The Cold Is in Her Bones

Neglected as a child, Hulda only wanted her family's love. Instead, she watched as they doted on her sister, making sure her beautiful hair was brushed and braided, while Hulda's remained a snarled mess day after day. Searching for comfort, Hulda turned to the forest, spending her days playing in quiet solitude. She began to befriend the snakes in the forest. They whispered their names to her, tangling themselves in her hair and wrapping her in the comfort she longed for. But her parents began to view her as an outsider. No longer just a neglected child, she was seen as a monster. A girl possessed by demons who could speak with snakes. When her parents and village struck out at her, the curse of Medusa began, passing down through the generations, driving young women insane.

Milla watches as her one and only friend succumbs to the madness of the curse. While everyone around her believes it is useless to try and save the cursed girls, Milla refuses to give up hope. Alone, Milla will discover the source of the curse and will do whatever she can to stop it.

This was a slow-paced novel. If you are looking for a lot of action scenes, this is not the book for you. I tend to need action to keep my attention, but this book was an exception. While the story was slow to develop, I was captivated by Arsdale's style of writing. She has a way of painting a picture in your mind with her words. The way she describes the settings is beautiful. She provides a darkly poetic world, filled with heartache and redemption.

But even with a beautiful writing style, I can't ignore the fact that there was too much filler. The girls would tell stories that held no importance. There was also a time where the main character stayed in one place without progressing the story. This all served to stall the story and I wanted to skip ahead to forward the plot. The ending was also a bit anticlimactic for my taste. It was an ok read, but I doubt I would revisit it.

Probably more like a 2/2.5 but I'm being generous.

I've just finished reading this but I honestly couldn't tell you anything about the plot other than ‘I guess this is a YA medusa retelling and there's something about demons in there?'

It's slow, it doesn't make sense at times, characters are referenced and I had absolutely no idea who they were and how they were meant to influence the plot. All in all this book is going to be completely forgettable to me in probably a week's time.