A review by midnightmarauder
House Under Snow by Jill Bialosky

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

House Under Snow is Jill Bialosky's debut fiction novel. It follows Anna Crane, the protagonist, as she reflects on her childhood in the 70s and 80s.

There were few things that I didn't enjoy about this book. Although the prose is both heartbreaking and beautiful, the narrative was very one-sided (solely told through Anna's perspective), and often confusing. The fate of a few characters wasn't explicitly stated, which made the book sound more like a memoir than fiction. Also, the characters also weren't very likeable, nor were their issues ever seemingly resolved. For instance, Anna's memories revolve mainly around her mother, Lilly, who is a classic narcissist.

Additionally, as Anna, the protagonist, recounts her childhood, she includes the memories of her two sisters: Ruthie and Louise. However, by the end of the novel,
they aren't mentioned again.
On top of that, Louise is shown to be
suffering with an eating disorder of some kind. It was never specified, but it sounded a lot like anorexia.
That issue is never spoken about in depth. Anna mentions that it bothers her a few times within the novel, but she never speaks to her about it. I felt that that was strange.

This book took me a very long time to get through because it was so boring and nonsensical. This is my second Jill Bialosky book (the first being The Deceptions), and I liked the first one, so I hoped to enjoy this one too. I feel pretty disappointed that it was so underwhelming. 
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