Whiteland by Rosie Craine-Higgs #BookReview

In a lonely Swiss mountain village, Kira’s holiday erupts. It’s winter, it’s eerie, and out in the woods something imbeds its claws into her sister.

When Romy returns, she’s different. She’s violent, inhuman, and by rights, should be dead. Even though things aren’t normal, all their parents care about is that she’s still alive. 

In the otherworldly forest, Kira starts to pry, but secrets like to be kept. With the help of Callum, a sarcastic Scotsman, Kira stumbles upon the folkloric world of Whiteland, eating all she knows.

If Kira runs away, she’ll be safe. If she doesn’t, her family might not survive. In the end, there’s no mercy in revenge.

Title: Whiteland | Author: Rosie Cranie-Higgs | Publisher: BHC Press| Pub. Date: Oct 15, 2018 | Pages: 328| ISBN: 978-1948540728 | Genre: Horror/Fantasy | Language: English | Starred Review: No | Source: Review Copy from NetGalley

Whiteland Review

When I started this book, I thought of it as a fantasy horror story on steroids. I was sucked in immediately, ready to go down the rabbit hole of a unique fairy tale adventure. The beginning blew me away with uncertainty, and I couldn’t read fast enough to unravel the mystery.

Then, everything started to sputter. Dialogue between the two main characters became repetitive. The adventures felt drawn out without a real sense of direction. The tension so brilliantly developed in the first act now dragged and nearly vanished mid-book. I started skimming and had to reread sections.

Part of it was my own impatience. The delicate folds of the plot simply didn’t unravel fast enough. The reaction scenes seemed unnecessarily drawn out when I longed for more action. The protagonist’s arc didn’t develop quick enough to hold my attention which left me non-enthusiastically cheering for her throughout the final moments.

It was disappointing, and I even found myself wondering how the shift had occurred. The actual writing style was well done. There’s vivid imagery and lovely descriptions throughout the entire book, and the action scenes incite all the senses, but even with this stellar technique, I couldn’t stay focused on a plot that simply lost speed in the middle.

While this book wasn’t for me, I’d absolutely read another book by the author. It’s a unique premise with lots of imagination spilling into the story world. The author clearly is a skilled wordsmith in terms of syntax and sentence construction, and I’d love to read more in the future in hopes that plot development would continue to improve.

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This book may be available through various outlets; however, in the interest of promoting financial literacy, we recommend trying to purchase it from Better World Books if it is available there.