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Midwinterblood
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Midwinterblood
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Midwinterblood
Audiobook5 hours

Midwinterblood

Written by Marcus Sedgwick

Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined-this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice.

An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes an audiobook about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 22, 2014
ISBN9780553397284
Author

Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick was one of this generation’s most lauded and highly regarded writers for children and young people, having published over forty books including acclaimed Midwinterblood and The Monsters We Deserve. He won multiple prestigious awards, most notably the Michael L. Printz Award, the Branford Boase Award, the BookTrust Teenage Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award.

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Reviews for Midwinterblood

Rating: 3.712550539271255 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

247 ratings42 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Do NOT listen to people, don't read the flyleaf, step into this tale utterly unschooled and open-minded.

    You will not be able to put it down.

    Thank you, BR, for the referral!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A series of separate, yet related, stories follows a couple through seven reincarnations on a remote island.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dark and suspenseful - this books is a good book to recommend to those teens who turn their noes up at the romance filled, "who will she end up with" popular YA titles. There are elements of the story that reminded me of Lost and The Wicker Man as a small island's secrets are revealed.

    It is the sort of book that asks for a re-reading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a bit of a trip. First, pay no attention to the description on the book jacket. After reading that I thought this was going to be a paranormal something or other book about vampire vikings who perform ritual sacrifice. This book is not that. It definitely deserves the Printz award for being one of the most literary books I've ever read. It is such a strange story, and I'm not sure I completely understand it. It's one of those books you have to finish before you can comprehend most of what is happening. There are clues, but they don't fit together until the end. Really great and interesting book and well worth the read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An easy read, but sweet and engaging. A story about two lovers, reincarnated seven times and destined to find each other in each lifetime, the story adds some small, interesting twists to that make it more than what it is.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A real page turner! I've had this book for awhile and having read White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick and loving it, I decided to give Midwinterblood a go.

    What am amazing book!! I finished it in less than 24 hours! It's like reading a bunch of short stories that are part of one big story.

    I'd definitely recommend this book as it's definitely one of my now faves =)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read this review and more like it at Pretty Deadly Reviews.

    Actual rating: ALL the stars.

    After reading White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick last year, I knew he was an author I'd have to look out for. White Crow was simply stunning. It was horrifying and brutal and beautiful, and I just knew that Sedgwick's work was special. Now, after finishing Midwinterblood he is my new favorite author.

    That's right, I went there. Marcus Sedgwick is my favorite author, and really he should be yours too.

    Midwinterblood is seven short stories, spanning over centuries, all set on the Scandinavian island, Blessed. Each story is a totally different beast from the next one, but they are all connected by the island and other common threads. There is the tale of a journalist sent to investigate the rumors of the immortal Blessed citizens; an older painter wasting away from grief; a fighter pilot; a viking; an archeologist; and more. Each was a fascinating read and I kept trying to figure out the connection, to get to the very root of the story and to finally, finally piece together the real identities of Merle and Eric.

    The writing in Midwinterblood was phenomenal, masterful. Sedgwick has a way of writing horror that is not gory or in your face. It's a subtle kind of terrifying, where the unknown is somehow even more horrible than what is there in front of you. More than once my heart was beating out of chest, and yet nothing scary had actually happened: it was the anticipation and the mystery, the wanting to know, but not really wanting to know, for the truth might be even worse than the imagined.

    When I finally came to the end of the novel and all the tiny pieces clicked into place I was in shock. And awe. It was so beautiful and so final and so open all at the same time. I don't remember the last time I felt so wowed by an ending. But it was like putting together a puzzle and not knowing what it's supposed to look like; then suddenly, and not until you put that last piece in its spot, it's all bright and vivid and so, so rewarding.

    Fans of horror, reincarnation, historical fiction, and love tested by time will adore Sedgwick's Midwinterblood. I truly believe this book has something for everyone, and barely passing 250 pages, it is a quick, mysterious book that begs to be read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    See the full review at Short & Sweet Reviews.

    I thought this book was phenomenal. This is a hard book to talk about without spoiling things -- once you start making connections between the various stories, all of the pieces fall into place on their own, and I don't want to take that moment away from anyone -- but here goes.

    Midwinterblood starts out in the far future with Eric Seven, a journalist traveling to remote Blessed Island to investigate claims that the islanders are immortal, thanks to a mysterious drug or medicine. While there, he gets to know the islanders fairly well, including a woman named Merle, who he finds himself instantly falling for. It's insta-love, yes, but there's more to it than that, trust me -- keep reading the book to find out. Believe me, I'm the last person to recommend insta-anything, but this is worth your time. Eric tries to uncover the island's mysteries, but there are more secrets than he bargained for.

    From Eric's story, the novel goes backwards in time, following in each segment another group of people whose lives have been intertwined with Blessed Island throughout history. There's an archaeologist, hoping to uncover historic artifacts; an old man past his prime who might still have one last painting in him; a sad nanny telling a tragic love story to her young charges; a King atoning for the troubles of his kingdom.

    All of these stories are intertwined, and as each section progresses, you begin to see how the stories overlap, how there are certain words and phrases and motifs which appear in each story across time. It's an English teacher's dream come true -- not that I'm a teacher, but if I were, I would totally assign this book to students to read and analyze for a paper. Some of the sections of the book are bittersweet, some are fraught with danger, some are super creepy.

    It's very hard to categorize this book, to assign it a genre or say it's similar to something else. It's very often a horror story, but not in a nightmarish/gruesome sort of way. There's just a creeping suspicion as you're reading that all is not quite right, and the final reveal at the end answers all of your questions and takes your breath away.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This book was very boring and predictable. I wish I never picked it for my children's literature class! Nothing original about it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Romantic. Mysterious. Chilling. The book is about love, and the sacrifices made for love. Can't go into plot without revealing spoilers. The book is written as seven short stories. Each story takes place on the island of Blessed, and features the characters of Eric and Merle representing the idea of love and sacrifice. In one story, they are husband/wife, in another mother/son - and so on. Each story works as a stand alone, but also come together to tell a grander story, the real story, of Eric and Merle. Told backwards in time, starting in the year 2073 and going back to the 10th century, secrets about Eric and Merle are slowly revealed until the final, chilling page. This book is a one-sit read that will have you reading it again. Bloody brilliant!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautifully written tale of love and sacrifice -- and yet, it reads like an adventure, not a romance -- fine for boys and girls. Kind of science fiction, kind of fantasy. There's one suicide and two human sacrifices and some violence, but it's not gratuitous. As long as a kid is not squeamish, I'd say fine for sixth grade on up. The writing is good and challenging. The book has structural complexity that kids will also find challenging. A lovely book with interesting themes about love, sacrifice, and mortality. In this book, love is both eternal and doomed.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Simply put, I loved this book. The writing is simple, dreamlike, evocative, and eerie, and matches the setting of the book perfectly. The seven vignettes moving backwards in time all shed light on pieces of an epic and fantastic story that is almost impossible to clearly see. Story, style, and setting blend together perfectly. The 2014 Printz winner, it is widely popular with both teens and adults.I can't review Midwinterblood as I have done other books, because it isn't like other books. It's impossible to say very much about it at all without giving away plot points or making it sound like something it isn't. It's unique, and it's fascinating and beautiful and sad and creepy, and I can neither sing its praises loud enough nor wait to read it again.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Since I will be attending the Printz reception at ALA in a couple weeks, I thought it would be good to read this year's winner, so as not to be lost when Sedgwick speaks.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seven short stories with different characters, each story set further back in time. The common thread between them is that they all take place on Blessed Island in Scandinavia, where a certain dragon orchid plant is grown and harvested: drinking tea made from this orchid appears to have unusual healing qualities but bizarre side effects as well. As the reader approaches the end you can see how all these tie together. This, the 2014 Printz winner, is engrossing, chilling, and haunting all at the same time: definitely not for the faint of heart.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seven linked vignettes unfold on a Scandinavian island inhabited--throughout various time periods--by Vikings, vampires, ghosts, and a curiously powerful plant.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Seven stories take place on an island in the Arctic Circle over the centuries, starting in 2073 and going backwards to prehistory. Each story features the same two characters, Eric and Merle, and there is a sacrifice in each story. In each story you learn a bit more, till the last story, when the original reason for the sacrifice occurred.The author drew his inspiration from a painting by Carl Larsson, a famous Swedish painter, called Midvinterblot. The painting itself was quite controversial for many years, as it departed from the Norman Rockwell-type paintings of Swedish family life that the artist was known for.The cover design of the first edition of this book, with the photograph of a young woman, is lame, but the newest edition, with the Printz award, has one that is more expressive of the book's contents. Sometimes I wonder if the designers read the books they design covers for, or if anyone at the editorial level approves the design. A better cover might have "sold" this book to students in my library, but it has languished on the shelves.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Midwinderblood won the 2014 Michael Printz Award for Young Fiction. Based on that recommendation I bought this book. I have had lots of good luck reading other winners of the Printz Award.The book has seven stories with the same names cropping up in each story. There are some connections from one story to the next and some stories are more interesting than the others. As you move from one tale to the next you travel back in time so that you are getting the backstory, or you are learning information that will be explained later.A reoccurring theme is a flower known as the dragon flower. Apparently different parts of this plant have different medicinal/narcotic properties that turn up to varying degrees within each story. I haven't a clue what the flowers might symbolize.Generally I liked the idea of seven stories that were linked, but the first story was the weakest, or most unusual, and while I was interested in the others, I am not sure I would give this a thumbs up.On the Tex the Cat scale, I give this two paws up.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The individual stories were gorgeous and the language felt beautiful, but I was very frustrated by trying to figure out how things linked together. So I felt like in the end I spent much too much time trying to figure out how the stories were connected and didn't enjoy myself as much as I should have. My fault, not the authors. Wish I could do this again and let myself enjoy it more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book seemingly defies categories. It's mythical, it's romantic, it's historical, it's fantasy, etc. It has a little bit of everything! Boys will like it, so will girls. It's intended for teens but it will appeal to adults as well. It gives you chills and goosebumps and compels you to keep turning pages! The seven stories all take place on a mysterious island. Starting in the future and then going in reverse the tales become more and more interconnected. Characters seem to be repeat themselves, as do the themes. It seems like it would be a really gorgeous episode (or season) of the Twilight Zone. It's written beautifully and the symbols and themes connect to each other and blossom into deeper meanings until it climaxes at the end. A quick, delicious read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Part mystery, part thriller, part historical fiction, this book tracks two souls from a time in the near future to a prehistoric era through interconnected short stories. The reader is left to put some of the pieces together. This held my attention to the very end and actually does track with the latest archaeological information on prehistoric Celtic sacrifice (grisly as it might seem to us).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This year's Printz winner. Definitely compels you to keep reading to find out how the pars fit together. Reminiscent of Neil Gaiman. Would have to appeal to the right teen, not for everyone but definitely would promote analysis and discussion.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So good. Well-written. Compelling story. I don't know that it would appeal to reluctant readers, but avid teen readers of fantasy will love this story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story starts in the near future and proceeds back in time to early man where two souls, Erik and Merle are drawn together and cruelly parted time and time again - seven times to be exact. It takes place on a mysterious island called Bless off Ireland. One part has people and trees and the other side, joined by a spit of land, is bare of trees and population but covered with a dark purple orchid with magical properties.The reader perceives a pattern emerging with each story as the two young people come together and then are separated. Tied to them is the health of the population and the land. Each time they have the feeling that they have a connection, that they have met before.This is a wonderful love story with a touch of dark fantasy.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Vampires, reincarnation, ritual sacrifice, and a tiny island. I am not even sure what to say about this one. I appreciate the attempted scope of the story, but it annoyed me somehow. I might have liked it better if I could have one person's story per day/night instead of having to read it so quickly. I like this book less and less the longer I think about it. Some aspects of it reminded me of Kim Stanley Robinson's Years of Rice and Salt, but more fatalistic. Really not sure why this is a teen book and not adult.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a series of short stories set throughout history on the island of Blessed, a mysterious island where Eric a journalist sets out to explore. The stories are entwined to follow the time defying love of Eric and Merle.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Seven short stories share a setting, Blessed Island, and plots and characters intertwine leading up to a revealing ending. This tightly-plotted, well-written mystery will intrigue a variety of readers and is deserving of its Printz medal for 2014. I usually avoid short story compilations but found this book to be different since these stories worked together to tell one complete tale.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm not even sure how to review this. This book is a fantastic story told across time in 20-30 page vignettes. It's also a story told backwards, both in that it starts with the end, and each vignette jumps back in history.

    Sedgwick has a wonderful prose style and the story fills in naturally. I found myself pleasantly surprised to find such high quality gothic horror in a YA novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautiful, beautiful. Somehow spare and dense at the same time, it asks questions about fate, love and sacrifice without giving any easy answers. The narrative moves like a current, each little tale it's own island and I am swept up and out to sea again.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had been delaying writing this review because I was trying to figure out my own reaction to the book. There is a lot good in the book - the linked stories have just enough subtlety in the connections between them to make them well done and just enough independence to make them work on their own, the reversed timeline is pulled off masterfully. But it also has its weak points - the epilogue does not feel like it belongs to the book and I am still not sure why this is classified as YA - it looks like a cop out to allow shallowly built characters and more coincidences than one would accept in an adult book. And I would not be so unhappy of the latter if the book was not actually pretty good - it could have worked as an adult book with very little change. But let's go back to the story - somewhere out there, there is an island where a special flower is grown - a flower that can extend people's life but it also makes them forget things. The 7 stories in the novel go back in time in the lives of two lovers - they died in their first life but always find themselves - sometimes as lovers, sometimes as friends. There is a ghost story and an archeological dig, a picture and a magically hidden part of the island, vampires and vikings. One story leads into another and the connections are built with a mastery that makes me wonder why it was not extended to building the characters as well. We follow an archeologist finding a bomb and a grave, in the next stories we learn how they ended up there; we will see a picture and then we will see it painted and then we will see how the actual scene happened. It starts with a sacrifice and it ends with one - despite the centuries between the two, it is one and the same. Time makes a full circle and one wonders if it will be just one. The start of the novel is mundane - a journalist is sent to an island that seems to be weird and special; an island where he will meet a woman that seems to be his destiny. He needs to forget and he needs to remember. The end of the novel, without the epilogue is lyrical and fitting. The epilogue is useless and although it seems to be built to tie the stories together, it manages to sound condescending and totally out of style. The prose weaves between simple (even simplistic) and lyrical. I can see why it won awards for YA novels but I also wonder what could have been if Sedgwick had written it as a proper novel - it could have stood as one. And I am not sure how fair it is to have this kind of a mish-mash called YA - it has the same issues as most of the YA books but it also has elements that put it on top of them. At the end, it is a readable novel - somewhere between YA and adult literature. A lost opportunity in so many ways despite the awards it had won - it's not YA except by name but it does not get to the level of a good adult fiction either.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A series of separate, yet related, stories follows a couple through seven reincarnations on a remote island.