This review can also be found at BookShelfery. 
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 It took me a little while to get into this book....maybe 50% of the way through. But then I was hooked. Fast, easy to read and poetic. In the beginning, I was skeptical, but ultimately, I really enjoyed it! 
 Eric Seven is visiting Blessed Island for journalism work when he meets Merle, who utterly captivates him. He also begins to experience strange happenings since setting foot on Blessed, including memory loss, odd encounters with islanders and deja vu. He desperately wants to figure out why his experiences feel familiar and why Merle feels...right. It's only when he makes a discovery on the island that everything comes to light and Marcus Sedgwick takes us back in time, one chapter after another, to other life experiences, and makes you question whether or not Fate and Destiny truly exist. 
 Part of the delight in this novel is figuring it out. I spent the first half of Midwinterblood trying to understand what I was reading, which, I'll admit, did frustrate me, but once I began piecing it all together, I was absolutely delighted with the story. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to find out what would happen next. It's an exceptionally fast read, even considering the deep and thought-provoking content. 
 I don't really want to give away anything about the plot, because I think that would ruin the story for anyone reading it. I truly think that the reader needs to go into Midwinterblood raw, to be able to fully appreciate the way the tale unfolds with each page turned. I will tell you that Midwinterblood is about Love and Fate and Destiny; and that sometimes we are simply drawn to a pre-determined path that has been laid out before us until we complete it. 
 Once I turned the last page, I was in awe. It was magical.