Reviews

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

toofondofbooks's review against another edition

3.0

This book is billed as a thriller but it’s more of an exploration of three characters, and once I realised that’s what it was I really quite enjoyed this novel. The premise is that a teenage girl, Lucinda, has been found murdered and the novel is told from the perspective of three other characters: Cameron – a teenage boy who is quite obsessed with Lucinda, Jade – a teenage girl who thinks Lucinda has a perfect life and she wants that for herself, and Russ – one of the detectives investigating the murder. I did hope for a bit more depth in these characters but having said that I did get completely invested in wanting to know what had made them the way they were, and how far Cameron and Jade’s fixation with Lucinda might have led them. It’s a book that really looks at what makes us who we are and makes us do the things we do, and what the consequences of that is. I’ll definitely look out for more books by this author and I recommend this one.

This review was originally posted on my blog https://rathertoofondofbooks.com

whittyd's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Picked up more at the end, but wasn’t my favorite read. A little too segmented, slow, and confusing as a result. 

olive0709's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

izywithonez's review

2.0

I did not like this book. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, hence the two stars, but I really did not enjoy it. I felt the characters had absolutely nothing in common outside of their relationship to one another, and the connections that were there were so thin and forced. I enjoyed Cameron and Jade's perspectives, however I really couldn't understand why Howie was so important to the story or why he was even in it, it honestly felt unnecessary. For Russ, the relationship between him and Lee was incredibly underdeveloped, and was such a shock when I found out because it genuinely did not make any sense. There was no lead up or build up of any sense; they were friends and apparently something more however it wasn't clear until it was explicitly written out for us- there was no way for me to have known until then. I also felt like the end was kind of a cop-out. The relationship between Mr. Thornton and Lucinda also had no build up and so it was a shock when we found that they were not only in a relationship but he killed her. The writing was alright and really captured what the author was going for in terms of vibe, but the story and connections were just not it.

mitskacir's review against another edition

3.0

Read this book because I know the author and was interested in seeing how her first publication was, and wanted to support her. I wasn't a huge fan of the book, although it had a lot of good things going for it. Girl in Snow is a mystery story revolving around the murder of a young girl. The mystery is definitely intriguing, and Kukafka does a good job stringing the reader along and providing tantalizing hints and twists. The characters themselves are rather depressing and I wasn't particularly interested in them, which is unfortunate because this book is primarily a character study of it's three main protagonists. Some of the prose is really beautiful, but a lot of it felt forced and I ended up rolling my eyes more than feeling genuinely moved. Overall, not a bad read but nothing spectacular. I would read more by Kukafka though because I think she has a lot of potential and I really enjoyed the suspense and mystery infused in the story.

illusie's review against another edition

4.0

This book is about a girl who is murdered. It's interesting that the story is told from the perspective of 3 persons with a very different personality. I like how you can notice from the writing style from which point of view the chapter is told. I thought the story is very good. I'll be looking forward to the next book by this author!

laurenscholle's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 rounded up bc I love her writing

8ekka's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

inthebooknook's review against another edition

2.0

Unfortunately, I found this book to be a bit slow for the expectation I had set for myself from the description. However, I found I ended up likely the character development more with the meandering plot. Girl in Snow has an air of YA because of the ages of the characters the reader follows: almost a Thirteen Reasons Why vibe.

The authors descriptions of the teenagers, their lives, and their homes were definitely on point. The older characters came off as a bit flat, in my opinion. I loved how Kukafka described lower middle class living in such subtle and poignant ways: Descriptions of people's bedrooms, dirty kitchens, stained carpet.

Overall, this novel is just not in my genre wheelhouse. I would recommended it to anyone interested YA, suspense, and family drama.

pam2375's review against another edition

3.0

I'm not sure if I really liked this book or not. It starts out with a lot of promise and then just kind of fizzles out for me. The story is not much about the girl that is found dead in the snow as it is about the 3 people that were somehow tied to her. Different, very different and different can be good!