My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

My take: Girl in Snow was a strong debut, a story of three characters whose lives connect around the murder of a teenage girl. I was most interested in the larger questions posed by the story: namely, what effect do our actions--even unconscious ones--have on others? and In what way is our own story, consciously shaped, carefully lived, dependent on the whims of others?

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka is a recommended murder mystery, highly for the right reader, that focuses on character studies of three individuals.

The body of 15-year-old Lucinda Hayes, a popular high school student, is discovered on a playground in Broomsville, a quiet Colorado town. Girl in Snow follows the investigation through three different characters: Cameron, Jade, and Russ. Ninth-grader Cameron Whitley was obsessed with Lucinda and stalked her, often watching her house at night. He also did numerous drawings of her. Did Cameron's love for her somehow result in violence? Jade Dixon-Burns, an overweight 16-year-old with acne and an abusive mother, hated Lucinda for stealing her babysitting job and her best friend. Russ Fletcher is a local police officer who is on the case. He promised his former disgraced partner, Cameron's missing dad, that he'd look out for Cameron, but he is unsure if this is possible. Russ's ex-con brother-in-law, Ivan, is the overnight janitor at the school and also a suspect.

Chapters in the novel switch between these three narrators and the bulk of the action is set over a three day period. The murder mystery part of the novel is downplayed in favor of the careful scrutiny of the thoughts, actions, and past events in the lives of Cameron, Jade, and Russ, whether it all relates to the mystery or not. This makes for an interesting character study but becomes tedious as solving the murder mystery is exponentially drawn out for far too long in the plot. It almost felt like the end result was an afterthought.

There is also a slight YA feel to the novel, perhaps because of the focus inside the heads of two teens. Cameron's narrative feels dreamy, unfocused, and there are large section of time where he can't remember what happened. Jade's narrative sections also include scenes from plays she is writing based on real life interactions and conversations. She had some big reason's to hate Lucinda and this is fully explored. The end result of focusing on these two teens is that you get a double-portion of teen angst and anxiety, but less murder investigation.

Kukafka is a writer to watch, however, because of the quality of her writing and the portraits she creates of these three individuals. While the novel did feel a bit overlong and drawn out at times due to the dense prose, the skillful character studies also set it apart. This may not quite be the murder mystery you hoped you were picking up, but it is a fine character study and it does provide an answer to the mystery in the end. (3.5 rounded up.)

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/08/girl-in-snow.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2081387783

Danya Kukafka's debut novel revolves around the mysterious death of Lucinda Hayes, a popular Jefferson High teenager. The story is relayed through the perceptions of various classmates and inhabitants of a town called Broomsville.

Girl in Snow is written in the alternating POVs of three complex and introspective characters. As the tale unravels, their hidden thoughts and memories are divulged, along with their connections to each other. It is compelling to see how their lives intersect in the wake of the tragedy.

Jade was a classmate and childhood acquaintance of the murder victim. She has a disgust for people in general and seems to hold a particular disdain for Lucinda. Cameron also went to school with her. He is a voyeur and had been documenting her every move in the form of drawings. He was seen watching her the night she died. Russ is a cop with strong ties to two of the suspects, one of which is Cameron. Although she is not alive, Lucinda's presence is always there - ethereal and intangible.

Kukafka's writing is beautifully descriptive and a touch surreal. The book is not just about a murder. There is a delicateness to this study of a small town, the secrets it holds and its residents, set against the backdrop of a chilly Colorado winter. Girl in Snow is addictive, haunting and sublime in it's entirety. It kept me hooked until the last page.

Kukafka deserves the kudos she has received for this debut novel. It's a mystery and not all at the same time. Lucinda's murder is the centerpiece of this character study of teens and others in a small town- the pressures, troubles, triumphs. worries, concerns, and so on. This isn't an easy or light book (which makes it perhaps not the most obvious summer choice) but it's one which will keep you thinking. It's also a hard one to review without spoilers. I liked the alternating chapters which allowed you to see the situation from multiple viewpoints. Cameron and Jade and Russ all link together- you might like one more than the others, or find one more sympathetic, but all of them are incredibly real and readable. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Two thumbs up!

Going in, the only thing I knew about this book was that it was a thriller. And it was one of the best kinds of thrillers because it was unique from many of the other thrillers I've read.

Thanks so much to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.

The story follows a few characters' perspectives after the murder of Lucinda Hayes, an idyllic and beloved high schooler. Her death shakes the whole community, including Cameron, the boy who loved her from afar; Jade, the girl who loved her boyfriend; and Russ, one of the detectives working the case. As the town tries to piece together what happened to Lucinda, the three narrators come to terms with their own interwoven lives and the secrets they've been keeping.

I think this book is quite unique because usually when you get a crime thriller, you get one, maybe two perspectives, and usually from characters immediately affected by the death, the family, the significant other, the best friend. So rarely do you see people as distant away from the victim.

Kukafka's writing style was phenomenal. You could really tell that she knew the weight of her words and chose them carefully. There were a few times where I just had to take a minute to fully appreciate the diction and story as a written piece of art. It's been a while since the writing of a book has drawn me in this much, I know that just based on her writing style alone, this won't be my last experience with Kukafka.

Each narrator had their own life outside of the murder and we got snippets of that throughout the book. Russ's relationship with his wife and her family who had come to America, when Russ first joined the force, he trained with Cameron's dad, Lee. Cameron's father left a few years back, leaving Cameron and his mother on their own. Jade and her sister live with an abusive mother and indifferent father. Each of these characters gets a story without taking away from the main story of Lucinda. Normally, I find these separate storylines detract from the story but, in this case, Kukafka does a fantastic job of making it work.

By the end of the story, when we find out what really happened to Lucinda, part of me was mad at myself because it was the easy answer. I briefly thought about it being a possibility but brushed it off as being too simple. But, as Kukafka shows us, sometimes the simple, classic answer is the best one. By the end, I wasn't reading the book to find the killer, I was reading the book to connect with the characters.

I found myself most connected to Cameron. Each night, after everyone was asleep, he would sneak out of his room and just walk around the neighbourhood. He'd observe his neighbours as they were in their homes, but not in a creepy, stalker way. I know it seems like that, but I think we all have that side of us that observes and imagines. You can never truly know those around you, but Cameron wants to try. I thought this was a less sinister version of Joe's watching in YOU by Caroline Kepnes.

This is one of those books that you can and will read again and again. You'll become enchanted by the story, not noticing every detail the first time through. You'll want to read it again, find clues that you missed, highlight favourite quotes again and again. It's one of those books and for me, it's been so long since I read one like that.

Overall, a new favourite for me, highly, highly recommend.

When requesting this book I was expecting it to be a mystery of finding out who the killer was, instead it was more of an account of 3 characters. I was a little disappointed when I realised it wasn't the story I was hoping for when reading the description. I wish I had gone into this books blind, as I think I would have enjoyed it more. When I had got to grips of the type of book I was reading it became much more enjoyable and turned from a 3* book to 3.5*. Thanks to NetGalley for this Copy.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. I have seen this book every where and I was immediately drawn to it because the cover is so stunning. However, I just was not invested in this one. There's not much of a mystery here, it's more of an in depth character study concerning Cameron, Jade and Russ. Everyone in this book is incredibly damaged and struggling but I never really felt engaged with any of the characters. I felt sorry for Cameron at times.... it was very apparent he needed some major psychological intervention and Jade's volatile home situation was heart breaking to read. This book is certainly written in a unique manner and very different from anything I have read lately but in the end that wasn't enough to sustain the story for me.. 2.5 stars.

The Girl in the Snow by Danya Kukafka is a murder mystery, but a murder mystery with so much more. The story is set in a small town in Colorado. The title of the story comes from Lucinda Hayes, a 15 year old girl who is found murdered at a playground. What sets this story apart are the characters and the way they are developed.

The story is told through 3 different view points, each chapter named after the which character is portrayed in that chapter. Russ and Cameron are third person and Jade’s chapters are first person. It’s an interesting technique and it works well in the story.

Russ is a police officer who is set to investigate the murder. We learn about his relationship with a man who used to be his partner. A man who was Cameron’s father. A man who did something bad and is no longer in the picture. Russ is married to Ines and the difficulties in their marriage bring another element to the story.

Though I don’t remember if it is specifically mentions it, but Cameron is probably somewhere on the autism spectrum. He gets obsesses with certain things and has rituals that he uses to help him “untangle.” One of the things he is obsessed with his Lucinda, the murdered girl. This puts him at the top of the suspect list.

The last main character is Jade, who we hear from first person. Jade is the opposite of Lucinda. If Lucinda is the golden girl, Jade is the tarnished girl. She leads an unhappy life with an abusive mother. One of the best quirks about Jade are the little dialogues that she makes up - a what you wished you could say - kind of thing.

This was an especially impressive book, especially when you consider it was a debut novel. The characters are extremely fleshed out and each one unique. I look forward to reading more from Danya Kukafka.

I received an ARC of this book.

I don't really know where to begin on reviewing this book.

The story was not what I was expecting..it has a different outlook than what I'm used to with murder mysteries. The story is heavily character driven between 3 unseeminly connected people...it was written with such in depth inner thoughts it was hard to put down.

I really enjoyed reading this story

'Girl in Snow' combined many things that I like while being a fresh new read that I can see myself rereading some time in the future.

The book centers around Lucinda Hayes, a beautiful and seemingly perfect 15-years-old who is found murdered on a playground. The story is told from different POV and every one of them added something unique to the story. There's Cameron, a neighborhood boy who stalks Lucinda, and Jade, a girl attending the same school and competing with Lucinda for the same babysitter job. Both of them seem to know Lucinda and certainly assume that the image they came up with is the real Lucinda.
The last POV was Russ, a local police officer responsible for solving the murder case. I liked his chapters a lot because there's a certain melancholy within his relationship with his wife that I liked to get to know more about.

Of course, the murder plays a huge role but believe me when I say the author managed to paint a small-town, white-picket-fence atmosphere that drew me in completely. You get the feeling early on that there's more to it than what meets the eye. Surely, there are secrets hidden away and most of them are quite shocking. To be honest, once you make it to the final solution it's not really that spectacular but I like to believe that the author wanted you to lose yourself in the story rather than solving a murder mystery. Great read - I'm glad I got the chance to read it.

2.5⭐, rounded up. I was given an advanced copy of this book by the publisher through NetGalley.

The girl in the title is dead, and I am a bit creeped out now by that eye (her eye?) looking at me from the cover.

A high school girl, Lucinda, has been found murdered, a layer of snow covering her body. The background story and the reveal are told slowly through three perspectives: Cameron, an odd boy who essentially was Lucinda's stalker; Jade, a girl who seemingly hated Lucinda but envied her life; and Russ, a policeman with a dead end job and marriage. Like I said, the story moved very slowly; and I did not care about or identify with any of the characters. We don't get to know the dead girl well enough to feel much sympathy for her.

I think this was a good first effort that got lost in the quagmire of how to keep the reader interested in a story that lacked substance. There were some nice word choices, and I saw the potential for better books in this author's future.

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka is her debut novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Simon & Schuster, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When the body of high school student Lucinda Hayes is found in the playground of her Colorado town, many lives will be changed. Many people will have to look inside themselves to find their own truths.
Cameron is the boy who loved her from afar. Some would say he stalked her. They had barely spoken, but he spent almost every night outside her window, watching, and he has made many drawings of her. Now she is gone. Cameron doesn’t remember what happened the night Lucinda died.

Jade hated her. Lucinda had the perfect body, the perfect parents, the perfect life, and had taken everything that Jade had loved. Jade never had a chance to tell her. Some secrets may never come to light.

Russ is the policeman who is investigating the murder. He is in a troubled marriage and a job he is not sure he wants. He too has secrets, and promises to keep. Russ is trying to protect the innocent, but he isn’t sure who is guilty. He wonders if his distrust for his brother-in-law is swaying his judgement. Then there is young Cameron, the son of his last partner who fled town after Russ protected him from jail-time.

The story is told from the perspectives of Cameron, Jade and Russ.

Unfortunately, although the plot showed promise, the story moved slowly and lacked any excitement. It was rather depressing. It was not the mystery/thriller I was anticipating. The characters are all rather shallow, including the adults, and the police force is a joke. Things didn’t ring true.

On the other hand, Danya Kukafka is an excellent writer. Her prose and timing is good, and I imagine if the characters were a little deeper, I would have been more impressed. I am sure there are others out there that will disagree with my assessment of the book, but this is only my opinion, so to each their own. I can’t love everything.

3.5 stars

This book was a bit of a slow burn for me, I had a hard time getting invested until about 2/3 of the way through. The only reason I read it as fast as I did was because I was determined to finish it before release day. I didn't really like any of the characters at all; reading from Jade's perspective was probably my favorite of the three. I did, however, enjoy how it all came together at the end. I didn't piece together what was going on but then when it clicked it really clicked and made so much more sense. Overall, not my favorite read of the year but I did like it by the time I finished.

“’You can only see fifty-nine percent of the moon from the earth’s surface. No matter where you go, in the entire world, you’ll only see the same face. That fifty-nine percent.’
“‘Why are you telling me this?’
“’I’m just saying. We know this fact, but it doesn’t stop us from staring.’”

Half a century ago, a young writer named Harper Lee took the literary world by storm with To Kill a Mockingbird, a story that centered itself on justice, on a child trying to do the right thing, and on a strange, misunderstood fellow named Boo Radley.

Today the literary world meets wunderkind Danya Kukafka. Get used to the name, because I suspect you’ll be seeing a lot of it. Her story also revolves around misunderstood characters with dark pasts, and a small town’s often misdirected quest to see justice done and safety restored.

Thank you Simon and Schuster and also Net Galley for inviting me to read and review in exchange for this honest review. I’ve read and reviewed a lot of galleys this summer, but right now this is the only one I want to talk about.

So back to our story. We have three narratives, all from unhappy characters, all of them watching, watching, watching. Our protagonist is Cameron Whitley, a troubled, “Tangled” adolescent that has spent his evenings secretly following a popular, attractive classmate named Lucinda. He watches her through the windows of her house. He stares at her in her bedroom, and he does other things, too. Cameron has a troubled past, his father gone now after a storm of controversy destroyed his reputation and left his family hanging in tatters. And now that Lucinda is dead, the investigators have to look hard at Cameron. We do, too. We can see that Cameron is grieving, but of course, people often grieve the people they have killed. Grief doesn’t always denote innocence.

“Cameron stood outside Maplewood Memorial and wondered how many bodies it held that did not belong to Lucinda. How many blue, unbending thumbs. How many jellied hearts.”

As the story proceeds, we hear a third person omniscient narrative of Cameron, though it doesn’t choose to tell us everything. Not yet. We also hear two alternate narratives, those of Jade, Cameron’s classmate, and of Russ, the cop that was Cameron’s father’s partner before things unraveled.

Jade is friendless and frustrated, an overweight teen with iffy social skills, unhappy in love. Her home life is disastrous, her alcoholic mother monstrously abusive. Jade could be out of that house in a New York minute if she’d out her mother, but instead she turns her anger toward herself. After all, she provokes her mother. The bruises, the cuts, the blackened eye all signs that she has pushed her mom too far.

And so, bereft of healthier peer relationships, Jade watches Cameron watch Lucinda. She doesn’t have to leave home to do it; she has a box seat, so to speak, at her bedroom window. Standing there and looking down on a good clear night, she can see Cameron sequestered behind the bushes or trees, and she can see Lucinda, who doesn’t seem to know what curtains and window blinds are for. Ultimately Jade befriends Cameron, who is frankly afraid to trust her. And he may be right.

Russ is the third main character whose narrative we follow. As a child, he always thought it would be awesome to carry a gun and put handcuffs on bad guys:

“He memorized the Mirandas…playing with a toy cop car on the back porch…Russ had a lisp as a kid. You have the wight to wemain siwent.”

So his dream has come true; why isn’t he a happier man? Again and again we see the ugly things Russ does and the ugly reasons he does them, but just as it appears he’s going to become a stereotypic character, Kukafka adds nuance and ambiguity, and we see that underneath that swinish exterior is the heart of…no, not a lion. He’s really not that great a guy. But we see his confusion, his dilemmas, the aspects of his “bruised yellow past” that motivate him. He isn’t a hero, but he is capable of loving, and of doing good. And he doesn’t want to frame a kid for Lucinda’s murder, especially not his partner’s kid. He wants to know the truth.

Interesting side characters are Russ’s wife, Ines, and Ines’s brother Ivan, the school custodian that is caught in the crosshairs of the investigation.

Ultimately, though, the story is about Cameron, and Kukafka’s electrifying prose makes my thoughts roll back and forth like a couple dozen tennis balls left on deck when the ship hits choppy seas. Poor Cameron! He didn’t do this…and then, whoa, Cameron is seriously creepy here. Maybe he actually did it. I spend much of my time trying to decipher how deeply troubled this lad is—those of us in education and other fields that work with teenagers would undoubtedly deem him an ‘at-risk’ child—and how far he has gone.

Is Cameron the Boo Radley of 2017, misunderstood and falsely vilified; or is he a Gary Gilmore, a John Wayne Gacy?

Clearly, I’m not going to tell you. That would ruin it for you. The one thing I will say is that the ending is not left ambiguous. This isn’t the sort of book you throw across the room when you’ve read the last page.

In addition, know that there is plenty of edgy material here. Those considering offering this book to a teen as summer reading may wish to read it themselves before passing it on. I would cheerfully have handed it to my own teens, but your standards and mine may differ.

If you can read this book free or at a reduced price, lucky you. If you have to pay full freight: do it. Do it. Do it. It's for sale today.

Danya Kukafka’s debut thriller slowly drew me in and held me captive until the last page. More than a mystery, Girl in Snow is a character study of three individuals:

Cameron, the peculiar but gifted artist who, as the neighborhood’s Peeping Tom, has fallen in love with Lucinda Hayes through windows. His actions have led to those in town referring to him as Lucinda’s stalker; so when Lucinda’s body is found blanketed by the falling snow, it is Cameron that seems the most likely suspect.

Officer Fletcher, who is investigating the death of Lucinda Hayes but also trying to keep the promise he gave his ex-partner and friend that he would look after his son, Cameron, when he was gone.

Jade, neighbor of Cameron, who would sometimes watch Cameron watching Lucinda and wonder what he could possibly see in the girl that Jade hated so vehemently.

In the small sleepy town of Broomsville, Colorado, everyone is reeling from the death of “golden girl” Lucinda Hayes; but through the POVs of three fascinating characters, well-kept secrets come to light, and what they know about people in their little town will come as a shock – and one person you think is a liar may be the only one telling the truth.

The author’s writing is beautiful and compelling; and I really enjoyed this story, as well as the many layers of the characters, the red herrings, and the gradual and unique plot. Though the characters were heartbreaking and there can be no happy ending when a young girl has been murdered, I will say I left my favorite characters better than I found them; and that is something important for me as the reader. Girl in Snow is a very different and equally fascinating novel, and I look forward to more books from Danya Kukafka.

DNF. I'm not the right audience for this book. Sometimes that happens. I'd rather not write a review when I'm unable to finish the book.

2.5 stars. Extremely slow moving. In fact, there is not an awful lot happening in this at all. Most of the time is spent inside the heads of three characters (Cameron, Jade and Russ) who for different reasons struggle to fit in and are isolated within their small Colorado community. Young Cameron was obsessed with Lucinda and used to sneak out at night to watch her. Jade didn't like Lucinda because Lucinda was popular and pretty, and Jade isn't. Russ, a local middle-aged police officer, is helping with the investigation into who killed Lucinda on the local playground while simultaneously struggling with his own feelings and links with those involved.
The actual mystery of who was responsible for Lucinda's death was not difficult to figure out, and was actually secondary. The story seemed more about the difficulties of meeting expectations, fitting in and simply growing up. In that sense it certainly had a young adult feel to it, which I usually enjoy. But here I never felt invested in any of the characters. It's not that I found them unlikable, but I simply didn't care very much about them. They were all lost and damaged, but there was nothing unique or interesting about them. This is a book for readers who enjoy literary writing. The prose is undoubtedly eloquent, but it also turned into dreary reading at times. Didn't quite deliver what it promised.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.

I was curious about this book after seeing a review from another blogger about it, and it seemed to me that the book was a study of human relationships and complex personalities, with a death of a girl as its background. And yes, that is exactly what the story was like. It's a mystery with characters full of secrets, and it starts with a 15-year-old girl dead in the snow, but it's not a thriller.

My first thought when I started reading Girl in Snow was that maybe it would be similar to Everything I never told you, and there are some parallels indeed: they both start with a girl who is dead, both books are not whodunits, and also they study more the characters touched by the tragedy than the death of the girl. Keeping that in mind, I quite enjoyed this novel.

It's quite good for commuting, since the chapters aren't too long and the book itself is around 300 pages long. But the most interesting part, for me, were the characters. They are all twisted, broken and dark, and although I personally detested Cameron (far too creepy) and didn't like Russ either, I was fascinated by some of the characters' back stories. None of them were likable, although I am not sure Kukafka meant them to be. For me, this gave the book some charm - you dislike them all, but you still want to know who they are and what they hide.

Since I am a sucker for books about not-so-perfect marriages, I must confess the Russ & Inés parts were most interesting to me, along with the parts where Cynthia appeared.

If Girl in Snow had been written as a literary work or a thriller or both, it would've been really good. Its execution felt like it's somewhere in between, and it lacked both instead of being a nice mixture. The ending was also a bit disappointing, although I won't go into detail here not to spoil anything. Despite the story being slow paced, I found the book quite quick to read.

All in all, I liked the book, and I would like to read more of the author in the future.

Veredict: This book is entertaining and a good choice if you're looking for a slow-paced mystery which uncovers the stories of characters. If you like dark, broken characters, you might really enjoy this! If you prefer crime thrillers and whodunits, this is not for you.

Disclaimer: Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed below are my own.

It’s early in the morning, and a fresh blanket of snow has just covered a sleepy suburb in Colorado. All is calm until the body of high school student Lucinda Hayes is found on the playground. When the popular and beloved girl is found murdered on school grounds, her entire community is shaken to its core. In the days following Lucinda’s death, we follow the aftermath through the alternating perspectives of three specific people: the boy that loved her from afar, the girl that was jealous of her, and the officer investigating her murder. Through their collective eyes, we learn more about how Lucinda has forever connected them together.

The narrators are unreliable, the perspective shifts, and the ending hits you out of nowhere. I have a lot of thoughts on Danya Kukafka’s debut novel, Girl in Snow (out today!), and I’ll tell you all about this chilling novel as you read more.

I first picked Girl in Snow up thinking it was a murder-mystery, but instead found myself diving deeper into the lives of the three narrators. Character-driven, this novel focuses on the unrequited love, the forgotten friendships, and a past that seems to haunt each and every person. Lucinda is not the center of the story, but she is the connecting thread among each storyline. It’s not until the very end that you find out exactly how deep the connection is and what happened to Lucinda.

This wasn’t my most favorite read in the thriller/mystery genre. Dividing the narrative into three separate perspectives was distracting. I had to go back several times to see who was narrating the section I was reading so I could keep the characters and their stories straight. I never knew until the last moment who Lucinda’s killer was, and I think you’ll be shocked as well. There were some details about characters that were shared that left me questioning exactly why it was included as I read it, but once I finished reading all of the pieces fell into place. I finally understood. This is one of those books you just have to wait until the end to find out if you like it or not. My only wish is that we would get more information about Lucinda to be a bit more invested in her connection with the rest of the characters.

While the narrative structure may not be my forte, I fell in love with Kukafka’s turn of phrase. She is another author I would add to the Wordsmith Club (you know, that club I just created…) for some of her lines that I just had to highlight to save for later. Her attention to detail does not go unnoticed.

“Photography was about capturing moments other people had missed. Photography never worked on Lucinda. She couldn’t be reduced to a single second.”

I think the same sentiment could be applied to Kufafka’s attitude toward writing. She uses her writing to capture moments other people have missed, and I’d like to think that those details I mentioned earlier are reworked into her writing as fiction based in reality.

Girl in Snow will give you plenty of mystery and just enough of a thrill to keep you engaged and entertained. This read is not for everyone, but I think those that like to get “the rest of the story” rather than just the story of the crime itself will enjoy it.

TL/DR: Girl in Snow is a murder-mystery that is not so much about the murder and is more about the relationships surrounding the murdered girl.
Rating: ⅗ stars

You have done something wrong, it said to him. You have done something very wrong.

This isn't a mystery. By the strictest definition, yes, it absolutely is a mystery. But this isn't the whodunnit it seems to be. Yes, the story begins with the death of a young girl. Beautiful and popular, liked well enough.

Who Killed the Girl in the Snow?

Well, we have the most obvious candidate. Cameron, her "stalker". A very troubled young man, with an equally troubling family history.

Then there's Jade, a girl with her own subscription full of issues, with her personal reasons for not being sad at the loss of Lucinda Hayes.

The story is told from these two teenaged perspectives, along with Russ Fletcher, the police officer reluctantly pulled into the investigation into Lucinda's death. Russ Fletcher, who has too many connections to this case, too many skeletons he's desperately trying to keep in his closet.

Who Killed the Girl in the Snow?

Does it matter? Not really.

People who enjoy mysteries can often develop the ability to find the whodunnit very quickly. For a lot of us, we stub our toes on the red herring, but rarely ever fall for them. It's based on reading experience. It's clearly not this one, because of this. It's definitely not that one, because of that. Now, this character here has literally no reason to be the Big Bad, except for this.

I was just under 50% done when I realized whodunnit. And as it turns out, it really doesn't matter. There's no build up in this book, no mustache twirling, no hint of danger that the killer is going to realize the game is up and they have to kill to protect themselves.

This is a character study. This book isn't about Lucinda Hayes. She's just the vehicle, the catalyst. She's the universe these characters are encircling, the reason their personal demons have come out to dance. The reason crossed paths are uncovered.

It's actually very interesting, it's just not quite what's offered on the tin.

I find Cameron to be the least compelling character in the book. In fact, his father is far more interesting, and we get more of him in Russ's storyline. Cameron is hard to get through because he is such a damaged creature. You feel for him, deeply. But the stalker angle is disturbing. There's no getting around that. There's a certain creep factor that can't be ignored.

Jade is your typical teenager, with forced cynicism and deep personal pain. We get a few trope throw-ins, but the most attention getting part, for me, was her relationship with Zap. Zap, who was Lucinda's boyfriend when Jade was still desperately in love with him. Zap, whose origin story is so sweet and lovely, but who broke Jade's heart in just the worst way possible.

Jade's chapters were more interesting than Cameron's. Her interstitials, "What you want to say but can't without being a dick" screenplays, say everything about her, and about her very real pain. She was stereotypical and unique all folded into one. So, actually, a pretty well written teenager.

Russ was, for me, the most interesting of the characters. Does that say something about my age? I read YA, get off my back. He's in a marriage that is not loveless, but passionless. He and his wife Ines, it's sad because they're both good people. There's no blame in this failing, flailing, drowning marriage. It was doomed from the start, for more reasons than one. It's extremely hard to read, because it's real, and it's painful.

Russ has secrets. And they're tearing him apart. And I found the ending to his story the satisfying part, not the reveal, or the take down.

There's so much in here about how these lives are intertwined. Lucinda is barely a two-dimensional character. She's dead. She's remembered by those left behind how they want to remember her, saint or whore. Ni santas, ni putas, solo mujeres. We don't know her. But we know all of these people.

We know that Russ promised Cameron's father he would keep him safe. We know he didn't protect Cameron's mother, as he wanted to and should have. We know Jade met Querida, a woman who didn't realize she was in love until it was pointed out to her. We know Cameron's only friend is a night janitor, a flawed man who loves his sister and preaches a religion about love, not evil.

Seriously, there's so much beauty in this book, but it's a hard book to pin down, to define. It makes for a read that's hard to find satisfying.

Do I think people should give it a try? Absolutely. Just know what you're getting into ahead of time. This is a mystery in name only.

Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review