story craft

Genre: YA Fantasy

Format: Hardcover

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Cautions: language: there was no foul language in the book unless you count some Isle of Layce style slang; difficult topics: Winter is clearly manipulative and uses Sylvi for her own gain, and yet she isn’t all bad. This could be similar to your experience. There’s also mention of addiction to Kol and some descriptions of those effects; romance: There are some really sweet moments in this but romance isn’t the focus. One kiss and it’s not described in detail.

Main themes: redemption, freedom, relationships

Main characters: Sylver (Sylvi) Quine, Lenore (Leni) Trestman, The Majority, Sola,Begynd, Mars Dresden, Kyndel (Kyn), Shyne, Crysel, Dakk, Katsy, Kree, Hawken Valthor, Tooki, Macks, Sayth, Felyx, Brash

Favorite quote: “I’ve seen things now, and I understand . . . well, very little if I’m honest. Journeys are like that, yeah? They answer some questions and dredge up a bunch more.”

Review:

Imagine this: the voice inside your head doesn’t belong to you but to a cold and vicious spirit. She masquerades as a friend. She even saved your life and saved you from a traumatic experience or two. And at times, you felt so confident that she was the only one who truly cared that you pushed away those who truly did? 

That’s why the heroine of Rebel Brave and Brutal, Sylver (Sylvi Quine aka Snowflake), found herself questioning everything she knew at the end of Winter White and Wicked. She thought she knew who she was. She thought she was strong. But had it all just been part of Winter’s elaborate manipulation? Mars says yes. Kyn says yes. On her better days, even Sylvi’s heart beats yes, yes, yes. 

Will she allow Winter’s haze to keep clouding her mind? Or will she see what her friends—Mars, Kyn, Lenore (Leni), and the rest of the rebels—do? Sylvi might just be more capable than she thinks. And she’ll have to prove it by banishing her friend—her tormentor—Winter.

This series earned a place of honor on my shelf. Both books have been stamped with my embosser, safe from the thrift store pile of books I didn’t love. Immediately Dittemore draws you into the action, with Sylvi learning how to use the powers she didn’t really know she had—at Winter’s expense of course. 

I felt like I was plotting and racing away in rigs with the rebels; I could imagine the cave systems of the Shiv in the mountain pass. Sea sickness gurgled in the pit of my stomach as I wandered with the crew on the Maree Vale. The shock of the Majority’s retribution rattled my bones. The Isle of Layce, cold and brutal as her presiding winter spirit was my home for the two days it took me to finish reading Rebel.

Sylvi’s letting go of what she thought she had with Winter will make you want to cry. Mars’s budding tenderness will melt your heart. Kyn’s unwavering belief will make you wish he was your friend. (And you’ll be cheering for the romance brewing between him and Sylvi too!) Leni’s intense focus on justice and fierce protectiveness will make you want to join a rebellion. And others, like Crysel, Dakk, Katsy, Kree, Hawken Valthor, Tooki, Macks, Sayth, Felyx, and Brash—every single character, whether major or minor, make a mark on the reader’s heart. Because like many of us, they’re willing to give up absolutely everything for freedom. 

Dittemore’s writing is superb—from the opening line to the Kerce words Mars and Sylvi use to command Winter to the vivid descriptions of the Isle of Layce and the Kol Sea. And I really hated to leave it, and the world I’d become part of, when the story ended. Yet I was so satisfied with the way Dittemore tied all the ribbons and threads together at the end of it all. The characters might not have all been where I expected them to be, but they were exactly where they needed to be. If I had to sum it up in a word, it felt like hope.

My take:

Abusers, toxic or manipulative people try to fill a void and make you believe they are indispensable to your survival and happiness. Until you stop doing what they want. Then it gets ugly. Sometimes we move on and we heal and we find deeper and truer love than we dared to dream existed.