Winter Falls: A Tale of the Snow Queen by Jacque StevensMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was provided for an honest review. Let me start out by saying I enjoyed this book. If you read the author's note at the beginning, you can really tell that the author was going through something when she wrote this and it comes through in Katie's story. The message of the story that whatever struggles you are going through end and that you can over come them is a great one and I really appreciated the message and the way that the main character never gave up, though you thought she might a couple of times. My only real issue is Katie's self loathing attitude, I have a hard time connecting with characters like Katie. She refused to admit her feelings for other people, refused to be cared about by those around her, and never knew her own worth, and for me that gets old after a while. I needed her to snap out of it sooner than she did. I don't think it is an issue with the writing or the character development, I think after having read a few characters like Katie, I just don't connect well with them.
On to the actual story...Katie Graham lives in a hotel with her father. The book starts with Katie finding Avery, a talking crow from a place called the Four Kingdoms. Where Avery is from there are all manner of talking animal and fairy tale creatures, specifically the Fairy Princesses of the four seasons who take turns ruling. Avery has a broken wing and Katie vows to nurse him back to health and find his way home, in the meantime the two become inseparable companions. In the meantime, at the age of 7 Katie must take over the hotel while her father mourns the loss of her mother. Katie wants to keep the hotel in business and she has to grow up way to fast. The story follows her from the age of 7 to 17 while she runs the hotel, her father gets remarried and has more children, and Katie never feels like she is part of the family, she always feels left out even when she's included. Part of her issue is because she closes herself off to everyone and is cold so she doesn't get hurt. Even to Shay the boy who has liked her since they were 7. Much of the book follows Katie through her life at the hotel and her interactions with her family and the townspeople. After a while the story begins to alternate between Katie's adventures in the Four Kingdoms.
One of the guests at the hotel turns out to be the Snow Queen, Flurry. Flurry takes Shay to the Four Kingdoms, and Katie isn't very happy about it. She can't decide if they are just friends or something more, but she knows she has to go after him, so she goes to the Four Kingdoms herself and meets each of the princesses, who help her along the journey in some way. Katie's perseverance to save Shay and restore the Four Kingdoms and reunite the fairy sisters was really enjoyable. Overall a great retelling of the Snow Queen tale.
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