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Reviews by Gwendalyn G Anderson

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Winterwood
by Shea Ernshaw
Winterwood (10/31/2019)
Winterwood is an eerie experience, dark, and unsettling, imaginative, with gothic elements. This spellbinding tale following Nora Walker, and the women in her ancestral family. The Walkers have a chilling connection to the enchanted forest near their home

Shea Ernshaw writing slowly pulls you in this richly atmospheric setting that is mysterious and gothically darkish The writing strategically slowed to create an intense moving novel, with exquisite prose and intriguing storyline.

The descriptive imagery that creates the cold solitude and isolation, makes the reader feel haunted. Nora shares the point of view of telling the story with Oliver Huntsman, a young boy who has been attending the “troubled boy’s camp” on Jackjaw Lake. After Nora finds him in the woods, pieces of his memory returns to explain how he came to be in the woods, and how he’s survived them for so long. On the night of the snow storm, a boy had gone missing from the camp, and Nora believe she’s found him. But Oliver and Nora begin putting the pieces together of what truly transpired, and they both realize that there is something more sinister is happening.

A haunting tale set deep in a magical snow-covered forest, where the appearance of a mysterious boy awakens a dangerous centuries old curse. The enchanted, atmospheric setting, woven by Ernshaw’s eerie prose and chilling suspense builds to a thrilling an darkish atmospheric haunting tale.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
by Alix E. Harrow
A stunning book (9/10/2019)
“Listen, not every story is made for telling. Sometimes just by telling a story you’re stealing it, stealing a little of the mystery away from it.”

Have you ever had penchant for the whimsical? Have you looked sideways at doors ever? Or held your breath as walked through a threshold? Or maybe in a moment of fancy, while staring longing at a wall hoping for for a chance of something magical. An opening, a portal...
That just maybe there is something magical in the world.
I have despite voices to the contrary, telling me otherwise.
Are you a readers who remembers what it was once like to have the ability to imagine a wide world of endless possibilities. In Within these pages, January will discover the impossible truth of her own existence– and the harrowing dangers that lurk between the Doors and other worlds. 

This fairy tale will have you stepping through the void, into fables, folklore, adventure, love and sanctuary, and the infinite power of words and love.
In this completely original lyrical debut, Alix E. Harrow captivating book is a magical blend of both historical fiction and magical realism.

"I almost didn’t notice the Door at all. All Doors are like that, half-shadowed and sideways until someone looks at them in just the right way."

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is completely original storyline but written in classical childhood fairy tale style of older work. Beautiful writing that is poetic and the words are fluid in this captivating and lyrical debut.

In the turn of the twentieth century, a time of change with inventions and new discoveries, We meet January, an oddly colored, wild and headstrong imaginative girl.
From the first pages I fell in love with January Scaller.
When we first meet January, she is seven years old and, though her father is living, she is being cared for by Mr. Locke, her fathers benefactor.
Her father travels the world, seeking out exotic treasures to bring back to his employer.
Throughout her childhood years, she is herded and tamed into submission,
well almost..

The Ten Thousand Doors of January, is lush and richly imaginative, a book of impossible journeys, unforgettable love, and the incredible power of opening doors .
Alix E. Harrow effortless writing is stunning and unconsciously literary.

The most stunning, captivating book of 2019

"Life has a kind of momentum to it, I’ve found, an accumulated weight of decisions which becomes impossible to shift."
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