Winter's Gifts

Rivers of London #6.5

by Ben Aaronovitch

WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY OVER HERE When retired FBI Agent Patrick Henderson calls in an ‘X-Ray Sierra India’ incident, the operator doesn’t understand. He tells them to pass it up the chain till someone does. That person is FBI Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds. Leaving Quantico for snowbound Northern Wisconsin, she finds that a tornado has flattened half the town—and there’s no sign of Henderson. Things soon go from weird to worse, as neighbors report unsettling sightings, key evidence goes missing, and the snow keeps rising—cutting off the town, with no way in or out… Something terrible is awakening. As the clues lead to the coldest of cold cases—a cursed expedition into the frozen wilderness—Reynolds follows a trail from the start of the American nightmare, to the horror that still lives on today…

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery, Crime, Novella

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2023

About the author

Ben Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series.

Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.

Reviews

[carol.]

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of the Peter Grant series and consider the audio versions some of the best books I've ever enjoyed. Winter's Gifts is the latest novella entry into the series and centers on an ancillary character, American FBI Agent Kimberly Reynolds ("oooooh"), first introduced in Whispers Under Ground. Set primarily in my home state of Wisconsin, it was an interesting look at culture and local myths through outsider perspective that mostly succeeded.

A retired special investigator calls the FBI tipline and eventually Reynolds is part of the investigation. She heads off into the 'Nort'Woods,' as we say, with the rest of her crew intending to join her later--until a wicked snowstorm hits and changes plans. We all know, of course, that there is nothing natural about this storm, but Kimberly is a little slow on the uptake. Eventually, the plot takes off and there is a nice balance of tension and action, although it is occasionally sidelined by Kimberly's libido. Per Kimberly, this is unusual for her, so maybe Aaronovitch is trying to work in a future resource for Peter to draw upon (part of his "enhanced partnership with local resources" philosophy). I had a mixed reaction to it myself, a combination of irritation and amusement. I settled on 'amusement,' but it could have gone the other way depending on reader and mood. Do we really need to pair everyone off? Must females be paired off? And for heaven's sake, why do men who don't normally write in female narrative think they can attempt a woman thinking about attraction and sex?

I liked the plotting which starts simply and quickly becomes more layered as Kimberly discovers the former FBI agent has gone missing. I appreciated the level of both sensitivity and complexity to the plotting, but thought it became quite tangled at a couple of points. This is one that probably could have been drawn out to novel length, although not to Peter-level description of architecture and the like (we are, however, treated to depictions of the Nort'woods denizens' trucks that are 100% accurate).

For me, the major detraction was the attempt to integrate Kimberly's religious upbringing and current religious perspective that just did not ring true. I'm not sure I felt the truth, so to speak, of the fundamentalist upbringing and the magic-aware adult and how she balanced the two in her head. He even opened the book in her voice with some down-home Jesus-speech--shudder. Thankfully, it didn't last. What is missing, however, is that complex layering of humor, compassion, and sarcasm that Peter brings to his story-telling. I think there were humorous moments, but they were fewer and farther between. 

Despite my deep affection for the series, non-Peter entries do not fare as well for me. I find it difficult to parse out whether it is Peter-bias, but honestly, I think it comes down to Peter being the perfect voice for Aaronovitch's style. However, it was a lot of fun to see a more American-style investigation in action, along with a different kind of mythology. I'm definitely not mad that I got a hardcover signed edition for my library, but I know better than to try to listen to anyone but Kobna read the book.

[Chloe Frizzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

For your "this book about an American woman is written by a British man" bingo card:
- Complaining about the grid system roads
- All winter coats are called parkas
- Audiobook narrator puts Rs at the end of words "parka(r), idea(r)"
- Girl washes her bra because she's been wearing it a whole day
- Everyone has a gun and pulls it on visitors
- Every home and office you go into offers you a hot beverage (coffee brewed in a kettle on the burner)
- Washington DC is only referred to as "Washington"
- Character is "Christian" in that she complains when other people "swear and blaspheme" then regularly does it herself
- Guns are always called "pistol"
- Oklahoma is referred to as the Midwest
- Showing off acronyms for 10+ irrelevant government organizations
- "Tarpaulin"
- "Liquid Propane Tank"

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another entertaining novella from the Rivers of London series, this time following FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds (who has been a side character in previous books). It wasn't quite as good as the normal Peter Grant-heavy full-length novels and is missing much of the humor that makes the Rivers of London books such amazing reads, but it was still an enjoyable story in its own right.

Can we talk about the narrator for the audiobook, though? First, she. talks. so. slowly. I jacked it up to 1.5x to make it feel like she was talking at a bearable speed. She also apparently has an issue with the excessive use of r's ….”parka(r)” was the word that drove me the most batty since she said it every other paragraph, but “idea(r)” was grating for the same reason. I also swear that she went in the opposite direction with the word “library,” pronouncing it “libary,” but my husband disagrees with me there (but he also can't hear me properly when I'm standing three feet away, so who are we really going to believe here, hmm?).

So, yeah, this book gets three different ratings from me. As a Rivers of London book: 3.5 stars. As a story in its own right: 4 stars. As an audiobook: 2.5 stars. Final rating – 3.33 stars, which I suppose gets rounded down to a 3 since Goodreads is never ever going to give us half-star options, I fear.

[Mike Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although FBI Agent Kimberley Reynolds has worked with Peter Grant from time to time since she helped him investigate the fatal stabbing of a US Senator's son in 'Whispers Under Ground', 'Winter's Gifts' is the first book with her as the main character.

I was looking forward to this 'Spin Off' story but I was disappointed at how thin the story felt. The book had that Series 1 Episode 1 feel to it, where you can see the potential but you can also see that the series hasn't hit its stride yet.

I liked the plot. It used a clever mix of First Nation traditions and early US history to create unique threats and it had enough twists to keep me guessing about the source of the threat and what needed to be done about it.

It didn't seem to me that there was enough to Kimberly Reynolds to lift the story up. Part of the problem is that she has no magical abilities of her own to call on so she can't do the things that Peter or even Abigail might do in London. We learn very little about her as an individual except that she avoids swearing and she is a practising Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as her saviour. What we don't learn is how she squares her religious beliefs with her experiences with magic users. Unlike Peter Grant, she seems incurious about what magic is and how it works. Interacting with various Genus Loci at home and abroad has left her unfazed but I kept wondering why that was. It reminded me of an Avengers meme:

"

It's not Reynold's faith that bothers me but the absence of any need to reframe that faith in the light of her experience. Of course, I'm looking at this through my atheist eyes so I may be missing something.

I think the main gap between the novella and my expectation was that there was very little humour here. It felt like there was a layer of the book missing. Here's how I imagine the novella checklist might have gone:

Plot? Check.
Local Spirits? Check.
American main character who isn't white and male? Check.
Humour based on social commentary or self-deprecation? Nah - it's a novella. We don't have the space. And besides, this is America, their humour is different.

If 'Winter's Gifts' really had been the first book in a new series I'd have been entertained but wouldn't be searching eagerly for the next book.

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fine, really...

So, let me get one thing out of the way. Die schlafenden Geister des Lake Superior is a German translation of the novella Winter's Gifts, originally written in English by London author Ben Aaronovitch. It is the first book-length work in the Rivers of London series to be set in the USA. I am a US citizen and a native English speaker. So why did I read this book in German, and why am I writing my review in English?

Winter's Gifts was released in England on 8-Jun-2023. As of the date of writing this review, 13-Jun-2023, it is still not available in English from the US Amazon site, except as an audiobook. Oddly, however, the German translation was available on the US Amazon site from 20-Apr. I have no idea why the publishers think that not releasing the book in its original English in the USA is a wise marketing strategy.

So, not wanting to wait, I bought and read the German translation. Now, although I read Deutsch fairly well, it is beyond my abilities to write more than a sentence or two auf Deutsch. Thus, with apologies, my review is written in English.

As the subtitle indicates, this is a story about FBI agent Kimberley (Kim) Reynolds, whom we met in Whispers Underground, where she learned that magic is real by experiencing it with Peter Grant. Since then she has become the US FBI contact for magical affairs, i.e., the person Peter calls if he needs some help from the USA. Kim is much less advanced than Peter or even Abigail Kamara. She has learned to perceive Vestigia but is not a practitioner -- she has received no formal training in magic. It's not really clear if there even exists anyone in US law enforcement who could do that for her.

The FBI gets a call from a retired agent now living in Wisconsin in which he asks in code for the magic department. Kim is dispatched to the fictional town of Eloise, Wisconsin to figure out what is going on. And then lots of exciting stuff happens, involving magical monsters and a new genius locurum and local members the Ojibwe First Nation. It's all exciting enough. Peter and Abigail make an appearance on the other end of a telephone call, and more often in Kim's thoughts.

Ich habe schon ein paar knifflige Situationen erlebt, in denen ich mich fragte: ›Was würde Peter Grant jetzt sagen?‹ Nicht ›Was würde er tun?‹, denn so verzweifelt werde ich hoffentlich nie sein. Aber sein Rat hat sich schon hin und wieder als nützlich erwiesen.

(Interestingly enough, this seems to me very like the way that Abigail thinks of Peter.)

I have to say, though, that compared to the Peter Grant books, this one feels muted to me, as if while writing Aaronovitch constantly had the worry, "Can I write this without bringing hordes of rabid Americans down on my head?" I grew up in the USA, und zwar, in the northern USA near the Great Lakes, so I too had a thought like that in mind as I read. And I am here to say that Aaronovitch gets it mostly right -- nothing really feels off. (But remember, I'm reading a German translation.) Now, this caution is very different from the feel of the books set in London. London is Aaronovitch's patch, and he knows when he can and should transgress. I surmise that he doesn't dare transgress in an American story.

Here's an example. Kim doesn't swear, and she doesn't like it when people around her curse. Fine, she had a religious upbringing, and many Americans are like that. Also, it works as a small comic side to Kim's badass personality (reminiscent of Peter's struggles with the first-person accusative pronoun). But it also frees Aaronovitch from trying to get American profanity right. The Londoners in the Rivers of London series have no such restraint: Peter, Leslie, Beverly, Stephanopoulos, and Seawoll drop F-bombs all over the place. It is obvious that Aaronovitch feels he can produce realistic-sounding London cussing. I don't KNOW that he made Kim sensitive in this matter in order to spare himself difficulty, but her delicacy certainly has that convenient effect.

As for the story and environment, there were few places where I, as a longtime inhabitant of the Great Frozen North, said, to myself, "That's all wrong", but there was also no place where I thought, "That's an insightful, original way to describe how it feels, or how it looks."

So, in summary, it's a fine story. There's nothing wrong with it, really. But nothing in it makes me really jump with joy.

Blog review.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only things that keep me reading this series are the humor, Peter Grant, Nightingale and the usual narrator of the audiobooks. Unfortunately, the characters and London are not in this novella, so there is also no narration by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. There is also no humor. The narrator they chose to narrate an entirely American cast of characters is English. She can’t do male or child voices, and she can’t pronounce parka. That grew increasingly annoying since the word parka is used a lot. If it weren’t for the snow monsters this would have been a complete disappointment.

[Beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tell me you don’t know any Americans without telling me you don’t know any Americans.

I’m on the fence between 1 and 2 stars; while the novella has major issues, the writing itself is excellent. Call it 1 star for story and 4 stars for technical.

There’s a reason the adage “write what you know” has such staying power. In this case, if the author insisted on an American setting, readers would have been better served by a story about a non-American visiting the US to explain their complete lack of knowledge of culture or climate. At the very least, a couple of North American beta readers should have been hired.

There was a huge (missed) opportunity here to not only expand the series but explore new territory (literally and figuratively) through the eyes of an existing side character and delve into culture, religion and society beyond what’s included in the previous novels.

There were several issues for such a short piece of fiction. Namely:

1. The MC - let’s call her Karen, cause that’s what she is - is insufferable. She’s every American stereotype rolled into one person and the writing definitely comes across as lazy as a result.

For example, she constantly starts preachy sentences with “My mama says” and complains about blasphemy (her word) when people around her swear. It’s grating, especially since nobody over the age of 9 and under the age of 75 talks like that. Make that 95. Seriously, if I met this person on a first date, I’d make an excuse and escape through the bathroom window - what adult talks that much about their mother outside of therapy?

At one point, Karen asks someone where they’re *really* from - see also “I’m not racist but” in the dictionary of unsympathetic literary characters.

Karen is SHOOK to learn another character isn’t a practising Christian. I can only assume this is Karen’s first foray outside the compound, and she qualified for the FBI over Zoom.

Beyond being cringe AF, Karen has zero personality; my toaster is more personable. She can’t even think for herself, it would seem, as she constantly asks herself what Peter Grant would do in her place (and then answers herself in a bad English accent if you have the audiobook).

2. Improper use of American English. It’s a parka not a parker, it’s a handgun not a pistol, etc. The mistakes are obvious and jarring. Part of this is on the sub-par audiobook narrator, but not all.

3. Poor knowledge of modern American society beyond superficial stereotypes. As we all know, every single American is a gun-toting evangelical Christian who votes far-right. Like another reviewer said, I totally expected the little girl visiting her grandmother to be packing because literally every other character in this story is.

An off-page character is described as an evangelical Christian preacher who supports same-sex relationships. This is, sadly, by far the biggest fantasy element of the novella.

4- Poor knowledge of winter. A secondary character who is an experienced member of law enforcement in a rural northern clime doesn’t carry winter survival gear during storm season, and drives his large truck onto lake ice before it’s thick enough for the ice road to open. This is the second largest fantasy element in the novella; nobody with experience drives onto the ice before it’s ready - it’s literally suicide - and certainly not without gear.

If you’re going to write about living in winter, learn about living in winter first. Literally millions of people do this every year, so it shouldn’t be hard to find someone with first-hand experience.

Seriously, this type of “I don’t need to know about winter to tell you all about winter” hubris is the reason the Franklin expedition failed.

As a result of all the above, this novella (which should have been titled Karen’s Winter Safari) is a mess that had me outright yelling at my phone by the midway point.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

God, I looooved this! So wintery, so cozy! :)

We're in America in this novella (northern Wisconsin to be exact), not London. And Peter isn't around. But FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds, whom we met previously, is. She is called to a small town where a retired agent has called for a confirmation of some kind. As soon as Kim gets there, however, all hell breaks loose. The snow is rising, cutting them off from the rest of the world, people start seeing weird things and more.

As usualy with these books, I loved the magical angle. A doomed expedition from long ago, local myths of trickster gods and animal/nature spirits, what's not to love? ;P
I also liked the small excursion(s) into the history of the European experiences and ways of dealing with magic versus the American.

The only thing I wasn't really sold on was the religious stuff about Kim. It felt ... artificial. However, maybe that is the character trying to reconcile her upbringing and what she now knows?

I'm hopeful the author will use this and other closer looks at secondary characters from police forces around the world that now have to deal with the supernatural - and eventually combine it all. Because I want MORE: more magic, more magical creatures, just more (and, if possible, not more novellas but more novels).

Nice way of spending a cozy afternoon, imaginging all those heaps of snow while our winter is far too warm and snow-free.

[Vale98 · Rating 3 out of 5]

You name the book Winter's gifts and then it's about Reynolds not Tobias WINTER, the German wizard apprentice?!

We need an update on him and the international wizarding relations!


I love getting to know the US side of magic in more detail, good story, would recommend despite misleading title.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun instalment in the Rivers of London series (or as the listings prefer to call it the Peter Grant series) however call it what you will it was still great fun.

This book without spoilers is set in a new location with a new team (the main protagonist was introduced to us in an earlier book) rather like The October Man it takes the story in a different direction and to my view opens up the world even more.

Yes this is a novella and can be read (just) in isolation for me I think it makes the main series all the richer, after all it gives the author more to play with in the future - not that I think he will need it with a RPG version out there and talk of a TV series as well but you know what a world as rich as this cannot have too many new and unexpected places to go.

This series has repeatedly been one of my favourites - a combination of creativity, characters and dialogue has kept it going - long may it continue

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It pains me to give a Rivers of London book less than four stars, but this one just didn't turn my crank the same way. Part of it maybe the setting (Wisconsin rather than London), part may be the main character, Kimberley Reynolds (as opposed to Peter Grant). Peter may have his flaws, but he feels real to me. Kimberley felt strained. I was put off by her religiosity and the lack of desire to learn magic. If she can feel vestigia, magic should be within her grasp. Is her religious persuasion holding her back? Is it the lack of a teacher? Kimberley gives us no clue about that, but we know altogether too much about her mama, a judgmental, right-wing Born Again.

My opinion of this novel might have been improved if I'd had access to a proper paper version. Unfortunately my library chose to acquire it as an audiobook. The narrator, Penelope Rawlins, drove me crazy with her pronunciations of some words. She seemed to omit the first R is library more often than not (and that's a sore point for this former library worker). Then the missing R would reappear on the end of the word parka. Those two words stand out in my memory because they were used so often, but there were others. Rawlins was born in the UK, but grew up in the US, so she should have been ideal for this book.

Although the main character is female, Rawlins ends up having to voice quite a number of male characters. She does a decent job of it, although they all ended up sounding pretty much the same. But by context I was always sure which guy was speaking.

Nevertheless, there's a good plot with a magically plausible problem. Kimberley is brave and protective of those around her. She does some risky things, but comes out okay. Thank goodness for Bill, who backs her up to the best of his ability. His tendency to concentrate on meteorology and other sciences reminded me of Peter's obsession with architecture. I glad I read this to keep up my Peter Grant knowledge, but I don't feel the need to purchase my own copy.

[Theo Logos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winter’s Gifts is a Rivers of London novella sans rivers, sans London, and sans the charming first-person narrator Peter Grant. Perhaps more important than all of that, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, the brilliant voice actor who has defined the sound of this series and made listening to it on audiobooks an absolute necessity, is absent as well.

What is present is a story narrated by a minor side character, American FBI Agent Kimberley Reynolds, a reported case with “unusual characteristics” in a backwoods town in Wisconsin, strange weather, stranger magical construct creatures, and the residual negative energy of a 19th century clash between Virginian practitioners and Native spirits. I didn’t find Agent Reynolds to be a hefty enough main character, and the side characters are immediately forgettable. There are some great action sequences involving ice tornadoes, grotesque construct snow monsters, and wolves-drawn dogsled, and these keep the story from being a complete bust. But the charm, wit, and humor that make this series a destination read for me are mostly absent, and you can easily take a pass on this novella and be none the worse for it.

[Charlotte O'Brien · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

I love the excitement and magic of the previous Rivers of London books, but this one lacks pace and intrigue. Agent Kimberley Reynolds might be nice, but that is all. Her twee churchy attitude is grating after a while. Nothing of great note happens in the plot.

It left me rather disappointed and missing Peter and co.

[Paula Curran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fan of rivers of London but this one not for me

As always an interesting plot but really missed the humour of the main series. Without "the sarcasm" feels much less distinctive and engaging. Looking forward to more of Peter Grant and the Nightingale. Also like to hear more from Tobias Winter who I think is a much more interesting offshoot.

[Tina Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful short novel from the Rivers of London stable that stars our favourite FBI agent, Kimberley Reynolds.

In this tweenie episode (set between Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer) Reynolds is sent off to the frozen North of the USA to investigate an unusual case (aka weird bollox) involving the disappearance of several members of a small community.

It gets weird fast by the way. One minute chatting to locals, the next getting chased by strange not quite snowmen. There's a bit of love interest but it's not intrusive or sloppy (thank God), there's some fae activity, there's several monsters, ancient Native American traditions and several chases. It's a lot to pack into a couple of hundred pages but Ben Aaronovitch is no slouch at a short story, novella or (the piece de resistance) a nice, thick novel.

I've only October Man to read after this then I'll have to start all over again. I'm in need of the next ROL chapter quite badly. I miss the Starling and the Nightingale.

I listened to the audio version which was narrated beautifully by Penelope Rawlins (even though she does a woeful Peter Grant impression). I'm also pining for Kobna Holdbrook- Smith's dulcet tones.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[PlotTrysts · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best one yet.

Ben has done it again, this is a masterpiece of urban fantasy. Forget Jim Butcher, this is a far better series to read.

Got so involved in reading it, while sitting in the bus station waiting for my bus home, I completely missed it and had to wait an hour for the next one. Made me laugh, but I got to finish the book.

Highly recommended.

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping for Tobias to make a return (please, Ben, please 🙏), but not in this story. As an avid reader of this authors work, I am very happy to venture into side characters like Agent Reynolds, but this book just didn't pull me in like all the others have? I think it was the narration. Obviously, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith IS Peter Grant. This book only gives him a mention, so I didn't expect him to be reading, but the narrator in this just read so slow? (1.5x speed when I'm normally a 1.2x at best?).
I did love the little side note of romance in this book. The pairing of two very odd characters just made me smile ❤️ This can easily be read without prior knowledge of the BA universe.

[Rojda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't vibe with Kim as the protagonist but the rest was fine

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun. I did find the religious aspect a bit tedious but I loved the Indigenous magic. We in Canada call the reserves First Nations not Indian country. I did find Kimberly’s romance with Bill a bit awkward but kind of cute. Three and a half stars rounded up to 4.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this American episode of the river of London series with the magic elements

[Brok3n · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narration is mediocre in the extreme

This audiobook was my first experience of Ben Aaronovitch's Winter's Gifts in English, for reasons I explained in my review of Die schlafenden Geister des Lake Superior. Even now, the English edition of Winter's Gifts is not available on kindle. So, I learned a few new things. For instance, Aaronovitch is pronounced with the accent on the second 'o', and Kim uses the euphemism "fudge" for the popular cussword beginning with 'f'.

My main new impression, however, was of the narration by Penelope Rawlins. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is a tough act to follow. Rawlins does manage convincing American accents, a challenge Kobna struggles with. But she often fails at Job #1 of an audiobook narrator, making distinct characters sound distinct. Rawlins speaks adult male voices in an odd breathy manner. All of them. As a result, they all sound the same. Even Peter (who appears briefly in a phone call) sounds like the Wisconsin men, despite a mild generic English accent.

The women are a little better. They sound different from each other. Unfortunately, it appears that for Rawlins a southern accent is a southern accent is a southern accent. There is one major exception: Kim herself, despite having grown up in Enid, Oklahoma, has not the faintest trace of an Oklahoma accent. OK -- she's an FBI agent, and probably suppresses the accent because she doesn't want to sound like a hick. But -- this completely? It's hard to believe. Librarian Sadie Clarkson speaks in the voice of a generic Southern Belle. But Sadie is from New Orleans. Aaronovitch and Rawlins are apparently totally unaware of the very distinctive New Orleans city accents.

I would probably rate the audiobook 3 stars, if Goodreads allowed different ratings for different editions of the same book.

Blog review.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bring back Peter. And some humour. And magic.

I can understand why Ben is writing these novellas, though the page count could make it a ‘proper’ book, as the main series seems to be running out of steam and he needs to branch out. But at least have some magic in it! Too many characters with little to add to it E.g. I got confused between Boyd and Walker, and too many meaningless acronyms. What was the difference between all the State departments mentioned anyway? Did they have much bearing on the plot? No.
A big disappointment.

[Larisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awful narration with multiple mispronunciations. Parka is not Parker. Also British character sounds like New Jersey, and all the guys sound congested.

Meh story, which is radically unusual for Aaronovitch.

This is the only Rivers of London to skip.

[AndrewP · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest novella in the Rivers of London series, doesn't actually take place in London at all. This one follows FBI agent Kimberly Reynolds in the far north of the America in the freezing winter.
Not a bad story and the female narrator did a good job. I just wish that the small parts where she was on the phone with Peter were narrated by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Anyone who has listened to the other audio books, he is the voice of Peter Grant and hearing someone else trying to do his voice just sounded wrong.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herrlich gruselig und aufregend

[Bambisadventuresinwonderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erst war ich kein Fan vom amerikanischen Setting und Kim's Perspektive, der der britische Humor (logischerweise) fehlt. Aber der Fall war gut und Kim ist einfach ein bad ass.

[Daria Staverska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky to attend the reading of “Winter’s Gifts” and Q&A with Ben Aaronovitch in Berlin at the beginning of May. To my surprise, the reading happened in German, because the translation was being presented one months earlier than the original English version (to make it in time for the Leipzig book fair). So the book has been out for a while in Germany, but got released in English very recently. This explains the fact that the currently most-upvoted review on Goodreads is a one-star from a reader outraged by the fact that the events of the book are not taking place in Germany… Don’t even get me started.

I read the novella in two days, I had fun, and as usual enjoyed the characters and the setting more than any urban fantasy elements. I don’t know how Aaronovitch does that, but I felt chilly in Berlin’s +29 when reading about the cold winter in Wisconsin. This is a good novella, but if you never read the ‘Rivers of London’, I recommend starting with the first book of the series, otherwise it will be less exciting.