In this spellbinding and suspenseful debut, a young woman haunted by the past returns home to care for her ailing mother and begins to dig deeper into her sister’s unsolved murder.

Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Out too late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder remains unsolved.

In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Worse, Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie’s always believed Ben was responsible for the murder—but she carries her own guilt about that night, guilt that traps her in the past while the world goes on around her.

As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house—and what really happened the night Persephone died. As it turns out, the truth really will set you free, once you can bear to look at it.

The Winter Sister is a mesmerizing portrayal of the complex bond between sisters, between mothers and daughters alike, and forces us to ask ourselves—how well do we really know the people we love most?

My Thoughts
Five stars all the way
Wow just wow
First off I would defiantly recommend this book to my friends.
It's as suspenseful as I was hoping for as well as having that dark twisted I love in books.
Because as soon as I started reading I couldn't stop , it pulled me in to the story and had me hooked from the very beginning and wouldn't let go because I had to know what happened and why .
It even made me question wither Sylvie and Persephone had anything to do with Persephone's murder or if she some how know who did it because she was keeping secrets from the sister's, and how she played them off against one other .The entire time I was read The Wine Sister I dislike their mother ok ,so it was more then dislike ,I plan out hated her. It also had me question whether Ben was killer and he was other person I didn't like very much as was Persephone because of how she acted tours her mother and sister . Like I said before this book is definitely suspenseful with a dark twist that I didn't see coming .And it seems like everyone has secrets to tell more so than others. It even had me going back and forth between Persephone's mother and her boyfriend on who killed her.Because of how crazy her mother seems and how her boyfriend acts. To find out more you have to read the book.With that said I would love to give a big thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read and review The Winter Sister as well as to Netgalley in change for my honest opinion.Can't wait to see what else this author comes up with.

When Sylvie comes home to care for her mother Annie, she begins asking questions about her sister’s unsolved murder 16 years ago. Sylvie knows Ben, her sister’s boyfriend is guilty, and she plans to prove it. Along the way Sylvie discovers many secrets about her family. This was a good novel that held my interest, and was a quick read. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

4.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for pre approving me for this amazing novel! I read it in one afternoon. It was suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat all afternoon,

I loved this novel so much that I blew off all my family and work responsibilities, turned off my phone (I can’t remember the last time I did that), and just got lost in this amazingly atmospheric world created by Megan Collins. It wasn’t just that I wanted to find out what happened (although I did), but that I was so entranced by everything about the novel—these intense, complex characters, the haunting lyricism of the prose, the twisty plot, the psychological insights into guilt, grief, and passionate love—that I wanted the joy of reading this novel to continue.

My favorite part of this novel is its haunting beauty. It’s mysterious and atmospheric. (I know I said that before, but I can’t emphasize it enough.) One reviewer said she read this novel in the summer heat and yet felt chilled. That’s exactly how I felt! I’m not sure how Megan Collins manages to produce this effect. It’s the voice and the setting and the careful language, all combined in a way that perfectly matches the cover—eerie, but beautiful, too, and ethereal. There’s a particular image of a constellation that we return to again and again, which is the perfect visual for the feel of this novel: beautiful, but sad and mysterious, dark but with sparks of light throughout.

The premise of the novel alone is enough to hook you in and keep you enthralled. Persephone was murdered 16 years ago as a teenager, and her younger sister Sylvie has now returned home to take care of her mother, who fell apart, started drinking, and withdrew from Sylvie and the rest of the world when Persephone died. Now at home, Sylvie can try to figure out the mystery of why her sister died (along with the who and the how), and also try to reconnect with her mother. I want to stay far away from spoiler territory, so I can’t go into the intricacies of how Megan Collins brilliantly weaves and twists various plot threads, but suffice it to say that it’s brilliantly done and that the ending is very satisfying.

I also loved the moments of interiority that help us to understand the characters, especially Sylvie. The characters are all deep in grief, and they all carry a lot of guilt over the role they think they played in Persephone’s death. These emotions are complex, and the author does an amazing job helping us to understand them and, in some cases, to use that understanding to try to figure out the mystery.

In short, I loved this novel. But let me warn you: once you start this novel, you will have no choice but to put your life on pause for a few days until you finish it. I can’t believe that this is Megan Collins’ first novel, and I hope she has a second one coming out very soon!