Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: When i first picked up Winter Rose i thought it would be one of those boring repetitive romance novels of some fey, wild child who falls in love with the civilized handsome prince. Quickly, however, it became evident that it was far beyond that. Some of the reviewers, i think, fail to note the true brilliance of this novel. The novel follows Rois, the wild daughter who tramples through the forest searching for its secrets. Throughout the story she recounts events as she sees them, and it's really up to you as to the interpretation. It was earlier mentioned that both Laurel and Rois love Corbet, and that he loves Rois, but one cannot know that for certain. That is only one interpretation. There are a myrad of ways to look at it, simply because of its ambiguties. One could say Rois is making everything up. It's just a dream. But a later event in the novel makes that uncertain. So you see how intricate it is. I strongly suggest reading Winter Rose in a group as well as several times and have fun figuring it out. For those of you who said this is boring, that's a shame, but i recommend it for anyone who likes mysteries or analytical novels. Believe me, it's definitely worth checking out.
Rating: 
Summary: Weird
Review: I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, but I have to say this was too 'out there' for me. The story was good, as were the story lines of several other books by this author that I have read, but the reading frustrates me. Her style is just, well, obtuse. I may be too literal, but this book was hard for me to get through.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: "Winter Rose" is a beautifully wrought gem of a fantasy. Rois, the heroine, loves the woods and roams them widely to gather berries and herbs for her family. One summer day she discovers a secret well and, in a glimmer of light and leaves, a young man-Corbet--as well. He is, it seems, the heir to Lynn Hall and the son of a man who--so the villagers believe--killed his father and was cursed to suffer the same fate himself. Now the grandson has returned to reclaim and rebuild the family estate. Both Rois and her sister Laurel fall in love with Corbet, and Corbet with Laurel. But Rois senses a greater mystery surrounding Corbet and his inheritance and sets about disentangling the truth about who--and what--Corbet is. She is gifted with the ability to see the world that others can't see in the woods and to pass between them. The fates of herself, her sister, and Corbet rest on what she discovers and what she does. Much of the pleasure of "Winter Rose" lies in the author's ability to create vivid images with words, especially images of the alien world of the woods and its cold mistress. Light, leaves, roses, brambles, wate, ivy, ice, snow-- you feel the words as much as read them. Although McKillip never really names the world of the woods as "fey," most readers will immediately make the association. She paints a picture of an elemental, alien, and ultimately cruel world, ruled over by a woman of icy power and beauty. Seductive in the summer light, its heart is winter, and it brings death to all things human. This is not a book to skim. For someone interested primarily in the plot, McKillip's style might well be frustrating, especially since the author merges dream and reality in her narration. But McKillip's language shimmers, and out of the light her words cast, the story unfolds. I found "Winter Rose" a marvelous, magical book.
Rating:
Summary: Doors & Windows...
Review: I followed the words through this book so swiftly, unable to stop reading, stop following. What beautiful prose. McKillip's rhythm and sense of self were incredible. Somewhere between worlds - like the Snow Queen, or The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe, the Chronicles of Corum - the power of moving between worlds, gates opening to some of us, not others, being trapped on a plane that is not your home. This story was like the truth of life & fairytales - the cruelty and the beauty all in one. It was the first book of McKillip's I'd read. Looking forward to more...
Rating: 
Summary: Dream book
Review: The thing I love about McKillip is that she can draw the reader into a dream-like fairy world, and this book is no different. It is hard to decide what is real and what is not, to that point that it feels very much like a dream. Most writers cannot pull this off, to create a true dream atmosphere, but McKillip does this in this book. The story is tragic, yet with a happy ending, and the whole book is done well, the people in the book are interesting and well done, and as a whole this is one of the best non-adventure fantasy books, best read by mature readers. (Not neccisaryly older).
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