books should have a note in the front to let you know about it being at the back? Should I let all the publishers know?

Back to the book, once I got into it I really enjoyed this book and it gave me The Black Magician Trilogy vibes which is a series I adore!

Thank you to Orion Publishing and Netgalley for a complimentary advanced reading copy to review.

This is a book that is difficult to write a review for, I think you just have to experience for yourself how these written words sweep you away on every single page so that you can feel what I felt while reading this incredible book. Ed McDonald has written an unbelievably good book that takes you emotionally from the first page and holds that feeling until the last page. A world that won’t let you go, along with a strong heroine who pulls you in emotionally, in a story that thrills you.
In this story, you are immediately thrown into Raine’s life with little regard for the reader’s feelings. Right in the first chapter the struggle begins that Raine has to overcome in the whole book – the struggle against a piece of herself. Because of this fast-paced beginning, you can quickly lose yourself in the story, because you have to be swept along right away. An emotional bond with the character develops early on, which is further strengthened by the first-person narrative. The story takes you through many ups and downs and even if the beginning and the end are the most action-packed of the story, the middle part of the story is no less exciting to read, as more secrets are revealed there, but new ones also emerge. This makes for such a beautifully written story of action, fear for one’s life, a little detective work and also always questioning what Raine actually wants in her life. So Raine is thrown from one situation to the next again and again without having any influence on what actually happens to her. The fact that so many things happen that lead you through the book makes it an exciting adventure where you don’t know the outcome of the story yourself.Raine is a character I will never forget. She has to go through so much suffering, make so many decisions that are hard to make at such a young age and lose many of the friends she once made. Raine is a girl who has become what she is through all her circumstances – a girl without hope, a girl who only has to be afraid and a girl without feelings. Raine suffers from depression, which often makes her seem cold because she can no longer perceive the world with her feelings in the same way. Ed McDonald describes this depression as it must really feel for those affected, not a sadness that surrounds her, but this lack of feeling. I wouldn’t want to be in Raine’s shoes, but reading her story through her eyes makes you empathise with her like few other characters. I would have liked to show Raine that the world offers more and that she can feel something again and I hope that through this story she will be allowed to experience many more beautiful moments. However, the secondary characters were also masterfully written as they have much to contribute to Raine’s character and yet can always give her hope and love. Every single secondary character is exciting in their own way, because there is no white/black thinking here, but everyone carries something good and bad with them. Especially Sanvaunt could do it to me as well and I liked every interaction with him and Raine.There is not only one very interesting magic system, but even two of them! Both systems are very spirtual, which gives the world a mysterious atmosphere, but also something dark. One system is about seeing the dead. Raine has this gift, although you can’t really call it a gift. Since access to the realm of the dead is despised and punished with far-reaching consequences, Raine has to hide this ability. I love such gifts that are somehow a bit witchy, it gives a feeling of something forbidden and so mystical. I would have liked to see more of this ability and hope that the next volume will focus more on this ability. The other magic system relates to a complex concept that relies on opening different gates. Each opened gate has its own power that allows the user to better perceive the environment, for example. However, not every gate should be opened, as it also contains powers that are not intended for humans.Read this book! This book is a page-turner that kept you hooked the whole time and pulled the rug out from under me! The questions that keep coming up don’t let you stop and you almost want to read through the book in one session. The world is so expressive and different that I am so excited to see what will happen in the next volume. Hopefully it won’t be so long in coming…

I would just like to start by saying I wish the author a complete recovery from his ongoing health issues, as to the book, having read the Raven Mark books and being completely enraptured by them I approached this book with apprehension as the synopsis didn’t sound too Grimdark to me, and to be honest this book isn’t grim, it is dark in places and for me bordering on a younger audience (or maybe I am just a grumpy old man) that aside I enjoyed the book immensely and would heartily recommend it as a thoroughly good read

This was an enjoyable read that had a good storyline, characters that were well developed, a good narrative and good worldbuilding. The descriptions and imagery were so good that I felt I was there within the pages. A good read.

I am going to admit, I wasn’t too into Daughter of Redwinter when I first started. It took me a while to get into it but once I did, I enjoyed it a lot.

The story focuses on Raine, a young woman who can communicate with the dead. After coming across another young woman in the snow, she is drawn into a new world full of betrayal, backstabbing and politicking. As a story, it was enjoyable. It progresses at a decent pace and I never felt bored. McDonald is good at telling a story so there were no disappointments in that regard.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Raine. For a while she very much came across as the bland, yet over powered, teenage female that men seem to always write about but I did warm to her as the novel progressed. She’s by no means my favourite character but she did end up being better than I expected.

The character I ended up liking the most was actually Sanvaunt. He spends much of the book being moody and mysterious (for reasons that are explained as the story progresses) but that just made him more interesting. The revelation of what book he was hiding actually made me laugh at a very tense part of the story, which I really liked. He works well with Raine and I enjoyed the scenes they shared together. Of the other characters, I wasn’t sure if I liked Ovitus or not. He’s a bit of a creeper but he shows moments of being decent. I just think he needs some guidance. Esher was a bit bland, she didn’t have a lot to do except provide sexual tension but I did like Liara. I thought her introduction was one of the best and I immediately liked her.

Daughter of Redwinter isn’t the perfect book but it does get better as it goes along. I really wasn’t sure about it at first but I was invested by the end of the story and I even started to like Raine as a character. There’s a lot of potential in the series and I hope it continues to live up to this potential.

Reviewed by my co-blogger, Adam, from Novel Notions

4.5/5 stars

Mysterious, honest, and exciting from start to finish, Daughter of Redwinter has the goods.

As a fan of Ed’s Raven’s Mark series, I had been looking forward to seeing what he had in store next. I’m happy to say that Daughter of Redwinter hits the bullseye in many satisfying ways.

Raine is a engaging character, with a strong and singular voice. She’s only seventeen, so she makes some dumb teenager mistakes that are relatable and honest. But she also has a heart of stone and a peerless resolve, which makes her very easy to root for. She has an extremely cool curse/power she was born into, and it gets more and more interesting as the story progresses. I enjoyed how it plays a key role in shaping the core of her worldview instead of simply augmenting it.

Another source of enjoyment was how unexpectedly different the writing was from Raven’s Mark. Ed writes a tight, clean prose and this felt especially well-edited and polished. Not a page or paragraph wasted; every passage was pertinent and compelling and drove the plot forward while developing the characters further. Raven’s Mark was grim, but I would not classify Daughter of Redwinter as a grim story, though it does have some dark moments and heavy themes. Altogether this book felt like a tightly-packaged, well-produced, very well-written story, start to finish. My only complaint is that I’m not a huge fan of the cover. The font and colors feel off-tone to what the story portrays.

This was less of a classical hero’s quest or a rousing good vs. evil story. More than anything, this book had the structure of a good, dark mystery novel. All grey characters whom you didn’t know what side they were on until they end, some good surprise reveals and misdirections, and some well-developed toxic relationships that are unfortunately all too tangible.

I could go on about the interesting magic system in the world, or the religion and lore, but it’s best to go into most of it blind. All in all, this was a real page-turner, one that kept me guessing, and pulling the rug out from under me. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but tensions are kept high while new questions kept rolling in. This is an exciting entry to a new series and I’m already looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel.