Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw

Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults

Genre: Fantasy

                                     ***contains spoilers***

There were several reasons i liked this book as much as i did, the first of which was the general idea behind it and the original way it was dealt with.

There are a lot of books in the world that deal with issues such as the afterlife and death, but this one adds a particular twist to it. Instead of death and the afterlife being portrayed as a terrifying event, it is instead described as something peaceful and with the hope that death isn't the end. In this case, the afterlife is seen as the Veil, which can only be accessed by certain people.

This brings me on to the characters. Kate is a young woman who realises she is one of the Skilled, a person able to look into the veil and actually enter it, as well as being able to heal people using the veil's magic.
Silas is the anti-hero of the story, a so-called killer who seems at first glance to be heartless and very much the person who makes Kate's life hell and destroys her life as she knows it.
It quickly becomes clear, however, that Silas is the least of her worries and that he isn't as evil as first portrayed. In fact, by the end of the novel he was my favourite character and the ultimate example of how people can change.

The final reason i loved this book so much was for the actual story itself which was fast paced, fun and very emotional. Ultimately, the whole journey starts with Kate trying to free her Uncle when he is captured, and from there the story just flows really easily and believably, which each event leading into the next (and it all makes sense!)
I liked the relationship between Kate and her friend Edgar, who would literally have followed her to the ends of the earth if he had to in order to save her. I also found it interesting to watch how Kate and Silas's relationship changes from hostile to something more akin to friendship, as they end up working together against a woman so evil she tortured mice as a child (yes, she is a bit nasty).
Also, it was refreshing to see a different spin on the whole Good Vs Evil story, it made a change to have a plot that kept me guessing until the end.

Overall Verdict?