Daughter of Winter (Fairy Queens, #6)

by Amber Argyle

Bargains.
Only the desperate need them.
Only the desperate make them.
And always, the desperate pay.

As the daughter of the Winter Queen, the silence and never-ending dark of winter are all Elice has ever known. So when a whaling ship crashes just offshore, she doesn't hesitate to rescue the lone survivor, Adar. But the closer Elice and Adar become, the more desperate she is to keep him hidden from her mother at all costs.

For if the Winter Queen discovers Adar trespassing, she'll kill him.

When her mother reveals just how dark her soul has become, Elice realizes she is as much a prisoner as Adar. Worse, she begins to see hints of something more nefarious.

Unbeknownst to Elice, a bargain was made long ago. A bargain she was born to fulfill.

Can Elice protect Adar from the wrath of the Winter Queen? Or will she be forced to make a wicked bargain of her own?

• ISBN10: 0985739487
• ISBN13: 9780985739485
• Publish Date: 2 May 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Starling Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 212
• Language: English

Reviews

[tweetybugshouse]

I really think this book is my favorite in the series, i think it cause i connected so well with the previous books but this time we are focusing on the mother daughter relationship and how Elice is feeling as a puppet of her mother. I liked how we got to watch this personal relationship between Adar and Elice developed and how she makes the choice to try and escape the winter kingdom. We get to see all the dynamics of just how cruel the winter queen can be and Elice gets to show off her power in front of a human it was a very well crafted story.

[inlibrisveritas]

Daughter of Winter continues the saga started in the Winter Queen, but the focus has shifted from Ilyenna to her daughter Elice. One of my favorite things about this series is that we get more than one point of view and we get to see how the war waged between Summer and Winter affect all sides involved.

Elice is like her mother was in so many ways, and it was fantastic seeing that her caring nature had passed down to her daughter...especially now that we have seen what has become of Ilyenna under the influence of the Winter. She has become hard and unyielding, and her humanity is in a constant struggle to maintain itself. But Elice has that same fire and love for life that her mother did, and while there is a certain amount of nativity in Elice there is also a tremendous amount of strength. Amber's main characters always have an inner strength and a will to do what needs to be done, and that is one of the biggest draws for me when it comes to her writing. I need characters that can rescue themselves but also know when to ask for help. I loved the friendship she cultivates with Adar, and how easy he is to talk to and the respect they both have for each other even though they are from vastly different lives
The other major pull for me is her world building. She has a unique way of describing things just so. She doesn't need a long paragraph to tell you how the lights hit ice, instead she can give you two and you'll be able to see it casting light on your own walls. In Daughter of Winter we get to see a new area farther north, where the winter is constant and unforgiving, and where the Winter fairies have complete and total reign over everything. In this closer view we see how Winter is crumbling slowly in the way the world around the fairies begins to falter, and it begins to give away to a much larger problem that has been growing under the veil of constant war.

This is the second to last novel and the series and I'm really sad to see it coming closer to a close. It's been a real treat to delve into a fantasy series were good and evil, don't exist in such black and white terms. There is a ton of build up in tensions as the fairy queen's war begins to tear apart the world they are fighting so hard to control. I desperately want to see how Elice fairs in the warmer lands, and if she comes into contact with Nelay at all...and speaking of Nelay I can't wait to see how the change has settled with her now that it has been a few years.
I really can't recommend this series enough! It's perfect for those who like their fantasy on the lighter side with a character focus, but don't necessarily want to give up all world building.