The Winter Sister

After picking up this book solely on a whim because I fell in love with the cover after I saw it as a possible Book of the Month add on, I am glad to say that I liked it and enjoyed it immensely. Of course, there were things about it that I wasn't particularly thrilled about but in general it was a satisfying reading experience and I will be checking out Megan Collins' other books, even though I've never heard about her work before. It's nice how sometimes you stumble upon authors you would have never come across, totally by accident and maybe partial luck.

First of, The Winter Sister is about a woman named Sylvie, who is drawn back to her hometown because her mother is sick with cancer and she is the only one who can take care of her. This is the same place, where sixteen years ago, her sister Persephone was strangled and the murdered never found. I have read storylines like this one before so it wasn't the most unique in regards to that but I think that the writing and the beautifully complicated relationship that the heroine has with her mother is one of the best I have ever come across in a novel. That's what really bumped the story up to four stars for me and kept me reading and engaged. The pacing it also decent but is somewhat brought down by the rather predictable story.

Secondly, the characterization in this book is probably what I loved the most about it. I loved that all of the characters were flawed and human and it definitely made them very relatable, even in some aspects. And as I have mentioned already, the relationship between Sylvie and her mother was portrayed and brought to life beautifully and it gave me chills because there were so many aspects that I could see in my own relationship with my mother. I have always felt that the relationship between mother and daughter is the most complicated one of all and this book masterfully brings the intricacies of such a fragile thing to life. That's really what made me tear through the book and what I found the most meaningful.

Finally, the writing style was on the higher end for me. It was beautiful and yet it wasn't overdone or made to be longer then necessary. It got the story beautifully across and the meaning behind everything and yet it didn't feel tedious reading it, not even for one second. It felt sophisticated without being too complicated for me to grasp fully the first time I read it. I will definitely be checking out the author's other works exactly for this very reason.

In conclusion, even though I didn't love this book, I definitely enjoyed it. It isn't the most exciting thriller mystery I have ever read but there is a strong mother/daughter relationship in it and I thought it carried the whole book pretty much. I would recommend it to someone looking for a meaningful book with meaningful connections between characters and not necessarily to someone looking for an exciting, “on-the-edge-of-your-seat” type of read.

Quick, easy read. Enjoyable but not thrilling or suspenseful. Main character was tiresome at some points with constant repetition but overall it was an ok story.