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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Amazing book! While much of the story felt similar to others I’ve read and the ending was not surprising, Collins did a god job of keeping the storyline moving and holding my interest, which is not always easy.
This book was a page-turner just like all of my BOTM books. I really liked the back story and how the real story revealed itself.
This was an okay book. I liked the writing, and it was suspenseful enough to keep me engaged, but overall it’s a mediocre story. It’s got that psychological thriller flavor to it, but the plot twists just don’t deliver the way they do in others in the genre like Gone Girl or (more recently) The Silent Patient.
I honestly don’t have much else to say about this book which, I guess, is a pretty good indicator that it’s definitely not headed to my ‘favorites’ shelf.
I honestly don’t have much else to say about this book which, I guess, is a pretty good indicator that it’s definitely not headed to my ‘favorites’ shelf.
This surprised me with how much I liked it. The emotion and family dynamics are very real, and the main character is an interesting one to follow. I read The Family Plot and loved that book, and after reading this one, this author is an auto-read for me. She’s great at realistic, troubled family dynamics with characters that you love to discover as you read.
Title: The Winter Sister
Author: Megan Collins
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Read type: Physical
Sixteen years ago Sylvia’s sister, Persephone, never came home. She had been out with her secret boyfriend, then missing for three days before her body was found. Yet her murder remains unsolved.
When Sylvia goes home to take care of her mother, Annie, who now has cancer, she starts to ask questions because she was certain that Persephone’s boyfriend, Ben, killed her.
I really liked Sylvie’s character, I felt she could be real, so tangled up in secrets and guilt. Her relationship with Annie was tumultuous and intense and kept the pages turning.
Even though I guessed the plot twist the book was still really enjoyable. I felt committed to the characters and wanted to see what would happen nonetheless.
Author: Megan Collins
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Read type: Physical
Sixteen years ago Sylvia’s sister, Persephone, never came home. She had been out with her secret boyfriend, then missing for three days before her body was found. Yet her murder remains unsolved.
When Sylvia goes home to take care of her mother, Annie, who now has cancer, she starts to ask questions because she was certain that Persephone’s boyfriend, Ben, killed her.
I really liked Sylvie’s character, I felt she could be real, so tangled up in secrets and guilt. Her relationship with Annie was tumultuous and intense and kept the pages turning.
Even though I guessed the plot twist the book was still really enjoyable. I felt committed to the characters and wanted to see what would happen nonetheless.
A family drama / mystery with some delicate subjects.
I wanted an Audiobook for my ride home to visit my father in the hospital. It was an unexpected and sudden trip, so I was in a hurry and I quickly picked a book with a cover that grabbed my attention. This probably wasn’t the best choice. Some of the subject matter hit too close to home....an alcoholic mother, dysfunctional family relationships, but most of all...Cancer.
The book accomplished what I had hoped for. It kept my mind busy during most of my trip. Almost all of my reading is in this genre, so I found it fairly predictable. Some parts were a bit slow, while others really pulled me in.
Megan’s writing was wonderful, especially for a debut and I look forward to reading her next book!
My Rating: 3.5 ⭐️ (Rounding up)
Published: February 5th 2019 by Touchstone
Pages: 326
Recommend: Yes
I wanted an Audiobook for my ride home to visit my father in the hospital. It was an unexpected and sudden trip, so I was in a hurry and I quickly picked a book with a cover that grabbed my attention. This probably wasn’t the best choice. Some of the subject matter hit too close to home....an alcoholic mother, dysfunctional family relationships, but most of all...Cancer.
The book accomplished what I had hoped for. It kept my mind busy during most of my trip. Almost all of my reading is in this genre, so I found it fairly predictable. Some parts were a bit slow, while others really pulled me in.
Megan’s writing was wonderful, especially for a debut and I look forward to reading her next book!
My Rating: 3.5 ⭐️ (Rounding up)
Published: February 5th 2019 by Touchstone
Pages: 326
Recommend: Yes
Many thanks to Atria Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
Even though no one ever saw your error, it still existed. A thing that haunted. A thing that gnawed beneath the pain.
I feel like I am on a streak of five-star reads. Wait, maybe I just jinxed it. Even three days later, my heart still hurts. Whenever I try to think about this book and its amazing characters, my heart's shattered pieces ache. When I finished this book, I felt like I had been slapped in the face. Partly, because I was not at all ready for the book to be over but also because I felt as though I had known these characters for years and then they had been brutally taken away from me.
So, what's this book about?
The Winter Sister follows a thirty-year-old Sylvie who is living in an apartment with her newly found friend, Lauren. She is not happy, per se, with her adult life but it's better than being at home. But when Sylvie has to go back to her hometown to take care of her ailing mother, she begins to dredge up old and painful memories, including the unsolved murder of her sister. As Sylvie begins to reexamine her childhood to find out the truth about her sister's murder, she begins to discover that things are not as they may seem.
♠ Sylvie - When Persephone was murdered, it affected Sylvie, obviously. More than just the usual grief, Sylvie is also feeling guilty. She feels like she was responsible because she made one bad choice. All these feelings lead to Sylvie going into self-protection mode. Meaning, she pushes people away as a way of protecting herself from getting hurt again. And yet, she feels very lonely but no matter how hard she tries, she just can't trust people enough to get close. This causes an internal and painful cycle of loneliness. That is something I could, personally, really relate to. I have a really hard time connecting with people in real life. I am so afraid to put my trust in someone and so I push people away. But then I get angry and bitter when I don't have anyone to talk to. This happened because I have been hurt and betrayed many times (Again, I say, f*ck you, Ms. E***) and so my brain gets stuck in this friendless cycle.
That said, Sylvie, in spite of her trust issues, is still a very strong-willed and determined person. Like me, when she puts her mind to something, there is absolutely not stopping her. This combined with her curiosity, made for a very relatable and intriguing character.
♠ Ben - At first, Ben was one of those characters that felt like they were there just to be hated. But as I got deeper into the book, he started to grow on me. I really don't want to spoil the book so I will just stop there. Go read the book. On another note, just like Sylvie, Ben is also broken by Persephone's murder. After all, they were in an intimate relationship. At the same time, he is also under a lot of pressure from his father who is just a straight up asshole. That said, he is able to pick up the pieces of his life and carry on. And as he heals, he meets Sylvie, which doesn't break him as I expected but instead gives him the inspiration to begin looking through his old and painful memories to find the truth.
♠ Annie (Mom) - Like almost every character in this book is, Annie is shattered by the murder. Maybe even the most shattered as it was her daughter. The murder causes her to turn to alcohol and drugs. She tries to dull the sharp edges of grief with things that only provide temporary relief but, in the long run, make things worse. All this causes her to be sharp and unkind to the people she cares about. She is like a turtle. She is soft on the inside but you can't see it because she is always in her shell, hiding from the world.
♠ Jill - I think Jill was the only one who kept her head during this whole sh*tstorm. For real, she stayed cool, calm and collected. I aspire to be that way. Of course, she wasn't all good. That would be unrealistic and a tad creepy. So, even though she had her bad moments, she was able to recover very quickly. She took on a motherly role for basically anyone she came into contact with. What a lovable character.
♠ Persephone - Even though she's literally dead on page one, Persephone had a huge impact on the plot and the characters. As mentioned many times above, almost every character is majorly affected by her death. When she was living (This is seen through flashbacks, memories, etc.), she was such a stubborn yet courageous young woman. And so, I found it so ironic and funny that even in death, she refused to stop impacting people, in both negative and positive way.
I know that a lot of people like character-driven books. I am no exception. Kind of. I do love stories that are mainly pushed by characters but I am very conscientious of the plot. It must be intriguing and it absolutely must make sense. Megan Collins hits that perfect balance of both. Using characters and plot to weave an amazing story. It's a splash of murder mystery, a dash of family drama and a dump of emotion that makes a truly amazing novel.
Outside of the whole murder mystery thing, there was a sh*tton of family drama. Most families have their secrets but the O'leary's have deep, dark secrets beyond imagination. At the beginning of the book, Sylvie has to come to take care of her mother. She was very reluctant and rightfully so. As I said, Annie is a handful. That said, I loved seeing how the two opposite forces clashed but, at the same time, bonded.
Another genre this book dips into is romance. It was very weird and unexpected but was surprisingly enjoyable! I won't go into it here so as to avoid spoilers but I really loved the relationship between Ben and Sylvie. When the book came to a close, I felt so sad. I really
Beyond (slightly cheesy) romance, there are a ton of really heavy, really important themes in The Winter Sister. Such as:
Theme #1: Confronting your past. Something we all struggle to do. We all have bad memories that we don't want to revisit. In fact, it takes the bravest person to not only look at their past but to embrace it head-on. You'll find that it's like jumping into a pool. The hardest part is forcing your body to embrace gravity. Once that's done, you'll fall into the icy water and your mind will adjust quicker than you thought it would.
Theme #2: Forgiveness! I know I've covered it in other reviews but I will say it again. Forgiveness is one of the greatest acts of love you can ever give or receive.
Theme #3: Sadness? Yes. Sadness. I loved that this book showed that it was okay to be sad.d To be broken. I really want people reading this to understand that you don't have to pretend your happy or even that your baseline okay. It's fine to show that your hurting because even if you don't believe it, things will get better. Not all at once. Bit by bit. Step by step. You will fall. But you will get back up again.
Okay, now that the cheesiness is over:
Bottom Line:
5 Stars
Age Rating: [ PG-13 ]
TW: Murder (duh), Rape, Sexual Assault, Sickness
Cover: 3/5 ~ Plot: 4/5 ~ Characters: 5/5 ~ Audio: ⅘
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publication Date: February 5th, 2019
Publisher: Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
Standalone: unfortunately, yes
Best Format: Audio
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This book was totally fine, pretty unremarkable. I guessed the murderer within the first 1/3 of the book ...unfortunately it really reminded me of another thriller I had just read. I rarely say this but I felt like it could have been a little longer, maybe one more twist.
REVIEW: The Winter Sister by Megan Collins
I really enjoyed this book. It’s not often that there is a thriller told from the point of view of the victim’s family that has a strong storyline. This book is one to read. Sylvie’s sister was murdered sixteen years before, and for that whole time Sylvie kept her sister’s secrets, at least some of them. This book explores the fact that the murderer doesn’t just harm the victim, but also the victim’s family. The murder of Persephone, Sylvie’s sister, destroyed her mother, and changed Sylvie forever, mostly because of the blame that she carried for the secrets Sylvie kept.
The further you get in the story the more secrets that are told and discovered. One such secret led to Persephone’s murder. But all secrets are a secret for a reason. This book kept me wanting more and at in the middle of every chapter I thought, I’ll stop at the end of this chapter, but it seemed like every chapter had a cliffhanger, and I had to find out what happened. Megan Collins is a brilliant storyteller, describing the ever open wound that comes from an unsolved murder case, and although the ending wasn’t tied up at neatly as I usually like it, at least the family received closure, and that was more important.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s not often that there is a thriller told from the point of view of the victim’s family that has a strong storyline. This book is one to read. Sylvie’s sister was murdered sixteen years before, and for that whole time Sylvie kept her sister’s secrets, at least some of them. This book explores the fact that the murderer doesn’t just harm the victim, but also the victim’s family. The murder of Persephone, Sylvie’s sister, destroyed her mother, and changed Sylvie forever, mostly because of the blame that she carried for the secrets Sylvie kept.
The further you get in the story the more secrets that are told and discovered. One such secret led to Persephone’s murder. But all secrets are a secret for a reason. This book kept me wanting more and at in the middle of every chapter I thought, I’ll stop at the end of this chapter, but it seemed like every chapter had a cliffhanger, and I had to find out what happened. Megan Collins is a brilliant storyteller, describing the ever open wound that comes from an unsolved murder case, and although the ending wasn’t tied up at neatly as I usually like it, at least the family received closure, and that was more important.