When Moth was a little girl, she encountered in the woods what her mother called “the winter folk”. Years later, they found her again and offered her a job. Three months’ service for whatever she wished for. For three years, Moth returned to Deerhaven and worked for the winter folk. Now, as a grown woman, she’s looking for them again. Her memories are fuzzy, but she’s sure she left something undone at Deerhaven. She struggles to remember her past and find her way back before she loses her future, too. Come explore the wonder and the horror of Deerhaven with Moth in The Winter Folk by Jen Julian.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it was provided to me by Run For It for this review.] Warning: My review of The Winter Folk contains some spoilers!]
A rambling story of a time almost forgotten
Moth (the name they gave her and the one she feels most comfortable with) wants to share her story. For most of her life, she’s kept her experiences with the winter folk tucked away deep inside her. For a time, when her daughter was young, she tried to tell her through fairy tales like her mother had before her, but her daughter stopped listening much too quickly. Now she knows that she’s forgotten something important and she’s sure she left something undone, but she can’t remember what. Whenever she tries to put her story in order, it gets away from her. But she’s trying one more time because now she’s actually trying to find Deerhaven and sort out her unfinished business. She warns us that her story might not always make sense, but begs us to bear with her.
Moth was first touched by the winter folk as a little girl. She helped one of them catch a ghost (a zombie-like creature that resembles a weasel, not what you’re thinking of). Years later, Moth doesn’t know what to do. She’s dropped out of college, is living with her mother (whom she doesn’t get along with), and her boss has just insinuated that she’ll have to trade her dignity for her job. That’s when the winter folk pop back up. Mr. Oslin offers her an unbelievable deal: three months of maid service at Deerhaven, and in return, she can have anything she asks for. There are rules, and if she breaks her contract, she gets nothing, but honestly, she can’t believe her luck! She signs the contract without a second thought.
Her first year at Deerhaven is rather eventful, and Moth is sure she won’t be invited back. But she fulfilled her contract and got her wish. She doesn’t know how to return to normal life, but a deal was a deal, and she got her reward. She whiles away her days thinking about the friends she left behind in Deerhaven until suddenly, to her extreme surprise and joy, she’s once again brought before Mr. Oslin and offered a job. Again, she signs right up. This year proves just as difficult as the last, but once again she and her friends survive. She’s starting to think she never wants to leave Deerhaven and wishes there was a way she could stay always.
Then her third year comes. Moth is determined to find a way to stay at Deerhaven forever, but once again, things get out of control. This time it’s so bad that she almost doesn’t make it out alive. There’s no way she can return. As time goes by, Moth almost forgets Deerhaven. Well, not really, but she pushes the memories away as if they were a fever dream she once had. Until suddenly Deerhaven is unexpectedly dragged back into her life. Now she’s filled with the feeling that she’s forgotten to do something important at Deerhaven. She will stop at nothing to find her way back. But can she really return? And what will she find waiting for her? Most importantly, what will she lose if she does return?
The Winter Folk is a slow-spun tale of dread
Moth is a very unreliable narrator in The Winter Folk, but to be fair, she warns us right at the beginning that she can’t quite get the story straight. Her timeline bounces around, and she doesn’t always tell us everything that’s relevant to what’s going on. But that off-balance feeling her confused storytelling gives us works very well with the book’s overall vibe. The “winter folk”, as Moth calls them, are fairies. And fairies are well known for two things: keeping humans off-kilter and being dangerous. We definitely feel a little disconcerted the whole time we’re in Deerhaven.
Even when things seem mostly normal, there’s something that will be just a little off. It’s like when the floor isn’t quite level, and you can’t walk a straight line across the room. That’s exactly what Moth’s time inside Deerhaven feels like. The longer she’s there, the more you start to notice things that are off, and the bigger those things are. Everything just keeps adding up to create a growing sense of dread. You know something bad is coming, but there’s nothing you can do about it, and like the proverbial train wreck, you just can’t look away. When the wreck finally happens, you’re so wound up that it’s a relief to finally have that release. Although, like all good horror, Julian leaves us wondering if it’s really over.
The Winter Folk is set to release on July 21st. It might be the middle of summer, but trust me, don’t wait until December to read this tale; you might not find your way back out of Deerhaven in the snow.
Rating: 8/10
The Winter Folk by Jen Julian is now available.
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
You might also like…
