I haven't read the other books in the Hall of Smoke series because reviews said that Barrow of Winter could be read as a standalone. And I agree to an extent. The world, its people, and their beliefs are explained well enough to understand the concepts that the novel touches on, but personally I would've been more invested if I had read the other books first.

Barrow of Winter has an intriguing start that grabbed me. Ships carrying unknown people visit Eangen, where Thray is a priestess. Thray and the people of Eangen find out that these newcomers are from the north, and that the person in charge is one of Thray's demigod half siblings. Thray desperately wants to learn about her heritage so she and a small group follow these northerners to their land called Duamel.

The atmosphere with viking-like warriors, magic, strange creatures, gods and demigods created an immersive experience for me. Plus the fact that the MC is forgoing the life she knew to travel to the unknown gave a sense of adventure and spurred me to keep on reading.

I liked that Thray is a fearless warrior priestess with her own faults (the way she treats Havar, her fiance, is... questionable to downright not good). She's written well and I think readers will be able to understand her reasons for going to Duamel and learning about her family history, demigod powers, and possible immortality, even if it was mostly for selfish reasons.

The parts with action are great, but I felt like there wasn't enough to sustain my interest. Most of the book is about Thray and her small group of Eangen navigating Winterborn politics. Usually I like these types of plotlines but because I haven't read the first two books, it was hard to understand the gravity of the situation. So it really dragged on for me and I wasn't sure if I wanted to dnf because nothing much was happening. I think it took too long to fully understand that the Winterborn aren't all they make themselves out to be. And since I listened to this as a standalone, it made it that much harder to understand the stakes.

Overall, I think this is better read as a sequel to the previous books instead of a standalone. That way, you can understand the entire backstory and possibly become more invested in the characters and the world in general.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for this audio arc.

Barrow of winter

Barrow of Winter is the third book in a series and can supposedly be read as a stand-alone. I personally do not fully agree with that.

I felt disconnected from the characters (some of which might have been introduced in the previous books) and the plot wasn’t exciting me either.

The audiobook narration was alright.

Overall this wasn’t the right book for me, but I suspect that fans of the other books in the series will enjoy this one as well.