⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Winterveil
By Ava Reid
🌿
“Being dealt a bad hand doesn’t make people brave. It just makes them unlucky.”
“Zavesa zimy … Everything is permitted under the veil of winter.”
It is rare that I get invested in a YA novel these days. Winterveil, though, felt like a combination of all my favorite teenage sci-fi & spy novels — if they still lived up to the hype I gave them when I was 14. This story also carries the most fascinating premise, set in a near dystopian future, but as if the Cold War never ended.
The setting is Valeran Academy, an elite military school for the most promising troubled youth.
The primary characters:
-Nadiya, the soldier
-Giselle, the beauty queen with a rare talent
-Julian, the disgraced politician
-And Klaudia, the strategist.
These 4 characters find themselves thrust together to help end the war — but as they progress in their mission, they begin to wonder if they’re actually working for good, or for evil. But as their handler reminds them, nothing is black and white anymore — they exist now in shades of grey.
Winterveil is, among other things, an exploration of historical literature, of human corruption and greed, and a stark picture of society as we know it. I vastly enjoyed the addition of Chane, whose inclusion was less parody and more portrait.
Winterveil is also a queer teenage love story —focusing on our characters’ traumas and healing journeys as they are forced to learn to trust.
Ava Reid is, once again, breathtakingly genius. I thoroughly enjoyed researching code names and literary & historical references as I read this book. Everything is layered — absolutely enjoyable on the surface level, but Ava’s attention to detail means that nothing is insignificant. I still have so many questions and some half-baked theories.
I can’t recommend this book more, especially if you want to ruminate over an angsty teen dystopian academia novel for a pretty ridiculous amount of time.
My friends are probably sick of me talking about this book, but I will be yapping about it forever.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Ava Reid, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
Winterveil will be released September 15, 2026. Available everywhere books are sold — but check out the B&N preorders or (my preference) ask your local bookseller!
The Midnight Review 