Although I haven't loved this series, this installment was my favourite so far. I thought Thray made a good protagonist and I enjoyed the quest element of the narrative a lot. I also appreciated seeing a different part of the world and felt that the plot was more streamlined, which I appreciated. I still do have issues with the writing style (I'm not a great lover of first person present tense) and feel that the reader is kept at a distance from the action, which makes it hard for me to truly invest in the characters. With that being said, however, I will definitely be finishing up the series as I would like to know how everything wraps up.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Barrow of Winter is really difficult for me to review, as I did love Hall of Smoke and Temple of No God, but the perspective shift and time jump was really jarring (totally my fault for not fully reading the synopsis).

I enjoyed seeing a different perspective and exploring more of the world. I do wish we had more time with Thray before she took off on her adventure. Also, at some points the energy of story just dropped and I got a bit bored.

Overall I do recommend the book, just be prepared for the perspective.

Barrow of Winter by H. M. Long - Narrated by Samara Naeymi - 4/5
Sci Fi & Fantasy

Barrow of Winters is a captivating fantasy novel that threw me into the world wonder and haunting by the harsh winters. The MC has an immortal parent and spends her young life trying to discover what it all means for her in the end. Where does she stand in the world and how does she make her mark. Being this story has tons of world building, character building and heart wrenching moments it is such an easy enjoyable listen. The Narrator, Samara Naeymi, made this story come to life and brought so many feelings through their story telling.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the eARC.

"Barrow of Winter" is a captivating fantasy novel that immerses readers in a world haunted by winter's icy grip. Thray, the Last Daughter of Winter, embarks on a journey to the northern land of Duamel, a place ruled by her demi-god siblings and shrouded in an eternal winter night. With beautifully descriptive prose, the author paints a vivid picture of a land on the edge of chaos.
I was unaware when I requested this that it was a sequel, as it wasn’t written anywhere. In this case, not being aware that "The Barrows of Winter" was a sequel prevented me from fully immersing myself in the story. However, based on my understanding, it seems that the book holds its own and offers an interesting read. The captivating world-building and engaging narrative are elements stood out to me despite the lack of context.

The book successfully combines elements of fantasy, adventure, and personal growth, making it a compelling read for fans of the genre.

Narrator was great. Would definitely listen to her again.



I was misinformed that this could be read as a standalone. I suppose it can and I did read it that way, but I think it must lean far more on previously disclosed worldbuilding as depicted in the previous books than a standalone normally would. That said I did enjoy this Norse inspired fantasy. The MC has one immortal parent and spends a lot of her young life trying to discover what that means for her. In that respect, this is a quest for identity sharply contrasted with the tyrannical actions of her half siblings. It's a bit too light on politics to be political fantasy, and too light on magic and 'creatures' to be epic fantasy. It was well written and an easy read but I found I got to the end feeling vaguely dissatisfied, never having fully connected with the characters - I wonder if that is also down to not having read the previous books? Overall I think I was missing a lot of connections. I liked it but could have liked it more.

Barrow of Winter is a story of self-discovery, family, and betrayal.

This is the third book taking place in the cold dark world that H.M. Long has created and delivers a complying story in-line with it’s predecessors. One of the most interesting things about this series is that you don’t necessarily need to read them in order but that is my preferred way to read them.

In BoW we follow Thray the demi-god, Last Daughter of Winter on a journey of self-discovery on a personal level as well as what it means to be a demi-god. She is offered an opportunity to travel to land her father once ruled to find these answered, but she has to lie to her people and lover to make this happen. Once there she meets a group of demi-god “siblings” and must learn to navigate their customs and determine if she meets the standards they live by. She faces, assassination attempts, conspiracies, and at times it feels like the land itself is against her.

As always Long’s world building is excellent, you truly feel pulled into the struggles of this world, she expands on the gods and lore mentioned in the previous books and introduces a few new elements as well. The mythology of this world truly drives the actions of all the characters. Long does an excellent good at creating a real sense of being in this world.
Speaking of characters, I still think Hessa is my favorite Long character but Thray is a close second. She is truly a well nuanced character that struggles with her choices in a very believable way.

The pacing of this book is likely slower than many readers are used to but I don’t see that as a negative, I think it lets us really bond with the characters in this case.
Overall I really enjoyed this work and can’t wait to read more from this author.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Samara Naeymi, and her performance was exceptional she really delivers in tone and accent.
Big thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions in this review are my own

This book was decent, but the main character is not as captivating as Hessa from the first two. Long is great at atmosphere and setting; I always felt the scene was well set. I also liked the world and magic/lore. But I just felt like most of the characters in this one left something to be desired; It is a slower book but somehow the characters don't feel as interesting.

4.5 stars.
Nice adult fantasy book set in a winter environment. Third in series but can be read as a standalone.

Thray was living a quiet life as a priestess in a seaside village, betrothed to a solid and loving man. But Thray is the daughter of a god and a mortal woman, and she struggles to understand her mortality and her place in the world.

Then a fleet of boats from a far-north country led by an immortal half-sibling tempts her to leave the comfort of her village to test her limits amongst her blood relatives the Winterborn.

Thray is a fantastic character, flawed by her youthful selfish needs yet with heartfelt best intentions, she fights her fears and keeps her head while dealing with her morally ambiguous god-like siblings. Thray’s experiences in the north were harrowing and integral to her quest for understanding of herself and the world, and her destiny.

The world-building is so well-executed and all beings and environs are realistic and consistent that I felt enmeshed in the story. I would follow Thray on any further adventures!

And I need to discuss the narration! The accents and voices by Samara Naeymi were just *chef’s kiss*, simply perfect for the story and characters.

If you are a fan of the Winternight series (WHICH I TOTALLY AM) you will enjoy this fantasy novel.

Have you ever read a book to just forget right away what it was about?

It is a little like that with this story. It's a part of a trilogy, but at the same time it is a stand alone. Book about something, or about nothing to be honest. All I got from it, was motive of journey to find oneself in the land of snow and coldness and complicated family relations. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I just simply didn't get it. The audiobook was tremendously confusing because the action jumped from place to place in time without any acknowledgment. By the time I realized, there was change of space again. It brings a question of if nowadays, books should be written having in mind that they will be audio adapted for this or another reason.

It was a little hard to get into at first but once I did I enjoyed the story. I loved the narrator's voice. So soothing and pleasant to listen to.

This was such a fabulous book set in the same world as Hall of Smoke. I really enjoyed following our new protagonist. The exploration of cults, tombs, and dark magic was delicious. This met my expectations and then some!

Reading this book felt like getting lost in the snow, and I mean that in a good way. The writing was atmospheric and the narration of the audiobook definitely helped with that. Thray was a compelling character and I loved going through this journey with her. She is half human and half immortal, and she spends the book struggling to fit into either world. The universe of this series is fascinating, and it’s filled with interesting deities and creatures and magic. Even though this book stands alone from the others, I do think I would have benefitted from reading the first two books. There was a lot of lore and mythology to keep track of, as well as all the characters and how they related to each other. I was a little overwhelmed and confused some of the time, but I will owe some of that to the fact that this was my first entry into this universe. I also have to commend the narrator Samara Naeymi for all of the characters and accents that had to be juggled for this story.

This book seems very interesting, but it really is not the kind of tropes I connect too. I would recommend others try it but I was unable to connect with it.

The narrator was wonderful! She absolutely made the story transcend.

So I'll admit, I had trouble getting into this book, but not because of the story or the quality of the writing. Long is amazing at building atmosphere with her writing, and as she described the characters traveling through ice and snow, or getting dumped in a frozen river, I could FEEL the chills and the panic. Her descriptions are so visceral and ethereal, I adored that aspect. However, I feel like the descriptions and internalizations could've been condensed a bit so the story moved faster, but that's a me problem, not a problem with the book. This was an amazing addition to the series, pulling in characters and moments from the previous books and weaving them in seamlessly, so even if it's been a long time since you read, you can still recall thanks to context clues. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book. When I requested it, I don't remember thinking that it was the third book in the series, but after seeing the author's review where they stated that it was set in the same world, but could be read as a standalone made me excited once again to pick this one up. I received this book as an audio, so in an attempt to not butcher the spelling of any character's names, I am just going to skip using names at all, but only focus on the main character for the sake of not making this jumbled or confusing.

I am a little bit lost on how to rate this book if I am being honest. On one hand, I think that I enjoyed the plot and the whole mythology aspect. While the idea itself isn't super unique (a whole quest or journey type fantasy story to discover one's origins) the idea of knowing she may or may not be immortal, had a prestigious standing within her community prior to going on an adventure, and met fierce demigod half-siblings and family members she never knew about along the way was honestly super enjoyable overall. It was fun and made for a really great adventure. On the other hand, I feel like maybe I did need to read the other books in this series if it mentions these characters, because none of them felt well established to me in this book alone. I never connected to the main character at all and honestly found her mostly selfish and annoying and I was SO SICK of hearing about getting her hair brushed or braided. I also felt that the romance subplot sort of dragged this story down and honestly turned me off from the love interest completely. It just felt forced and again, maybe it's because I didn't read the other books, but I honestly could not see the connection between the characters. That is just me nitpicking however, because I honestly think that readers who have read the other two books would have found this not as irksome and perhaps would have been more invested in her story.

Lastly, because I listened to this book and not read it physically, I will say that I enjoyed this narrator immensely. I felt like she did a wonderful job and her accent made the story even more atmospheric and lovely.

Thank you to Recorded Books and Titan Books for an advanced readers' copy of this audiobook, in exchange for an honest review.

This book really exceeded the expectations I had for it, in many ways. It starts out with a young adult heroine, but we quickly find out that she's a little bit older, in her 20s, and there are a lot of important questions in her life that she is grappling with. She has committed to her betrothed, Havar, and she has grown up amongst the Ingan people and become a priestess in their religion. She has her life all set out for her, but she still has many questions about her origin.

Thray is the granddaughter of Winter, and the daughter of a god who wreaked havoc among their realms. She may or may not be immortal. And if she is, what will that mean for the future she has all set out? What will happen when the people around her eventually grow old and die? How will she find meaning?

The author, H M Long, frames all of these issues very well. I would say that this helps the book lean towards a "New Adult Fantasy" genre, and it deals with problems that regularly come up for people in their 20s, while still adding those necessary elements of High Fantasy.

The High Fantasy world itself is interesting because of its tribal, Norse-like nature, and the dichotomy between the old and new gods. It's always interesting, too, when the main character is over-powered but actually the power brings her nothing but problems. And when gods are real, the question of how to portray religion in fantasy is intriguing.

As to the actual writing, sometimes I found the pace weirdly fast, but it's probably because prior to this I was reading The Wheel of Time. In general, it was refreshing to read a High Fantasy that had so much action and ongoing change. I think the only reason I got confused was because I was reading it as an audiobook.

As for the audiobook itself - as an Australian reader, I was a bit thrown by the Scottish and Russian sounding accents, but the audiobook reader still did an excellent job at drawing me into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would describe this book as a perfect winter read. The vivid details create a great chilling atmosphere
It is a character driven slow burn of a book. Thray goes on a journey, there’s fate at play and differing interests that make it interesting.
I’m sure there are multiple links to the other books by this author that I missed. I feel this would have added more to the story and I would likely have rated higher if I had read them.
I received an audio ARC of this book and this review is voluntary.

While this would probably have made more sense had I read the first two books, I don't remember this clearly being labeled a sequel when I requested it. Thray is the Last Daughter of Winter and half immortal. While this is mentioned rather often, I don't really feel as if I ever understood it to its full extent. She goes on a journey and meets her demigod siblings. This was the part of the story I enjoyed best. Mythology? Yes. Retellings? No.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Truly the definition of epic fantasy, Loved revisiting this world through new eyes, and the narration was fantastic.