Daughter of Winter and Twilight by Helen Corcoran

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publishing Info: Audiobook by Bolinda Audio, narrated by Katy Sobey

Star Rating: 3/5

Back Cover Summary:

To some, Emri – the adopted heir and daughter of two queens – is just a living reminder that her birth father tried to usurp the Edaran throne. About to come of age, and faced with changes beyond her control, she must also grapple with a Court visit from her estranged cousin, Melisande. But when they’re attacked by a magical force and spirited away, they must put their differences aside when Emri comes face to face with a goddess she’s always considered a myth: Lady Winter.

Trapped deep within a mountain temple alongside other captured young royals, they face a race against time to complete Lady Winter’s trials…or die.

Thank you so much to Bolinda Audio and NetGalley for providing an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Daughter of Winter and Twilight is a standalone sequel to Queen of Coin and Whispers, and follows a princess who must face the gods and magic she believed no longer existed. The book is set fourteen years after Queen of Coin and Whispers and includes several characters from that book, including the two protagonists. Our main character for the sequel is their adopted daughter. It’s been a couple of years since I read the last book, and though this is meant to be a standalone, I found myself straining to try and remember what had happened before and struggling to understand everything. I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the first book more recently.

The novel opens well with plenty of court intrigue, introducing us to this world and our protagonist, Emri. The first third of the book was good, and Lady Winter’s introduction was dramatic and tense. This was definitely the most impactful scene. I loved the descriptions of all the gods, their different personalities, and how even the nicer ones felt remote and magical. They were beautiful and powerful, and the author excellently portrayed how different they are from mortals.

Unfortunately, the bulk of the book was slow and not as engaging as the first third. It also wasn’t what I was expecting. Lady Winter’s trials are more psychological and emotional, and for a ‘race against time’ there is little urgency. The characters spend a lot of time wandering inside the mountain, eating and sleeping, and not really knowing what it is they are meant to do. A lot of scenes, descriptions and internal thoughts felt repetitive. If the novel had been edited down a bit, and unnecessary or repeated details trimmed a little, the pace would have been improved.

As the royals spend more time trapped in the mountain, they draw closer together and a bond grows between them. I enjoyed seeing their interactions and how their relationships changed. They go through a tough time in the mountain, and need each other’s support to get through it. An unfortunate side effect of the experience being physically and emotionally draining for the characters, is that I felt drained reading it. I found it difficult to get through because it felt emotionally taxing to read.     

There is great representation in this book with lots of queer characters, and it was also nice to see Sapphic queens ruling together. One of the characters becomes ill during the book, and though she recovers, she isn’t completely cured and the experience has a lasting impact on her health. As someone who has had post-viral health issues, I felt the representation in the book was well done, and was glad the author didn’t use the magical cure trope.  

The narration by Katy Sobey was great, however I found it a little breathy at the start. It almost sounded like she was gasping each time she took a breath. Either this improved or I just got used to it as I didn’t notice it anymore after a few chapters.

Daughter of Winter and Twilight starts strongly and has many elements that I enjoyed, but went in a direction that I didn’t enjoy with much slower pacing than I was expecting based on the synopsis. This one wasn’t for me, but I hope others will enjoy it more.