This books plot was so interesting! I was so intrigued as soon as I started reading this so I finished it in a day. The main characters was one I could relate to which makes me more connected to a book. I will be purchasing this book for my libraries YA collection.

This is one of those titles that tires to do too much all at once. Within 50 pages you are thrown a ton of information and just dumped with all of it at once. I think that it was just way too fast. This book is almost 400 pages long and I totally believe it would have been a massive hit if it would have given us information as a preface or better yet in small tidbits throughout the story. Information that we need for a story is so hard to get right. And this one failed to do that. Although I did enjoy the characters and the story at large. I wished that more time and care would have been taken with the much needed information.

This was a highly anticipated read for me so I was excited to get an early copy. The plot, setting and characters were highly original, one could feel the cold right down to the bone from the author's evocative storytelling. Unfortunately, a trucker/fairytale mashup ended up feeling disjointed and I struggled to stay focused on the story.

Unfortunately, I found this book to be just ok. It didn't quite capture me from the first attempt, but I did come back to it to finish later. Definitely some great action scenes, but just couldn't get behind the main character.

I saw this cover a couple times on Instagram and I knew I wanted to read it based on the cover alone. Quickly, I went to add it to Goodreads and the blurb just sounded so original! Then, it showed up on NetGalley and I have never hit request so quickly in my life. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it early but I did have a few issues with it.

Sylvi is loyal to the people she cares about. She doesn't care what it takes to make sure her friend is safe. I admired her for that because what she had to go through was definitely not a walk in the park.

I was intrigued by her powers and the Winter voice inside her. Besides Frozen, there isn't anything that resembles something like this. The author did make this wintry power her own which I give her props for! I was a bit confused as to why Sylvi had this power and as you continue to read on some things are kind of explained but it's still very vague as to why people want to use her for her powers. I'm sure more things will be explained in the next book but I just would have liked a few more answers, especially from the rebel camp.

There is a group of people that are traveling with Sylvi throughout the book. There are also other characters that pop up along the way. I didn't feel anything for them because some of the characters just fell flat. I know there were times I was supposed to feel something for the characters but it's hard when you really know nothing about them. This can also be said for the relationship that seems to be forming between Sylvi and another character. I just didn't feel anything that had me wanting them to be together. There also wasn't many alone moments between them or dialogue that would have me believing they would be great together.

As for the plot, it wasn't like anything I had read before. I can't say anything about it being like Mad Max because I haven't seen those movies so I am no help there. I did thought it was creative to use a rig for their adventure and have a wintry, desolate backdrop. There is action, lots of it, and I did like it but it just never blew me away. I didn't see the plot twists coming and that always makes me happy.

The one thing I didn't like about the plot (spoiler) was the child abuse that was sexual in nature. It doesn't go into details but you can understand the gist of what is going on and I just don't like reading about it even if it is a minor part.

Overall, I thought this was a good fantasy novel that had a lot of unique qualities to it and I can see a lot of people enjoying this book.

I first encountered this title on IG as the author was sharing the cover art. I was immediately interested and jumped on the opportunity when I saw it listed on NetGalley. I was not disappointed. This title has a creative and well thought out world with characters who develop throughout the story. There is a touch of Mad Max and Frozen, but really, this story should be in it’s own category! Although I did not read it in one setting, I did read it within twenty-four hours because as soon as I put it down, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. With the twists and turns the journey with Sylvi is incredible. I look forward to the next installment!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this ARC with me! I highly recommend it to other readers!

"Winter, White and Wicked's" lead character, Sylvi, drives this story. She's dynamic and caring but just mysterious enough that you want to figure her out. Her life has been incredibly difficult, which is part of what drives those secrets, and you can't help but cheer her on and hope that her station improves. I wanted to know everything about her and to dig into the nuances of her interactions with the other characters to learn more.

For me, though, Sylvi was the best part of this story. I really wanted to love it, as I've loved Dittemore's other books, but the book itself was a bit TOO mysterious for me. Since it is a fantasy story with made-up words, languages, creatures, and setting, I wanted to understand all of that. I wanted to know what the words meant and where things were, but Dittemore dribbles out this information throughout the story. Normally this builds suspense and is a great thing, but for this one it fell flat for me. Instead of leaving me wanting more, it left me wanting to close the book in confusion. I like to feel as if I'm one with the characters and am a part of the story, but in order for that to happen, I need to understand fully the place and the language. The details and backstory of the characters - the information that drives them - can come out in pieces, but words without full meanings and an imaginary land where you don't know the rules isn't fun - it's frustrating. Dittemore uses creative spelling and symbolism to help you understand much of these elements, and over time I felt as if I had inferred what most things meant, but I wanted to know - and I never really reached that comfort level. The book would benefit greatly from a 'word list' in the front, where you can look up the words specific to this book, and a map, so the reader can trace Sylvi's journey throughout the story.

Getting through the first third was hard, and I kept going only because of my obligation to review it. However, the last one-third was a much more exciting read. The entire book is full of action sequences and fight scenes, and by the end I felt as if I understood enough of what was happening that I was able to enter the action. Had that feeling been present throughout the entire story, it would have been amazing.

Sylvi's backstory is cool and not completely unexpected, but fun nonetheless. I think that Dittemore is stating some important things in this story, but they often get lost in the fantasy world. I'd love to see those elements cleared up in the exposition so that it's easier to enjoy the story.

If you're a fan of mysterious fantasy, give this a try. Otherwise, go for Dittemore's other books.

4.5/ 5 and I HAVE A LOT TO UNPACK HERE. This was described as Mad Max meets Frozen. That's still true if you add drugs, smugglers, buddy team adventures and found family nonsense, and...monsters made out of body parts of other people(?) Right. Remember what I said? We are unpacking a lot.

Is Winter, White and Wicked perfect? Not by a long shot. For about 4.5 hours I was taken an on absolute fever dream where nothing made sense and everything made sense at the same time.

We follow a lot of people with more Y's in the middle of their names than the children of middle class white people.

Sylvi is a long haul trucker living a modest life driving her big rig across an island of eternal winter. She has the ear of the winter spirit that dominates the land. Her life is changed when her best friend runs away with a group of rebels fighting against the oppressive late stage capitalist ruling class that dominates the land.

Mars Dresden is a black eyed smuggler that has learned to enslave the spirit of winter to his will, and he needs Sylvi and her truck for a long and dangerous journey. Our story follows Sylvi, Mars, and his small team across a desert of ice. They face sociopathic rangers, vicious wildlife, island natives, and winter's fury on their journey.

What sets this apart to me is the incredible amount of gore and violence for what I believe is technically considered a YA novel- Winter White and Wicked does not hold back in it's viciousness. I would go so far to argue that the book has actually carved out a whole new genre of YA Grimdark, pushing the limits of what would normally be considered acceptable for a teen audience. No character is safe from immeasurable suffering.

At it's core, One could argue that "Winter" is about deconstructing belief and the foundation of belief- as we are introduced to several impactful moments of radical faith (bot religious and political) Whether it's Sylvi's unrelenting belief in the spirit that haunts her, the numerous island based faiths that drive the brutal lifestyles of their inhabitance, or warring political parties that use humans as slave labor. The absolute truths believed by almost every character they meet swell into a dark and cold world of violence that makes driving a truck turn into a death sentence.

Unlike many YA novels of today, "Winter" does not focus much on things like romance, instead investing deeply into the powerful growing bond between Sylvi and the smugglers that she is driving. The character driven warmth of this book carries you through the darkness of this world and keeps you invested until the end.

I struggled to stay focused with this more than I would have liked.

**trigger warning for sexual assault of a minor**

“Winter, White and Wicked” tells the story of an island plagued by an eternal winter and when rig driver Sylvia takes on a new haul to bring her friend home she begins to wonder if the stories she knew and the history she had with the icy spirit are true or if they’re all a ruse to keep her from looking to the sky and hoping for the sun.

To start I felt like I was thrown into this book a solid 30 pages too early and there was a lot going on in terms of mythology, political conflicts and character introductions that I had to put it down for another day. With that being said there were a lot of elements here that I enjoyed but as a solid work I think it failed to deliver.

The comparison to Mad Max: Fury Road is spot on and those are my favorite sections because, like the rig, the pace of these scenes were quick with the stakes high and tension thick and I felt like I was trying to keep up but in a way that had me involved in the action but it did take away from other aspects especially the political stuff which I completely forgot was an issue up until the last couple chapters.

It’s made very clear that the final destination is a rebel camp but everything about the political struggle is lost as we follow along on this life or death journey where the sole villain is Winter itself. I feel like Winter as a threat was very well done and had that just been it and we were trying to ride the island of that entity I think I might have enjoyed this more because there was so much exposition thrown in and I’m still not clear on how it all works together especially the kol and twyl stuff and how she works between a certain duo but maybe that’s a topic for a different day.

My biggest worry is that I don’t see how another haul can happen for the next book in the series so it will lose a lot of what makes it stand out from other books in this genre which might lead it to fall into old tropes but I think this is a series I’ll continue with until at least book 2.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

This book was amazing! Strong plot! Powerful characters! A plot that held my attention the entire time!!!! I couldn’t put it down. I needed to find out what happened next!

CW: sexual assault against a child

As this started, I thought it was a solid 3* read. There was a lot of names being thrown out in the beginning that made for some confusing pages, and by 15%, I still hadn't quite sorted out who was what and how things were unraveling. Finally, things sort of settled down, so my main source of complaint was how the overload of new terms and unfamiliar world-building - which was actually very deep and cool - is going to probably alienate readers who will give up before they get far enough in. Once I got to 50%, I was quite a bit more invested in this. And I didn't see the twists coming, which was great; a very cool look at the idea of Winter, with a capital letter, and the fact that while she might favor you, she is still, at her core, cold and not yours to own. By the end, I really liked this, so I'm settling on a very solid 4* rating given the rocky beginning and the awesome ending. Definitely one of those books that leaves you feeling very fulfilled at the end of it, and a particularly unique world-building experience I'd like to see more of.

*Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this book ahead of its release date. All opinions are my own.*


When I first heard about the acquisition of this novel, I just had to follow its progress, from all stages right up to the cover reveal, which did not disappoint. I knew right away that this was going to the book for me.

Set in the icy world of Layce where winter is eternal, trucker Sylvi accepts a job from a famous smuggler in order to get to her friend, who'd run away to join a rebellion. The world-building around this frozen land puts you right in its icy clutches. It's cold, and it's relentless. Along for the ride are two foreigners, Kyn and Hyla who become more than just a job to Sylvie, and a spirit called Winter who may or not be the protector Sylvi thinks she is.

This book throws you right into the action and leaves you in mystery right off the bat. Why did Lenore leave Sylvi to join the rebels? Who is this spirit Winter and why does Sylvi not want to call upon her magic to aid her? The info trickles in slowly, which can be frustrating to some people. For myself, I did not get a sense of urgency from Sylvi on why she cared so much about rescuing her friend and why she thought she was in so much danger that she'd risk her life offseason to get to her. A lot of aspects f the book happened too gradually and I could not get a sense of things as early on as I wanted to.

Sylvie, as a character, was what I look for in a heroine. Fierce, flawed, and intelligent. But as I stated above, I felt as though I missing something from her. Maybe some emotional inner monologue that would have tied me to her plotline to rescue her friend. I did not feel as connected ot her as I wanted to be.

The side characters were enjoyable especially Kyn. The different races were unique, though I wished I had a little bit more time with them. The writing was top-notch and put me right there in the snow and chilly winds

WINTER, WHITE AND WICKED sets itself apart from YA fantasy in its magic system and its setting. I look forward to the sequel.