The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett

Ekaterina Avenko is the middle child of the Avenko family. She was born royalty but has no intention to rule and was planning to run off when her brother is crowned duke. Yet a mysterious plague suddenly falls onto the Avenko family, sending all 12 of her siblings and her Mother and Father into sickness, but for some reason, Ekata is spared. With no one ruling, Ekata is forced to be the duke, if she wants Kylma Above to thrive. Now, it is up to her to find the cure, rule and protect Kylma Above, a kingdom made of ice placed over a frozen lake, threatening to shatter and send Kylma Above falling into the abyss at every wrong move. It doesn’t help that there are outside forces trying to take over, now that a sixteen-year old girl is ruling. But most importantly, Ekata must find a way to stay alive while she’s in the midst of magic, politics- and power.

Some nice aspects of the book were its characters. They all seemed so mysterious and there were a lot of layers to them. For example, it might seem like one of the characters might be good at first, but as you read on, you realize that he's a lot darker. I especially liked reading about how Ekata felt about the whole predicament and the lesbian representation within the main characters, yet it doesn't feel like the whole story is based around it. The author describes the scenes and places to the finest detail, yet still makes it not boring.

If you like political fantasies, I think you will enjoy this book. But if you also like lore-filled books and mysteries all around, you will certainly like it too. I would recommend it to an older generation, like middle school and up. 

Review by Natalie Z.