The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Overall Rating - 5
Emotional Impact Score - 5
Thought-Provoking Score - 4
Character Score - 5
Plot Score - 4
Worldbuilding Score - 4
Prose Score - 4
To get it out of the way - this is essentially a historical urban fantasy retelling of the Beast of Gévaudan. This books is split between 3 timelines. The main storyline is telling the ‘present’ day (which is, in and of itself, in the past), a second storyline that takes place 20 years before the main storyline, and then a tertiary storyline where it sets up events that spiral through both other storylines. The prose in this isn’t necessarily anything standout but it doesn’t need to be. I really like the banter between the two main characters, Sebastian and Sarmodel. Livia was a tertiary character but her moments feel very much like a secondhand thought. I think the romance portions of this make sense and drive the plot forward.
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“But I loved you, always, even when you wanted to kill me. That never changed. I loved you.”
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“You are the man I wanted to rebuild Gévaudan with—sugarcane and cinnamon, remember?”
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But no, this was Antoine’s story in many ways, and it doesn’t feel right to move on without him. Even spending time with his memory has been a comfort, and I pray that I have honored it, and him.