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Winterveil
The Secret History meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in #1 bestselling author Ava Reid’s brand new, thrilling, dystopian YA novel.
There is no application process for Valeran Academy, but it boasts the brightest – and precociously criminal – students in the nation.
A disgraced politician from a powerful American dynasty.
A coldly brilliant strategist who will sacrifice anything to win.
A former pageant queen with a talent that could change the world.
A prodigious female soldier with an enigmatic past – and a dangerous secret.
With eerie war simulations, cutthroat competitions and foreboding new technology, Valeran trains its students to be elite assets in a Cold War that has dragged on for nearly a century. But as a sinister conspiracy takes shape and these four are drawn together for a mysterious mission, their loyalties are tested, their convictions shaken and they all begin to are they ushering in a new era of freedom, or tyranny?
There is no application process for Valeran Academy, but it boasts the brightest – and precociously criminal – students in the nation.
A disgraced politician from a powerful American dynasty.
A coldly brilliant strategist who will sacrifice anything to win.
A former pageant queen with a talent that could change the world.
A prodigious female soldier with an enigmatic past – and a dangerous secret.
With eerie war simulations, cutthroat competitions and foreboding new technology, Valeran trains its students to be elite assets in a Cold War that has dragged on for nearly a century. But as a sinister conspiracy takes shape and these four are drawn together for a mysterious mission, their loyalties are tested, their convictions shaken and they all begin to are they ushering in a new era of freedom, or tyranny?
448 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2026
About the author
Ava Reid
12 books8,957 followersAva Reid is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of gothic fantasies, including A Study in Drowning, Juniper & Thorn, and Lady Macbeth. She lives in California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 380 reviews
March 20, 2026
ava reid making me have faith in dystopian books again bless!!
klaudia and julian having the most intense stare downs and academic rivalry meanwhile giselle and nadiya off in the corner like: omg did we dream of each other (but actually all four of them are equally traumatized)
thank you to edelweiss for providing me an advance review copy. full review to come!
Bookstagram | Blog
klaudia and julian having the most intense stare downs and academic rivalry meanwhile giselle and nadiya off in the corner like: omg did we dream of each other (but actually all four of them are equally traumatized)
thank you to edelweiss for providing me an advance review copy. full review to come!
Bookstagram | Blog
May 26, 2026
Reid opens the author letter here with “Winterveil is the book that was never meant to see the light of day,” and that statement is perhaps the only part of this book I find reasonable.
This was an absolute train wreck from start to finish. Truly the most fantastical book I’ve read on so many levels.
As someone who majored in polisci, worked in foreign policy at a think tank for 5 years, and lives for a pretentious blonde prat with daddy issues who falls for a smart girl with curly hair, this should have been catnip for me. I could not have hated it more.
Valeran Academy here is built on a premise of political theory, but literally all of it falls apart in how it is applied. Students move up in class rank through simulations that start off giving real-life Risk and suddenly turn into Pokemon battles.
There’s this virtual reality / AI / mind-reading element that is in no way, shape or form explained, and makes absolutely zero sense in how it works. One of the characters at one point even thinks “it’s like magic” and yes, it is. Only it isn’t.
The 18 year old leads were giving tired elder millennials and had absolutely farcical backgrounds and experiences. And suddenly they are called upon for their unique set of skills to save the world from a turn in the Cold War? Sure.
The descriptions of Klaudia border on offensive. She’s described as having an unattractive face with big boobs, almost sexually assaulted at one point, and denigrated for being Russian. And Julian who is supposedly into her, also fantasizes about her being on her knees? Ridiculous.
The romances are so flat. There’s weird gratuitous oral sex in the middle of a simulation with a brand new character that makes no sense.
Teachers are giving predatory and there’s ridiculous psychological torture and extortion that these students are put through. They are shot at casually and yet the stakes never really feel high because all of it just makes zero sense.
Truly, all the plot points feel like they were written on scraps of paper in a fish bowl and Ava Reid pulled them out randomly and found a way to write them in. (Mind-reading nodes and tablets allowed at the futuristic boarding school but you can’t wear contacts? Sure.)
I could go on and on and honestly if the fun in this were in hate reading I suppose someone might enjoy it. It’s short, at least. I wasn’t outright offended personally at any point which is my theoretical floor for a 1 star book but this one is borderline.
1.5 ⭐️ rounded ⬇️ for being that bad and so you all take me seriously when I say AVOID.
Please save yourself the time.
This was an absolute train wreck from start to finish. Truly the most fantastical book I’ve read on so many levels.
As someone who majored in polisci, worked in foreign policy at a think tank for 5 years, and lives for a pretentious blonde prat with daddy issues who falls for a smart girl with curly hair, this should have been catnip for me. I could not have hated it more.
Valeran Academy here is built on a premise of political theory, but literally all of it falls apart in how it is applied. Students move up in class rank through simulations that start off giving real-life Risk and suddenly turn into Pokemon battles.
There’s this virtual reality / AI / mind-reading element that is in no way, shape or form explained, and makes absolutely zero sense in how it works. One of the characters at one point even thinks “it’s like magic” and yes, it is. Only it isn’t.
The 18 year old leads were giving tired elder millennials and had absolutely farcical backgrounds and experiences. And suddenly they are called upon for their unique set of skills to save the world from a turn in the Cold War? Sure.
The descriptions of Klaudia border on offensive. She’s described as having an unattractive face with big boobs, almost sexually assaulted at one point, and denigrated for being Russian. And Julian who is supposedly into her, also fantasizes about her being on her knees? Ridiculous.
The romances are so flat. There’s weird gratuitous oral sex in the middle of a simulation with a brand new character that makes no sense.
Teachers are giving predatory and there’s ridiculous psychological torture and extortion that these students are put through. They are shot at casually and yet the stakes never really feel high because all of it just makes zero sense.
Truly, all the plot points feel like they were written on scraps of paper in a fish bowl and Ava Reid pulled them out randomly and found a way to write them in. (Mind-reading nodes and tablets allowed at the futuristic boarding school but you can’t wear contacts? Sure.)
I could go on and on and honestly if the fun in this were in hate reading I suppose someone might enjoy it. It’s short, at least. I wasn’t outright offended personally at any point which is my theoretical floor for a 1 star book but this one is borderline.
1.5 ⭐️ rounded ⬇️ for being that bad and so you all take me seriously when I say AVOID.
Please save yourself the time.
Want to Read
May 26, 2026⋅˚₊‧ ୨ 𝒫𝓇𝑒-𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 (5/26/26): ୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ US NetGalley users, this is available as Read Now for the next 24 hours! I just got my copy and I’m hoping I love it (the initial ratings are lowkey scaring me I’m not gonna lie)
Thank you to Ava Reid, HarperCollins Children’s Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC! Winterveil will be officially published on September 15th, 2026!
Thank you to Ava Reid, HarperCollins Children’s Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC! Winterveil will be officially published on September 15th, 2026!
Currently Reading
September 10, 2026𐙚⋆°. preread
This is my first book by this author and I’m curious to see how I’ll like it. It’s an interesting concept.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is my first book by this author and I’m curious to see how I’ll like it. It’s an interesting concept.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
1 ⭐️
Unfortunately Winterveil was a huge disappointment for me. While the premise was incredibly unique and had great potential it fell completely flat. The lack of world building and actual plot for the first 50% of this book left me with a lot to desire and then we are just dropped in a whole new setting with even less explanation.
Trigger warnings below.
Every character (except julian actually) had redeeming qualities which is the only thing that kept me going. Klaudia was especially my favorite but the way the author described her was just horrible. I am so over constantly harping on how ugly and unattractive a female character is but “despite that” she’s still a main love interest. So overdone and distasteful. Also it seemed she was just “unattractive” because she was Russian? So so odd to me…..
Julian was horrendous as a character and my absolute main gripe with this entire book was the fact that MULTIPLE times he is fantasizing about this girl “on her knees” right after she was assaulted. Both in a “I feel bad for her” and “I wanted to be the one to put her there (sexually and rivalry wise)” the entire concept of the SA was just unnecessary and for shock value which is disgusting in and of itself. There were also way too many instances of adult content in this YA book surrounding Julian. There was ZERO reason for him to have so many borderline explicit scenes with multiple people. Also another gripe was him giving away his precious watch at the end for no reason. This bothered me an insane amount and should be taken out.
There was also zero reason for the teacher/student dynamics being so incredibly creepy and predatory (Blanchard with Giselle AND Iver with Nadiya) Again just another example of trying to add shock value in the most distasteful way.
The relationships in the story genuinely felt so forced and made very little sense. These were children being forced to train/fight in the ongoing Cold War I’m not sure how they all had so much time to be falling in love with each other but with zero chemistry at all. The only actual relationship of any substance was between Mikhail and Jane and they weren’t even main characters….
The structure of this story was also a mess and left so much to be desired. I will take more time to formulate real thoughts on this but I’m just so stuck on all the other issues mentioned above.
Overall this book was honestly really hard to read. While I loved Klaudia and occasionally Nadiya, I just wanted so much more. The Thymos game could’ve been way better explained (this was actually cool), we could have eliminated so many disgusting plot lines, and instead spent more time explaining the story, war, academy as a whole, purpose of the mission, and so on. Instead we got 400+ pages of teachers assaulting students, students assaulting each other, and zero resolution to any of our problems. This was a huge disappointment for such a promising story.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately Winterveil was a huge disappointment for me. While the premise was incredibly unique and had great potential it fell completely flat. The lack of world building and actual plot for the first 50% of this book left me with a lot to desire and then we are just dropped in a whole new setting with even less explanation.
Trigger warnings below.
Every character (except julian actually) had redeeming qualities which is the only thing that kept me going. Klaudia was especially my favorite but the way the author described her was just horrible. I am so over constantly harping on how ugly and unattractive a female character is but “despite that” she’s still a main love interest. So overdone and distasteful. Also it seemed she was just “unattractive” because she was Russian? So so odd to me…..
Julian was horrendous as a character and my absolute main gripe with this entire book was the fact that MULTIPLE times he is fantasizing about this girl “on her knees” right after she was assaulted. Both in a “I feel bad for her” and “I wanted to be the one to put her there (sexually and rivalry wise)” the entire concept of the SA was just unnecessary and for shock value which is disgusting in and of itself. There were also way too many instances of adult content in this YA book surrounding Julian. There was ZERO reason for him to have so many borderline explicit scenes with multiple people. Also another gripe was him giving away his precious watch at the end for no reason. This bothered me an insane amount and should be taken out.
There was also zero reason for the teacher/student dynamics being so incredibly creepy and predatory (Blanchard with Giselle AND Iver with Nadiya) Again just another example of trying to add shock value in the most distasteful way.
The relationships in the story genuinely felt so forced and made very little sense. These were children being forced to train/fight in the ongoing Cold War I’m not sure how they all had so much time to be falling in love with each other but with zero chemistry at all. The only actual relationship of any substance was between Mikhail and Jane and they weren’t even main characters….
The structure of this story was also a mess and left so much to be desired. I will take more time to formulate real thoughts on this but I’m just so stuck on all the other issues mentioned above.
Overall this book was honestly really hard to read. While I loved Klaudia and occasionally Nadiya, I just wanted so much more. The Thymos game could’ve been way better explained (this was actually cool), we could have eliminated so many disgusting plot lines, and instead spent more time explaining the story, war, academy as a whole, purpose of the mission, and so on. Instead we got 400+ pages of teachers assaulting students, students assaulting each other, and zero resolution to any of our problems. This was a huge disappointment for such a promising story.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I really have no idea what was going on with this one. Winterveil is underbaked in almost every regard to an extent that I found fascinating, but then this is combined with an equally incredible number of truly baffling, bizarre creative choices. The result stands out amongst the other books of Ava Reid’s I’ve read because it not only feels like the most egregiously underbaked/bizarre combo but also because it lacks the usual appealing Vibes. Whatever else is going on, I’m apt to enjoy the aesthetic trappings of a mysterious forest or a mansion crumbling by the sea or a witch sneaking to the ballet. Because Winterveil is set in a near-future American dystopia, it lacks that charm and the weirdness stands out all the more.
Before reading, it was impossible for me to avoid comparing the book’s premise to the premise of Fallout. And I don’t really know if it’s fair to *directly* compare the world-building of a standalone novel to an RPG series that’s been gathering lore (some good, some bad) for over 25 years now, but I don’t think you need to, honestly, because almost nothing has been done here. The big things we learn are that Gorbachev was assassinated, there is apparently a “third Red Scare on the way” and there is pervasive bias toward Russian characters.
Per the premise, the students at Valerian are the nation’s best and brightest genius delinquents whose particular talents are being honed at the same time that their minds are being warped to view the world ruthlessly in terms of us-American-capitalist-good vs. them-Russian-communist-bad. I think you can probably see this done most effectively in a couple of scenes where they’re playing these strategy simulation competitions. But those moments are scattered between scenes that are so unintentionally funny given this premise, like when our main characters have someone explain what a dead drop is to them and when “all the class start[s] taking notes” when a teacher writes the word anarchy and its definition on the board.
Most of the portion set at the academy lays the groundwork for our two central romances, and I will stand ten toes down when I say that I think it’s a trend for Reid’s high concept premises to get derailed by these romances that just don’t gel. The main four characters here *could* work for me as individual characters, couples and a team if they were developed more, but in this version of the book they’re stretched so thin. Each character has a deeply traumatic backstory - And I’m like whoa okay, that’s a lot to chew on, but we spend so little time doing or saying anything with any of it and then we’re immediately jumping from these flashback scenes to them playing competitive Not-Pokemon in a stadium or having to seduce Not-Elon Musk for some reason……it kind of becomes bathos and that is the exact opposite of what I want it to be and what it wants to be!
There’s so much strangeness in the present day, too. To all of this I say HUH?
What really frustrates me about criticism I’ve seen of Ava Reid’s books online is that there is this pearl-clutching about the mere presence of rape or incest or cannibalism or whatever…..like, that’s not the problem lol!!! The thing actually worth talking about imo is that these books don’t actually do anything very interesting with these topics and that unique combo of underdevelopment and inexplicable craft choices keeps popping up.
Winterveil is this awesomely strange whirlwind that has no idea how absurd it is and seems to think instead that it’s saying big important things about how War Never Changes and political realism. Even if the academy portion felt silly, I would still be inclined to give it slightly more credit in that regard if the teens underwent some kind of unlearning over the course of the book…but when they’re given the order to
This review is based on a NetGalley ARC and after this I only have one more late ARC review to go... for now...
Before reading, it was impossible for me to avoid comparing the book’s premise to the premise of Fallout. And I don’t really know if it’s fair to *directly* compare the world-building of a standalone novel to an RPG series that’s been gathering lore (some good, some bad) for over 25 years now, but I don’t think you need to, honestly, because almost nothing has been done here. The big things we learn are that Gorbachev was assassinated, there is apparently a “third Red Scare on the way” and there is pervasive bias toward Russian characters.
Per the premise, the students at Valerian are the nation’s best and brightest genius delinquents whose particular talents are being honed at the same time that their minds are being warped to view the world ruthlessly in terms of us-American-capitalist-good vs. them-Russian-communist-bad. I think you can probably see this done most effectively in a couple of scenes where they’re playing these strategy simulation competitions. But those moments are scattered between scenes that are so unintentionally funny given this premise, like when our main characters have someone explain what a dead drop is to them and when “all the class start[s] taking notes” when a teacher writes the word anarchy and its definition on the board.
Most of the portion set at the academy lays the groundwork for our two central romances, and I will stand ten toes down when I say that I think it’s a trend for Reid’s high concept premises to get derailed by these romances that just don’t gel. The main four characters here *could* work for me as individual characters, couples and a team if they were developed more, but in this version of the book they’re stretched so thin. Each character has a deeply traumatic backstory - And I’m like whoa okay, that’s a lot to chew on, but we spend so little time doing or saying anything with any of it and then we’re immediately jumping from these flashback scenes to them playing competitive Not-Pokemon in a stadium or having to seduce Not-Elon Musk for some reason……it kind of becomes bathos and that is the exact opposite of what I want it to be and what it wants to be!
There’s so much strangeness in the present day, too. To all of this I say HUH?
What really frustrates me about criticism I’ve seen of Ava Reid’s books online is that there is this pearl-clutching about the mere presence of rape or incest or cannibalism or whatever…..like, that’s not the problem lol!!! The thing actually worth talking about imo is that these books don’t actually do anything very interesting with these topics and that unique combo of underdevelopment and inexplicable craft choices keeps popping up.
Winterveil is this awesomely strange whirlwind that has no idea how absurd it is and seems to think instead that it’s saying big important things about how War Never Changes and political realism. Even if the academy portion felt silly, I would still be inclined to give it slightly more credit in that regard if the teens underwent some kind of unlearning over the course of the book…but when they’re given the order to
This review is based on a NetGalley ARC and after this I only have one more late ARC review to go... for now...
Want to Read
March 16, 2026
pre-read notes:
I JUST LET OUT THE BIGGEST SCREAM!! 😭 Thank you HarperCollins and Ava Reid for the ARC of this book!! You guys have NO idea how insufferable I'm about to be 😮💨❤️
I'm so excited to read this!!
🗓️: Releasing on September 15, 2026
I JUST LET OUT THE BIGGEST SCREAM!! 😭 Thank you HarperCollins and Ava Reid for the ARC of this book!! You guys have NO idea how insufferable I'm about to be 😮💨❤️
I'm so excited to read this!!
🗓️: Releasing on September 15, 2026
Want to Read
July 6, 2026LITERALLY CLAWING AT THE GATES
March 28, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the gifted eARC!
I’ve read several books by Ava Reid and enjoyed them all, but I think this one may be my favorite to date. I thought the concept of a future United States in another Cold War was super interesting, and the political components were very well executed and grounded in both historic and current affairs. The element that kept giving me pause as I was reading, however, was that this is being marketed as YA and the content of the story didn’t really align with what I was expecting based on how it was presented. Don’t get me wrong - I really enjoyed this story and in many ways it exceeded my original expectations, but I’m also in my 30s, and I know I would not have got as much out of this as a teen (unless I was one of the “precocious” teens in this book). My question of “what is YA, exactly” continues to remain unanswered, but I’m looking forward to book 2 nonetheless!
I’ve read several books by Ava Reid and enjoyed them all, but I think this one may be my favorite to date. I thought the concept of a future United States in another Cold War was super interesting, and the political components were very well executed and grounded in both historic and current affairs. The element that kept giving me pause as I was reading, however, was that this is being marketed as YA and the content of the story didn’t really align with what I was expecting based on how it was presented. Don’t get me wrong - I really enjoyed this story and in many ways it exceeded my original expectations, but I’m also in my 30s, and I know I would not have got as much out of this as a teen (unless I was one of the “precocious” teens in this book). My question of “what is YA, exactly” continues to remain unanswered, but I’m looking forward to book 2 nonetheless!
August 20, 2026
if i were rating this purely off the plot, writing, atmosphere, and unputdownability, this genuinely could have been a 5 star read.
i just have such a major gripe with one character and “romance” in particular i had to dock an entire (maybe 2…tbd) star for it.
i’ll start with the positives real quick. as noted above, i thought the plot was fantastic. i’ve been reading so many books that have all felt forgettable and the same recently, but this felt so unique and refreshing. i loved the academia vibes. it was so immersive. i also loved THREE of the main characters. nadiya, klaudia, and giselle were absolutely lovely. they were such different but compelling characters. the camaraderie between the three and the romance between nadiya and giselle felt very realistic and believable (though a bit fast paced).
now, julian. what an awful scummy character. i love a flawed character, don’t get me wrong. all 3 of the other main characters are also flawed but likeable. julian was just a mess with absolutely 0 impulse control. i also can’t believe we’re supposed to be rooting for him and klaudia? she deserves SO much better. she’s so hardworking and tragic and finally finds someone who she has feeling for and it’s HIM?! not to get too spoilery but he’s physically intimate with multiple other characters while supposedly being enamoured with klaudia and it just felt so icky to read. he ruined the book for me, which is wild because he seemed cool for the first half of the book!!
welp. i will read book 2 for the plot and other characters, but won’t be sad if julian disappears lol
thank you harper collins canada for the arc!!!
i just have such a major gripe with one character and “romance” in particular i had to dock an entire (maybe 2…tbd) star for it.
i’ll start with the positives real quick. as noted above, i thought the plot was fantastic. i’ve been reading so many books that have all felt forgettable and the same recently, but this felt so unique and refreshing. i loved the academia vibes. it was so immersive. i also loved THREE of the main characters. nadiya, klaudia, and giselle were absolutely lovely. they were such different but compelling characters. the camaraderie between the three and the romance between nadiya and giselle felt very realistic and believable (though a bit fast paced).
now, julian. what an awful scummy character. i love a flawed character, don’t get me wrong. all 3 of the other main characters are also flawed but likeable. julian was just a mess with absolutely 0 impulse control. i also can’t believe we’re supposed to be rooting for him and klaudia? she deserves SO much better. she’s so hardworking and tragic and finally finds someone who she has feeling for and it’s HIM?! not to get too spoilery but he’s physically intimate with multiple other characters while supposedly being enamoured with klaudia and it just felt so icky to read. he ruined the book for me, which is wild because he seemed cool for the first half of the book!!
welp. i will read book 2 for the plot and other characters, but won’t be sad if julian disappears lol
thank you harper collins canada for the arc!!!
September 10, 2026
I think I’ve reached the point where I have to accept that Ava Reid just isn’t fully for me. Her writing is objectively great but the stories never quite captivate me the way I hope they will. Winterveil wasn’t a bad read by any means, just not a "wow" one.
The academia vibes absolutely helped my rating. I’m a sucker for anything that mixes school‑like structure with political tension. There’s something compelling about the blend of Cold War tension, espionage training, and messy young characters trying to figure out who they are in a world built on secrets
Some plotlines felt a little rushed, and it took me a while to settle into the story. And since this isn’t a standalone, the cliffhanger ending left me feeling more "okay, guess we’re stopping here" than "oh no, I need the next book immediately."
It might not have fully worked for me, but I can see it be a hit for many others!
↪ 3 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
The academia vibes absolutely helped my rating. I’m a sucker for anything that mixes school‑like structure with political tension. There’s something compelling about the blend of Cold War tension, espionage training, and messy young characters trying to figure out who they are in a world built on secrets
Some plotlines felt a little rushed, and it took me a while to settle into the story. And since this isn’t a standalone, the cliffhanger ending left me feeling more "okay, guess we’re stopping here" than "oh no, I need the next book immediately."
It might not have fully worked for me, but I can see it be a hit for many others!
↪ 3 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you Harper Collin’s Canada for the paperback arc 🫶
3.5⭐️
This book will not be for everyone, but I honestly had a pretty good time reading it! I really never knew what would be coming next. I thought the whole concept was intriguing. Was there a kind of strange virtual tournament that felt a lot like a Pokémon battle? Yes.. Did a couple of scenes kind of come out of the blue (such as one random intimacy scene)? Yes..But, I still had to keep reading to see where it was all going. I liked the 4 main characters and thought their backgrounds and talents were interesting. There was some intriguing futuristic technology/ simulation situations that I’m not sure I fully understood but I kind of liked that sometimes I wasn’t sure what was real or what was a simulation. I think I’m probably intrigued enough to read the conclusion to see how the story ends!
3.5⭐️
This book will not be for everyone, but I honestly had a pretty good time reading it! I really never knew what would be coming next. I thought the whole concept was intriguing. Was there a kind of strange virtual tournament that felt a lot like a Pokémon battle? Yes.. Did a couple of scenes kind of come out of the blue (such as one random intimacy scene)? Yes..But, I still had to keep reading to see where it was all going. I liked the 4 main characters and thought their backgrounds and talents were interesting. There was some intriguing futuristic technology/ simulation situations that I’m not sure I fully understood but I kind of liked that sometimes I wasn’t sure what was real or what was a simulation. I think I’m probably intrigued enough to read the conclusion to see how the story ends!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I'm still trying to disentangle how much of my trouble with this book is based in actual flaws in the writing and how much comes from the fact that I just wanted this book to be something very different than what it is.
The premise of an alternate history near-future dystopian world where the cold war never ended really interested me. I hoped to read a story engaged in the global consequences of continued US/USSR proxy wars that had something to say about CIA anticommunist intervention. But instead of being focused on the way this alternate history would change the world, this story primarily centers on the abuse of those being trained within the US intelligence machine. While it's clear from passing references that Ava Reid has personal opinions about US interventionism, this story isn't about that, it's about the treatment of soldiers. Thematically, this was just less interesting to me.
Winterveil has 4 main characters, none of whom I was particularly attached to. Giselle is a bit of a blank slate with little development. Klaudia and Nadiya are both compelling, but the follow-through on their development was still lacking for me. Julian was so annoying that he had me constantly ready to tear my hair out. The characters' internal conflicts often come out of nowhere in a way that feels artificial, and their personal histories/traumas are often clumsy attempts to build sympathy. The most interesting thing Ava did with these characters was not give Julian, the spoiled rich boy, an uncomplicated redemption arc. While everything he did pissed me off, I think I would have been less irritated if I hadn't mistakenly assumed that everything he did wrong would be brushed aside in the name of his redemption.
The two romantic plot lines didn't do much for me. Giselle and Nadiya's romance was fine, just not particularly well-developed or compelling. Julian and Klaudia's relationship was more grating. The emotional side of their romance is told directly to the reader rather than developed. This means that most of what we actually see is sexual attraction, particularly Julian's attraction to Klaudia.
Sex and sexual attraction are... not handled well in this book. Most of the sex/attraction we see on the page feels very dehumanizing. Julian clearly has an unhealthy relationship with sex and seems very dissociated in the instances we see him engage in sexual activities. But his attraction to Klaudia is particularly uncomfortable because we see him trying not to get turned on while witnessing her being sexually assaulted. He does stop the assault and clearly feels shame over his reaction, but this was still a deeply uncomfortable scene that didn't seem to contribute anything beyond that discomfort. We also see various predatory behavior by adults toward these teenagers that doesn't seem to go anywhere thematically.
The plot doesn't make much sense. The Valeran Academy's educational system seems to just be a bunch of strategy games. I saw another reviewer describe a prominent competition as pokemon battles, and there really isn't a better description of it. That's exactly what it is. The few sci-fi elements are never really explained and feel more like magic than sci-fi, which seems out of place in an alternate history dystopian setting. The strategy and spy elements, both in the school and outside of it, are nonsensical. The entire set-up of the dystopia is undermined by the fact that the main characters are continually surprised by the high stakes of the situation. Characters who have been in this CIA-feeder school for years, trained in combat and strategy, are somehow shocked that they're being asked to kill someone, or that agents shooting at them would be shooting to kill. Their surprise just doesn't make sense.
Given that the entire premise of this book is an alternate history where the cold war never ended, I was surprised that the most direct political commentary had nothing to do with that alternate history and instead was about Elon Musk exactly how he is in our world. The south african tech mogul deeply entrenched in the government and military industrial complex, who also happens to have a bunch of kids by various mothers with the intent to further "superior" genetics, and behaves like a child, was a very unsubtle analogue. The trouble with his inclusion, beyond it fitting oddly in this alternate world, is that it's impossible to take an Elon-analogue seriously, so the character also felt tonally out of place in the narrative.
I will say I actually didn't mind the book's ending. Within the context of a story that I did not enjoy, I think the conclusion worked well. I would have been very annoyed if the book had wrapped up cleanly, but the ending was unnerving and a bit eerie, and was very appropriate given the rest of the story.
Ultimately, I just felt like this book lacked a compelling perspective, which is odd for a book with a premise that lends itself so well to strong thematic development. The characters weren't particularly compelling and the plot didn't make sense. I like Ava Reid's prose writing, and I think she writes atmospheres very well, but this one just didn't go anywhere I enjoyed.
The premise of an alternate history near-future dystopian world where the cold war never ended really interested me. I hoped to read a story engaged in the global consequences of continued US/USSR proxy wars that had something to say about CIA anticommunist intervention. But instead of being focused on the way this alternate history would change the world, this story primarily centers on the abuse of those being trained within the US intelligence machine. While it's clear from passing references that Ava Reid has personal opinions about US interventionism, this story isn't about that, it's about the treatment of soldiers. Thematically, this was just less interesting to me.
Winterveil has 4 main characters, none of whom I was particularly attached to. Giselle is a bit of a blank slate with little development. Klaudia and Nadiya are both compelling, but the follow-through on their development was still lacking for me. Julian was so annoying that he had me constantly ready to tear my hair out. The characters' internal conflicts often come out of nowhere in a way that feels artificial, and their personal histories/traumas are often clumsy attempts to build sympathy. The most interesting thing Ava did with these characters was not give Julian, the spoiled rich boy, an uncomplicated redemption arc. While everything he did pissed me off, I think I would have been less irritated if I hadn't mistakenly assumed that everything he did wrong would be brushed aside in the name of his redemption.
The two romantic plot lines didn't do much for me. Giselle and Nadiya's romance was fine, just not particularly well-developed or compelling. Julian and Klaudia's relationship was more grating. The emotional side of their romance is told directly to the reader rather than developed. This means that most of what we actually see is sexual attraction, particularly Julian's attraction to Klaudia.
Sex and sexual attraction are... not handled well in this book. Most of the sex/attraction we see on the page feels very dehumanizing. Julian clearly has an unhealthy relationship with sex and seems very dissociated in the instances we see him engage in sexual activities. But his attraction to Klaudia is particularly uncomfortable because we see him trying not to get turned on while witnessing her being sexually assaulted. He does stop the assault and clearly feels shame over his reaction, but this was still a deeply uncomfortable scene that didn't seem to contribute anything beyond that discomfort. We also see various predatory behavior by adults toward these teenagers that doesn't seem to go anywhere thematically.
The plot doesn't make much sense. The Valeran Academy's educational system seems to just be a bunch of strategy games. I saw another reviewer describe a prominent competition as pokemon battles, and there really isn't a better description of it. That's exactly what it is. The few sci-fi elements are never really explained and feel more like magic than sci-fi, which seems out of place in an alternate history dystopian setting. The strategy and spy elements, both in the school and outside of it, are nonsensical. The entire set-up of the dystopia is undermined by the fact that the main characters are continually surprised by the high stakes of the situation. Characters who have been in this CIA-feeder school for years, trained in combat and strategy, are somehow shocked that they're being asked to kill someone, or that agents shooting at them would be shooting to kill. Their surprise just doesn't make sense.
Given that the entire premise of this book is an alternate history where the cold war never ended, I was surprised that the most direct political commentary had nothing to do with that alternate history and instead was about Elon Musk exactly how he is in our world. The south african tech mogul deeply entrenched in the government and military industrial complex, who also happens to have a bunch of kids by various mothers with the intent to further "superior" genetics, and behaves like a child, was a very unsubtle analogue. The trouble with his inclusion, beyond it fitting oddly in this alternate world, is that it's impossible to take an Elon-analogue seriously, so the character also felt tonally out of place in the narrative.
I will say I actually didn't mind the book's ending. Within the context of a story that I did not enjoy, I think the conclusion worked well. I would have been very annoyed if the book had wrapped up cleanly, but the ending was unnerving and a bit eerie, and was very appropriate given the rest of the story.
Ultimately, I just felt like this book lacked a compelling perspective, which is odd for a book with a premise that lends itself so well to strong thematic development. The characters weren't particularly compelling and the plot didn't make sense. I like Ava Reid's prose writing, and I think she writes atmospheres very well, but this one just didn't go anywhere I enjoyed.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
୨୧ 一 3.75 stars
→ thank you netgalley and HarperCollins for the arc
The beginning of the book sounded promising. A dystopian world where the Cold War is not over and the four students suddenly become weapons in this war. Well, only in theory. Not everything was bad, I just feel like the pacing is bad. We spend half of the book in the academy, which was not very interesting to me.
This is my first book by an author and I still plan to read more because I liked the writing. The characters were well created, layered, complex. They were not two-dimensional, each with it had its own flaws and problems. I liked Klaudia the most, I feel very attached to her because we share the same name. I really liked her relationship with Julian, I LOVE RIVALS TO LOVERS and they served it just right. The opposite was Giselle and Nadiya's relationship, which was pure and so cute, they were adorable together. The relationships were well developed, but I didn't feel the same when it came to their friendship, I expected a deep found family, but I didn't feel it completely 🤷♀️ overall I don't think this book is really bad, it just lacks details, I liked the last 100 pages.
Did Not Finish
August 30, 2026okay so i think Ava Reid just isn't for me and time to stop trying lol
Want to Read
February 26, 2026"An alternate future where the Cold War still rages" with four teenage criminals.
I'm sold.
I'm sold.
Want to Read
March 3, 2026I mean, the Ava Reid book covers are just!!! 😍🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼
my ratings/reviews of
A Study in Drowning (A Study in Drowning #1) — 3★
Juniper and Thorn ☆☆☆☆☆
my ratings/reviews of
A Study in Drowning (A Study in Drowning #1) — 3★
Juniper and Thorn ☆☆☆☆☆
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
WINTERVEIL is a YA dystopian that follows four criminal teenagers who are recruited to the country’s most secretive academy to serve out their prison sentences. set in an alternate future where the cold war never ended, ‘winterveil’ poses the question: what would you do for freedom?
valeran academy is a cutthroat training center, utilising teenage criminals’ skills to train them as spies against the soviet union. our four main characters are all sent there instead of serving tradition prison sentences for their various crimes. it’s a school filled with competition, combat training, and strategising against your fellow students to win by whatever means necessary. the book is quite dark, more towards an upper YA level. i enjoyed our main characters dynamics with one another - one of my favourite things about ava reid’s novels is the way the characters develop authentically and feel so three dimensional.
i had a LOT of thoughts about this one - to be honest, there were parts that left a bad taste in my mouth. the plot was incredibly intriguing and genuinely original. but there were aspects that left me questioning the necessity of their inclusion. ultimately i still enjoyed it, and i think it is a great book for the older YA reader. i was a little disappointed to see that this was the first in a duology (im getting a bit tired of duologies to be honest) but the narrative was still interesting and kept me hooked.
i’ll write more thoughts when the book is released. i’m a massive fan of ava reid’s work so while this wasn’t my fave, im excited to see what’s next!
thank you very much to the publisher for the arc :)
valeran academy is a cutthroat training center, utilising teenage criminals’ skills to train them as spies against the soviet union. our four main characters are all sent there instead of serving tradition prison sentences for their various crimes. it’s a school filled with competition, combat training, and strategising against your fellow students to win by whatever means necessary. the book is quite dark, more towards an upper YA level. i enjoyed our main characters dynamics with one another - one of my favourite things about ava reid’s novels is the way the characters develop authentically and feel so three dimensional.
i had a LOT of thoughts about this one - to be honest, there were parts that left a bad taste in my mouth. the plot was incredibly intriguing and genuinely original. but there were aspects that left me questioning the necessity of their inclusion. ultimately i still enjoyed it, and i think it is a great book for the older YA reader. i was a little disappointed to see that this was the first in a duology (im getting a bit tired of duologies to be honest) but the narrative was still interesting and kept me hooked.
i’ll write more thoughts when the book is released. i’m a massive fan of ava reid’s work so while this wasn’t my fave, im excited to see what’s next!
thank you very much to the publisher for the arc :)
June 6, 2026
Ambitious, energetic, readable.
If fast-paced, dystopian dark academia is your vibe, I can see you enjoying Winterveil. Set in a world where the Cold War never ended, four young people get into trouble with the law and are recruited to train as the next generation of intelligence assets.
The setting Reid conjures is creative, and I was drawn in by the premise and tense atmosphere. While I found the plot development a little uneven (and to be honest it ultimately wasn’t my cup of tea) I still wanted to keep reading to see what happened.
If you particularly enjoy an academy rivalry story, I think this may be one for your TBR. The four main characters each have very different and layered stories, and plenty of drama unfolds as they compete in ‘simulations’ or vie for top position.
I went in knowing this was YA, but I think I might have connected with the characters more if I’d read this when I was younger. That said, there are some heavy themes, so this is not necessarily for a very young audience.
If you’re the right reader for it, though, I can see this being a story that’s easy to get swept up in.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an advance readers copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.
If fast-paced, dystopian dark academia is your vibe, I can see you enjoying Winterveil. Set in a world where the Cold War never ended, four young people get into trouble with the law and are recruited to train as the next generation of intelligence assets.
The setting Reid conjures is creative, and I was drawn in by the premise and tense atmosphere. While I found the plot development a little uneven (and to be honest it ultimately wasn’t my cup of tea) I still wanted to keep reading to see what happened.
If you particularly enjoy an academy rivalry story, I think this may be one for your TBR. The four main characters each have very different and layered stories, and plenty of drama unfolds as they compete in ‘simulations’ or vie for top position.
I went in knowing this was YA, but I think I might have connected with the characters more if I’d read this when I was younger. That said, there are some heavy themes, so this is not necessarily for a very young audience.
If you’re the right reader for it, though, I can see this being a story that’s easy to get swept up in.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an advance readers copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
.・゜゜・ 𝗪 𝗜 𝗡 𝗧 𝗘 𝗥 𝗩 𝗘 𝗜 𝗟 ・゜゜・．
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑙, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑤𝒉𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝒉𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑. :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
—Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, Hans J. Morgenthau, 1948.
★
I'm grateful -like everyday- that I could get to read this arc. My first Ava Reid book, and I just... I'm still speechless. But, ironically, I also have A LOT to say.
So, as always, THANK YOU SO MUCH NETGALLEY, HARPER COLLINS AND THE AUTHOR for the opportunity!!!
★
𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛
Bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Fable for the End of the World Ava Reid is back with a thrilling new duology unlike anything you’ve read before.
It’s a game—𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒓.
A disgraced politician from a powerful American dynasty.
A coldly brilliant strategist who will sacrifice anything to win.
A former pageant queen with a talent that could change the world.
An expert female soldier with an enigmatic past—and a dangerous secret.
In an alternate future where the Cold War still rages, four precocious teenage criminals with dark skills and darker secrets are offered a fresh start at a secret military academy. But instead of training to end the war, they find themselves on a mysterious mission that will test loyalties, forge romances, and maybe end the world as they know it.
★
𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬
Winterveil nos lleva a un escenario del mundo que conocemos hoy, donde estamos en 2037, y la Guerra Fría no ha terminado.
Un mundo principalmente bipolar, configurándose en medio de las tensiones entre Estados Unidos y la aún existente Unión Soviética.
Y, como hablamos de la modernidad, la tecnología, la política y las armas nucleares también han avanzado.
Dentro de este conflicto, se alza Valeran. Un instituto para soldados, un proyecto secreto en algún lugar de Virginia, donde las mentes jóvenes más brillantes son entrenadas para volverse estrategas en servicio de su país. La nueva esperanza para cambiar el curso de la guerra.
Una reina de belleza con una habilidad particular; un político caído en desgracia; una experta en armas y soldado con un pasado terrible y una estratega con la mente más afilada y brillante que el mundo ha visto.
Un tablero de ajedrez en el que finalmente las piezas han tomado su lugar. El premio final? Convertirse en el nuevo orden mundial.
Para nuestros personajes?
Poder.
Lealtad.
Reconocimiento.
Un nuevo inicio.
Me pregunto que pasará cuando la línea entre la moralidad y la supervivencia empiece a desaparecer...
✧
La primera vez que vi este libro, sentí curiosidad. Luego de leer parte de la sinopsis, quedé intriguada.
Dos días después de haber terminado el libro...y estoy segura que he sido -citando a mi querido Señor Darcy- hechizada en cuerpo y alma y FUCKING AMO este libro.
(Okey, quizá lo de fucking no es parte del texto original, pero queda con el mood).
Aún con todas las pintas que daba esta historia (academia de guerra, algún tipo de found family, un escenario medio distópico), me sentí inmensamente tomada por sorpresa en cada capítulo.
Joder, hasta con la frase de apertura de Morgenthau! (Véase al principio de la reseña)
Soy una estudiante formal de IR (Relaciones Internacionales) y recuerdo que acababa de salir de un exámen precisamente sobre "Política Entre Las Naciones" y otros varios autores (Tucídides, te estoy mirando). Entonces digo:
"Pues nada, voy a empezar este libro para distraerme del TREMENDO EXÁMEN que acabo de rendir".
Se me escuchó la risa por todo el pasillo apenas leí la cita porque fue como ES EN SERIO?!
Y, a partir de ahí, sentí que estaba leyendo un libro de ficción, sí y, al mismo tiempo, viendo cómo una trama se sostenía y desarrollaba sobre tantos postulados de teoría política, realismo político, interés nacional, historia...DIOS MÍO. Y no puedo explicar lo mucho que me encantó.
Era claro que, o Ava Reid se habría nutrido MUY BIEN de asesoramiento sobre teoría de las relaciones internacionales y demás áreas de teoría política o (O!) había estudiado alguna carrera referente. Sio. Esa era mi apuesta.
Y la gané!
*gritito en IR y politics student*
Así que para mí, fue no sólo una historia atrapante, ambiciosa, visceral, llena de suspenso y un grupo de personajes que nunca voy a olvidar, pero también fue un acercamiento desde mi carrera y muchos de mis temas de investigación favoritos. Qué más podía pedir?!
En perspectiva, siento que a mi adorado Kaz Brekker le interesaría este libro, solo por el reto constante de aquellas incógnitas que parecen imposibles de resolver a simple vista, y porque su mente sagaz quedaría bien acá. Entre un grupo de jóvenes con algún historial criminal y capacidades intelectuales descomunales.
(Sí, no tiene nada que ver con esto, pero muchas veces me pregunté ¿qué haría Brekker en esta situación? Era inevitable)
Si tuviera que describir Winterveil usando un montón de cosas fuera de contexto, diría que empieza como si alguien estuviera enseñando TRI (Teoría de las Relaciones Internacionales) usando una versión de Ender's Game pero en un asomo a una Guerra Fría del siglo XXI, que luego pasa a ser Matrix con Orpheus diciendo "En Matrix todos son agentes, o ninguno lo es", para terminar con cliffhanger que me dejó sin dormir en toda la noche.
★
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬
✧ 𝑮𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆: Giselle es un personaje increíble. No sólo por las habilidades que tiene, sino por su carácter. No necesitaba pensar o actuar igual que el resto de Valeran para demostrar que era más poderosa que todos. Su espíritu de ver lo mejor en las personas es lo que la hace tan especial. La amo!
✧ 𝑵𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒚𝒂: Está dividida entre la persona que es en Valeran y la que sigue siendo en el fondo. Es demasiado fuerte y al mismo tiempo vulnerable, siempre está dispuesta a defender aquello en lo que cree y su lealtad es de sus mejores cualidades. También la amo!
✧ 𝑲𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒂: definitivamente MI PERSONAJE FAVORITO. Es tremendamente complejo para mí ponerme a describir todas las cosas por las que Klaudia Shimonova se ganó mi respeto y admiración sin hacer spoilers, pero estén seguros de que la lista es RE LARGA. La súper amo!
✧ 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 (𝑱𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑰𝑰): Este chico ve todo como un juego de ajedrez. No es -ni por definición- lo que de buenas a primeras llamarías honrado (al menos eso dice él), y aún así, también lo respeto un montón. Es valiente y sagaz a su manera, aunque a veces me provocó darle un solo golpe en la cabeza. Pero también lo quiero!
★
En fin, que Winterviel entra a mi top tres de mis "Hallazgos literarios excepcionales para VOLAR EN PEDAZOS al molde" de este año.
Es una novela que recomendaría a todo el mundo?
No. La verdad es que no creo que lo recomendaría a cualquier tipo de lector, principalmente porque la primera mitad puede:
✓ o bien confundirte pero darte curiosidad
✓ o bien aburrirte y dejarte perdido rn la nebulosa.
Creo que ya dependerá de qué predomine en la experiencia de cada lector.
Pero yo si planeo releer esto pronto. Y apenas tenga el segundo libro...ME VOY A DESCONOCER.
6/5★
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑙, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑤𝒉𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝒉𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑. :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
—Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, Hans J. Morgenthau, 1948.
★
I'm grateful -like everyday- that I could get to read this arc. My first Ava Reid book, and I just... I'm still speechless. But, ironically, I also have A LOT to say.
So, as always, THANK YOU SO MUCH NETGALLEY, HARPER COLLINS AND THE AUTHOR for the opportunity!!!
★
𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛
Bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Fable for the End of the World Ava Reid is back with a thrilling new duology unlike anything you’ve read before.
It’s a game—𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒓.
A disgraced politician from a powerful American dynasty.
A coldly brilliant strategist who will sacrifice anything to win.
A former pageant queen with a talent that could change the world.
An expert female soldier with an enigmatic past—and a dangerous secret.
In an alternate future where the Cold War still rages, four precocious teenage criminals with dark skills and darker secrets are offered a fresh start at a secret military academy. But instead of training to end the war, they find themselves on a mysterious mission that will test loyalties, forge romances, and maybe end the world as they know it.
★
𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬
Winterveil nos lleva a un escenario del mundo que conocemos hoy, donde estamos en 2037, y la Guerra Fría no ha terminado.
Un mundo principalmente bipolar, configurándose en medio de las tensiones entre Estados Unidos y la aún existente Unión Soviética.
Y, como hablamos de la modernidad, la tecnología, la política y las armas nucleares también han avanzado.
Dentro de este conflicto, se alza Valeran. Un instituto para soldados, un proyecto secreto en algún lugar de Virginia, donde las mentes jóvenes más brillantes son entrenadas para volverse estrategas en servicio de su país. La nueva esperanza para cambiar el curso de la guerra.
Una reina de belleza con una habilidad particular; un político caído en desgracia; una experta en armas y soldado con un pasado terrible y una estratega con la mente más afilada y brillante que el mundo ha visto.
Un tablero de ajedrez en el que finalmente las piezas han tomado su lugar. El premio final? Convertirse en el nuevo orden mundial.
Para nuestros personajes?
Poder.
Lealtad.
Reconocimiento.
Un nuevo inicio.
Me pregunto que pasará cuando la línea entre la moralidad y la supervivencia empiece a desaparecer...
✧
La primera vez que vi este libro, sentí curiosidad. Luego de leer parte de la sinopsis, quedé intriguada.
Dos días después de haber terminado el libro...y estoy segura que he sido -citando a mi querido Señor Darcy- hechizada en cuerpo y alma y FUCKING AMO este libro.
(Okey, quizá lo de fucking no es parte del texto original, pero queda con el mood).
Aún con todas las pintas que daba esta historia (academia de guerra, algún tipo de found family, un escenario medio distópico), me sentí inmensamente tomada por sorpresa en cada capítulo.
Joder, hasta con la frase de apertura de Morgenthau! (Véase al principio de la reseña)
Soy una estudiante formal de IR (Relaciones Internacionales) y recuerdo que acababa de salir de un exámen precisamente sobre "Política Entre Las Naciones" y otros varios autores (Tucídides, te estoy mirando). Entonces digo:
"Pues nada, voy a empezar este libro para distraerme del TREMENDO EXÁMEN que acabo de rendir".
Se me escuchó la risa por todo el pasillo apenas leí la cita porque fue como ES EN SERIO?!
Y, a partir de ahí, sentí que estaba leyendo un libro de ficción, sí y, al mismo tiempo, viendo cómo una trama se sostenía y desarrollaba sobre tantos postulados de teoría política, realismo político, interés nacional, historia...DIOS MÍO. Y no puedo explicar lo mucho que me encantó.
Era claro que, o Ava Reid se habría nutrido MUY BIEN de asesoramiento sobre teoría de las relaciones internacionales y demás áreas de teoría política o (O!) había estudiado alguna carrera referente. Sio. Esa era mi apuesta.
Y la gané!
*gritito en IR y politics student*
Así que para mí, fue no sólo una historia atrapante, ambiciosa, visceral, llena de suspenso y un grupo de personajes que nunca voy a olvidar, pero también fue un acercamiento desde mi carrera y muchos de mis temas de investigación favoritos. Qué más podía pedir?!
En perspectiva, siento que a mi adorado Kaz Brekker le interesaría este libro, solo por el reto constante de aquellas incógnitas que parecen imposibles de resolver a simple vista, y porque su mente sagaz quedaría bien acá. Entre un grupo de jóvenes con algún historial criminal y capacidades intelectuales descomunales.
(Sí, no tiene nada que ver con esto, pero muchas veces me pregunté ¿qué haría Brekker en esta situación? Era inevitable)
Si tuviera que describir Winterveil usando un montón de cosas fuera de contexto, diría que empieza como si alguien estuviera enseñando TRI (Teoría de las Relaciones Internacionales) usando una versión de Ender's Game pero en un asomo a una Guerra Fría del siglo XXI, que luego pasa a ser Matrix con Orpheus diciendo "En Matrix todos son agentes, o ninguno lo es", para terminar con cliffhanger que me dejó sin dormir en toda la noche.
★
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬
✧ 𝑮𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆: Giselle es un personaje increíble. No sólo por las habilidades que tiene, sino por su carácter. No necesitaba pensar o actuar igual que el resto de Valeran para demostrar que era más poderosa que todos. Su espíritu de ver lo mejor en las personas es lo que la hace tan especial. La amo!
✧ 𝑵𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒚𝒂: Está dividida entre la persona que es en Valeran y la que sigue siendo en el fondo. Es demasiado fuerte y al mismo tiempo vulnerable, siempre está dispuesta a defender aquello en lo que cree y su lealtad es de sus mejores cualidades. También la amo!
✧ 𝑲𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒂: definitivamente MI PERSONAJE FAVORITO. Es tremendamente complejo para mí ponerme a describir todas las cosas por las que Klaudia Shimonova se ganó mi respeto y admiración sin hacer spoilers, pero estén seguros de que la lista es RE LARGA. La súper amo!
✧ 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 (𝑱𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑰𝑰): Este chico ve todo como un juego de ajedrez. No es -ni por definición- lo que de buenas a primeras llamarías honrado (al menos eso dice él), y aún así, también lo respeto un montón. Es valiente y sagaz a su manera, aunque a veces me provocó darle un solo golpe en la cabeza. Pero también lo quiero!
★
En fin, que Winterviel entra a mi top tres de mis "Hallazgos literarios excepcionales para VOLAR EN PEDAZOS al molde" de este año.
Es una novela que recomendaría a todo el mundo?
No. La verdad es que no creo que lo recomendaría a cualquier tipo de lector, principalmente porque la primera mitad puede:
✓ o bien confundirte pero darte curiosidad
✓ o bien aburrirte y dejarte perdido rn la nebulosa.
Creo que ya dependerá de qué predomine en la experiencia de cada lector.
Pero yo si planeo releer esto pronto. Y apenas tenga el segundo libro...ME VOY A DESCONOCER.
6/5★
March 19, 2026
plays in the dystopian YA sandbox but doesn’t really bring anything super exciting or new to it. there’s threads of good ideas here but they don’t really go anywhere. the characters however really shine (loved klaudia & giselle), more so than the world which feels quite flat for parts of it. wish it ended with more of a bigger bang. guess we’ll see what happens in the second book but i won’t be holding my breath for vast improvements.
thanks to edelweiss for the advanced reading copy!!
thanks to edelweiss for the advanced reading copy!!
June 18, 2026
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.
If there's two things I can expect from an Ava Reid book it's a fun time and compelling characters. I was very excited for the opportunity to pick up the Winterveil ARC and found that I was reading it during any free moment I could find during the day. As someone who didn't grow up reading all the dystopian novels of the 2000s/2010s, I don't have the dystopian fatigue that other longtime readers might have, which led to this book feeling very fresh for me.
Winterveil follows our 4 protagonists Julian, Klaudia, Giselle and Nadiya in an alternative future timeline where the United States never ended its war with the Soviet Union. This book blends the threat of AI with the manipulation of young vulnerable minds in a fast pace academic setting. I was a little split on how I felt about or MCs. On one hand I absolutely loved Klaudia and Nadiya, they are very independent, smart and badass, although they also are very similar to each other which made them feel less unique. Then on the other hand, Julian and Giselle felt very bland to me and were more plot point characters to answer the needs of the story. They will probably be the type of characters that by the time book 2 comes out, I'll have forgotten their names.
Somethings I really enjoyed about this book:
★ Very short chapters - I felt like since we switch POVs almost every chapter, it helped a lot that each chapter was relatively short and made it easier to pick up during different points of the day.
★ Pacing - I really really liked the pacing of this book. Often I feel like when we have multiple characters, they are all thrown together super fast and there's no build up of the individual stories. In Winterveil our 4 characters are not all together until about 40% of the way in.
★ Setting - I expected that we were going to spend the majority of the book at Valeran Academy but we actually have more than one major setting. This really helps the reader not feel "bored" by the 50/75% mark.
★ Queer Representation - I will always praise a book that has queer characters that don't feel like a stereotype or trying to hit the diversity mark.
Now for some of the things I really struggled with.
☆ Lack of POC Characters - This really was my biggest issue with reading this book. Every character is just different forms of white. While Nadiya is Lebanese, nothing about her character really speaks about her cultural identity and with her being raised 1/2 of her life at the academy, at this point she was raised white. In terms of the setting of the story (Cold War/Red Scare/Lavender Scare) it makes sense for the cast to not be a POC group so I don't fully fault the author for this decision. However if you are someone who likes having your MC being culturally diverse, you won't find that here.
☆ Confusing POV - Now this might have just been a me thing, but I kept finding myself getting confused by whose chapter I was on. Everything was in third person omniscient but each chapter was still following one specific character so I found myself being confused several times on who was doing what. Again might have just been a me thing, but after it happening several times it was something that I noted.
☆ Timeline - This is just a small thing but something to note for future readers. The beginning of this book when it is setting up the world and introducing characters some of the chapters are from a few years or a season or two before our main setting. Because the timeline of this book is ahead our our current year, it's important for the reader to really pay attention to the years and seasons.
Overall even with my critiques, this was such a fun read from beginning to end. I love Ava Reid's writing style and how she is not afraid to tell the stories that she wants. Very excited to continue this story in book 2.
If there's two things I can expect from an Ava Reid book it's a fun time and compelling characters. I was very excited for the opportunity to pick up the Winterveil ARC and found that I was reading it during any free moment I could find during the day. As someone who didn't grow up reading all the dystopian novels of the 2000s/2010s, I don't have the dystopian fatigue that other longtime readers might have, which led to this book feeling very fresh for me.
Winterveil follows our 4 protagonists Julian, Klaudia, Giselle and Nadiya in an alternative future timeline where the United States never ended its war with the Soviet Union. This book blends the threat of AI with the manipulation of young vulnerable minds in a fast pace academic setting. I was a little split on how I felt about or MCs. On one hand I absolutely loved Klaudia and Nadiya, they are very independent, smart and badass, although they also are very similar to each other which made them feel less unique. Then on the other hand, Julian and Giselle felt very bland to me and were more plot point characters to answer the needs of the story. They will probably be the type of characters that by the time book 2 comes out, I'll have forgotten their names.
Somethings I really enjoyed about this book:
★ Very short chapters - I felt like since we switch POVs almost every chapter, it helped a lot that each chapter was relatively short and made it easier to pick up during different points of the day.
★ Pacing - I really really liked the pacing of this book. Often I feel like when we have multiple characters, they are all thrown together super fast and there's no build up of the individual stories. In Winterveil our 4 characters are not all together until about 40% of the way in.
★ Setting - I expected that we were going to spend the majority of the book at Valeran Academy but we actually have more than one major setting. This really helps the reader not feel "bored" by the 50/75% mark.
★ Queer Representation - I will always praise a book that has queer characters that don't feel like a stereotype or trying to hit the diversity mark.
Now for some of the things I really struggled with.
☆ Lack of POC Characters - This really was my biggest issue with reading this book. Every character is just different forms of white. While Nadiya is Lebanese, nothing about her character really speaks about her cultural identity and with her being raised 1/2 of her life at the academy, at this point she was raised white. In terms of the setting of the story (Cold War/Red Scare/Lavender Scare) it makes sense for the cast to not be a POC group so I don't fully fault the author for this decision. However if you are someone who likes having your MC being culturally diverse, you won't find that here.
☆ Confusing POV - Now this might have just been a me thing, but I kept finding myself getting confused by whose chapter I was on. Everything was in third person omniscient but each chapter was still following one specific character so I found myself being confused several times on who was doing what. Again might have just been a me thing, but after it happening several times it was something that I noted.
☆ Timeline - This is just a small thing but something to note for future readers. The beginning of this book when it is setting up the world and introducing characters some of the chapters are from a few years or a season or two before our main setting. Because the timeline of this book is ahead our our current year, it's important for the reader to really pay attention to the years and seasons.
Overall even with my critiques, this was such a fun read from beginning to end. I love Ava Reid's writing style and how she is not afraid to tell the stories that she wants. Very excited to continue this story in book 2.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
ೃ⁀➷ it's like if The Naturals series had a baby with the dystopian genre and this book came out.
Winterveil is the first in a YA dystopia series set at Valeran Academy, a secret spy school where teenagers convicted of unique crimes get sent to instead of prison, where they study Clausewitz, write cryptographic code and train with next generation weapons. It follows 4 characters: Julian, Klaudia, Giselle and Nadiya— all so unique, interesting and have or will have their character arc in due course.
// First thoughts post-read //
➛Ava babe you don't miss. The vibes, the academy, the plot, the pacing, the writing— YES.
➛Klaudia Shimonova, you are my angel baby. My absolute precious gem (I know she'd so hate these endearments rn but idc because I love her so much).
➛the VR in this world is about to be WILDDD
➛The dystopian vibe/themes kinda could have been stronger? in the 2nd half we totally got it but in part one i feel like we got nothing about the world outside of valeran academy and i wanted something or some sort of something about it.
➛i don't know if this would class as YA cause of a couple steamy moments/scenes?
// the plot //
➛the book was set into 3 distinct parts, the pacing different in each part which threw me off slightly in part two when we switched from fast to slow but we get over it quickly because we go through some stressful shit :0
➛i think my favourite parts were 1 and 3 though. the first part was us as the reader getting settled itno the school but also the newbies julian and giselle getting settled in too. (nadiya and klaudia are already students). the intro bit is alwayssss fun. then part 3 is where the shit went down and one of the characters finally began her own little arc/transofrmation which i'm super excited for it's continuation in book 2.
➛deckard BAHAHA you knew damn well he had better shit to do sorry he had me so dead in part 3
// characters //
i loved how ava slowly built this found family :)
julian joyce-young III
— our corrupt politician and former mayor, now valeran student.
quintessential rich boy who thought he could get away with anything because his daddy is rich (he was stupidly wrong). he's ambitious, smart, cunning yet also charming and a people's person who is vying for klaudia's spot as valeran's top student.
giselle buckley
— our pageant queen and credit card fraudster, now valeran student.
she's soft willed, almost too pretty but has something nobody has: eidectic memory [photo graphic memory]. her potential is so vast we don't see it first but as it all unravels at the end both the reader and her realise the potential she has. her and nadiya's story is so tender hello?!
nadiya karam
— our weapons goddess and ward of headmaster ivers.
her parents were killed when she was just a child and headmaster ivers immediately took her in. she's never called him dad but the way he cares for her might just be the same- she isn't ranked alongside the other valeran students, but everyone knows she's lethal and legendary with any weapon you put in her hand.
klaudia shimonova
— our fraudster who made 10 mill on the stock market at 15, now valeran's top student.
the valeran ice queen who has all but 2 friends before julian infiltrated her trio. klaudia is truly the best character in here sorry not sorry. her wit, sharp intelligence, cold nature and confidence is everything and more to me. she always wins and nothing can stop her (not even sleep, which she barely has).
i can't wait for everyone to read this book and tell me their thoughts because the ending omg, i was so distraught because my babies deserve BETTERRRR.
3.75 stars
thank you so much electric monkey for an early copy in exchange for an honest review :)
Winterveil is the first in a YA dystopia series set at Valeran Academy, a secret spy school where teenagers convicted of unique crimes get sent to instead of prison, where they study Clausewitz, write cryptographic code and train with next generation weapons. It follows 4 characters: Julian, Klaudia, Giselle and Nadiya— all so unique, interesting and have or will have their character arc in due course.
// First thoughts post-read //
➛Ava babe you don't miss. The vibes, the academy, the plot, the pacing, the writing— YES.
➛Klaudia Shimonova, you are my angel baby. My absolute precious gem (I know she'd so hate these endearments rn but idc because I love her so much).
➛the VR in this world is about to be WILDDD
➛The dystopian vibe/themes kinda could have been stronger? in the 2nd half we totally got it but in part one i feel like we got nothing about the world outside of valeran academy and i wanted something or some sort of something about it.
➛i don't know if this would class as YA cause of a couple steamy moments/scenes?
// the plot //
➛the book was set into 3 distinct parts, the pacing different in each part which threw me off slightly in part two when we switched from fast to slow but we get over it quickly because we go through some stressful shit :0
➛i think my favourite parts were 1 and 3 though. the first part was us as the reader getting settled itno the school but also the newbies julian and giselle getting settled in too. (nadiya and klaudia are already students). the intro bit is alwayssss fun. then part 3 is where the shit went down and one of the characters finally began her own little arc/transofrmation which i'm super excited for it's continuation in book 2.
➛deckard BAHAHA you knew damn well he had better shit to do sorry he had me so dead in part 3
// characters //
i loved how ava slowly built this found family :)
julian joyce-young III
— our corrupt politician and former mayor, now valeran student.
quintessential rich boy who thought he could get away with anything because his daddy is rich (he was stupidly wrong). he's ambitious, smart, cunning yet also charming and a people's person who is vying for klaudia's spot as valeran's top student.
giselle buckley
— our pageant queen and credit card fraudster, now valeran student.
she's soft willed, almost too pretty but has something nobody has: eidectic memory [photo graphic memory]. her potential is so vast we don't see it first but as it all unravels at the end both the reader and her realise the potential she has. her and nadiya's story is so tender hello?!
nadiya karam
— our weapons goddess and ward of headmaster ivers.
her parents were killed when she was just a child and headmaster ivers immediately took her in. she's never called him dad but the way he cares for her might just be the same- she isn't ranked alongside the other valeran students, but everyone knows she's lethal and legendary with any weapon you put in her hand.
klaudia shimonova
— our fraudster who made 10 mill on the stock market at 15, now valeran's top student.
the valeran ice queen who has all but 2 friends before julian infiltrated her trio. klaudia is truly the best character in here sorry not sorry. her wit, sharp intelligence, cold nature and confidence is everything and more to me. she always wins and nothing can stop her (not even sleep, which she barely has).
i can't wait for everyone to read this book and tell me their thoughts because the ending omg, i was so distraught because my babies deserve BETTERRRR.
3.75 stars
thank you so much electric monkey for an early copy in exchange for an honest review :)
September 4, 2026
Winterveil is a the first book in a new YA dystopian duology with a romantic subplot. The book follows four young criminals at a military academy in the late 2030s. In this alternate universe, the Cold War never ended and is a very prominent part of their lives.
Ava Reid is my favorite contemporary author, and I was so excited to read this book. I usually do not like dystopian books, Fables for the End of the World being the only exception, but I did have high expectations for this.
I did like this book, but I don’t personally think it was quite as good as Ava Reid’s previous books. The writing and plot were still very good, but I think the characters and romances were a bit more flat, and the story and worldbuilding were a little confusing. But overall, it was an enjoyable book.
I thought this book was pretty good, and I definitely would recommend it to fans of dystopian books and Ava Reid’s previous novels.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Publishing date: 15 September 2026
Ava Reid is my favorite contemporary author, and I was so excited to read this book. I usually do not like dystopian books, Fables for the End of the World being the only exception, but I did have high expectations for this.
I did like this book, but I don’t personally think it was quite as good as Ava Reid’s previous books. The writing and plot were still very good, but I think the characters and romances were a bit more flat, and the story and worldbuilding were a little confusing. But overall, it was an enjoyable book.
I thought this book was pretty good, and I definitely would recommend it to fans of dystopian books and Ava Reid’s previous novels.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Publishing date: 15 September 2026
July 4, 2026
I swear this was cooked in a lab to appeal specifically to me. I will always and forever be seated for anything Ava Reid writes, add dark academia and make it dystopian and I will gobble it right up. I loved the cast (especially Giselle who will have my heart forever now) and the setting was so cool and unique. What kept it from being a five star knock out was that it felt a little rushed near the end but overall I had a BLAST and I can’t wait to add this to my physical collection in September!
Massive thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review
Massive thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review
May 25, 2026
this started off great. the prose was so fun to read and the characters were interesting. i loved the vibes and the setting so much. but then stuff between the characters started happening that i did not want to see and it was nasty. also, the plot began to feel very random. i skimmed the rest instead of a dnf but this was pretty disappointing
thank you to netgalley for the arc
thank you to netgalley for the arc
Want to Read
May 27, 2026i've accepted that some ava reid books just aren't for me (cough innamorata cough), but i did love a study in drowning (dark academia) and fable for the end of the world (dystopian) from her, so something at the intersection of the two could be really good
June 3, 2026
If there’s one thing I’ve been absolutely loving right now, it’s the influx of dystopian novels being written.
Ava Reid has written a beautifully crafted older YA novel that sinks its teeth into societal issues we see today, but alters it through the lens of what the US (specifically) will be like in roughly 20 years.
I thoroughly enjoyed Reid’s previous dystopian YA novel “Fable for the End of the World”, so I knew I would love this one as well. Something about older YA dystopian books have a place in my heart, but it’s probably because I grew up on The Maze Runner, Divergent, and The Hunger Games — and this book delivered just about every bit of that high I’m still chasing.
I really loved the characters, the plot, and the setting of this novel; especially as I connect it to our world/society and what it is sliding into.
I’ve seen a lot of discourse around this book being marketed as “YA” and ARC readers warring over what constitutes a book as “YA” (especially ones that might be a little more mature, without having explicit or overly mature themes within…). I think it’s important to note that YA covers a LARGE age range and can encompass people from older middle school to college and beyond. That is why it is so important to check the books you pick up or recommend… In any case, I don’t find the content of this books to be overly mature and I find that the YA rating is fine, but that’s just my two cents…
Something I was hoping for from this novel was more details. Typically Reid spares no details in her writing, so I was curious where they were at here. Maybe omitted to make way for the letters? I’m not entirely sure, but the book still stands well enough without them (details, not the letters).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next Ava Reid novel that follows suit.
Thank you Ava Reid and NetGalley for the eARC of this novel!
Ava Reid has written a beautifully crafted older YA novel that sinks its teeth into societal issues we see today, but alters it through the lens of what the US (specifically) will be like in roughly 20 years.
I thoroughly enjoyed Reid’s previous dystopian YA novel “Fable for the End of the World”, so I knew I would love this one as well. Something about older YA dystopian books have a place in my heart, but it’s probably because I grew up on The Maze Runner, Divergent, and The Hunger Games — and this book delivered just about every bit of that high I’m still chasing.
I really loved the characters, the plot, and the setting of this novel; especially as I connect it to our world/society and what it is sliding into.
I’ve seen a lot of discourse around this book being marketed as “YA” and ARC readers warring over what constitutes a book as “YA” (especially ones that might be a little more mature, without having explicit or overly mature themes within…). I think it’s important to note that YA covers a LARGE age range and can encompass people from older middle school to college and beyond. That is why it is so important to check the books you pick up or recommend… In any case, I don’t find the content of this books to be overly mature and I find that the YA rating is fine, but that’s just my two cents…
Something I was hoping for from this novel was more details. Typically Reid spares no details in her writing, so I was curious where they were at here. Maybe omitted to make way for the letters? I’m not entirely sure, but the book still stands well enough without them (details, not the letters).
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the next Ava Reid novel that follows suit.
Thank you Ava Reid and NetGalley for the eARC of this novel!
Read
September 15, 2026ARC review - thank you to NetGalley for access to this novel!
I'm not sure how to rate this one in all honesty. I am a fan of Ava Reid's other work - namely, A Study in Drowning - and found her writing in this to be, overall, accomplished and enjoyable. The characters here were interesting and compelling by the end, but I think the plot left a little to be desired. It created a lot of questions in me - namely, what is fundamentally different about the U.S. if the Cold War hadn't "ended" when the Berlin Wall came down or whatever? In this imagined United States, it appears the main difference is that there is a war academy and we live in a surveillance state... okay... seems pretty similar to what we're dealing with now? It was an interesting reimagining but it did not include sufficient dystopian plot development and so this "alternate history" was unclear. The motivations of the long arm of the U.S. government were somewhat mysterious in ways that felt undeveloped (mind you this IS a proof that I read - so this element of my review could change upon publication) and it didn't really feel like that was considered; it felt more like an interest in the Cold War and USSR and dystopian academic settings had inspired a book and there was no real credence given to the worldbuilding. Usually this does not bother me - I am often enjoying books based on vibes! But when your novel has to do with American politics and worldwide politics, I'm looking for it to... Say something, I guess. And maybe I missed something? But this didn't do it for me in that way.
It remains an enjoyable read and I cannot stress enough how talented of a wordsmith Ava Reid is, and it kept me intrigued and I wanted to know what was going on. Unfortunately, I was left with more questions than answers. I will check out the sequel that is going to be necessary and hope the final publication copy includes a little more world building.
I'm not sure how to rate this one in all honesty. I am a fan of Ava Reid's other work - namely, A Study in Drowning - and found her writing in this to be, overall, accomplished and enjoyable. The characters here were interesting and compelling by the end, but I think the plot left a little to be desired. It created a lot of questions in me - namely, what is fundamentally different about the U.S. if the Cold War hadn't "ended" when the Berlin Wall came down or whatever? In this imagined United States, it appears the main difference is that there is a war academy and we live in a surveillance state... okay... seems pretty similar to what we're dealing with now? It was an interesting reimagining but it did not include sufficient dystopian plot development and so this "alternate history" was unclear. The motivations of the long arm of the U.S. government were somewhat mysterious in ways that felt undeveloped (mind you this IS a proof that I read - so this element of my review could change upon publication) and it didn't really feel like that was considered; it felt more like an interest in the Cold War and USSR and dystopian academic settings had inspired a book and there was no real credence given to the worldbuilding. Usually this does not bother me - I am often enjoying books based on vibes! But when your novel has to do with American politics and worldwide politics, I'm looking for it to... Say something, I guess. And maybe I missed something? But this didn't do it for me in that way.
It remains an enjoyable read and I cannot stress enough how talented of a wordsmith Ava Reid is, and it kept me intrigued and I wanted to know what was going on. Unfortunately, I was left with more questions than answers. I will check out the sequel that is going to be necessary and hope the final publication copy includes a little more world building.
September 6, 2026
“No matter what they offer you, never defect. Trying to pit us against each other is only to their benefit. This is not a zero-sum game. Not anymore.”
rating: 4.25★
this started off strong, then there was a point around 40% in where i wasn't sure how i was going to end up liking this. fortunately, it quickly picked up again and i couldn't put it down until that cliffhanger ending.
definitely one of the less flowery of reid's prose, but also one of her more direct parallels of story to political commentary. it helped make this read faster, which i appreciated bc i REALLY wanted to see what would happen next!
i really like the mc's and while i don't love julian's inability to control his impulses, i can see why he is that way and why he's made the choices he has. i think reid has crafted four layered characters who are not perfect but are still lovable and i'm rooting hard for!
i don't want to spoil too much by bringing up some of the media influences i could infer on this, but i think it is one of my more recently enjoyed dark academia books bc it goes so beyond the corruption within educational systems and elaborates on governmental powers on the youth.
a lot of commentary on nationalism, weaponizing marginalized refugees for political gain with no guaranteed safety, the ethics of technology and war (esp AI), and you're definitely going to recognize one of the bad guys in the later acts 🤭
i feel like i need to percolate on this to better articulate a deeper analysis, but i'll end this with saying i didn't expect a pokemon tournament but you know what, i ain't mad!
‘everything is permitted under the veil of winter.’”
an honest arc review <3
rating: 4.25★
this started off strong, then there was a point around 40% in where i wasn't sure how i was going to end up liking this. fortunately, it quickly picked up again and i couldn't put it down until that cliffhanger ending.
definitely one of the less flowery of reid's prose, but also one of her more direct parallels of story to political commentary. it helped make this read faster, which i appreciated bc i REALLY wanted to see what would happen next!
i really like the mc's and while i don't love julian's inability to control his impulses, i can see why he is that way and why he's made the choices he has. i think reid has crafted four layered characters who are not perfect but are still lovable and i'm rooting hard for!
i don't want to spoil too much by bringing up some of the media influences i could infer on this, but i think it is one of my more recently enjoyed dark academia books bc it goes so beyond the corruption within educational systems and elaborates on governmental powers on the youth.
a lot of commentary on nationalism, weaponizing marginalized refugees for political gain with no guaranteed safety, the ethics of technology and war (esp AI), and you're definitely going to recognize one of the bad guys in the later acts 🤭
i feel like i need to percolate on this to better articulate a deeper analysis, but i'll end this with saying i didn't expect a pokemon tournament but you know what, i ain't mad!
‘everything is permitted under the veil of winter.’”
an honest arc review <3
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