Review: General Winston's Daughter by Sharon Shinn

Author: Sharon Shinn

Pages: 342

Publisher: Speak

Series or Standalone: Standalone

Genre: YA Historical Fantasy Fiction

Reading Level: 13 yrs old+

Dominant Themes: War, Military

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The Aebrian military has infiltrated yet another country.


When seventeen-year-old heiress Averie Winston travels with her guardian to faraway Chiarrin, she looks forward to the reunion with her father, who is commanding general; seeing her handsome fiancé, Morgan; and exploring the strange new country. What she finds is entirely different from what she expected. Although the Chiarizzi appear to accept the invading army, rebels have already tried to destroy them; Morgan is not the man she thought he was; and she finds herself falling in love with Lieutenant Ket Du’Kai, who himself comes from a conquered society. Can the irrepressible Averie remake herself in this new world?

A great novel that really captivated me, even if it lacked in action at times. Shinn created a beautiful world that was very believable, along with complex and deep characters. Shinn’s writing style flowed seamlessly, weaving a world plagued with war, yet seen through the eyes of the conquerer.

Sharon Shinn is a fantastic world builder. She brought to life the world of Chiarrin and its people, illustrating their customs and way of life. I could see the parallels in this novel between Shinn’s world, and our world, and that made it even more interesting to read. It was almost a ‘read between the lines’ message about our world today.

Averie was my favorite character, as she was headstrong and obstinate. Although some of her decisions were foolish and impulsive, and sometimes she was a little slow to catch the obvious, she was an enjoyable character to have her story told. We watch her come to the realization that the world around her was different than what she was used to, and what right did her country have to change that? And reading her transformation as she became aware of her surroundings, and of her true feelings for those around her, were some of the best parts of the story. Her blossoming relationship with Ket Du’Kai was my favorite aspect of the novel, mostly because I also loved him as a character.

This novel won’t appeal to everyone, though. If you’re a fan of Robin McKinley, or of high fantasy novels, you may enjoy General Winston’s Daughter. I give this novel 3.5 out of 5 stars.