Audiobook11 hours
Red Winter
Written by Annette Marie
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Emi has dedicated her life to becoming the perfect vessel for the goddess Amaterasu, but the insidious betrayal of another deity has changed everything. Now Amaterasu has charged Emi with an urgent mission: to find and free the earthly gods before mankind is brought to its knees beneath divine tyranny.
At her side is Shiro, the mysterious fox spirit. When she first saved his life, she could never have imagined that behind his cunning and confidence, he was lost-his power bound by a devastating curse and his memories obscured. His veiled history is somehow tied to the missing gods, but he can't remember how or why.
As their search leads them into the murky depths of the spirit realm, the shadows of Shiro's past begin to emerge. With each brief awakening of his true self, she loses a little more of him. The fate of the heavens and earth rest in her mortal hands, and she must find the missing gods before time runs out for her world-and for Shiro.
At her side is Shiro, the mysterious fox spirit. When she first saved his life, she could never have imagined that behind his cunning and confidence, he was lost-his power bound by a devastating curse and his memories obscured. His veiled history is somehow tied to the missing gods, but he can't remember how or why.
As their search leads them into the murky depths of the spirit realm, the shadows of Shiro's past begin to emerge. With each brief awakening of his true self, she loses a little more of him. The fate of the heavens and earth rest in her mortal hands, and she must find the missing gods before time runs out for her world-and for Shiro.
More audiobooks from Annette Marie
Related to Red Winter
Titles in the series (3)
Red Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tempest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Immortal Fire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related audiobooks
Dark Tempest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fumiko and the Finicky Nestmate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImmortal Fire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chase the Dark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taming Demons for Beginners Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Night Realm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bind the Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One and Only Crystal Druid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shadow Weave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unleash the Storm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Blood Curse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Three Mages and a Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yield the Night Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long-Forgotten Winter King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Steel & Stone Companion Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Delivering Evil for Experts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Slaying Monsters for the Feeble Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reap the Shadows Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hellbound Guilds & Other Misdirections Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unbreakable Bladesong Druid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rogue Ghosts & Other Miscreants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Damsel and a Demigod Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Witches and a Whiskey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Arts and a Daiquiri Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damned Souls and a Sangria Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lost Talismans and a Tequila Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demon Magic and a Martini Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
YA Fantasy For You
Red Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magic Factory (Oliver Blue and the School for Seers—Book One) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divine Rivals: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Powerless Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fable: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gallant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy: A Love Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Wizard of Earthsea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legendborn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Woven Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lightlark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Infinite Threads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once Upon a Broken Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nightbane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Halloween Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5City of Ashes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorcery of Thorns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Glass Sword Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ballad of Never After Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Black Witch Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Caraval Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rise of the Dragons (Kings and Sorcerers–Book 1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Akata Witch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Fade Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King's Cage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Finisher: Vega Jane, Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everlost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chain of Gold Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Winter's Promise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Red Winter
Rating: 4.306930728712872 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
101 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If you want essentially a prose rehashing of a mixture of various anime (inuyasha especially), this is the answer. It relies on a lot of tired old tropes, but they're executed skillfully and with minimal eye rolls. Not a particularly original book, but excellent escapism. Definitely going to binge listen to the sequel!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emi has been the chosen of her goddess, Amaterasu, since she was eight. Upon the solstice of Emi's eighteenth year, Amaterasu will descend from the heavens and join with Emi's body, allowing Amaterasu to walk on earth again. But not everyone is happy with the idea of allowing a goddess to walk again and they'll do everything to prevent it. I really enjoyed this. The world building was interesting and I liked Emi a lot. The plot was well paced and kept me intrigued and I liked the other characters. I loved Shiro and mostly liked Yumei. Shiro reminded me of Ash from Julie Kagawa's The Iron Fey. Very standoffish at times and hard to get a read on. The romance between Shiro and Emi was good - lots of flirting and fluttery feelings. But it didn't overwhelm the plot - Emi was still focused on her duty and the problems at hand. I can't wait to read the next books.A strong start to a new fantasy romance series. 4 stars.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This one took a long time to get started for me. I thought there would be more action but the story stays pretty tame until the halfway mark. It's also pretty linear in its plot for the majority of the novel, not a lot happens. But it does pick up by the end. I think I might have enjoyed this more if I read the book instead of the audio. The audio version is great, don't get me wrong. But I'm a very visual learner and my Japanese is a little rusty so a lot of words sounded the same; so I got a lot of the terminology mixed up. I think if I saw the words I would have a better time understanding them.
I'm on the fence about reading the sequel. I'm going to read the sequel synopsis and see how I feel. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Winter was a fantastic start to the series! First, I was surprised by the BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS included. Seriously, they were gorgeous. And I loved all the mythology and world building. I wasn't sure if I would like Emi at first, but I loved her character growth. The reader watches Emi start to become her own person instead of seeing herself only as a vessel for a kami.
Also, I loved Shiro!!! He was my favorite character throughout the series. I enjoyed watching his character growth and learning more about him. Romance was not at all front and center in this first book... which I like because I've always preferred slow burn. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cover: #coverbuy!
Rating: 5 Stars
Overall: Beautifully written
Characters: Well Written
Plot: Emi must help her new friends in a quest bigger than either of them realize!
Page Turner: Yes!
Series Cont.? Yes!
Recommend: Yes
Favorite Character: Shiro
Source: I own
I loved this book! While I thought it started out a little slow, I loved the chance to get to know the characters, and to see a part of Emi's live before everything changes. A stunning start to the trilogy, I am eagerly waiting to see what happens next! Great for fans of Asian culture and folk-lore this is a fun story told in an interesting way. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I absolutely loved Marie’s Steel and Stone series and was incredibly excited to see that she has a new series starting. This book starts out pretty slow but it picked up a lot towards the second half and I ended up enjoying it. I think part of what made the story slow at the beginning is that it is a bit of an info dump with all the Japanese mythology and terminology thrown at the reader. However, it does pick up pace quite a bit in the second half of the book and there is a lot more action. I ended up enjoying the story quite a bit, I loved the action, and also loved the Japanese mythology that the story is based on.As with the Stone and Steel series; Marie does an amazing job creating characters that are complex and easy to engage with. Additionally the action scenes are incredibly well written; I am not sure how Marie does it but the action scenes just absolutely grab you and have you on the edge of the seat. Marie also does a wonderful job creating a believable world that's nestled secretly next to our modern day world.Overall this was a great start to a new fantasy series by Marie. I thought the start was a bit slow, but things really started to pick up in the second half. I am eager to read more about Emi and Shiro and figure out how they are going to balance the battle between the different ancient powers at work. I would recommend to those who enjoy urban fantasy and are interested in Japanese mythology.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5***This book was reviewed via Netgalley***Marie’s Red Winter tells the engaging story of Emi, a girl training as the kamigakari of Amaterasu. She’s been following this path for the past ten years and it is all coming to fruition. She is just two months shy of truly becoming the avatar of Amaterasu. This path has been fraught with danger. Amaterasu has not had a kamigakari in a hundred years. Her priests will do anything and everything to ensure Emi is successful. Following a yokai attack three years previous, Emi has been moved from shrine to shrine every few months. Her final shrine home is in the deep mountains, close to where the final ceremony is to take place. Here she is reunited with Katsuo, whom she had last seen on that fateful day of the yokai attack. Katsuo is a sohei, a warrior priest, and one of two assigned to protect the kamigakari. Despite the rapidly approaching ceremony date, Emi knows nothing about what to expect from it. When she comes into possession of a kannushi manual, she learns that everything she thought she knew about what being kamigakari means is false. For the past ten years she has sacrificed everything in order to train for this role. All of the things a young girl would expect to have done, Emi has missed out on. Sleepovers, junk food binges, kissing a boy, just to name a few. The demands of her training even cost Emi her family. Emi's inner turmoil at learning the truth prompts a rash of reckless behaviour that lands her outside of the shrine grounds without either of her sohei guards. She meets a kitsune, and an oni, after getting lost in the woods. Though both are yokai, one becomes an erstwhile friend while the other would like nothing more than to call her lunch. By saving the life of the one, Emi earns a favour. What she asks for has the power to change everything.Oh, I fell in love with this from the first word! This was my first experience with the author's works, but now I have big plans to go check her other books out. Marie weaves a wonderful story. I couldn't put this book down. I love books that focus on Asian mythology of any flavour, but Japanese mythology is a big favourite, especially since much of this recalled Inuyasha, an anime I also adore. To a lesser extent it reminded me of Saiyuki, another favourite anime. In addition to some rather brilliant writing by Marie, there are also some stunning illustrations by Brittany Jackson scattered throughout.?????Highly recommended, especially if you like books such as Colleen Houck's Tiger’s Curse series, Christina Farley’s Gilded series, and, of course, Inuyasha!