I know that I am in the minority here and loads of people have lapped up this book, but it wasn’t for me, and this may be the point where I tap out of the series. Sorry! But there you go, not every book is for everyone! The first thing I will say is a massive THANKYOU to the author who added a ‘previously on’ style recap that refreshed book one in my mind when it came to reading book 2. Such a great idea and I wish more authors did it. Raine is a orphan who was brought to Redwinter, the home of great defenders of the realm, trained in their ways of magic and war, and made her name for fighting above her level, and making friends and foes equally. This has come at quite a cost to Raine. The mentor that saved Raine, Ulovar, and brought Raine to Redwinter is weakening, dying slowly in some unknown way. The powerful matriarch and defender of Redwinter has had her power and immortality stripped away. Revolution is taking towns, bodies are starting to build up, and the clans are starting to get uncomfortable. Raine is having problems dealing with all these things, along with the fact that Raine is keeping a secret. Raine can see the dead, and this skill is not looked at as something favorable. Raine has found a book, a cursed book to help her control these powers, but nothing seems to be helping. Emotions are running high, danger seems around every turn and every look, and the power that Raine has to communicate with the dead might be very busy soon.

The first 60% of this book is character development and world building, which is nice to have the world fleshed out a little and I think will come good in book 3 for sure.

Similar Books By Other Authors

But it is a rare act of kindness—rescuing an injured woman in the snow—that becomes the most dangerous decision Raine has ever made. Dangerous because the woman is fleeing from Redwinter, the fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, warrior magicians who answer to no king, and who will stop at nothing to reclaim what she’s stolen. A battle, a betrayal, and a horrific revelation force Raine to enter the citadel and live among the Draoihn. She soon finds that her secret ability could be the key to saving an entire nation. They had been dead long enough to reek, not long enough to rot. I should have felt a little more—“poor bastards” wasn’t much to offer them. I suppose I didn’t think of these folk so much as people, as people-who-had-been. Since I’d been a small child, I’d seen the souls of the dead. I’d risen from a death of my own, then another, first throttled, then drowned. But there were no ghosts here. Only the insects, billowing clouds of flies, and the silent, graveless bodies. Without a ghost, without a soul, it’s all just so much spoiled meat. Thank you to Tor Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.*** The thing about both of books in this series is that despite the fact they go dark places they feel like a comfy blanket I can wrap around myself because I genuinely get lost in this story and characters without feeling beaten to the ground. There is a nice balance between serious and grave scenes and scenes of just Raine and her friends being young and everything that comes with that: emotional, fun and stupid, moody, self-absorbed and sweet. I would like to thank Netgalley, Tor Books, and Ed McDonald for an advanced copy of Traitor of Redwinter. All opinions are my own.

The second in Ed McDonald’s Chronicles of Redwinter, full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers… and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem. And this is where I have to talk about Raine. She is a challenging, flawed character, one who goes the route of rash decisions and auto-destructive behavior as we follow her journey. And I understand not everyone enjoys reading that, but McDonald managed to make me invested in her story quite successfully. She's complicated, she's messy and all that fits her age without making it her singular characteristic. Her romance drama got in front of more serious things several times in the book and I caught myself shaking my head because she can't deal with it at all which is funny considering she is ready to do more dangerous things, like assassinating or using Sarathi magic. But her instincts are on point and you actually can believe what drives her to help Ulovar because author made an effort to show us that her Redwinter family are worth fighting for: her friends are great, Sanvaunt is just dreamy, Erish is lovely, Castus is the best and all I can say is that I get her. I totally get her. :) The second in Ed McDonald's Chronicles of Redwinter, full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers... and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem.Raine’s character development in this installment was truly remarkable. In contrast to her impulsive and impatient teenage self portrayed in Daughter of Redwinter, she exhibited a newfound maturity in Traitor of Redwinter. Taking the time to reflect and carefully consider the consequences of her actions, she became a more sensible and relatable character. However, her self-sabotaging tendencies, though present, added an additional layer of depth to her persona, making her all the more intriguing. Yes, she was overly cautious when it came to her romantic relationships but given her history of abusive and toxic past relationships, I actually sympathized with her in this regard. Understanding the challenges she had faced in the realm of relationships, it was natural for her to prioritize self-preservation and be hesitant to trust others easily. I don’t know that I’ve thought about being happy in a long while. Like it’s something that skipped away from me and got forgotten.' I'm happy I've read it and I'll continue the series, hopefully the rest of it won't break my brain that much. 😅 Amidst threats old and new, Raine must find her path, weaving her way between a twisted friendship, a dangerous mentor, the dark secrets of the book, and the queen with a crown of feathers to whom Raine has already promised more than she can afford to give . . .

Now, almost a year after coming to stay with Ulovar LacNaithe, the Draoihn who saved her life, Raine has finally been permitted to train with the other apprentices. She’s being pushed through a crash course in armed combat and meditation techniques to control the Gates, limiters that determine which magical powers a Draoihn can wield. While most Draoihn only open the First Gate, entering an active trance that enhances their senses, others can gain further abilities with additional Gates. Only Grandmaster Robilar holds the Fifth Gate while the Sixth Gate, the Gate of Death, is forbidden due to its connections with the grave-sight. That realization made me reluctantly admire the author for portraying it in a way that made me feel seen but also vulnerable. On the other hand, books are a way to escape the real world for me and I wasn't prepared for the impact of that part. Amidst threats old and new, Raine must learn the secrets promised by the book, magic promised by a queen with a crown of feathers. A queen to whom Raine has promised more than she can afford to give. Our view of Raine’s world doesn’t just widen; it deepens. We learn a lot more about the dreaded Sixth Gate in this book, and its connection to the other gates…but what startled and interested me most was how much Raine’s relationship to the Queen of Feathers changed from the last book. Some of the things she says; some of the visions/dreams Raine has; some of the ways the two interact forced me to toss out all of my theories about who and what the Queen is…and the new ones have been keeping me up at nights. I'm a huge fan of stories told in the first-person perspective. I love that they're written as if the main character is telling their story to me. I especially like it when the character has a few things to learn either through youth or inexperience because then I get to learn about their world as they learn it.Traitor of Redwinter is the second in Ed McDonald’s Redwinter Chronicles, full of shady politics, militant monks, ancient powers... and a young woman navigating a world in which no one is quite what they seem. Ed McDonald continues to cement himself as one of the best fantasy writers out there with every new book that he publishes. TRAITOR OF REDWINTER is yet another shining example of this as the second book in the Redwinter Chronicles expands on this amazing story and elevates it in so many astonishing ways. Seeing Robin Hobb's blurb on the front cover of this book is quite fitting and I can see why she would want to attach her name to this series. It has all of the hallmarks of her style of brilliant storytelling which is in itself very character-based and thoughtful with unforgettable moments of sheer magical brilliance. Light Above, the stench of it,’ Castus said. He put a handkerchief up against his nose, but I doubted it would do much good. On the road he’d got into some kind of pissing contest with Sanvaunt about who could see the furthest. Both men were Draoihn of the First Gate. They’d mastered the trance of Eio, and proven their dedication to the Crown. As an apprentice, I could hold the trance steadily, but I was glad not to use it now. Eio could sharpen the trance holder’s vision enough to spot a field mouse at a thousand paces, let you sense the slight twitch of a muscle that was about to uncoil. But the First Gate was so much more than that. It expanded one’s consciousness out, out, into the whole misery and glory of the world around. The bodies had been ditch-dumped a half mile from the road, and with the First Gate drumming its rhythm, Castus had inhaled that stench like a fist to the nose. He and I had broken off from the rest of the group to investigate. There was a bet on whether it was just some dead cow, mouldering in a ditch. But it wasn’t, and it was horrible, and with only the First Gate to our names, there was little we could do to change it. There were some pacing issues especially in the middle of the book when I began to get a bit bored. Sadly, the e book of the ARC is badly formatted with random numbers inserted into the text as well as a lot of very random line breaks which broke up the sense of the writing and made it hard to focus on what was happening. However, the final quarter of the book when everything comes together is just phenomenal and I couldn’t put the book down. I also love the fact that the story ended at a pause point rather than a cliff hanger.

So go away. It’s a private thing. You’re too full of yourself to take it seriously. You make everything seem … juvenile.’Second book syndrome Traitor of Redwinter does not suffer from. It does have shady politics and dirty bastards to throw a spanner in the works. I love that Raine is still utterly flawed character. Yes, she's the main character, but being the star of the show hasn't made her 'one that cannot do wrong' .. in fact, she does a lot wrong. Like, everything?! Ha... Damn, is this book GOOD. The first book in the series was good, and so I expected more of the same in book 2 - but I walked away much more impressed than I thought I would be with this one. It is GOOD.