Reviews for The Edge of Winter

The average rating for The Edge of Winter based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-05-04 00:00:00 Daniel Karst A greatly satisfying read, The Edge of Winter introduces the reader to Neve; her daughter, Mickey; Ranger Tim O'Caseys; his father, Joe; and Shane, a teenage surfer who's a little rough around the edges. The characters all share a love of birding -- particularly snowy owls -- and sunken Nazi submarine, the U-823, off of their beloved Refuge Beach. The story ties together with only a few bumps and lumps, and although it's not stellar, I still enjoyed The Edge of Winter. Rice is able to connect the snowy owl to a sunken submarine to a mysterious painter named Berkeley to the effects of war on every member of the family, a story that could have fallen apart in the first chapter. I rooted for every character, even Neve's alcoholic ex-husband, Richard. Rice makes it impossible not to like every character; she includes details that make the characters seem so real. I enjoyed her examination of "shell shock," now known as post-traumatic stress disorder, on World War II veterans. In fact, WWII plays a major part in The Edge of Winter, something I was not expecting. And Rhode Island sounds absolutely breath-taking.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-09-10 00:00:00 Charles D. Spar This book is not technically categorized as Juvenile Fiction, but it certainly reads that way. Although it has many adult themes i.e. alcoholism, post traumatic stress syndrome,forgiveness,loss of loved ones to death, divorce - the dialog and some of the descriptions are simplistic and contrived. The overall story line is ok but the way it's written caused me to do a lot of "eye rolling". Much of the writing feels cliché. But the best line in the book, for me, is: "Love means ALWAYS having to say you're sorry." That's actually a very nice twist on a classic old movie cliché! Anyone remember "Love Story"?