When the ARC for Alison Stine’s Road Out of Winter dropped onto my Kindle, I was excited to read it. I love post-apocalyptic fiction, though I stay away from works that have downer endings.  Unfortunately, Road Out of Winter, while it was excellent in some ways, didn’t quite live up to my expectations. 
The setting is interesting and well drawn. This is a climate-disaster world caught in perpetual winter, at least in southeastern Ohio, where Wyl, the central character, lives. Spring no longer comes. Game is dying out or being hunted to extinction. Food, fuel, and other supplies are scarce. The situation is obviously untenable, but Wyl stays in the hope of hearing from her mother, who left with her lover. When a postcard arrives from her mom with a California return address, Wyl decides to set out and find her parent. At this point, the story becomes a road book and examines the ways of the people Wyl and her traveling companions meet along the way have chosen to cope with the situation. 

Stine describes the people and the setting beautifully. For example: 

“Everyone looked gray as overwashed clothes, exhausted and faded, their eyes turning up at the shelves as if they held the answers.” 

“That was the other thing I felt, standing in the doorway of Grayson’s house: a cold so sharp it cut me. A chest-hurting cold, cold that made it hard to breathe. That meant the heat hadn’t been for a long time. Cold had crept into the folds of the drapes, into the cracks on the floor.” 

“The trees shone silver with frost, like they had been shellacked, like the snow globes Mama and I made one winter for presents…Glitter snowed on the miniature world, and it was pretty, safe, to look at the fake cold, contained behind the glass.” 

While the pace is generally good, the passage of several months in the opening chapter without scene breaks between month shifts was hard for me to deal with. The inclusion of several lengthy flashbacks in the middle of dialogue also hurt the pace. Overall, though, the story moved well. 

I liked the protagonists here. Wyl offers a lot to root for. Abandoned by her mother and her mom’s marijuana-growing partner, Wyl tries keeps the pot business going in the basement of the farmhouse where they lived. She has one close friend, a girl who’s a member of a restrictive religious sect known only as the Church, and their mutual loyalty remains important to Wyl even after they part ways. When Wyl sees someone in trouble, she reaches out to help, and therein lies part of my problem with this book. 

One of the things I enjoy about post-apocalyptic fiction is the effort to rebuild a society. This process often starts with creating a small, trusted group. Successfully forming the group depends on the main character’s criteria for deciding correctly who is trustworthy and merits inclusion. That process gets short shrift in Road Out of Winter. 

When Wyl meets an injured stranger, she not only takes him to the clinic in town but takes him under her wing. Then she brings him back to her home. Why? Second thoughts after are well and good, but I missed the situational analysis any woman living alone would make up front. A similar situation occurs with a man she rescues from a riot. Although she doesn’t know who he is, and despite the riot, she dives in to rescue him. She thinks at one point that a character can’t go with her to find her mom. She won’t take him. A few pages later, she decides to take him because she doesn’t want to travel alone. I would’ve liked to see some transition in her thinking. 

People’s choices to leave her group are similarly abrupt. There’s no foreshadowing, and then the person announces they’re not going on with the group. 

Despite being beautifully described, the winter landscape posed another problem for me. No one knows how far south the perpetual winter extends, though California is supposedly free of it. Yet no one worries about how people are going to survive if spring never comes again. On the road, discussing whether to stay in a particular spot, no one brings up the subject of how people will eat when the supplies on hand run out. 

The biggest problem I had with the book was the ending. I expect post-apocalyptic fiction to reach a resolution derived from the protagonist’s choices and efforts. That includes full awareness of the upsides and downsides of those choices, especially the final one. I don’t find it satisfying when the character assumes she’ll be okay among people she hasn’t seen and knows nothing about. 

The things that bothered me about the book might not bother other readers, so I’ve tried to set them out so people can judge for themselves. I would have finished the book even if I hadn’t committed to reviewing it because the characters are engaging, the world is beautifully sketched, and the situation is interesting. 

Recommended ~ 3.5 stars

Parts of this were interesting enough but some aspects get forced and random. Didn't love it, it fell very flat for me.

This was strangely a perfect book to read during quarantine. The deep seated loneliness, the impending doom...it was wonderful and quiet.

It's been winter for way too long, but Wylodine is surviving. Her mother and her best friend have both left the town she has lived in for so long, to find some place warmer. When she receives a post card from her mother in California, she feels like she has nothing to lose, and so she hooks her tiny house up to her truck and sets out. Along the way she picks up a few people, who could help or hinder her journey. As they make the trek, they meet people who have different ideas on how to survive the never ending winter. Will, Wylodine make it to her mother or have to succumb to the cold?

Thank you to MIRA & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When this book started out, I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to go. I like it when the weather is cold, but I don't know if I could stand a never ending winter. What do you do when everything starts to shut down because it's too cold to function. Food trucks and gas trucks can't get through to stock stores because it never stops snowing and the roads are always terrible. People have taken over parks and stadiums and made it their home and will defend it at any cost.

This is the first cli-fi book I have read. A climate change fiction book. I think I would read another one in this genre, as long as it stayed in a world I could see myself living in. I'm not really big into science fiction and this book could be during any part of time, past, present or future. Although it couldn't be too far in the past since they are using cell phones in this book. I will definitely read something by this author again.

A book with a tiny house, strong female protagonist, gardening,  snow and a character named Dance.  What could possibly be better?  Oh, I know, throw in the end of the world and we have a hit.  Seriously, read this book.

Rating: 6.5/10

Thanks to the publisher and author for a review copy of Road Out of Winter for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

There is just something about post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction that draws me in. I don’t know if it is because of the direction our country is headed in or seeing devastation unlike our own reality, but it is always intriguing to see the different takes authors delve into within their novels.

Stine takes a somewhat similar approach to McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, though instead of ash, the country is covered in an extraordinary amount of the white fluffy stuff. This, of course, leads to an extreme shortage of crops, which leads to an extreme shortage of meat, which leads to an extreme uptick in insanity and violence. Which, you know, is exactly the sort of chaos society is expected to fall into based on the fact that we are a fallen people.

Wylodine, our main POV, has been left behind to continue her “family business” of growing sweet sweet Mary Jane, but with Spring deciding to turn its back on everyone, winter’s bite gets deeper and deeper. She decides to journey away from home in search of her mother, and on the way, meets a few decent folks balanced out with several unsavory characters. The way she grows throughout the novel is probably my favorite part, mixed with the suspense that unfolds as they journey along south.

While I did enjoy the novel and Stine’s writing, it just didn’t blow me away. Her take on a post-apocalyptic America was definitely original, but I sort of saw everything coming from a mile away (except maybe a couple of the instances with large groups of ‘unsavories’).

If you want a fairly quick read in the vein of McCarthy and Mandel, Road Out of Winter is a pretty good place to get your kicks.

this was a really enjoyable scifi novel, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the plot. I look forward to more from the author.

3.5
Interesting take on dystopian fiction. Loved the concept. VERY different plotline which was welcome to this reader. 
I really got to enjoy Wil...the character had the most growth "no pun intended". Her ragtag crew that she picked up on her way to CA was an interesting bunch. Can't imagine 2 years of snow with no summer. That concept really hit hard.

Link coming soon.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mira for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.8 stars

Wylodine (Wil) has been living on her own in rural Ohio since her mom and boyfriend moved to California last year. Teenage Wil was left to run the farm and it’s marijuana business. Summer never arrived and it is winter-type cold all the time.  She leaves the farm to go in search of her mother.

Wil is smart, cunning and has a green thumb.  She finds friends along the way and also meets a lot of horrible people.  I didn’t care for the ending as it felt a bit rushed and unfinished.  Overall a decent dystopian novel.

When the world as she knows it comes to an end with winters that stop even the hardiest of crops from growing, Wil must find a way to survive.

Road out of Winter was a completely different read for me and an unexpected surprise. I enjoy the apocalypse and dystopian genres but these are usually virus and ‘zombie’ related. Road out of Winter took the really simple route on this – the world starts to become colder and locked in a never-ending winter but we are never really introduced to the reason why this has happened. The book is solely focused on Wil and her friends and their fight to survive.

Wil is a really interesting character; she is young but very independent – her parents were weed growers and have abandoned her to start a new life. When the cold hits she realises the importance of friendships and survival. I really enjoyed how all of the characters in the book were well drawn out, although they were lacking in backstory. I didn’t really feel like it mattered too much and even the ones that were only introduced fleetingly left an impact on the reader and the story.
The plot was well constructed, although I was worried it was going to end on a cliff hanger as we got closer and closer to the end with no resolution. I did really enjoy how it ended though and it felt like a self-contained story but the way is left open if Alison Stine wants to continue it in another book. There was a lot of tension and action but this was balanced with heart felt moments. The whole thing also felt very gritty and realistic.

Overall, Road out of Winter was an interesting take on the dystopian genre and was well crafted with great characters and an action packed plot. Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin – Mira for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What do you do when the second time summer doesn't come and nothing grows? A tale about one girl's trials as she tries makes her way from rural southeastern Ohio to California as the last of society crumbles. 

What and who do you bring with you and how long do they stay on your journey?

The characters, description, setting and world of this book are painted very well by the author and the premise - a climate emergency featuring an endless winter - is compelling. There's lot of promise, but everything just sort of fizzles out at the end, leaving the reader feeling disappointed and wondering what happened.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shelby – ☆☆☆☆
Road Out of Winter was a slow moving, yet interesting, dystopian novel.

Upon finishing this book, I was immediately disappointed and planned on rating this three stars. As I started to formulate my review, though, I had a really hard time coming up with the right words to convey my feelings.

Then I had to sit on it for a few days.

As of today, five days after finishing this book, I haven't been able to STOP thinking about it.

I will not recap this story, it truly needs to be experienced in its entirety for you to be able to appreciate it. I will say that the characters, Wil especially, grow on you, but I feel like they could've been more developed. As it stands, we know a lot of the heroine's past so we can understand her. I would've liked more Grayson. I don't really know what Danz brought to the story and feel like he was a distraction.

Overall, this story stuck with me, I'm still not sure how I feel about it but I can't forget it. I would say that is a trait of a good book! I don't need to enjoy everything I read, but I can appreciate when it does leave an impression.

Winter is here to stay. Because spring never arrived in the Appalachians in Ohio, 19-year-old Wylodine has been running her family's marijuana farm single-handedly since her mother and her mother's boyfriend left for California. It's hard work, but Wyl's been taught well and is good at what she does. When winter never turns into spring for a year and then continues into a second, Wyl realizes it's time to follow them with what's left of their thriving farm. Her friend left long ago and the town is quickly becoming a ghost town. 

She takes seeds, her grow lights, and whatever else she needs and gets ready to set off. She ends up with a teen boy who's close to her age. They pick up a second guy their age and end up running into every obstacle they could possibly face. If they make it to California alive, it's going to take some incredible wisdom, strength, and determination.

As a teen, I loved Stephen King's The Stand. That and Earth Abides by George R. Stewart are books I've ready time and time again. Post-apocalyptic fiction is a passion of mine. I expected to love Road Out of Winter for that reason, but I never felt the same level of engagement with the characters. Some I found too predictable, while others didn't seem to have the hindsight they should have gained as winter continued.

The writing and descriptions are exceptional. If you can't feel the biting cold while reading about Wyl's experiences, I'd be surprised. The plot moved slowly. My biggest issue comes down to the ending. I can't give spoilers though. The bottom line is that after a slow moving plot, the final portion of the book seems so rushed that I felt cheated.

Wylodine grew up poor and paranoid, as her family grew marijuana. Winters grew longer and longer, and she wants to restart. The way there in the extreme cold is dangerous, even with a group of exiles going with her. A cult leader is after them for Wil's ability to grow plants, especially necessary as winter continues to drag on.

Wil starts put alone in her family's farm, as her mother and mother's boyfriend had already left the year before for California. She sold the weed on her own but spent all her time caretaking for the farm and remaining plants. As a result, she didn't even know things were getting as bad as it had gotten outside. She has a kinder heart than she gives herself credit for, which is why she takes on the other "exiles" of the summary. They want to go with her as she tries to head to California, which everyone feels is more of a pipe dream given the dwindling supplies and gasoline. No one knows why it had gotten so cold as they struggled to survive, so we never actually know why it happens.

We see different groups banding together as they struggle to survive the cold. Some join up behind a charismatic leader and perpetuate violence on those weaker than themselves. Others will band together under the name of religion and perpetuate a different kind of patriarchy. There is even a group that feels the cold is the end of the world and want to die together. Wil doesn't want anything to do with these groups and wants to keep pushing westward. With her sense of fairness in spite of the paranoia she was raised with, she would rather bring the helpless with her. She's certain that it's the young mother she has with her that is the target of stalking, but of course, it's because she's known as the grower and she's the actual target. This is outright stated toward the end of the book, after there were all kinds of losses and struggles to continue through twisting and snowed out backroads.

Wil's character arc is complete, but there are so many questions still left unanswered for me. I was enthralled by the journey the characters all take together, as it's not an easy one and there are all kinds of ethical choices that they have to make, whether they realize it or not. What dream is worth moving forward to? What is civilization as it freezes? There are no neat or easy answers, and I hope that they all survive the winter after the close of the story.

I received this as an invited read and mostly enjoyed it. The mood was foreboding throughout and there were many difficulties faced by the protagonist. This is an apocalyptic story that begins when the family farm suffers due to the season never warming up to a spring/summer temperature but remaining cold and wintry, with snowfall in the summer. The family farm was well known to have a successful greenhouse that was used for growing marijuana, that was then sold to a dealer who distributed it from there. 
All in all, this is a very readable and interesting book. My only critique was that I never felt a connection with the characters. This may have been more due to me than the novel itself.
Recommend. Solid 3/5
#RoadOutofWinter #NetGalley #HarlequinMIRA

Once I started reading, I didn't stop. I really enjoyed this apocalypse story, which was surprising. It was raw, real and all too frightening. I loved the feminist feel to the story, how women were the heroes, strong in our own right and fully capable of rising to the challenge. I hope this never happens, not in our day, but after reading this book, I found myself making a list of essentials I'll need to protect my family - like vitamins, batteries, flannels etc. 
This is my first novel by Alison Stine and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Mind blown with Road Out Of Winter.

In this maybe-not-so-futuristic tale, Wylodine, an Appalachian pot entrepreneur is forced to fend for herself in what turns out to be very serious circumstances. The sun has gradually receded, the world has gotten colder, there's no more growing and things have gotten downright dangerous. Wyl is going to have to use her many skills to make it through. I loved that about her.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to end. There were times I had to put it down because some of the situations are so gut-wrenchingly intense. (I mean that in a good way.) It wasn't long before I picked it back up because I had to know what was going to happen to Wyl and friends.

This story is so believable that I felt the cold chill of the circumstances and could easily see how this could happen. I think that contributes much to the overall feel of this story, which is not easy -- at all.

I loved this story. I love how it ended and also hope there will be more to Wyl story. Either way is good. Very entertaining read.

This has become an unexpected favourite of mine for the year. 

Road Out of Winter is a novel about the slow encroachment of winter, the result of global warming and the general screwing-up of humans. It began last year with a late spring, but now spring has simply not arrived. As resources dwindle, people become more desperate. 

Wylodine, our narrator, has grown up in poverty, illegally growing weed to make ends meet. With the high-heat lights, the touch of winter hasn’t bothered her too much. But now left alone with the plants and a pouch of seeds, she begins on a journey—maybe to find her mom, maybe to escape the winter. But the icy roads and the strangers she meets along the way prove to be more treacherous than she thought…

This was just. SO GOOD. It’s strange and charming. It can feel slow at the beginning, like winter itself, but soon becomes urgent as Wil and her group fight for survival and escape. I fell in love with the writing and characters, Wil especially. She’s tenacious and determined and not afraid to fight for what she loves.

Highly, highly recommend.

For all its harrowing circumstances - an apocalypse, drugs, lawlessness, looting, destruction, murder, rape, suicide, and more, Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine does not elicit an emotional reaction from me. The ending, when it comes, is not a cliffhanger but does appear to be simply a stopping point. I wonder if a sequel is planned to continue the journey. At this time, I don't know that I will follow further along the road out of winter. 

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/09/road-out-of-winter.html 

Reviewed for NetGalley and publisher's blog tour.