Dee's Reviews > Daughter of Redwinter

McDonald's debut work was a bit too gritty and action-oriented for my tastes, but with enough style that I came back to see what he could offer here. And I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed this so much! Still gritty, rather dark, set in a cold and grim Scottish-inspired setting, spattered with mud and blood. But from the very start, our first-person protagonist is a gleaming beacon. Strong and vulnerable, she's already been through a lot, and she's still fighting. Once the book gets out of the grim churn of its blockbuster opening, events languish a little, loosing any sort of real plot drive, but the questions of Raine - who she is, what she can do, what she can be - kept me absolutely hooked. (There are strong aspects of the Anakin Skywalker about her, but for my money made so much more compelling by the strength of her voice and the elements McDonald included in the story.) And everything twists really nicely into a magnificent finale sequence.

Extra shoutout to the author's work in crafting an absolute fedora-wearing hashtag-nice-guy of a supporting character who is believable and annoying and sympathetic and incredibly punchable.