The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Fairy Tale
Content: It is mentioned that a married woman cheated on her husband, A lot of making out.


In a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya have been raised on the honeyed scent of their Mami's babka and the low rumble of their Tati's prayers. But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell-despite their mother's warning to be wary of strangers. And this is not the only danger lurking in the woods.

As dark forces close in on their village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret passed down through generations. Faced with a magical heritage they never knew existed, the sisters realize the old fairy tales are true...and could save them all.

Art by Umbrafen at Deviantart.com

Art by Elena Kukanova https://www.deviantart.com/ekukanova

“There are many types of love. But there is nothing like a sister.”


This book read a lot like a fairy tale, and that included fairy tale logic, which at times had me yelling at the characters to not be so foolish. The parents of these teenage girls leave them home alone in the woods for an undetermined amount of time because they must journey elsewhere, and can't take them with them. They ask a family in the village to look in on them, but make little to no preparations for their daughters before they leave, which coincidentally also happens to be at the worst possible time. Needless to say, in no time at all the girls are in trouble. This of course is irresponsible and short-sighted on the parents part, but that's what I mean by fairytale logic. All that being said, I still was able to appreciate certain things about this book.

This is a YA novel and it does show. It's heavy with romance and feelings of self-doubt, but it also has a beautiful theme of sisterly love. These sisters are very different from each other and the older one, Liba too often compares herself to her younger sister, Laya, whom she views as more beautiful and graceful. Laya is a swan, so it's hard for Liba, a bear, to feel beautiful next to her. What I really liked was how Liba discovers that she has her own unique value and that she has her own kind of beauty. While Laya might be beautiful, she is young and impetuous, and could learn a lot from her older sister, who seems to be blessed with more common sense.

The author took some Jewish history and incorporated it into this book, which made it interesting and a bit different from other stories I've read. The theme of antisemitism was woven throughout the story. And there is real fear that the Jews in the village may not be safe for much longer. On top of this there are the mysterious fruit sellers who come to the village and seem to be up to no good. This part of the book is what kept me turning the pages.

This is a unique blend of shape-shifters, Jewish history, and fairytale. Overall I think it was an oddly different book, but not in a bad way. It reminded me of Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale a bit, but also Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver as well, but I have to say that I liked both of those better, maybe because they felt more mature.