For some reason I thought Kresley Cole’s Arcana Chronicles would be a trilogy. I don’t know why I thought that, considering her flagship PNR series stands at 15 books and counting. Dead of Winter is the third book in the series, and there is no sign that this thing is ending any time soon. But that’s okay — I’m actually enjoying the series, even if I’ve lost my taste for the type of angsty, controlling-posturing-as-romantic, aggressive young men that are the archetypes for both of the romantic heroes vying for heroine Evie’s heart (and who are a dime a dozen in the PNR market in general, YA included.)
This book jumps right back into where the action left off in the second book, Endless Knight, without much preamble, so I found myself scrambling to remember what happened in that book when I read it a year ago. Eventually I was as caught up as I needed to be: Evie had just escaped from being held prisoner by Aric a.k.a. Death, but the two had developed feelings for each other during that time (Stockholm-y premise, but IIRC it’s not too awful.) She is seeking to re-unite with the group of other Arcana who had formed an alliance, and in particular, she’s trying to organize a rescue mission for Jack, the normal human/mortal boy with whom she began this whole post-apocalyptic journey. For those with little experience in this thing: the conflict here is that Death and Jack are the other two points of the triangle, so Evie’s escaping from Death for Jack’s sake is a certain betrayal to him, and not a great way to start off what needs to be a working relationship between the two. That’s right — Dead of Winter has these two fiercely competitive rivals, who would willingly kill each other, act as allies.
Despite much ado being made over the romance — and it is — it’s secondary, to me, under what remains a really cool premise. The more we learn about the different characters who represent the Arcana and the powers they possess, the cooler and more epic the “game” becomes. And Evie herself has apparently only touched a fraction of her power, but she’s worried about really unleashing it because to do so could mean to “invoke the red witch”, an alter ego/past life version of Evie who was apparently a nasty piece of work and betrayed everyone she allied with or pretended to care for in a gruesome fashion. Not being that kind of person, and knowing the extent to which the witch burned bridges, Evie is understandably terrified of losing control and giving into her.
I think I recall saying something to this effect in a review for one of the prior books, but I think working in the YA format is giving Kresley Cole the chance to really focus on her worldbuilding and serialized storytelling — something she’s always been really strong at, but has played second fiddle to romance. Here, with the priorities reversed, I frankly think she’s doing some of her best work. I gave this entry three (actually 3.5) stars because it’s a little heavy on Evie’s “decision” between Jack and Death, but the concept is really doing it for me and I’m pretty invested in the series overall.
I was also under the impression that this series would be a trilogy, and when I discovered that Dead of Winter wasn’t the final book, but that there may be countless ones before the series is finished, I just lost interest. I like the world-building, but pretty much hate all the major characters. I can’t stand Jack and his god-awful Cajun accent. I hope he dies a slow, lingering death, preferably while on fire. I detest Evie enough that I wouldn’t wish her on either of the two guys who are fighting for her, and frankly, while Aric is the best of the bunch, he’s not exactly a great character either. Because I loathe the major characters so much, I can’t really get into the books enough to enjoy the premise of the kids with Tarot abilities.
Also, has it been revealed yet that Jack totally has Arcana powers? Because there is no WAY that he’s just a normal human. No chance.
Thank you for writing this review – I read this ages ago and wanted to talk about it with other readers :)
You’re review sums up many of the reasons why I continue to read Kresley’s books while being actively annoyed with them. She’s definitely got skills – writes great smolder, has a knack for creative worlds (frankly the arcana is a great premise), and as much as I’m frequently annoyed by the characters, I can’t deny being hooked into wanting to know what happens next. But they’re also just terrible in so many ways.
Oy vey the Cajun, “I’m still all in pekon.” So may things wrong here. He talks and drinks like a 32 YO alcoholic. They’ve only ever fought. Kresley is working hard to make him a tortured but noble hero but I can’t get past seeing him as a drunk with the emotional maturity of a newt.
On the other hand, death has been painted rather blandly. He’s a powerful guy who likes to sit by the fire and read The Iliad. And he’s a kidnapper (although their backstory was harsh enough that I could almost forgive this transgression, although it begs the question, should you be held responsible for actions of a past life?).
But in terms of a love-triangle, Death can quite literally never be with another woman. Ever. So if she chooses not to be with him, she is damning him to be alone for all eternity. Should you be with a man out of an obligation like this? I’m arguing that in this instance the answer is: yes, absolutely yes.
But this book lacks almost any forward propulsion – so little happens. It’s screams “bridge book.” And while the world itself presents some really cool opportunities, she does little to take advantage of them. The whole, “Let’s find Grandma” premise is weak, and the supporting characters are given little screen time so we can focus on endless “who should Evie be with?” instead. So much wasted potential.
But who am I kidding, I can be annoyed about terrible characters and uneven love triangles all I want, will totally buy the next one when it comes out. Damnit.