Thanks to Ben Aaronovitch, Subterranean Press, and NetGalley for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Prior to reading this book, I was already a fan of Ben Aaronovitch’s Hugo Nominated Rivers of London series, so I was very pleased to see him transition and hopefully start a new series in the United States.

The book is a quick, entertaining read. It starts out as a FBI investigation after a former agent sends out a call for help and then agent Kimberly Reynolds has a lot on her hands.

This book had a X-files vibe and it was a fun read, Recommended.

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@SubPress

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Having been a new convert to the Rivers of London series, I knew I was taking a gamble by reading this most recent novella technically out of order from the rest of the series. However, in reading the description it felt like a total one off and fairly safe. My gamble paid off, but overall I was left wanting more.

Winter's Gift focuses on FBI agent Kimberly Reynolds who is sent up to the what I'm assuming is the upper reaches of Wisconsin to investigate some odd happenings after a report from an ex-agent is made into the bureau. While it was overall a quick entertaining read, I also felt like, intentionally or unintentionally, it veered into Fargo-ness where some of the characters were a caricature of what people living in upstate Wisconsin must be like (being a mid-Westerner I feel like I get a little bit of permission to say this).

Another reviewer made a comment that they felt like this had the feel of a first book of a series instead of a novella that is part of a bigger world and I have to agree. To me it was just okay, but despite that I'm totally going back to the world of Rivers of London.

I have been a fan of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series for years, and it's always a delight to read the novellas that explore the world more.

Snow tornadoes, a missing retired FBI agent, & something ghastly is waking up. All in a day‘s work now that Kimberly Reynolds knows about the magical subculture in her word.

I really loved Kimberly's character when we first met her in the main series, and I really enjoyed seeing more of her in her natural habitat. She‘s no nonsense, practical, & focused. And I have a particular weakness for characters that, feeling attraction in the middle catastrophic events, actually stop and think, hey is this the time or place for this?

The pacing was excellent, with well written action and brief lulls, allowing the reader to catch their breath along with Kimberly. I adored the development of the magical world outside of London and hints of more to come!

The writing style took a little to get used to because it's so different from how the Rivers of London is written. Which totally fits the character, but the whole novella almost reads like a case file. Kimberly regularly summarizes her own dialogue, while focusing on narrating her observations and the useful information she learns over everything else.

I would be genuinely delighted to read more of Kimberly's adventures, and I have already ordered an audio copy! Many thanks to both NetGalley and Subterranean Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Winter's Gifts is a wonderful, fantastic, enormously fun addition to the Rivers of London series, focusing on American FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds, who is fast learning about the magic of the world. Reynolds is sent to bitter, wintry Wisconsin, where a strange and violent storm has caused mayhem. Soon on the trail of non-humans, humans with secrets, and humans seeking magic, she finds herself amid Native genii locorum, fearsome creatures, and a cute meteorologist. It's a delight.

Many of my friends read this author but this is my first time. I found his writing style to be very enjoyable. His characters are well thought out, with some caveats. I'm not sure yet whether he knows how women work or how to right them well. Not every female out there is carrying around emergency tampons in a coat pocket. She also didn't really feel female even with a romantic interest around. The author also writes worlds well. They hidden magic groups, wizards and shades all trying to stay under the radar is interesting. This book takes place in Wisconsin, a vastly different area from London. The author still uses phrases and idioms occasionally though which can throw a reader off. Soya being one example. We usually just call it soy. but those are minor critiques. the story is short but enjoyable. It moves at a fast pace and is easy to visualize. It is currently my excuse for heading to my local library to check out prior novels by Aaronovitch. He is a good writer and fans of his and even new readers can enjoy this novella.

After having read and enjoyed several of Ben Aaronovitch's novels in the Rivers of London series, I was quite happy to have a chance to read his latest book "Winter's Gifts". This book really worked for me. Aaronovitch really made the main character come alive for me. The premise of an FBI agent (think Dana Scully) responsible for handling supernatural events was sufficiently reminiscent of the X-Files (as the author comfortably acknowledges in the prose) that it really appealed to the X-Files geek in me. Similarly, books that take place in states that I have lived in also have a certain attraction. Though, when I lived there, we didn't have problems with supernatural creatures, and the local grandmothers were usually not armed to the teeth. It has been a while though, so I may be a bit out of touch.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone that enjoyed the Rivers of London, X-Files, or has spent time in Wisconsin during the winter. I am very appreciative to Ben Aaronovitch and Subterranean Press for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this work.

Wonderful, American continuation of the River of London series. Ben takes us to the frozen North of America and ponders the crimes of American settlers but whiffs on fully integrating Native American culture and properly blaming those who committed historical crimes.

I love these books and will always read more of them!

The Rivers of London books are always great fun. I love getting lost in the world and the fun and quirky characters.

Absolutely fine and fun little addition to the Rivers of London universe, but that's kind of all it is. Agent Reynolds reads very much as a British man writing an American woman (I didn't find it that weird that she washed her bra after a day, given that day involved multiple stressful situations by that point, but why did it need to be mentioned separate from deciding to wash her underwear and why did she move "emergency Tampax" to her parka (coat) pockets when she was going to be separated from her car for like. Hours. If you're going on a short trip, you know if you're in bleeding territory, and if you're not, then you're only carrying emergency products in case someone else needs them, and I would expect the "hey, do you have a tampon I can borrow" quota to be fairly low in a novella about a cursed winter storm. It just read as very "hey look, she's a woman in case you forgot"). On top of all of that, we've got about a billion agency acronyms, the obligatory 9/11 mention, and calling Oklahoma the Midwest (I know it is geographically, but it's also. Not.). Also some kind of thin ice regarding Native/First Nation depictions and stories, but generally coming down on the side of "being careful but no real experience in dealing with these stories".

For all that Kimberly Reynolds is the main character, William Boyd stole the show for sure. I didn't really get a better sense of Reynolds, but I know exactly who Boyd is, and I think he's great and I want him and Peter to nerd out together.

Overall, though, I found it really interesting to see how the system we've seen explored so much in London being brought over to other countries.

I adore this series, and found this novella's setting and lore so interesting! It was a quick, enjoyable wintry read with a slight horror slant. I'm not a huge fan of the Reynolds character, and definitely missed Peter and Nightingale, but Bill was a great character to meet, and I liked some of the other side characters too. Definitely one for readers of the series as I'm not sure you would get too much out of it as a standalone.

Review: Dam this was good. Short, but filling.

All the characters are pretty down to earth in presentation and the story line is grounded with a mix of native lore and historical locations. A side venture from the ever continuing Rivers of London series.

Rating: 4.3/5

A side story to the Rivers of London series, set in the US. FBI Agent Kimberly Reynolds travels to a remote area in Wisconsin to investigate a tip about a case with unexplained characteristics--magic. There, cut off by a freak winter storm, she finds disappearances, destruction, and ties to an old expedition that vanished mysteriously in the 1830s.

Not vital, but interesting.

Winter's Gifts is a novella written by the English writer Ben Aaronovitch but set in Wisconsin. It contains a character named Scott Walker who works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. If you're not from Wisconsin, this may be either a forgettable name or a harmless joke. If you are from Wisconsin--or if, like me, you lived there for any part of the twenty-teens--this is the equivalent of introducing a character named Boris Johnson who got his professional start in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I spent at least half of what is admittedly not a very long book oscillating between fear that Walker was a destructive supernatural horror and fear that I might be expected to like him. Let me offer the warning or reassurance, therefore, that this Scott Walker is not intended to be sympathetic, but he also, despite multiple efforts in that direction, does not come to a sticky end.

Localization concerns aside, this is another entertaining entry in a long-running series. I find the more-or-less devout Christian FBI agent Kim Reynolds less immediately sympathetic than architecture nerd Peter Grant, which tells you something else about American political divisions. On the other hand, she felt more like a distinct person to me than the German protagonist of October Man, who kept slipping into Peter-flavored architecture facts. The novella also felt more or less complete unto itself; you don't need to be simultaneously caught up on the comics, a confusion I've occasionally encountered in past installments.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entry in Ben Aaronovitch’s The Rivers of London series. This one is set in the United States, with FBI agent Kimberly Reynolds chasing down unexplained, possibly magical, phenomena in Wisconsin. The location allows for snow storms, frozen lakes, and a historical connection to an Indigenous/Native American plot line.

This novella is part of a series but is readable by someone new to Aaronovitch’s world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital review copy.

I’m embarrassed to admit I had never read anything in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series. His urban fantasy series has at least ten books and novellas, multiple comics, and even a role-playing game. It was honestly a little intimidating to jump in the series at this point when it’s so late in the game. However, I’m happy to report that Aaronovitch’s newly published novella, Winter’s Gift, is a perfectly acceptable and enjoyable way to enter this popular series. As a plus, Winter’s Gift is set in a mysteriously weird and snowy Wisconsin town, making it a perfect read for this winter.

I enjoyed the plot of this novella a lot. The snow monsters were fun, and the Indigenous/Native American connection to the story was intriguing. While I can’t speak to the authenticity of the Indigenous representation, it appeared well done and thoughtful. I liked Kimberley, I really liked Bill, and I adored their mysterious middle-school friend in the woods. However, I do have several bones to pick with this story.

First, one character is described as having “an educated Southern accent.” As someone born and raised in the Deep South, I can tell you that there are a lot of different Southern accents, but not one of them is an “educated Southern accent.” To say that someone has an educated Southern accent is to infer that a typical Southern accent is uneducated; this was likely not meant, but it is still a tired and old stereotype nonetheless.

Secondly, throughout the book, it was apparent that the writer was a British man writing from the point of view of a small-town American Christian woman. Kimberley made choices that were odd for a woman in her position. For example, I don’t know many women who would choose to wash their bra after one day, especially when in the middle of solving a century-old magical mystery. And I know Kimberley is supposed to be a good Christian woman, but would she actually cringe when people swear in front of her? That seems extreme. Also, Americans do not use the word parka nearly as frequently as Aaronovitch thinks we do. While I would love for Aaronovitch to take Kimberley, and even Bill, to New Orleans next, as is hinted, I hope he spends time with NOLA culture, language, and traditions because the South is a very different beast.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars. I quite enjoyed the snowy romp and the snow zombies twist.

You can find Winter’s Gift on Goodreads. Subterranean Press has limited amounts of leather-bound and signed, numbered hardcover copies of Winter’s Gift releasing on December 31, 2023, so set your alarms this New Year’s Eve to snag your copy. I’ve missed more Sub Press special edition hardbacks than I care to count (RIP Mira Grant’s Rolling in the Deep). Check out Ben Aaronovitch’s website for more in the Rivers of London series.

Thanks to Subterranean Press for a review copy of the book! All the above thoughts are my own.

Full blog review at: https://backshelfbooks.com/2023/11/17/review-winters-gift-by-ben-aaronovitch/

This novella is the latest in the series, but it makes for a great starting point for a new reader. Al the action is in the USA, but Peter does have a couple of quick phone calls to answer questions that FBI agent Kimberly Reynolds has during her case in Wisconsin. The details of the case do go into the history of magic with the US government. There were things in the story that were a bit jarring since it seemed that UK terms were used instead of American ones. Overall this was a nice tidy morsel of a story but didn’t leave me waiting for more of magical dealings in America.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

I really like this author’s writing, but I have been reading the books all out of order. It’s no matter, really, because they are written well enough it’s not a problem. In addition, I hadn’t read the one where this main character was introduced as a side character, but I really liked Kimberley and Bill, as well as the other interesting side characters, and I want to get to know them more in hopefully future books. We didn’t get too much about them, but there was enough to be a teaser. The writing in this was such that when the author was describing the cold, I could feel it down to my bones, the harshness and chilling wind, the unforgiving cold, and cold of the water the MC plunged her hand in. Add to that the horror I felt of the creatures, I felt like I was there and could see everything clearly. I was a little confused though about the reason this all happened. I can’t say much as I don’t want to spoil it. However, this is a worthy addition to the series, and I am looking forward to more. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

I absolutely love the Rivers of London series, so when Ben Aaronovitch announced the publication of a winter holiday-ish novella featuring Kim Reynolds, I was super excited for it! And, as it turns out, I loved it. Kim has been unwillingly relegated to the role of investigating magical phenomena at the FBI (yep, there are plenty of appropriately funny X-Files jokes). She's called to check out a possibly magical incident in Wisconsin. When she arrives, she's cut off from the rest of the world by bad weather and has to buddy up with the world's hottest meteorologist to solve the mystery. As with most of Aaronovitch's books, once the setup is in place, the action doesn't stop (Kim and Bill escape from zombies by driving a truck onto a frozen lake at one point). Definitely recommended for fans of Rivers of London, but do not start here - you'll be absolutely lost.

Do note that Aaronovitch includes some references to Indian folklore which to me seemed appropriately handled (he thanks his sensitivity reader at the end). That said, as a resident of the Maryland-Virginia-DC area, I was a bit struck by how Kim refers to certain features of DC/Federal culture, so I could be missing the mark when it comes to indigenous culture.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available to me.

A welcome addition to the "Rivers of London" series, this one is about the FBI agent who has been a minor character in previous books. (Since this one takes place in Wisconsin, perhaps it should be "Lake of USA"?) The style of story is still very much the same, although there's not quite as much dry humor as in previous books. The book leaves lots of open connections that could easily lead to more books on the US side of the pond. Still, a fun and worthy read.

Another delightful novella linked to, but not central to, Ben Aaronovitch’s wonderful Rivers of London series. FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds, familiar to readers from appearances in the main UK-based series, is called to investigate a magically linked incident in snowbound Wisconsin and needs to piece together a centuries old mystery to prevent wholesale destruction. Reynolds is well drawn and emerges as a rounded and likable hero. The people of the town are interesting, the magical threat suitably scary, and the resolution quite satisfying. Highly readable, whether one knows the series or not.