Elizziebooks

I freaking love books! I'm currently reading a bunch of YA novels and I keep telling myself that I'll branch out into Adult lit.

Winter's End

Winter's End - Jean-Claude Mourlevat, Anthea Bell I was going to make a video about this because I really liked this book. A lot. But after spending 4+ hours on the Linger Read-Along video last night, I’m not feeling like making a video for this. So, here we go.This past week, I read the English translation of Winter’s End. It was originally written in French, so some of the wording is a little odd. That’s not to say it’s hard to understand. It’s absolutely brilliant.Winter’s End is about this group of kids (Bartolomeo, Milena, Milos, and Helen) who go to two different but very oppressive boarding schools. Their parents were killed when this group of barbarians (Phalangists, as they are called in the book). The four kids escape their respective schools in search for freedom and to find out what actually happened to their parents. Along the way, they find many hardships and even face death at times. And they’re actually the ones to lead their country’s revolution against this evil government.I found this story to be quite interesting and original. The whole idea of a barbarian government oppressing them rather than some uptight dictator is new to me. At least as far as fictional literature goes. The story in this book is very fresh and original. I’m sure you could compare it to other dystopic novels or to novels set in World War II Germany, but really the story stands on its own.The characters were amazing. From the four main characters to Catherine Paneck, Jahn, and the horse-men. You will love the good guys and absolutely loathe the Phalangists. Especially Van Vlyck. He’s just plain awful.The setting was absolutely dismal. That is to show how harsh the times were. Just like winter, these people were battling through some terribly cold times. Everyone is questioned. Anyone who objects with authority is thrown in jail or ripped apart by the dog-men. And near the end of the novel, Spring comes forward and times get better. The Phalagists either disappear or give up their reigns.Although on Amazon they say it’s an 8+ book, I’d say it’s more of a 14+ book because of some of the violence in the novel. So have a mature mindset and a strong stomach. I mean, if you could handle Hunger Games books, you can handle this.

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