Synopsis from Simon & Schuster:
When a beloved high schooler named Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched—not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the officer assigned to investigate her murder. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three indelible characters—Cameron, Jade, and Russ—must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both. In crystalline prose, Danya Kukafka offers a brilliant exploration of identity and of the razor-sharp line between love and obsession, between watching and seeing, between truth and memory.
About: Girl in Snow is a thriller written by Danya Kukafka. It will be published on 8/22/17 by Simon & Schuster, 368 pages. The genres are mystery, thriller, and fiction. This is the author’s debut novel. According to Simon & Schuster’s website, the company was “founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster.” It’s part of the CBS corporation since 2006. The company “dedicated to bringing an extensive cross section of first class information and entertainment in all printed, digital and audio formats to a worldwide audience of readers.” Please see below for more information about the author and publisher.
My Experience: I started reading Girl in Snow on 7/16/17 and finished it on 8/19/17 at 2AM. This book is a depressing read. It is very well written in fact, but none of the characters’ lives are interesting. Each of them have some kind of loneliness and isolation. Cameron with his lonely life spending on watching Lucinda, Jade with her alcoholic abusive mom, and Russ with his marriage failure and secrets. One thing I like out of this book is Jade’s screenplays. Her plays are titled, “What You Want To Say But Can’t Without Being a Dick.” I read this book slowly, word by word, trying to understand what’s going on and I like that I could not guess what will happen next.
This book started out with the death of Lucinda Hayes, a sophomore, popular girl with beauty and brains, who seems to have it all. Readers will follow Cameron – a freshman with anxiety who is obsess with Lucinda, Jade – a junior who has “violent outburst due to insecurity” and watch Lucinda with “fascination, hatred, and jealousy”, and Russ – a police officer who makes promises and couldn’t live with his secrets. This book is told in the third person point of view where each chapter is focused on Jade Dixon-Burns, Cameron Whitley, and Russ Fletcher’s backstory and what’s going on in their life. Cameron is an oddball. He’s bullied by Beth as the kind of guy who would bring a gun to school. He’s obsess with Lucinda, drawing her portraits in his art class and watching her through her window at night. Jade’s rejection by Zap made her reckless. Jade’s mom is an alcoholic and would become emotionally and physically abusive to Jade and her sister. Russ’ marriage is crumpling. His brother in-law is an ex-con, a janitor that found Lucinda’s body, and a suspect to Lucinda’s death. Cameron couldn’t remember the night Lucinda was killed. Jade worries if her witchcraft practice had killed Lucinda. Russ promised to protect Cameron. The ending you won’t be able to guess!
This book is hard to enjoy when everyone is so broken. The writing is excellent. Each character is well developed. This book is best read slowly because it’s easy to lose interest trying to read fast. I couldn’t guess the bad guy, but it makes sense and it’s common knowledge. The story pin the blame on others so much that I stopped to realize the basic. At the end, I still question why Lee did what he did to Hilary Jameson because she’s no stranger. Why Russ got off the hook for what he did? What is the point with the homeless guy? In the end, I would still recommend everyone to read this book because parents should be active with their kids and everyone should remember to keep the curtains to your windows closed at all times!
Pro: mystery, multiple point of views, third person pov,
Con: sad characters
I rate it 4 stars!
Buy here for free shipping: Simon & Schuster’s website or Book Depository
About the Author:
Danya Kukafka is a graduate of New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She currently works as an assistant editor at Riverhead books. Girl in Snow is her first novel. (Photo and info obtained from Simon & Schuster’s website).
More information about Simon & Schuster:
Website: http://www.simonandschuster.com | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Simonandschuster | Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimonSchuster | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonandschuster
***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.
xoxo,
Jasmine
How Useful It Is 
Sounds like a different/interesting book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you will enjoy if you plan to read. I guess the author must have purposely written a book with only unhappy characters. It does makes sense in the end though..
LikeLike
This really was a tough read, but I am glad I persevered because it was well written. I think the author deliberately made the characters unlikable which is unusual but worked for this story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so glad you enjoyed this, Jasmine! Unfortunately, I don’t think this would be for me… It’s great that it has excellent writing and a great plot twist, but the fact that it’s so depressing is an instant turn-off.
I’m looking for books that made me feel good! Hahaha And this is not one of them.
Wonderful review, of course 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I don’t think this book is one you will enjoy. I don’t think I will re-read it because it is really depressing. It takes me a month to finish it so that explains depressing is not really one of my favorite reads either 🙂
LikeLike