Customer Reviews

Winter's End

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm 15 and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Firstly, this is a very long novel. I ended up finishing it in only two days because it was so captivating. The writing style wasn't irritating, but there wasn't anything special about it either. It's the story that makes this book brilliant. ( I understand that the book was translated from french, but it was translated very well and you couldn't tell)

Anybody who likes apocalyptic or tyrannical government stories will like this. A fair warning though, later on there will be a few scenes not for the faint of heart. There is a large ammount of killing that you may not expect from a teen novel.

Four students - Helen, Milena, Milos, and Bart - have run away from their respective prison-like boarding schools. Each of the four have something in common; their parents were all murdered fifteen years ago, which is why they are in these schools to begin with.

But only three of the teens make it to Jahn's restaurant, the headquarters of the Phalange resistance movement. The fourth is captured and forced into playing a barbaric game. If he doesn't play, he'll die. Can one voice stir a change of the brutal ways of the government?

This novel was brilliant. I loved every moment of it. There was never a dull moment. This book was fast-paced and kept me wanting more until there was no more left to read. My only disappointment was the Epilogue, but only because it didn't explain much about Helen, so I was somewhat confused after reading it.

Various parts of the novel seemed awful. Not bad awful, just awful. I couldn't believe how adults could be so rude to teens, just because of their parents! All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. It wasn't the type of story I normally read, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Reviewed by: Ashley B

Winter's End is a young adult novel by Jean-Claude Mourlevat of France. The dramatic intricate story line follows the life of four teenage students (Helen, Milena, Milos and Bart) who have been forced into prison-like orphanages by the controlling Phalange. The Phalange keeps a tight rein on the students, allowing them only three short visits a year to a `consoler', someone who acts as a parent, to give the students a tiny glimmer of hope in order to control them further. The four conspire to run away. First Milena and Bart leave, with Helen and Milos following within days. Throughout the story the Phalange struggles to maintain their weakening hold over the country, but the Resistance is gaining in strength, numbers and spirit. Milena and Bart learn of their parents and the leading roles they played with the Resistance in an earlier rebellion against the Phalange, which we later discover is the reason the children are taken away to begin with. Inspired by their parents Bart and Milena secretly inspire the community and encourage old allies to reunite against the Phalange.

Meanwhile on their journey Milos and Helen are separated and Milos is taken captive and forced to participate in the barbaric fights held tri annually. Helen meets up with Bart and Milena with the help of secret local resistance fighters and though consumed with worry over Milos she aids in the fight as well. The four are always in each other's thoughts and the three are determined to rescue Milos before he must fight to the death. The story weaves in and out of different character's lives offering brief insights here and there. The characters grow and develop, drawing the reader in so that you find yourself worrying and cheering for them. Winter's End is a slow, deliberate, intense building novel that I would recommend to other readers.

The particularly interesting thing about this book is that it's a translation of a French young adult novel. The wording is richly descriptive - nothing could be called cliche.

Winter's End centers its plot around a dystopian society that lies in the grip of the dictorial Phalange. Four young students (Helen, Milena, Bartolomeo and Milos) escape their prison-like schools and work their way into igniting a revolt that bears odd resemblance to a mysterious revolution that happened in the past. While three of the young people are successful in their escape, the sacrificial actions of Milos - a fun-loving boy with curly brown hair - results in his imprisonment as a gladiator forced to kill his fellow prisoners for the amusement of the Phalange. While Milos holds on to the hope of being rescued, the other three are desperately searching for a chink in the Phalange armor.

Pros:
It's a pretty big thing to encopampass the movements of a revolution, but Jean-Claude Mourlevat manages brilliantly. The characters are well-developed; especially Milos. The heat of the fighting spirit, the speed of capture, the horrors of a brutally bloody death, the insanity that is born of denial...all are described in rich detail that will make the scenes leap off the pages. The touch of fantasy in the characters is nicely incorporated, blending the surreal with stark reality. Altogether, it's a gripping read!

Now for the Cons:
The relationships between characters were hastily formed in some passages. There are two couples in particular who seem thrown together without any real depth added to the relationship other than a chance meeting on a hilly road.

Helen - the character who starts out the book - unfortunately takes the back seat after a couple chapters. I had hoped she would be a stronger character; especially since the only strength that the other female protagonist bears is her remarkable singing voice.

Despite the minor flaws, the range of colorful characters, high emotions and depth of topic make it worthy purchase!

Milena, Bartolomeo (Bart), Helen, and Milos live in a dystopian future where, after a bloody rebellion resulted in the creation of the centralized government of the Phalange, they were imprisoned as children in neighboring boarding schools. Due to this unfortunate state, the teens have never really been exposed to the opposite sex.

That is until Helen and Milena happen to run into Bart and Milos on the bridge into town. The teens exchange in formation, to facilitate unauthorized letter-writing, and then move on. Only fate has other plans for Bart and Milena.

All four teens manage to escape from their boarding schools and begin a whirlwind journey across mountains, running from pursuers, and making friends in unlikely places. Not everything is as well as it seems though. There is an uprising boiling just under the surface, and these teens will make all the difference in that movement. Who will remain standing when the floodgates open?

A truly evocative story, Winter's End is sure to garner fans from the Hunger Games crowd. The characters feel so familiar and the story is filled with fantastical contortions of the human race. I received this book from Candlewick Press and couldn't be more happy that they graced me with this gift. While I know I seem to have a lot of glowing reviews of books, this one easily stands out among the many that I have read as a sleeper hit. With its inventive characters and plausible plot, one could almost believe that this was a true story. Almost. Give it a shot and pick it up on November 10th!

Winter's End is a refreshing, action packed, emotional roller coaster ride. I enjoyed the narration and the details helped me set up a scene in my mind. The chapter opens up by describing the harsh treatment that Milena, Bartolomeo, Helen, and Milos suffer in the boarding school. It sort of reminded me of a twisted comparison between Madeline and Another Faust. I learned to care for each character and also distinguished their personalities. The book takes a surprising turn after the teens escape the school and go on a journey to look for freedom. The hardships that they face is unbelievable since the "Phalange" who is a fascist organization in power seeks to kill them. I also loved the fact that with all the running and hiding, they still managed to keep some romance. I sometimes "awwed" at the adorable comments between the first time lovers among the teens. I really liked the concept of a bunch of teens running away to succeed freedom but also causing an uproar that will aim to take down the government. However, the ending was bittersweet, I couldn't help but feel happy and sad at the same time. Overall, a nice entertaining YA book.

first off let me state that i am indeed a teen, and in no way did i find this novel to be up to par with the level of intellectual involvement i enjoy in the books i read. unless this was written for a fifth grader, its basis is so poorly strung together that it makes little to no sense when time is given to think about its plot. don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful concept; a big brother type government rules over its subjects with a tyrannical reign, while 4 unsuspecting teens, who have been suppressed by the government their whole lives are swept up into a resistance and begin the fight for freedom. however, the good stops there. no time is given to character development in the beginning, so when they are thrown headlong into their journey, to be honest i didn't really give a rat's ass what happened to them. i felt no connection to any of the characters, and the main protagonist, Helen, is about as flat as characters come. not once did she feel any sort of emotion about her circumstances that even hinted to the enormity of what she was partaking in. **SPOILER ALERT** i swear i wanted to yell my head off at her for just happily sitting by while her "lover" (who she's only known for all of 2 days) strangles some random guy to death. then to top it off, she shows no remorse for the mans death, and unquestioningly sleeps on the same matress where the dudes partner just got mauled to death by a pack of 'dogmen'. maybe its just me, but i sure as hell wouldn't sleep on a freshly blood soaked matress no matter how cold i was. **END SPOILER** the only character who i felt a hint of attachment to was milos whom is featured far to little to redeem to poor character development.
Another gripe i have with the writing is the lacking worldbuilding. i know that some authors styles are to leave it to the reader to create his or her own world, to concentrate on the more pressing and important factors of the novel, and normally, i have no problem with such style. but this book had no other pressing intellectual quarries to delve into nor any beautifully rich and deep redeeming characters, so the effect of the complete lack of worldbuilding left it plain and at points boring.
I really don't want to bash this book anymore, but another problem i took with is was the atrocious diolouge. i mean come on, why the hell is it that every time someone say ok, it is written "OK". frankly, it distracted and pissed me off to no end. i could see if it was just a certain personality of a character and only they said it, then it would be OK. but really? does every freakin character have to say it? also the excess use of exclamation points sort of perturbed me as well. i can't ever imagine anyone being so excited to talk about what they had for freakin breakfast.
Lastly, i didn't think it was necessary to have an epolouge. the book actually ended in a quite wonderfully bittersweet description. but it was somewhat lessened by its presence.
Anyways, other than these personal annoyances, it was a decent book. don't expect any deep riveting intellectual revelations, but if you happen upon a copy and need to pass time, it'll suffice.

Several years ago there was a political coup and the Phalangist took over. A group of children were sent off to incredibly strict boarding school so the government could keep an eye on them. Four of these children have managed to escape their boarding schools and are making a run to join the new revolution to overthrow the Phalange.

These four children each have their own role to play as they find out more of their past, their parents, and why they have been locked up at school for so long. A very interesting look at the world, but the characters were a little stagnant. They did adapt and learn new things, but it always seemed to be with the same attitude.

3/5

I was going to make a video about this because I really liked this book. A lot. But after spending 4+ hours on the Linger Read-Along video last night, I'm not feeling like making a video for this. So, here we go.

This past week, I read the English translation of Winter's End. It was originally written in French, so some of the wording is a little odd. That's not to say it's hard to understand. It's absolutely brilliant.

Winter's End is about this group of kids (Bartolomeo, Milena, Milos, and Helen) who go to two different but very oppressive boarding schools. Their parents were killed when this group of barbarians (Phalangists, as they are called in the book). The four kids escape their respective schools in search for freedom and to find out what actually happened to their parents. Along the way, they find many hardships and even face death at times. And they're actually the ones to lead their country's revolution against this evil government.

I found this story to be quite interesting and original. The whole idea of a barbarian government oppressing them rather than some uptight dictator is new to me. At least as far as fictional literature goes. The story in this book is very fresh and original. I'm sure you could compare it to other dystopic novels or to novels set in World War II Germany, but really the story stands on its own.

The characters were amazing. From the four main characters to Catherine Paneck, Jahn, and the horse-men. You will love the good guys and absolutely loathe the Phalangists. Especially Van Vlyck. He's just plain awful.

The setting was absolutely dismal. That is to show how harsh the times were. Just like winter, these people were battling through some terribly cold times. Everyone is questioned. Anyone who objects with authority is thrown in jail or ripped apart by the dog-men. And near the end of the novel, Spring comes forward and times get better. The Phalagists either disappear or give up their reigns.

Although on Amazon they say it's an 8+ book, I'd say it's more of a 14+ book because of some of the violence in the novel. So have a mature mindset and a strong stomach. I mean, if you could handle Hunger Games books, you can handle this.

This book probably wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't boring and if the writing wasn't terrible.