Psychological thriller about a woman who returns to her hometown 16 years after her sister is murdered. The murder has gone unsolved and the main character is tortured over her actions the night her sister died. Estranged from her alcoholic mother, she finally faces her past and confronts her family’s demons.

Sound familiar? I have read this plot multiple times. I am getting a little sick of the trope of a child or sibling returning home after several years distanced from family due to a murder. The plot feels recycled. My review even feels recycled. I even thought about copying and pasting an old review for another book and updating where appropriate, but I held off!

Despite the predictable and overused plot, the characterization is quite strong and keeps things interesting. The tone is quite dark and never seems to ease up. So, all in all, The Winter Sister is a decent, yet predictable, psychological thriller. If you are a fan of the genre, it might feel like you have read this before!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sylvie doesn’t want to go home. Sixteen years ago her sister Persephone was murdered, and her mother, a single parent, was undone by it. Sylvie’s built a new life for herself and would prefer not to revisit the old one, but her aunt calls and summons her. Sylvie’s mother is gravely ill and Aunt Jill says it is Sylvie’s turn to take care of her. Reluctantly, Sylvie packs and heads home to face her demons.

I was invited to read and review this compelling debut novel courtesy of Net Galley and Simon and Schuster. It will be available to the public tomorrow, February 5, 2019.

Persephone went on a date the night she was killed; she wasn’t permitted to date and so she had to sneak out. And right away my antennae twitch, because who doesn’t let their seventeen-year-old daughter date? The heck? She was a senior in high school, yet was reduced to climbing in and out of the bedroom window to avoid her mother’s anger. At fourteen, Sylvie was her confederate, leaving the window just a finger’s width ajar so that Persephone could return home undetected. But Sylvie had become increasingly ambivalent; Persephone came home with bruises with increasing frequency, asking her little sis to paint temporary tattoos to cover them up for her. Should Persephone be seeing Ben, the boy responsible for the bruises? One night she decides not to leave the window open. That way it will be out in the open. Persephone will have to come in through the front door. She’ll be busted, but then the problem of the abusive boyfriend will be where it belongs, right on their mother’s plate. Let the adult do the adult job, she figured. But that night, unable to sneak back in, Persephone instead returned to her boyfriend’s car, hopped in, and never came home.

Her body wasn’t found for three days.

The guilt of the thing followed Sylvie everywhere she went. She told no one. Their mother took to drink and locked herself away, refusing to respond to her daughter’s pleas on the other side of the door. Aunt Jill took Sylvie home with her when it became obvious that her mother had ceased to mother.

But now, Sylvie has to go back. And she carries so much anger with her; how is it even possible that Ben, the boyfriend, was never arrested or charged? How is it possible that he is working—of all places—in the clinic where her mother goes to receive her chemo?

Collins’s narrative is deeply absorbing, with a component of the psychological thriller in that at times, I wonder whether she is reliable. Things are certainly not what they seem. The resolution is surprising, yet fair to the reader. It’s a clever plot with layered characters, and I look forward to seeing what Collins writes in the future.

Recommended to those that love the genre.

A great read from a promising new writer! The Winter Sister had compelling characters and storylines that kept me turning pages. The only critique is that one of the major twists was kind of predictable( no spoilers here). Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for review.

4.5/5 stars

PS the title reminded me of my favorite Captain America movie- the Winter Soldier. Anybody else?

This book was intriguing, but the ending was predictable. It's a good one to pick up when you're in the mood for a compulsive read.

I'm sorry but I could not finish this book. The storyline reminded me too much of another thriller I've read and it just did not hook me. I've seen some reviews where people raved about this book but it just wasn't for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my honest review

As teens, Sylvie’s sister, Persephone, was on a date with a forbidden boyfriend when she never returned home and was later found murdered. The murder is still unsolved, over sixteen years later.

Sylvie and her mother, Annie, have not been in a good place since Persephone’s death; however, when Annie is set to undergo cancer treatment, Sylvie goes home to care for her.

Ben, the once bad news boyfriend of Persephone, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Sylvie must take Annie, and Sylvie has always thought he was guilty.

But why does Sylvie feel responsible for what happened that night? What secrets is she carrying within herself?

The Winter Sister is much more than a domestic thriller. It’s a study of the complex relationships between sisters and mothers and daughters. I found the ending completely shocking in a fantastic way, and I enjoyed the emotionally dark tone of the book. It always seemed like there was something sinister looming in the background thanks to the well-drawn tension.

Overall, I found The Winter Sister to be an emotionally complex and thrilling domestic drama, and I’m excited for Megan Collins’ next book!

Thank s to the publisher for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Sylvie is also dealing with her past. Sixteen years ago her sister, Persephone was murdered and she wants to find out who killed her. Her sister was missing for less than seventy-two hours until a jogger caught a glimpse of her red coat through the snow.

While her Aunt Jill was on the phone with the police, Sylvia tells her Aunt to tell them to check with her boyfriend. Persephone was not allowed to have a boyfriend. Ben was a secret -our secret, Persephone loved to remind Sylvie. Ben would park his car a couple houses down from her house and Persephone would open their window in their room and straddled the sill until one foot touched the ground. It was a secret between the two sisters. Sylvie would keep the window open, just enough for Persephone to slip her fingers under and pull it up when she returned. She was seeing Ben Emory, the mayor's son.
When detective Falley checked into it, Ben said that he didn't know where she was. He said that they were driving around and then they got into a fight and she told him to let her out of the car, so she could walk home. He let her out and then waited out the storm at his friends house overnight. The detectives then checked with the friends Mom and she confirmed that Ben arrived around 11 pm. and stayed the night and left around 10 am. the next morning.

Sylvie always believed that Ben was responsible for the murder. She carried a lot of guilt about that night. Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill the house and what really happened that night when Persephone died.

I wasn't immediately drawn into the story. It had a slow burn to it, but then it became a gripping suspenseful read. I thought this was a very simple read but I thought it was beautifully written. This was a great debut novel. I thought it was very entertaining. There are lots and lots of secrets and they are slowly revealed.

I thought it was a sad emotional book toward the end. I found this to be a very predictable read. There were not many characters so I was able to guess who the killer was and why the killer killed Persephone. I am usually a bad detective and usually don't guess how it's going to end so I was actually excited that I got it right. The book kept my interest and close to the end it was a page turner for me.

This was a Traveling Sister read.

I want to thank NetGalley, Touchstone/Atria for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of THE WINTER SISTER by Megan Collins in exchange for my honest review.***

4.5 STARS

The case of Sylvie’s older sister Persephone, strangled when they were teens, remains unsolved. Reluctantly back in town to help her estranged mother through chemo, Sylvie encounters Ben, her sister’s abusive boyfriend, whom Sylvie believes murdered Persephone. Many are keeping secrets about Persephone and about their own relationship to her.

I read THE WINTER SISTER in one sitting, mesmerized by the mystery of Persephone’s murder. The complexity of Sylvie often broke my heart, though occasionally I wanted to tell her to step the #2&&\#!¥! up and be better.

Megan Collins’s stunning debut had everything I seek in a mystery: compelling characters, complex plot, plausible suspects, great writing and an ending I didn’t anticipate. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Add THE WINTER SISTER to your TBR list. You won’t be disappointed.

I was really digging this book for about the first third, and then...it went super flat. A sixteen year old unsolved murder, family weirdness, small town tensions really how could you go wrong with that type of setup? Well, the set up is rather brilliant but the "twists" are obvious from miles away and the main characters just don't jump from the page. Actions and dialogue quickly turn repetitive and childish, you just never get a feel for who these people are other than they're in emotional pain (and in case you didn't pick that up, it's told to you over and over and over again). This seems like it could have simply been a short story rather than a full novel. It's a quick read, but it's also one that turns boring just as quickly.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview The Winter Sister by Megan Collins. This is a debut by this author and i think it is a good start and I think this author will get better as she writes more books.
A sister return to take care of her sick mother. They lost a daughter and a sister and lots of secrets lie beneath the surface.
No surprises here and the book is written well and should keep your attention till then end.
I think I would call this more of a drama than a thriller/suspense book, and a good read for a first time author.
2.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Touchstone, and Megan Collins for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - a great read - 4.5 stars! I can't wait to read more from this author.

Secrets - this book is all about those secrets we keep from each other, even in the closest of families and relationships. Persephone was secretly seeing a boy her mother refused her to see and her sister, Sylvie, helped keep that secret. Then one night, Persephone didn't come home. After her murdered body was found, nothing was ever the same - her mother was shattered and turned to drink, leaving Sylvie mostly in the care of her Aunt Jill. Worse, Sylvie blamed Persephone's boyfriend, Ben, son of the wealthy mayor, for her sister's murder but no one was ever charged.

Sixteen years later, the murder still not solved, Sylvie is estranged from her mother but is forced to go home and help care for her after her cancer diagnosis. In the hospital where her mother is receiving treatment, she discovers that Ben is now a nurse. Soon she is embroiled back into investigating her sister's murder.

This book was hard to put down - while it explores the mystery of who killed Persephone, it also delves into all those secrets we keep as well as family relationships.

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins is a perfect example of a book that makes me want to continue to search out new authors for new stories. The Winter Sister is a mystery/suspense read that is a debut novel but you could never tell this is a debut.

At fourteen Sylvie and her sister Persephone were very close and shared each other’s secrets, whether they wanted to keep them or not. Persephone being almost eighteen was at that rebellious stage and would sneak out to meet with her boyfriend her mother did not approve of until one night she failed to return home. Not too long after the report was made to police Persephone’s body was found.

Now sixteen years later Sylvie has returned home to care for her ailing mother and begins to dig into her sister’s past. With the killer never having been caught Sylvie was always sure it was Persephone’s boyfriend but now as an adult she begins to question just how well she knew her sister and the secrets around her.

Picking this one up it really didn’t take long at all to fall into the writing and get engaged in the story. As the book goes on looking into the past and what happened that fateful night it’s one of those slowly peeling back the layers until all the truth comes bubbling out kind of books. Once beginning to piece together all of the clues it still was completely intriguing until the end.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book and it brought me in pretty quick. I enjoyed the plot and was wanting to know what happened. However, I found some of the twists and turns to be pretty predictable likely due to reading a lot of this genre so overall felt it was good but not amazing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Winter Sister was one heck of a debut!! Megan Collins did a fantastic job with every character-I couldn’t put it down!

I would definitely recommend this book for lovers of suspense!

4 STARS!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

"I believed that you could love someone so much, and still, you could hurt them. I believed that a heart could pound with pain and love at exactly the same time."

Sometimes, a book comes along and completely sweeps you off your feet. There are a lot of books that I give five stars to, but few that I add to my "Loves of my life" pile. I received this as an advance copy and loved it, but still selected it as my pick of the month for Book of the Month Club because I loved it so much. The writing was perfect, the story was perfect, the pace was perfect. It was just -perfect-. I'm having trouble summing it up in words. It was deeply touching, with incredible dialogue, dimensional characters and emotions that I could grab on to. I found my first love in Persephone and Ben. The things portrayed were deeply ingrained in my soul: The type of love that two damaged people can give each other. It made me feel things I had forgotten to feel. Truly, this was a stellar book. I couldn't read this fast or slow enough, I truly did not want it to end. I look forward very much to more from this author, and I look even more forward to holding this book close to my heart for years to come.

This book was fantastic! It kept me guessing and it had relatable characters. The story was one that I found myself immersed in and hoping it would go different ways. Reading the pages was like watching a movie play out in my head. Excellent!!

THE WINTER SISTER, by Megan Collins, reveals Sylvie, a young woman who still haunted by the murder of her sister, Persephone. Sylvie escaped her hometown and her family and her heavy memories, only to be dragged back when her dying mother suddenly needs a caretaker. The more Sylvie is home and the more people she finds from her past, the more she believes that his sister's murder did not happen the way she thought it had.
There is a lot of clearly connectable imagery in THE WINTER SISTER. Collins does a good job of connecting images to emotions and then describing those visceral reactions characters have to certain images, as many people do in real life. Collins keeps the characters real; they all possess strengths and weaknesses and make good and bad choices. A fascinating approach to portraying the murdered sister, Persephone, is that the reader's perception of her vacillates from beautiful and pure, to dark and damaged and everywhere in between. It's a rollercoaster of a ride, with it ending somewhere in the middle, but I found it uniquely enjoyable. The plot progresses nicely and gains momentum, but he ending is fairly predictable and once the big reveal happens, there really isn't any more twists and turn, it just feels like going through the motions to finish the book.
I read THE WINTER SISTER quickly and I think reading this book fast is best because the emotionally heightened feelings don't have a chance to whither away. I found the book a haunting and enjoyable mystery to check out.

Although the plot was somewhat over-familiar, I found the writing good (especially the winter imagery around the title), the protagonist interesting, and the collection of potential villains complicated enough to keep me interested right up to the end.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was looking forward to reading The Winter Sister. I love books about cold cases and this book about a young woman's unsolved murder intrigued me. I love reading thrillers and I found this book to be very easy to read. In fact, I breezed through it on a single evening, with even impressed myself. I'm a fast reader, but in this case and in other cases is it just that the story isn't overly complex so that I pretty much can skim the text quickly and still without any problem get the gist. It's probably a gift that I acquired since my days of studying. LOL

Anyhow, as I stated before isn't it an overly complex story. We have Sylvie the surviving sister, guilt-ridden who travels home to take of her sick mother. Her mother hasn't truly been the same person since Persephone was murdered and their relationship is not what it used to. Sylvie starts to unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's death. There are not many suspects, and the red herrings were pretty easy to spot and the book just doesn't have that many surprises. It's simply a decent thriller. Hence, the rating. If the story had grabbed me more, the character moved me more had I been able to give a higher rating. As it is, it's just an OK thriller, the story kept my interest up all the way to the end and I felt that the ending was if not that surprising at least satisfying.

This book was haunting and un-put-downable! I loved the writing, especially the way Megan Collins wove in the past within present day. It was done so seamlessly--it flowed straight through. The Winter Sister is a book that can easily be read in one sitting. You will find the urge to keep reading because you want to know what happens. The truth spills out in a nice, steady, burn, and each time I told myself "just one more page", I knew I was only lying to myself. There is no "just one more page"; it's more like, just "one more hour", the book is THAT good.

I loved the character of Persephone, even though most of what we get about her is via her sister's memories. The pure pain this poor child felt through her life was heartbreaking. My heart broke even more when I learned the reason for her pain.

This is a murder mystery on the surface, but below it's a story of mothers and daughters, and the lengths mothers go to protect their own.

Thank you to Touchstone/Atria books for sending me this book. You've knocked it out of the park with this one! I understand why its on the most anticipated thriller of 2019 list. All thoughts are my own.