This was an ok thriller. Not a "have to read it in 2 days because it's just that good" type but I did like it.
I honestly skipped some chapters just to see if I'd like it more because I wasn't liking it much in the beginning. I'm glad I finished it though because it turned out that I figured out who did it before it was revealed. I was still left wanting a little more from this than I got.

3.5*
Sylvia left her hometown just as soon as she could. Rushing off to College and a new life! Leave her past behind.

Years have slipped by and her mom Annie is quite sick. It’s time for Sylvie to face her past demons, return home and try to help. No choice, really. You see, she’s now the only daughter. He sister Persephone was murdered at the age of 18. The murderer never found, the case long ago dropping from everyone’s radar.

When Sylvie returns home she immediately begins researching the details of her sister’ murder. Along the way even running into Persephone’s old boyfriend, Ben. Are they able to unlock the secrets of the past to find a killer?

I have such mixed feelings about this book.
Where to start?
Well, it was very well written. Had to remind myself it was a debut. But it lacked… something. Depth? Maybe simply...heart? The story-line itself was oh so familiar. Been done several times with just slight variations of the same formula. (Teen girl murdered. Sibling returns to small town and attempts to solve the decade old murder). I just hoped for something a little more...or maybe different.
Overall the writing saved this book for me and I will definitely be reaching for Ms.Collin's next release.

A buddy read with Susanne ❄️

Thank you to Isabel DaSilva at Atria Books via NetGalley, and Megan Collins for an ARC to read and review.

The Winter Sister is a twisted tale of dark secrets. The story of murder, family drama and guilt kept me up until 4am reading. I suspected everyone, crossed them off my list but then would come back to them as the story continued.
Thank you to the publisher and Megan Collins for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

„The Winter Sisters“ manages to be an enjoyable and entertaining read although it is completely predictable and full of unlikable characters.

Sylvie returns to her hometown to care for her mother who is ill with cancer. They lost contact after the murder of her older sister Persephone sixteen years ago. Her mother was devastated and began drinking. She completely forgot about her remaining daughter Sylvie. Sylvie is still haunted by the death of her sister and her own role in this terrible event. While she is with her mother for her treatment she meets Ben, Persephone’s boyfriend. Sylvie always thought that he was the one who killed her sister. He was the last person who saw her alive. But slowly she begins to unravel some secrets as she sees suddenly the events with the eyes of an adult.

The story is not very new and you can predict most of the twist. It is about the most complicated relationships you can have in your life: family. Sylvie’s mother Annie is the most appalling character. She has a strange idea of love and how to show it. You can easily say that her behavior is unbelievable. But I think it is not so farfetched. Some women are willing to take in a lot for the love of the wrong men. And a lot of mothers messed up the lives of their daughters with their own selfish behavior. Sylvie is in some way finally growing up while figuring out what happened. It is a sad and dark story and it held my interest all the time.

I'm between 3-3.5 stars on this one.

"Demeter had an only daughter, Persephone... the maiden of spring. She lost her and in her terrible grief she withheld her gifts from the earth, which turned into a frozen desert. The green and flowering land was icebound and lifeless because Persephone had disappeared." -Edith Hamilton, Mythology

While this may, at first glance, appear to be a review of a book I found to be mediocre, I assure you it's not. When you read hundreds upon hundreds of psychological thrillers and domestic dramas annually, it becomes excruciatingly difficult to be blown away by novels in this genre. I've found it to be nearly impossible to find a wholly original story, one that I haven't experienced recently and can't call the entire list of plot twists before the first 10% of the book has passed, so please keep that in mind while reading my thoughts here. I did see every twist and turn before they appeared, but it seems I'm in the minority here and could be due to the fact that I've read a few books recently that seem intriguingly similar, right down to the [inclusion of a plot twist where one sister locks the window where the other is unable to enter back inside, thus resulting in that sister's death and the remaining sister's unquenchable guilt. (hide spoiler)]

"It wasn't until years later that I wondered why my mother didn't try to be strong for me, tell me that Persephone was just being Persephone and that she'd be home before we knew it. What did she know right then? What does a mother feel in her bones when her daughter stops breathing?"

I want to take the rest of this review to discuss the things I loved about this book. Readers, the writing is exquisite, debut novel or not, and it was so easy to get lost in the atmospheric vibe that the author sets for us. The cold, brutal temperature of the New England area enhanced the chilly, unsettling family relationships that are portrayed in The Winter Sister. Typically, I struggle with a cast of nearly completely unlikeable characters, but somehow Collins made it work. She drew me in with her compulsive dialogue, her unsettling past vs present narrative, and her raw, unflinching look at various forms of abuse. I felt that the author really took a stand by the end of the book on making sure the reader knows how absolutely, positively not ok ANY type of abuse is, and how it's NEVER too late to remove yourself from a toxic relationship. The ending was so satisfying, because we receive a realistic balance of redemption and heavy, traumatic background that needs to be worked through. If this is the author's debut novel, I am beyond giddy to see what she throws our way next. Her writing shows no limit to how far she can go, and Collins will stay on my list of up and coming authors to follow in the coming years.

3.5 Stars* (rounded down)

Family Dysfunction and Secrets Run Rampant!

Growing up together, Sylvie and her sister Persephone were close as they could be, thick as thieves if you must know. One night, Persephone goes missing, and is then found murdered days later, her death remaining an unsolved mystery. Thereafter, their family falls apart and Sylvie takes off, only to return when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Upon her return, Sylvie is determined to find her sister’s killer and get justice.

What Sylvie didn’t plan for however, is the complexities of her relationship with dear old mom, whose secrets go beyond anything Sylvie could ever have imagined. The truth is that Sylvie has quite a few secrets of her own, secrets she’d rather keep hidden, if she had her druthers. Is there a way for her to solve her sister’s murder and keep these things hidden?

“The Winter Sisters” is a slow moving, well written novel with an intricate plot. It is told both in the past and in the present, with the past storyline being my favorite. While certain elements of this story are predictable, it is still an enjoyable read. This is a fictional novel which showcases family dysfunction. The secrets and the lies kept me gripped to the pages, wondering what they were and if and when they’d come out. Well done, Megan Collins!

This was a buddy read with Kaceey!

Thank you to Isabel DaSilva at Atria Books, NetGalley and to Megan Collins for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 1.20.19.

This books is very intriguing. After Sylvie’s sister is murdered she gets as far away from her hometown as she can. Then she gets a call to come home and take care of her mother who has cancer. Sylvie feels a lot of guilt over her sisters death and that the murder was never solved. The book follows Sylvie as she confronts her past and tries to solve her sisters murder. There are many twists and just when you think you have the murder solved, the plot twists again! I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

The Winter Sister
by Megan Collins
due 2-5-2019
Touchstone/ Simon & Schuster
4.5 / 5.0

Sixteen years ago in Spring Hill, Connecticut, young Persephone went missing for 3 days, and once her body was recovered, it became a murder case that was never settled or closed.
Slyvie, Persephone's sister, a tattoo artist in Rhode Island, returns to Spring Hill to care for her mother while undergoing chemo therapy for cancer.
Absorbing and suspenseful, I immediately felt an interest
in the characters and was drawn into Persephone's murder, Sylvies secrets and past and their mother, Annie's dysfunctional lifestyle and cancer. It felt as if I was reading about people I knew, with brilliant twists and surprises that kept the story fresh and the momentum fast. Complicated, obsessive and totally accessible, this is a story of secrets, consequences and a study of how each of use respond and react to tragedy.
Great story, looking forward to more from Megan Collins.
Thanks to Touchstone and Megan Collins for this e-book ARC for review.
#NetGalley #TheWinterSister

A wonderful debut mystery, this one grabbed me from the get go. Sylvie’s sister died in high school and she carries the guilt of her role in the death around like a stone around her neck. Years later, her mother, who had depression issues even before her sister’s death, is an alcoholic dying of cancer. Sylvie returns home to take care of her mother.

Sylvie is a wonderful character. I loved that after college she became a tattoo artist. “It was creative, it required thought and skill, and it generated a considerable feeling of power; the tattoo artist, I soon learned, was not only the inflictor of pain, the drawer of blood, but also, on a good day, the fulfiller of dreams.” And I could totally relate to her. Her mom hasn’t been a mother to her, yet it still falls to her to return home and take care of her. I totally get that guilt, that sense of forced obligation. And the secrets! Sylvie knows nothing of her mom’s history.

The writing here is gorgeous, not at all typical for a psychological thriller. “She was a different person - no longer the sun, as shed once seemed, but a cloud, one that always held the threat of a storm, and I knew very well how much it hurt to love somebody like that.”

And the tension here is perfect. I kept finding an excuse to read one more chapter, just to see what the next twist would be. There’s lots going on here -all the lies, the guilt, the overwhelming grief. This book totally gets how we can make mistakes when we’re too young to know better, but still find it so hard to forgive ourselves.

The mystery is easier to suss out than some. But this book is really about the emotions more than the crime.

My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

I love sister mysteries, so I was very excited to receive an ARC to read this one (thank you!). Sadly, the story did not work well for me. I am finding with recent mysteries that I often struggle with the voices and antics of teenage protagonists in mysteries - perhaps I am just getting too old ;)

Initially, I thought that even though I did not connect with the teenage Sylvie, this may change when the story changed to an adult Sylvie. However, I found myself struggling to feel anything for Sylvie throughout the whole story, which took a lot of the emotional connection away for me (and therefore a lot of enjoyment). All characters seem strangely disconnected, their emotions often difficult to understand. I understand suppressed grief, and that Sylvie's wounds regarding her sister's death would be reopened when she returned home to look after her ailing mother, but somehow the turmoil and pain never quite shone through for me. Her relationship with Ben was weird and made even less sense.

It's hard to put my finger on any particular thing as to why I did not enjoy the book. Lack of emotional connection was one reason, and the lack of suspense or sense of danger was another. There was very little about the mystery to grab me and keep me interested. Yes, we do have a dead teenager, whose murder has never been solved. However, since I was not emotionally connected to either the dead girl nor her family, I did not much care to find out the answers. I felt that I wanted more! An underlying sense of threat and danger, a tug on my heartstrings, anything to keep me invested.

I concede that at this time, the book just wasn't a good fit for me, even though I am sure that the mystery will appeal to other readers. Such is life! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

There has been a lot of buzz around The Winter Sister, and with a just cause. I simply couldn’t resist this title when I was sent a personal invitation to read it and I saw one of my favorite thriller writers Megan Miranda recommended it... My intuition didn't fail me, because this story was without doubt a very solid read. Part family drama, part cold case murder, part psychological thriller, The Winter Sister has a little bit of everything and combined in such a way that makes for a perfect mystery cocktail everyone will love. The writing style is engaging and solid and will manage to draw you in from the very first page. I really liked the structure of this story, switching between 16 years ago and the present and done in such a way that keeps building up the suspense and intrigue without things becoming confusing. This story is about what happened to Persephone, but also the effects it had and still has on those close to her. The character development is very well done and feels realistic. It is interesting to see the different characters interact and change over time while you learn more about the past and how everyone fits on the board. While I did see part of the final twists coming, there were also things I hadn't guessed and that's always a great feeling. The family drama is well balanced out with the cold case investigation and other secrets and plot twists, making The Winter Sister an intriguing and satisfying read. Fans of the genre will have a great time with this one!

My instincts told me I was in for a treat with this one and it turns out they were right. The Winter Sister offers us a well balanced mix of a family drama, cold case murder and psychological thriller with a focus on the complicated relationships between mother and daughters alike. The writing is solid and the plot well crafted and interestingly developed. The switches between past and present added to the intrigue and suspense around Persephone's death and the truth what really happened to her... There are a lot of secrets and twists to discover, and while I did see some of them coming, others managed to surprise me. All in all The Winter Sister was a very satisfying read fans of the genre will love.

The Winter Sister is a disturbing family drama/thriller. It was well written and had a plotline/twist that seemed new (to me at least). I am having a hard time elaborating on my feelings for this book. It was OK. It was an entertaining read for the most part, and I was motivated to finish. However, it did not completely grip me (as I read it over a month while reading other things), and it offered nothing to my life beyond entertainment. It's probably a good read for most people who enjoy this genre. I did enjoy the main character and her feelings/motivations/actions seemed realistic for such a situation.

The Winter Sister wasn’t something I planned on reading straight through, or even so long before release (I read this back in November) but after downloading I was in the mood for a mystery and I thought I’d open it up and read a few pages. I ended up reading straight through until 2am to finish. I was pulled into Sylvie’s story, the mystery of her sister’s murder, and I had to find out what happened then and how it would all turn out in the present.

Sixteen years ago, eighteen-year-old Persephone stuck out the window to meet her boyfriend, never came home and was found dead three days later, and fourteen-year-old Sylvie’s world is turned upside-down. Their mother becomes a shell of her former self, retreating into her bedroom and staying drunk more than she’s sober. The mother Sylvie used to have, one that snuggled and loved, disappeared and stopped caring.

Meanwhile, the murder of her sister goes unsolved even though Sylvie is sure Persephone’s boyfriend, Ben, is guilty. But not all is as it seems here, both Sylvie and her mother have secrets and guilt, casting a dark shadow over their lives.

Sixteen years later Sylvie must come back home to care for her ailing mother, and the anger and resentment she feels a palpable thing brewing between them. Even worse is running into Ben, Persephone’s old boyfriend who now works as a nurse at the clinic her mother must visit twice a week. But meeting Ben, Sylvie discovers a few things about her sister’s murder she didn’t know, bringing up more questions. She discovers she wasn’t the only one to keep secrets all these years, her mother has secrets of her own, and now Sylvie’s determined to find answers. Their dynamic was compelling and another interesting mystery to unravel.

I was glued to the pages to see how this all turned out, fascinated by the intense relationships, between Sylvie and her mother, Sylvie and Persephone and finally between Sylvie and Ben. I’m glad I took a chance on Megan Collins’ debut because The Winter Sister was fantastic!

Great plot and writing. The characters weren’t very likable (minus poor Jill). There were some surprises and some things that I was able to guess ahead of time.

It was a strange and creepy story. So much sadness and wasted lives. There is closure for all the mysteries by the conclusion and some glimmers of hope for a few characters. I read this quickly and was entertained by it. I would recommend and read more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Touchstone for a copy in exchange for a review.

The Winter Sister is a twisted, knotted tale. Persephone disappears one night after her younger sister, Sylvia, locked her out. Her body is found three days later. Sixteen years pass before the truth is revealed. When it is. Sylvia is dumbfounfed, in a way the truth does free her from a lifestyle rut and her mother from an emotional paralysis. The plot was good, the story intriguing, but aside from Aunt Jill, I didn't really care for any of the main characters.

A compelling debut thriller involving the unsolved murder of a young woman Persephone. Her sister Sylvie always felt at fault and struggled to get past it even as she became an adult. The murder put a wedge between Sylvie and her mother. Now, Annie the mother, is undergoing chemotherapy and Sylvie finds herself being called into help care for her and to relieve her aunt. Being back in her hometown and in her old bedroom brings back plenty of guilt and bad memories. When Sylvie sees Persephone's old boyfriend Ben,working at the cancer center, she can't help but confront him. She always felt he was the murderer, but the police never arrested him. Sylvie finds everyone seems to be hiding something when it comes to Persephone's death, but she finds herself wanting to reveal all the secrets in the hope of finally finding the killer.

Thanks to Touchstone/Atria Books and Netgalley for the chance to read this upcoming title. I enjoyed it, very entertaining. I did not figure out the twist until right before it was revealed and that’s a good thing. Recommend this title for fans of the genre.

Full of mystery and twists, this is a great book by Megan Collins. When Sylvie was fourteen, her older sister, Persephone was murdered and the case was never solved. Now years later Sylvie is back in town to help her mother who is fighting cancer. She is haunted by her suspicions about Persphone's boyfriend Ben and his role in her death. Sylvie has struggled for years with the demons of her youth and avoided her mother and her erratic behaviors, now back in town after all this time and hoping to find answers. This story was a super quick read because of how well the author twists the plot of the story. Sylvie is a well written character who has real emotions and reactions to her situation. Collins does a wonderful job showing how complicated relationships can be between both sisters (as seen in the flashback before Persephone's murder) and mothers, throughout the entire story. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good and quick mystery to read. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A gripping and emotional story about a family that has webbed deep and dark secrets.

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins a strong debut that will leave you turning those pages up until the early hours in the morning.

Sylive returns home after many years following the murder of her sister Persephone to take care of her mother who is dying of cancer. The relationship between Sylvie and her mother has been dysfunctional, strained, and unpredictable over the years especially take a turn when Persephone was murdered.

The story begins to unfold like an onion... each layer that is pealed reveals more darkness until the horrific underlying reasons to Sylvie's sister's murder is revealed.

This was a beautifully complex and emotional character study that Megan Collins has written. I thought it was so fascinating behind the relationships and deep core dysfunctional roots of the daughters and their relationships with their mother.

The underlying reveal of Persephone's murder ties in so beautifully to the complex bonds of families and our pasts that we chose to cover up.

I was impressed by Megan's Collin's writing style and the ease of grabbing her readers into this story of obsession, love, and loss.

I was able to predict early on some reveals with the story but this was still a thoroughly enjoyable family drama for me.

4 stars!!!

Thank you so much to Touchstone/Atria and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publication date: 2/5/19
Published to GR: 1/13/19

I loved this book! This was a quick read- it definitely had a darker, somber tone but I was glued to my seat trying to figure out what happened to P! Would definitely recommend.