Winter Shadows by Casey Bond -BOOK REVIEW-

First off, what’s it about

Winter Shadows is a coming-of-age apocalypse/survival type of book. The closest book I can compare it to is The Hunger Games, but with a protagonist that’s 19 instead of 16, and though the government is corrupted in Winter Shadows, somewhat as it is in The Hunger Games, here the majority of the book takes place in the wilderness away from the government rather than under the government’s watchful eye.

What kind of read can you expect from Winter Shadows?

Taking place mostly in a cave in the wilderness, Claire, the main protagonist, learns to cope with the others that inhabit the cave, her new found home, and with living in the wild. Both the environment and other passer-throughs pose a dangerous threat to her and her friends while there, and by the end of the book, learning to cope with death has been established as a reoccurring theme.

My thoughts on the book

This is a promising beginning to an author’s career. Bond has command of certain key storytelling elements (such as an excellent use of suspense, knowing how to use just the right amount of love interest without making a scene sappy, bringing grit and authenticity with her outdoor descriptions) and she doesn’t ease back on her strengths as a writer the entire novel. If you like the first few chapters, you’ll like the rest of the book—there’s no ebbs and flow with her talent, it’s there throughout the entire story.

The characters are believable, and the scenarios that they must deal with are as well. I always appreciate when a Christian character’s personality and lifestyle isn’t hampered by the author’s standoffish tendency to not want to get into religion, thinking they might offend readers who want nothing to do with religion. Claire struggles with her faith throughout the book, and it’s good to see that struggle, and it’s good to see that Bond doesn’t hide the lifestyle of the other religious characters that are present in her book.

I really enjoyed this book, even more so than I did The Hunger Games. Where The Hunger Games seemed overly sensationalistic to me, Winter Shadows feels more down-to-earth, the characters and the scenarios that play out felt more relatable and meaningful.

Length, pricing, where can I get it

Winter Shadows is 183 pages. The pricing and outlets are listed below.

Amazon Kindle edition $9.99

Tate Publishing as a paperback ($13.99) or in eBook ($10.99) format