Welcome to Litsy!

Happy Eostre, from our favorite murderous bunny: Runnymede. 🪺🐇💀

Weird mix of fantasy and horror. I‘d love to see a movie adaptation, but I can‘t imagine how it could be done that would draw people to see it. It would look stupid in a movie trailer - talking animals? Reading it was a wild ride. Not as gory as I feared, but this vanity press needs to hire a better editor (brooch misspelled as “broach” TWICE). The backstory was intriguing enough to keep me reading. Three stars, entertaining, would recommend.

I‘ve had this one on my Kindle Unlimited list for a long time. Finally started it, and like it so far. I‘ve read the warnings about extreme violence and disturbing content coming up fast in the storyline. It sounds like Christina Henry‘s dark fairy tale fantasy novels, but gorier? I‘m not a fan of hardcore gore, so I‘ll DNF if it‘s too much for me.

Enjoy this piece from a cook/food blogger. She made one of the dishes in the book and talks about it here along with her thoughts on the book.

https://foodinbooks.com/2023/02/13/winterset-hollow-by-jonathan-edward-durham/co...

Shown: sweet potato yeast rolls we recently made. Flackwell would be pleased.

There‘s a lot going on in this story. The cover is deliciously creepy and even the title tells you something isn‘t right. This is a tale of friendship, colonizer energy, revenge, and survival.
Lovers of the book Winterset Hollow take a ferry to the island Addington Isle where the author lived and wrote the book. It is Barley Day, and they have no idea what they‘re about to step into.

I really don‘t know what all the fuss is about! Being hunted is a Barley Day tradition! You *love* Barley Day, don‘t you?! Of course, I was never caught, so my memories may be a bit sunnier than others‘.

What are you gonna tell the police? Huh? You gonna tell them that a talking fox, a one-legged rabbit, a fancy frog, and a bear with a sledgehammer hunted you for fun? That‘s what you‘re gonna say?

Honestly. They should have known something was off when Runnymeade began to play Bach‘s ‘O, Come Sweet Death‘ at dinner. That was pretty obvious. It helps to know Garden Latin, and it helps to know classical music too. Both could save your life.

Listen here: https://youtu.be/koFTQvGmNfU?si=a8ZHbgM_cql5iKZj

He would kill them all again if he had the chance. Human or hound, it made little difference to Phineas Fox. They were all rats to him…and all the world a maze.

“Why are you like this? We didn‘t do anything to you. You didn‘t even know us before today.”
“But I know your *kind*,” said the fox. “It‘s as if you thought I‘ve never met a human before. Well, I‘ve met plenty. Plenty. I‘ve been taken from my home by them. I‘ve been hunted by them. I‘ve been made to dance for them as they thrive off of the fruits of my land and I‘ve seen the last of my kind disappear under their boots. You may not think

“Make it quickly…and *clean*, if you can. Terribly messy business, all this vengeance.”

(Of course Flackwell the frog who is also the chef in this cottage would say something like this. I picture him as Mr. Jeremy Fisher (Beatrix Potter).

“My dear boy, don‘t you know it‘s Barley Day?” answered the rabbit cold and unaffected, his ear still running red with blood and his eyes still somber and sunken. Runny turned to Eamon with a glare that spoke of the trials of some history he wasn‘t privy to, and as he reached down with his paw to stop his nervous leg from stuttering against the floorboards, he said only, “You run, Eamon. You run.”

It‘s a perfect day to stay home and read. I didn‘t want to go to work!

This is what I imagine Winterset Hollow. An old Holloway that you must enter to get there. This Holloway keeps the cottage hidden. Once there, meadows of tall grasses, a variety of wild flowers, animals, birds, insects within. An old stone wall cottage with one or two chimneys, its walls covered by ivy and rose. An out of control herb garden, a stone garden wall, a few fruit trees. Wild berry bushes.

Before officially beginning this book, I thought it would be appropriate to share some art from medieval manuscripts of rabbits doing some very bad things.
I follow the author on social media and love what he has to say, especially about books. Looking forward to this read that I‘m told is loaded with violence. Lol.

Is there any word on when the litsy app will be back?

I am tired of summer & tired of the relentless heat. I want dark & spooky. Also this book takes place at the end of summer.
Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction . . . especially on Addington Isle.

I will never look at my nephew‘s birthday the same again. On the upside, Barley Day counts as a non-Christmas holiday for #popsugarchallenge purposes, right?

Spent the last month pretty sick. Flu, ear infection and rounded out the year with my first bout of asthma. Feeing much better now.

Doing some early morning reading as I can‘t sleep

I was not prepared for how violent this book is. Beautiful. Chilling. Extremely creative, and very odd... The writing is lovely. It's so engaging and has such a unique storyline. I couldn't put it down! I traveled home to be with my family and read quite a lot, but this one made me really think. It also made me truly sad...

This is a book you need to invest some time to read.

Not for the faint of heart
📚📖Happy Reading!📖📚

What. A **perfect** #NightmareMakerSwap package!!! You picked the perfect activity for our house! The pumpkin carving book and kit — amazing! 🎃👏🏽👏🏽 And the tagged book looks sooo good!!

And your activity: the bookmarks you made are gorgeous - you are so talented!!

And of course I love the treats & socks too! Thank you @Readergrrl !! 🎃♥️🎃🖤🎃🧡🎃

And thank you @LibrarianRyan for hosting such a fun swap!! #NMS

“You know, it‘s been said that you should never meet your heroes, but I say better to know whom you place on that pedestal, don‘t you agree?”

Talking murderous animals and a hunt on a creepy island. Super interesting concept here with some cool twists and a strong story. It was a little long winded in parts and very trippy, but overall I enjoyed this one for how unique it was. I can definitely say I‘ve never really read anything quite like this one!

Had high hopes for this one. I expected to love it. It didn‘t hit the mark for me. It wasn‘t a long book but the writing style was very long and drawn out in my opinion. I found myself skimming looking for a necessary part of the long paragraphs. Way too much detail. The story itself was good. Very character/setting based which isn‘t my cup of tea most is the time. Fantastic idea for a story. ⭐️⭐️

This rides the line between horror and fantasy. On the one hand, there are adorable talking animals. On the other, the animals are angry. It is hard to know what to say about this book. It has an intriguing premise that starts out fun but then descends into chaos. It reminds me to never meet your heroes because you may not like who they truly are.

My day off. Going to do some reading.

I am not yet sure what I think of this book. It was very well written, but some of the subject was hard to get around. #LMPBC @Hazel2019 @booksellerofyourdiscontent @Littlewolf1

Very hard to review! This was a beautifully written, conceptual horror with good characters and a great ending. So much horror falls down with a dodgy ending and this one concluded beautifully. There was nothing at all wrong with it but the premise was a bit disturbing for me and made me sad rather than thrilled a lot of the time - innocent natural or childhood things being made into something scary doesn‘t work great for me.

Some things with this book were not registering well with me, so I left the Barley Day Feast a bit early. I will get this sent out to @Pogue either today or tomorrow! #lmpbc #groupr

#bookspin list is actually on time this month!!! #bookjournal

This is not a horror version of Redwall. The writing style is vastly different and the character origins more akin to Watership Down. Winterset Hollow is its own brand of dark fantasy with complex characters and haunting revelations. If you enjoy novels that take the time to develop an intricate set of characters and situations, give it a try.

Review https://www.behindthepages.org/post/winterset-hollow-by-jonathan-edward-durham-b...

I had such high hopes for this book, but didn‘t care for the writing. It was that kind of fairy-tale brutality that I just can‘t handle. Lots of great reviews though, so if mystical, talking-animal horror seems like your thing, go for it!

@IamIamIam is doing a giveaway for her 5 year #Litsyversary! Check her post for the details!

I would like to receive the tagged book. I read the synopsis of it when I saw your post a few days ago and the book sounds really intriguing!

#5YearGiveaway

HOLY WOW!! I don't actually have words for how much I loved this book!!! Think Wind in the Willows meets The Hunger Games... this book grabbed me and just didn't let go and I never wanted it to end!!! 🤩🤩🤩

OBSESSED with this story!! It's so original & I can't read it fast enough!!!

A full review can be found on my blog: https://suspensebookreviews.home.blog/2022/01/23/winterset-hollow-by-jonathan-ed...

Podcast review: https://anchor.fm/alisbooknookcorner/episodes/Winterset-Hollow-by-Jonathan-Edwar...

There is nothing I want more right now than to pretend nothing else exists until I finish this book!!!! I can't believe how quickly and entirely it has taken over!!!! 💜

Absolutely amazing novel. Started a bit slow, but quickly picked up the pace and ensnared my senses.

Full review on my blog:

http://bookshelfadventures.home.blog/2021/11/24/winterset-hollow-by-jonathan-edw...

“Winterset Hollow was one of the rare books that both charmed and horrified me in the space of a chapter.“

This was a brilliant, original read. 5 stars all the way. For my full #bookreview, please click here: https://www.kaylacreviews.com/2021/10/winterset-hollow-by-jonathan-edward.html

#darkfantasy #horror #thriller #bookrecommendation