Hello, all! It's time to spotlight another release I'm super excited about: Christina Baehr's Castle of the Winds. This is the third book in the Secrets of Ormdale series, and you may recall my raving over book one, Wormwood Abbey, and book two, Drake Hall. Now we're back with my thoughts on Castle of the Winds, which sees Edith (and others) venture away from Ormdale, into the mountains of Wild Wales . . . and find themselves in a very unexpected sort of adventure altogether. Once again, I absolutely loved this book, and naturally I have to share my thoughts.

Thoughts on Castle of the Winds

Edith continues to be the most relatable protagonist. And no, I'm not just saying that because we're both writers — though I do love that about her, and I'm pleased any time it comes up. (There's one brief scene wherein she tries to solve a problem by considering how her protagonist would address her, only to admit that her protagonist never would've gotten himself in the situation in the first place, and . . . Girl, same.) But she's simultaneously sensible and eager for adventure, equal parts practical and appreciative of drama. She's intelligent, but she's still allowed to make mistakes — and, I'll admit, she flubs a bit more in this book than she does in others. However, at no point was I actually frustrated with her because every time, I had to admit that I probably would've done the same thing, probably for the same reasons (those reasons being dragons and responsibility, but especially the former).
I enjoyed seeing Edith and Simon's relationship continue to develop. I can't say a lot on this point because, y'know, spoilers. What I can say is that they make very good friends who support each other, protect each other, fill in each other's blind spots, and try to make the other better . . . and they're both aware of how they feel about each other (in a deeper-than-friendship sense), but they're handling those feelings like mature adults. Which is to say, they both also have lines they're not willing to cross, and they're not letting feelings carry them off into making foolish decisions, either in how they treat each other or how they relate to other people.
On that note, I also loved seeing Simon continue to come into his own. He is finally really having an opportunity to determine who he is and who he wishes to be, aside from the expectations laid on him by others, and I love that for him. Again and again, he has opportunities to display his character, and again and again he proves himself to be a man of quality (especially held up against certain others). In particular, he demonstrates a great deal of courage and trust throughout the book, sometimes in obvious ways and sometimes in less obvious ones, and . . . I just love him, ok?
Getting to see another part of Baehr's version of the world was so exciting. As I mentioned in the intro, this book takes us to Wild Wales, to the holdings of another family of dragon keepers, and this one is very different from Ormdale. Discovering this new area, with its unique dragon types, culture, and lore, was fun and fascinating — and I loved the inclusion of some Arthurian and Welsh myth references! Beyond that, though, this new region and its people allow Baehr to explore new facets of her series themes: the dangers of the lure of traditionalism and "the way it's always been done" and the ways family can build a person for better or worse.
Though it's more adventurous than other books in the series and has higher stakes, it maintains the cozy vibes. As you might have gathered from the last point, Castle of the Winds is a book of discovery that takes place mostly away from Ormdale, and the characters are often caught off-guard by the differences between this place and their home. This unfamiliar setting also brings new dangers, which are simultaneously more insidious and more threatening than what we've dealt with in previous books. The climax and ending of the story are also quite thrilling (and the very end of the book made me gasp). However, Baehr keeps the overall tone cozy through the narrative voice, through the focus on character relationships, and through the details she chooses to emphasize. So, this is still a low-stress read — relatively, anyway.