Three sister, exiled to the woods of a small Georgia town, are the 'healers' of a community. With some supernatural elements - as well as science of the time/day, the sisters are well known in the community. As time and circumstance changes - as well as the attitude of the community, the sisters find themselves the target of a glorified witch hunt.

The Winter Sister would be a great book....if it was only about the sisters. The addition of a new town doctor as another plot but honestly was it was more annoying than helpful.

Still, it was a nice way to start the fall season.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

The Winter Sisters follows is set in the late 1800's and follows a city doctor (Dr Waycross) on his move to the small American town of Lawrenceville. Most of the healthcare given to the residents of this town was provided by three sisters, known as The Winter Sisters, considered to be witches or 'herb women'. This book meshes together literary fiction, historical fiction and a little bit of fantasy to make for a mostly confusing and frustrating read.

Within all of this there is a great story about the three sisters, but it felt like watching a film following a supporting character who occasionally interacts with the big stars. Rebecca, Sarah and Effie are all great, well fleshed out characters, yet it is Dr Waycross who's perspective we get for the majority of the book. I found Dr Waycross to be incredibly unlikable, and really struggled reading his perspective as I found him to be so pompous and obnoxious. I understand the appeal of having an 'out-of-towner' introduce the reader to Lawrenceville and The Winter Sisters, but I really wish I had been able to read the book from the sisters' perspective. Following Dr Waycross there was so much unnecessary babble and some really uncomfortable and over-descriptive moments.

Another big issue I had with The Winter Sisters was that whilst for the majority of the novel it is written in first person from the perspective of Dr Waycross, occasionally it would be third person focusing on Sarah Winter. There was nothing other than a new paragraph to signal to the reader the perspective had changed and it was an incredibly jarring experience, every new paragraph I had to prepare myself for a quick jump in person/place/time and it meant I couldn't immerse myself in the book at all. Simply breaking off the page, or starting a new chapter, could easily remedy this issue.

I learnt so many things from this book. Essentially, it is a book that compares between healers and doctors. But it's so much more than that.

Dr Aubrey Waycross has been summoned to a village in the Georgia mountains. He is expected to bring modern scientific methods to help treat the masses, but it is not easy. They have come to trust the Winter sisters, who have as good a knowledge to heal them. The only thing that differs is that their methods are not scientifically proven, which makes Dr Waycross extremely skeptical, calling them quacks. Those who are followers of god call them witches. But the more Dr Waycross sees the effectiveness of their methods, the more he realises that there is something curious and true. Eventually, they begin to work together to help the villagers. The threat of rabies makes their teamwork ever more essential. But is what they're looking for a miracle cure?

This story takes place in the 1800s, when superstition and the talk of demons and witches thrived. It makes me frustrated from time to time to have to read of such foolishness, but I'm glad that most of them are not supporters of the pastor's. My feelings for this book would have been entirely different otherwise. Dr Waycross, fortunately, is an open-minded individual, and he doesn't buy into superstition; he only looks at facts. This disparity between the two groups allows me to immerse in that time period really well. That, along with the methods of curing, through bleeding or herbs, make the whole experience more real. It is obvious that the author has taken his time to do his research. It's amazing to see it at face value how things have changed in the world of medicine. It is even more fascinating to know that something easily found in the wild (at least in the past) would have medicinal properties, like chamomile — even mold! We have come to rely so much on chemically-derived medicine (to the point where antibiotics are slowly losing its effect) that I can't help but wonder what it would be like if we relied on healers for a change.

The Winter sisters themselves are extremely likeable. They all have distinct personalities, and Effie is my favourite. Although it would have been nice to read this book with their POVs, its absence also helps to keep the mystery going. Is there magic involved? Or are they just mortals like you and me, healing with their knowledge and heart? Only Sarah's side of life, written in the second person, is included, and I feel that is enough as everything unfurls.

Most of the book is written in Waycross' side of the story. We see how his mind changes along the way. He is quite superficial a person, his mind willing to take a step back only when he realises that the Winter sisters are not grannies but really young women. He can be overconfident in his skills at times, but his mistakes are what make him human. Even so... frankly, I don't find him that appealing. Yes, his heart is in the right place, often standing up for what he believes in, but everytime when I decide that I do like him, he turns around to betray my impression. He can be a nuisance.

I dived into this with an expectation that is infinitely different. I thought it would be a book written with a tedious style, as shown at the beginning, but after getting used to it and opening up my mind a little more, I realise it's something else. It's a book I enjoyed a lot, and I actually found myself reading it slowly, trying to savour it for as long as it could last. I definitely recommend this to readers of historical fiction and thought-provoking books. There is romance mixed in there as well, but it's mild compared to the other aspects of this story.

The cover of this book is what originally drew me to it, I think it's gorgeous, then that was backed up by a very promising premise. I absolutely loved the setting but I found the story a little strange, it's not exactly what I was expecting. It ended up feeling a little empty and I was left a bit unsatisfied.

I loove a good folksy rural story.I’m from Georgia so the history of the time (1800) was fascinating to me.
Dr Waycross,a medical doctor was asked to come to a little town to help with a Rabies outbreak.He soon finds out that it was a pretext to get him there.
The townspeople would rather go to the three witch sisters than have him bleed them or amputate parts which is what they believe doctors do.
This book skillfully combines magic,herbs,medicine and history.
#netgalley #thewintersisters #timwestover

This book was engaging & atmospheric. You can tell it was well researched. I got all the fall feels and am ready for it!

Although the premise was what brought me to this book, I felt that it could have been executed better. I really liked the Winter sisters as characters, and found them fascinating. If the book was told only from their point of view, I feel like I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

The Winter Sisters follows three sisters living on the outskirts of a frontier town in Georgia, America in 1822. They're successful healers, but all three have some varying degree of supernatural abilities when it comes to healing. Rebecca, the eldest, uses the science of the day to back up her techniques, Sarah, the middle sister, uses psychology to heal - using peoples superstition and folk beliefs in a way that her patients will believe and go with her prescriptions. Effie is the youngest sister, and her healing is pure magic, she just needs to stand in a room with you to heal you of anything (including death).

Due to previous goings on, the sisters are exiled from the town to a cabin in the woods. Part of what I enjoyed with this book is the total hypocrisy of those in town. They were happy to go to the sisters for help when they were sick or injured, but when circumstances change against the sisters through no fault of their own, the townspeople change and begin what can only be described as a witch hunting riot.

The only element I didn't like was following the town's new doctor. Dr Aubrey Waycross was a little too pompous in my opinion, and he just came across a little wrong to me. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, and I didn't get on with his character. Sadly, following his point of view took up most of the book.

The layout of the e-book was a little strange to me as there wasn't any page break or sign that the point of view was changing from the sisters in third person, to the doctor in first. This was a little jarring for a while before I got into the swing of things, about 30% of the way in.

Although it saddened me that I didn't love this book, I did find it incredibly interesting, and would recommend it, if slow, character driven historical fiction is your cup of tea.

Trigger warnings; body gore - injuries and antiquated healing techniques such as blood letting, addictive drug use, and death of an animal on page.

This story was very different and enjoyable. I loved the characters and setting. I was completely engrossed the first 3/4ths of the story but I did not care much for the ending, it felt off from the rest of the story to me. Still I overall liked the book and would recommend it highly, specially for a fun fall read.

Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 3
Pace: 2
Plot development: 2
Characters: 2
Enjoyability: 2
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 2 out of 5

This BOOK.
Ah. I am so ready for fall now. This was the enthralling, atmospheric, folklore fantasy book that I never knew I needed.
I was intrigued from page one and actually read it quite quickly.
It was made very clear that the author did loads and loads of research for this book. There were so many small details that made that obvious. Also, can we just talk about the writing? It was BEAUTIFUL. The author had such a way with words. I wish I could have been listening to it on audiobook just because I would have loved to hear someone speaking such beautiful sentences.
Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone! :)

This book was received as an ARC from QW Publishers - Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

From the beginning I was intrigued with this book and the concept behind this book. Some of my many friends are herbalists and find natural healing from what is found on this earth but back in this setting some are seen as witches and performing magic. When a well-known doctor such as Dr. Waycross gets called into a mysterious town in Georgia and everyone is telling everyone they know, locals will be talking especially The Witch Sisters who believe that they can treat any disease better than any doctor. I also love stories where uncommon people now have to team up to save their town and/or complete their mission and that is exactly what the Witch Sisters and Dr. Waycross had to do in order to cure rabies and save their town from this dreadful disease. Fascinating from beginning to end and I could not put this down. This is definitely a book that will take you away and you will not want to stop reading.

We will consider adding this title to our Historical Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

The story was interesting! I was drawn in from the very beginning. I am ready for fall/Halloween stories and this book really hit the spot!

Huge Thank you to NetGalley and QW Publishers for this opportunity! 3

A very good story written in a style that introduces the characters and their community as if you are a new comer who has just joined the neighborhood. The new neighbor in this story is a doctor practicing his vocation during the 1800's when "modern" medicine still meant bleeding a patient to cure an infection, among other methods that would prove to be more harmful than not. Tim Westover has done an excellent job of describing the community and the residents, building the story so that you feel part of it. The naturalist healers in the book have proven their abilities over time so the doctor is forced to work with them. As the story progresses, readers will find themselves drawn to the drama and tension while watching a community in need get help from every corner.
I was really not sure what I would get when I started this book but found myself drawn into the story further with every chapter until I could not have paused my reading for anything.

This was an interesting book about a doctor in 1800s Georgia who goes to a small town to study a rabies outbreak. There he encounters a town of residents who would rather be seen by the local witches than the doctor. Filled with mystery and history this book was a entertaining read about blending the medicinal and the mystical.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction but this book interested me. I really liked the characters, Dr Waycross, and the Winter Sisters. I was intrigued by the struggle of Dr. Waycross to gain the trust of the folks who were superstitious and accustomed to the remedies provided by the sisters. The people feared amputation, blood letting and surgery more than their ailments. As the doctor sees and hears of the cures performed by the sisters, his desire to turn them to science becomes a urning to understand their ways of herbs, lore and seemingly miracles.
This book has mystery, some humor, a few ghost stories and is an overall enjoyable read.
I'd give 5 stars except I didn't like that the story perspective changed from the Dr. to the sisters mid page and it was confusing at times.
Thanks for the review copy Netgalley and QW Publishers.

The Winter Sisters by Tim Westover is an interesting novel that is part fiction/part fantasy. It intertwines both genres to create a quick, engrossing read.

I enjoyed the characters and felt they had multiple layers which led to a nice complexity.

I enjoyed the location/setting 1800s Georgia and I also enjoyed the cast of characters.

I enjoyed the ending, and also the afterward that the author wrote to add some historical significance from a medical aspect. As someone in the medical field, that part, as well as how alternative treatments were dispersed between what “traditional medical treatments” were widely accepted at that time, added a layer of interest for me.

A great read. 4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and QW Publishers for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.