This was a really interesting book. It follows a version of Bucky Barnes (different from the MCU although there are similarities), and we switch back and forth between two different times in his life - earlier in his life when he is a troubled teenager who gets recruited for a covert spy operation, and during the part of his life where he is the Winter Soldier but memories are fading in and out. The book was slow to start for me but really picked up as the spy story kicked in, and I loved when Bucky gets involved with a girl who is an English chess player and carries secrets with he. Imogen would have to be my favorite character. The Winter Soldier scenes were a little more repetitive and brutal as Bucky is trying to put things together that we already know, so I preferred the mystery side of things.

I struggle to think who this book is for. This book would probably work best for people who like YA historical/WWII novels with a focus on spies, espionage, and chess. I would not necessarily recommend this to people who love Bucky Barnes because this is a different version of him, and it's not really for MCU/Captain America lovers as Steve barely shows up. It's not until the end of the book that Steve makes it on the page, and although it's referenced as Bucky begins to regain memories, the part of his life that Bucky spends as Steve's sidekick is not in either of the timelines we actually follow. I found myself wondering if I would have liked this book better if the main character just had a different name so I wouldn't be comparing them to the Bucky in my head from the movies. I was very upset at the book's ending because of this!

This book is a really cool project and Mackenzi Lee's writing really shines here through a lot of wonderfully descriptive passages, especially when it comes to Bucky and his memories or the importance chess plays in the narrative. I would love to read her take on other Marvel characters in the future. I do wonder who is making the decisions with the plot, characters, and marketing for books like this because I am sometimes left with questions, but there are absolutely readers out there who will enjoy this book.

These mare stories art really good at giving readers insights into classic Marvel characters as young adults. There is a lot of depth added to the character in this story as well as some nice action and adventure.

If you are a fan of the Bucky Barnes from the comic then this book is for you but if you are looking for more Bucky/Steve friendship stories and filling in the MCU gaps then it is not. It is a good story, it’s brutal and sad to read and makes you feel so much for the character. However if you only know him from the movies then you will be lost and confused and constantly trying to figure out where the story fits. It is worth the read just know what you are getting into.

I had such conflicting emotions about this and no one is more disappointed in this than I am.

The Winter Soldier: Cold Front follows a Bucky Barnes different from the one we’ve gotten to know through the MCU and comics. Bucky’s story and how he became the Winter Soldier is shown through flashbacks, juxtaposed with a mission being done by The Winter Soldier.

I found the strongest parts of this to be the flashbacks, but those were ironically the parts that also pulled me from the story the most. A decision was made to make Bucky much younger than an already-established Steve Rogers Captain America, a choice I’m assuming was made by Disney rather than the author. Not having that friendship between the two seemed to be such a major hit to the development of the character.

That said, I really did love the relationships we see Bucky have and navigate during his flashbacks… but all of it together didn’t work for me the way I wanted it to.

3 stars

Title: The Winter Soldier: Cold Front

Author: Mackenzi Lee


Ch: 25


Pg: 416


Genre: retelling, comic


Rating: 5 stars


Publisher: Marvel Press


I liked The Winter Solider: Cold Front by Mackenzi Lee more than I thought I would. I loved her Mackenzi Lee combined comic Bucky with MCU Bucky to give readers a Bucky unique to this book. And she did a great job of taking the best from the comics and the movies. I loved that it was dual time. We get both Bucky before the war and Winter Soldier Bucky.


While the reader gets some closure for one timeline. The book ends on a cliff hanger, at least to this reader. And gives me hope that we will get a sequel. And of course, Winter Soldier Cold Front reminds me yet again while Bucky is my favorite.



I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

I really enjoyed all of Mackenzi Lee's other books and this was no different. I was so excied to hear about this whole series and loved Loki but I think I liked this one even more. I loved all the characters and the back and forth between the past and 'present'.

This was such a good book! As the world's hugest Bucky fan I was super excited for this one. I loved that we got parallel stories of Bucky and The Winter Soldier and I enjoyed how the mystery all connected. I love the brief nods to a relationship with Steve too! Of course the story broke my heart knowing what was in store for Bucky, but I fully enjoyed it anyway!!

The Winter Soldier: Cold Front by Mackenzi Lee was a book that I was really looking forward to since I'm a fan of the MCU's Bucky (I'm not all that familiar with the comics version of the character). This novel is a retelling/ alternate universe version of the character which changes up a lot of stuff (or is an amalgamation of the MCU and comics iterations of the character). As it turns out, it changes a little bit too much for me. Elements I appreciated about the character from the movies has either been completely changed or minimized particularly in the 1941 scenes. I wish his interactions with Steve weren't cut back so much. One thing that bothered me more than I expected it to was making Bucky younger and putting him at 17 in 1941 rather than as in his early to mid 20s. All that said, I did like how the 1954 Winter Soldier sequences were handled. The brainwashing, remembering, and forgetting worked well in the novel. The action scenes were also handled well and show the brutality of everything he's facing. I also liked getting to know the character Imogen - she's kind of the MVP in the story. Overall, though, I was just glad to get to see more of one of my favorite characters and I hope Mackenzi Lee will continue writing more of these books because it is fun to see more of these characters whether it goes a different route with them or not.

This was such a good book! As the world's hugest Bucky fan I was super excited for this one. I loved that we got parallel stories of Bucky and The Winter Soldier and I enjoyed how the mystery all connected. I love the brief nods to a relationship with Steve too! Of course the story broke my heart knowing what was in store for Bucky, but I fully enjoyed it anyway!!

This review was originally published on NetGalley.com. I was given an ebook freely by NetGalley and the book’s publisher in return for a voluntary and honest review.

The Winter Solider is one of my favorite Marvel characters and I was very excited to see him get his own book in the new Marvel fiction line.

We have Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier battling each other in the past. How can that be you might ask and it doesn’t involve time travel. When a man loses everything including his memory he can end up battling himself and his past decisions.

Mackenzi Lee put Bucky through hell and while enjoying all the action and turmoil I was heartbroken for him. How is he the best hero and villain? Maybe that’s why I love him so much as a character. A man that’s done so much good that gets wiped away by so much bad and then he has to wipe that away but people aren’t so easy to forgive. We all have that in us and we all as times are our own worst enemies. Maybe that’s why I love Bucky and mourn with the Winter Soldier.

You’re going to need major comfort after finishing this journey. It’s painful but cathartic. Do yourself a favor and go on this journey. Just have a warm blanket and cup of your favorite drink to curl up into afterwards.

About Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media.

For more information visit marvel.com. © 2022 MARVEL

I've put off reading this book for so long because I knew it would hurt and I was right! Mackenzi Lee does a fantastic job of giving us a view a young Bucky before he even signed up for the cause and then flipping it to the Winter Soldier. They did an amazing job weaving these two timelines together and I was even taken aback at times by how they connected. A really well done fast paced book with a slightly sadder ending than I would have liked but should have expected!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide, Marvel Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I LOVED learning more about the Winter Soldier. He is tied as my favorite Marvel Character (With Captain America of course).
I was a little confused in the beginning of this book as it switched POV's without warning but once I got used to it I was engrossed and couldn't put it down.
This has been my favorite of the marvel "spin off" books
I loved learning more about the comic book version of Bucky Barnes where he was raised as an army brat. (I am more well versed in the MCU version of James Buchanan Barnes.)
Mackenzie Lee has done a wonderful job with this character and with this story and has left me wanting to read more of her books.
Now don't get me wrong this book absolutely broke me but in the best way. It brought out so any emotions from deep within my heart and laid it bare.

I've been really enjoying all of these books that expand on the universes that our kids are already so invested in. This is no exception; Bucky is basically the best, and this story drives that home.

The Winter Soldier: Cold Front is a multiple POV feel story of a teenager, Bucky, who wants to follow in his deceased father's footsteps by becoming a soldier told in tandem with the story of a Russian military operative called the Winter Soldier, a nameless, obedient soldier without an identity.

This is part of the Marvel franchise, and I was unfamiliar with the Winter Soldier but am a Mackenzi Lee fan so opted to read this regardless. You do not need to be familiar with the Winter Soldier arc to enjoy this book, but I did find the ending unpleasantly sad which may be resolved within the graphic novels. Although I described the story as multiple POV ***Spoiler Alert*** it turns out that Bucky and the Winter Soldier are one and the same so the story is just alternating between two time periods in his life. The story starts with his teenage years as a high school dropout and mastermind of a contraband operation at the local outpost, and follows his recruitment into military espionage, while ping-ponging through his life as the Winter Soldier. This book was a little darker than I expected for Disney and I really don't like sad endings, but I enjoyed it and would read a sequel.

I am a sucker for Marvel and even more so for Bucky (and if you don't love him you're the problem sorry - kidding obviously) - I have read other works by Lee before and had an idea what to expect, but I still was pleasantly surprised by this one. Full of action and humor this is exactly what I expect of a story about Bucky.

Thank you to Marvel Press and NetGalley for this eArc of <i>The Winter Soldier; Cold Front</i> by Mackenzie Lee. All opinions are my own.

Since I will follow Mackenzie Lee's books to the end of the Earth (and actually follow her to the end of the Earth—I even tried to find her at the bookstore she worked at when she lived in SLC, but that's another story), I was pleasantly surprised to see this one pop up in NetGalley and eager to read it. I had already read her first Marvel novel <i>Loki: Where Mischief Lies</i>, and since there's nothing I love better than a reimagining or a backstory of a superhero or super anti-hero, these books really hit the sweet spot.

Any Marvel nerd (and Lee nerd, obviously) will absolutely love this book. The writing is so, so good—Lee writes this with such intensity. She strikes just the right tone in her telling of tragedy of our hero James Buchanan Barnes, who we know and love as Captain America's sidekick Bucky. In this book, though, Lee explores his origin story as it was originally conceived in the comic books, and let me tell you, Bucky's story is thrilling and unpredictable in a way that I personally find more entertaining and engaging than Steve Rogers'. We all know Bucky as Captain America's lieutenant, his second-in-command, but here he takes center stage, and we learn about all the twists and turns that eventually created The Winter Soldier.

I will add that this book ends with the promise (<i>please, please, please?</i>) of another book. I don't think Lee is done telling Bucky's whole story, and I am very much looking forward to see what happens to our hero next.

I, much like Steve Rogers, would also start a Civil War to protect Bucky Barnes.
I don't usually love novelizations of comics, and this definitely had it's rough parts for me. But I'm such a hoe for Bucky and all things related to him, I still loved this.

I love James Buchanan Barnes with all of my heart and soul so getting an ARC of this book was such a great surprise. I felt like Lee’s Bucky was spot on. He was smoldering and unyielding in the 1954 timeline and the sarcastic, charming troublemaker in the 1941. I could absolutely see Sebastian Stan saying all this dialogue. Both timelines were so well done, plot wise. I really enjoyed seeing the different sides of James Barnes. There were a lot of great action scenes and witty humor and sweet moments…and then that ending. I had tears just streaming down my face as I was nearing it. Even though I know Bucky’s story and the trauma he endures, it was still so brutal and heartbreaking to see on the pages. Lee really packed an emotional gut punch with this one. I’m not sure why I was expecting this to be a middle grade children’s book, but it’s more geared towards older YA/adults. Which, for the story, makes perfect sense. I thought it was really well done.

TW: mentions of torture, mentions of suicide, medical experiments, violence, death

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this! Bucky isn't necessarily one of my personal top tier Marvel characters but I love Mackenzi's writing so I checked this one out from NetGalley. It's a fun (and traumatizing) WWII and Cold War spy novel. I suspect it's going to make some people mad that Steve Rogers isn't really in this (which I assume is probably due to Marvel's character permissions or whatever) but I liked it for what it was and I enjoyed the new character Imogen. Lots of fun lil historical and literary (and musical theater) references embedded. I'd suggest this to a reader of historical fiction/spy thrillers even if they weren't a big Marvel fan.

If you’re a Marvel fan and a Bucky stan, you’ll likely enjoy this one. This was an awesome multiverses non-MCU-canon take on Bucky’s origin story and what life might have been like for him in the early years as The Winter Soldier.

I really enjoyed the introduction of Imogen Fleming and the parallels she had to Bucky’s own story. I thought their relationship blossoming between the two time periods was well-written, and I enjoyed how she made an impact on Bucky’s story in the course of this novel.

The intro to Steve was interesting! Wish there would have been more, but hey, you can fill in the blanks.

I felt like there were some continuity troubles throughout, certain things that felt important to discuss were skimmed over, especially with the 1941 timeline and how the SOE dealt with Bucky’s shenanigans.

But dang. The author really nailed Bucky’s trauma and the tragedy of his story. I loved reading from his point of view as The Winter Soldier and that ending! I kept trying to turn the page for more but there was nothing 😭 I love Bucky and his tragic story and it makes me want to go watch his MCU redemption arc like now.

Very enjoyable read! 4/5 stars