The Book:
Book Title: Odd & True
Book Author: Cat Winters
Page Count: 368
Publishing Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: Amulet Books
Date Read: July 23, 2017
The Review:
“Once upon a tie, on a cold January morning…a girl named Trudchen Maria Grey was born in a castle built to resemble a stone Scottish fortress called Dunnottar…”
Odd & True will captivate you from page one. Cat Winters has created a surprisingly imaginative story. Prepare yourself for a journey of life, love, horror, and shocking twists.
The Plot: Trudchen has grown up with the stories her sister, Odette, has told her about monsters and hunters. So far, the only monster she has ever met was the one that disabled her as a child, Polio. At the age of fifteen, two years after Od has mysteriously been sent away by their Aunt Viktoria, Tru gets a knock on her window in the middle of the night. Reunited, Od drags Tru on an adventure to hunt the infamous Leeds Devil. But will the sisters discover more horrors than a supposed monster?
“Everything about my life with Od had dripped with fantasy, reveries, whimsy, and bunkum.”
This one was quite the unexpected read. It held promises of Supernatural style hunting with historical fiction aspects from Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, but it delivered so much more! It was a medium paced, fantastic, coming of age story with hidden bits of horror, whimsy, and intrigue.
“…for the land is filled with wild and mystical beasts that terrify even the bravest huntsmen.”
I absolutely loved this book! It gets all the stars from me! I finished it in one day and cannot stop thinking about it. Winters did an exceptional job with creating this story around the sisters, Trudchen and Odette. There is this incredible bond between the two that only true sisters can have! The setting and world building is outstanding and the characters were outstandingly written!
Odette was such an amazing oddity. She had such depth and portrayed a sense of disconnection from reality. She was brave and fragile at the same time. She truly cared about her sister, and had such woeful determination to accomplish her search. She added both gravity and fantasy to the story and helped to shape Trudchen’s character.
“The tarot predicts your future…This one is La Force, which foretells that you become a woman of great strength and courage. You yourself will be able to conquer dangerous creatures.”
Trudchen was a fantastic character. As a child, she was innocent, gullible, and curious. She undergoes an incredible transformation and becomes a grounded, skeptical young lady. She doesn’t let her disability hold her back and she holds grand morals of knowing right from wrong and showing love for family.
“Unlike my older sister, I held no interest in pursuing ‘real-life monsters’ for I no longer believed in such poppycock.”
I recommend this book hands down! Odd & True will take you on a journey through the lives of these two sisters and all the bumps in their road. It is full of unexpected twists and has an ending that will both surprise you and leave you wanting for more! This one gets a full 5 stars from me and I am terribly excited to read more from Cat Winters!
“Even if we never read a second volume of a book, the characters continue to live on and on and on, and their stories merge into other stories, told by new generations of heroes and heroines.”
Thank you to NetGalley and Amulet Books/Abrams Kids for providing me with this free Advanced Reading E-copy in exchange for my honest review! All quotes used are from the book, written by the author.
Darque Dreamer
Blogger/ Punk Rocker / Quirky Housewife
This was such a good book. I had high expectations and it exceeded them by miles.
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Same here!! I really loved the twist at the ending too!!
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This book definitely doesn’t sound like something I’d usually read but your review has me interested. Quick question, is Odd True very horrorish?
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Like will it keep me up at night?
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Oh no! I really don’t think it would!
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Not really, no. I can’t give too much away, but it is not a horror novel like it looks like. It is worth the read!
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Yay!!! I’ll be checking my local library for a copy then!
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September 12 is when it will be published 🙂
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Oh I am so glad I scored a copy of this then! I’m looking forward to reading it!! Great review and it got me pumped for the book!
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I can’t wait to see what you think!! It was awesome!
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I’m so eager and it’s so hard to read lately!!
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Getting ready to start the school year?
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Yep! Gotta go get my fingerprints done! Every August!
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Oh joy, lol.
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It sounds historical and I don’t really read that kind of thing but this does sound quite interesting!
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Honestly, I don’t remember a whole lot of historical aspects to the story, besides the bits about the Leeds Devil. It was really interesting though!
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This book seems to be everything and more! I love that it contains a sister duo with a strong bond between them ❤ It's always great to read about family going together in adventures, just warms my single-child heart hahaha
It's nice that both girls are so unique and dimensional. I definitely need to read this one (Mandy had previously recommended it too and I trust both your judgements!)
Wonderful review 🙂
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It definitely offered so much more than I expected, and I loved it!! I can’t wait to see what you think!! 🙂 And thank you! ❤
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Ooooh, this sounds like something I’d like! Also, Odette is such a beautiful name omg!
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You should read it!! It was fantastic! And I really like that name too!
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This sounds like an amazing read. Definitely adding it to my tbr. Great review!
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Thanks! I can’t wait to see what you think!
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