3.5/5

This one just didn't do it for me. I felt it was mismarketed, because the murder took a backseat to everything else. I sometimes felt the writing felt a little too frou-frou for me, where I'd have to go back and re-read and try to figure out what was going on.

I think had it been marketed differently, I would've had a different outcome (also felt this way about Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown). This book was told in 3 different voices, Russ, Cameron and Jade. Each person had a connection to the murder victim, Lucinda and their own story to tell. While I reflect back on the book, I think it will make for a good screenplay. The idea of the 3 separate characters who are connected to this victim made for an interesting piece. It makes you realize you only know one part of the puzzle. The whole realization of "there are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth."

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for reaching out to me for an honest review of this ARC!

I found this to be an interesting book. I liked how it was from 3 different points of view. Each time you would be taken back in time to something the character wanted you to hear and then you would be back in the present. This is a Who Done It Book and I had no idea who it was until the author told me. Though after I found out I was like I should have known but that is what is great about the book is you don't know. I feel bad for all 3 of the characters each in their own way. It was a different way of going about finding who killed Lucinda but I liked that about the book.

While I empathized with the three main characters personal struggles, I found the pace of the book to be a bit sluggish. I struggled with which one was the murderer, yet the ending surprised me. Cameron, was my favorite character, the author really did a great job describing his complex mind.

Stunning book. Well plotted, diverse characters who are developed perfectly throughout the book.

When high school student Lucinda is murdered, it brings out repressed feelings in her own town-especially for Cameron, Jade, and Russ, three characters caught up in painful memories and lost loves of their own.

This is a beautifully written book. Kukafka has a great writing style that makes you think and makes you feel. It was like I was right there along with the characters, feeling what they were feeling, trying to figure out life and love as they did.

The resolution of the mystery of who killed Lucinda felt a bit rushed. The build up was so suspenseful and mysterious, and the revelation was definitely a big surprise, but I wanted more from it.

I definitely liked this book. It's not the best in this genre I've ever read, but Kukafka has a writing style I really enjoy.

Danya Kukafka certainly shows much promise. Girl in Snow starts off with the murder of Lucinda Hayes, a 15 year old girl in a small town in Colorado. With such a start, you would think this would be a mystery, a police-procedural, a thriller. But it's not. It is a slow-paced, character study of three people whose lives intersected with Lucinda's. The story is told through each of these three points of view:

Cameron, the weird, peeping Tom neighbor & classmate who is obsessed with Lucinda, who loses time, and constantly tells himself to "untangle";

Jade, overweight classmate of Lucinda, who talks in her own voice and via a play she makes up in her head as she goes, Jade who has known Lucinda since girlhood and feels that Lucinda has everything that she does not and that Lucinda took things away from her that she held very dear;

Russ, the police patrol officer whose brother-in-law found the body, and who has family and anger management issues.

We come to know each of these three very well as they are really the story, with the murder investigation going on half-heartedly in the background.

At the end we do find out who killed Lucinda, but by then this reader didn't even care.

I'm not quite sure what the author wanted this book to be, and it's strange to read an entire book and not know the answer to that question.

Three stars, only because the author's writing style shows promise.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Twisty mystery-thrillers is a favorite genre of mine, and I was very excited to read this advanced copy of "Girl in Snow." Thank you for the opportunity.

My interested was definitely piqued throughout the entire book, All three of the characters who narrate the novel have equally intriguing and unique perspectives. I read a lot of books about more taboo and darker topics, but I haven't read many on voyeurism or obsessive stalking. The character of Cameron definitely gave me the creeps. The chapters in his head were the most interesting, but most difficult for me to get through. While I was motivated to keep reading until the end, I admit to skimming a little when the pace got slow. I also usually prefer endings that hit you in the face with the twist, but this was satisfying enough. For a debut novel, I really like what Kukafka put out there. I'll be interested to see what she continues to publish.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! I was in the mood for a short, quick read and this fit the bill. A YAish coming-of-age story touted as a mystery/thriller, Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka grabbed my attention right away. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did based on some other reviews. For a debut novel, I thought it was pretty impressive. Was there anything really new that we haven't seen before? Not really. But I liked the fact that it was sort of strange, with characters that were misfits, and some voyeurism thrown in for good measure. Who killed Lucinda Hayes? Was it the jealous girl, the boy who worshiped her from afar, or someone off the radar completely? The mystery is solved at the end, making for a satisfying, tidy read.

Schoolgirl Lucinda Hayes is found dead in the playground of a Colorado elementary school, snow encrusting her body. Police officer Russ is part of the team investigating but he has problems of his own, his disintegrating marriage to Ines and her relationships with her brother IVAn and others in the Mexican community. Neighbour Cameron had been stalking Lucinda, in love but paralysed by fear, he comes under suspicion. As does Jade, a former friend but now a social outcast. All three of them know something about what happened to Lucinda but all three must confront their demons, past and present, to allow closure.

This is a stunningly well told tale. All three main characters are outsiders and carry emotional baggage which weighs them down. In fact the death of Lucinda Hayes is the link between them and the theme that holds the narrative together, yet it seems merely incidental as one reads the book.

Most murder mysteries are stories of what led up to the murder and how the murderer is caught. Instead, this book is centered on the stories of three people with only semi-distant relationships with the victim. Her story is told through their eyes and their lives. The book is almost like a Ven diagram where the overlapping part is Lucinda's death. In this way, Ms. Kukafka's writing highlights the bittersweetness of murder mysteries that seems to be hidden most of the time: while we find out the killer in the end, there is no satisfaction. The Girl in Snow is still dead and those left behind still have to continue to live. This unsettled feeling is refreshing and makes this book one to read.

Let’s start with the positive:
Kukafka’s writing style was great! Her descriptions gave just enough detail so you could see exactly what was happening on page. Her writing was beautiful.

Also, small-town murder settings/backdrops are always fun. Small town murders are more exciting and intimate to read about, I think.

There were a few problems I had with this novel.
The POVs:
I really don’t like stories that switch points of view. And I especially don’t like stories that switch from third to first person. Jade’s chapters were my favorite, and I got tired of being in the head of the other two characters.

The lack of quotation marks:
Russ’s chapters didn’t have quotations marks for the dialogue. It was annoying to read when I couldn’t tell if someone was speaking or thinking.

Pace:
This book was a little too slow for my taste. I like my murder mysteries to be fast-paced and a bit more exciting. For the opening chapter to be the announcement of a dead girl, it was pretty boring.

Overall, great writing and some good twists! This is my honest, unbiased, review.

Hello, Everyone!
When Girl in Snow originally popped up in my email, I was a little wary. It was an unsolicited proof and the description of the book on Netgalley compared it to Luckiest Girl Alive, which was another thriller novel that I was fortunate enough to get an ARC of when it first came out. In the end, I was in the minority of people who didn’t enjoy Luckiest Girl Alive, and therefore I was nervous to start Girl in Snow due to the comparison. In general, I am pretty open to reading new things, so I decided to give Girl in Snow a whirl.
Unfortunately, I didn’t end up finishing it. This makes me very sad. I understand that publishers give out a limited amount of ARCs of a title and that it is important for the marketing and sales of that novel that the reviewers read and review the titles they are given. Therefore, I make it a priority to read every book that I am granted access to, even if I am struggling with it. However, I don’t think that I would have requested Girl in Snow on my own, even though I am always more than appreciative to receive ARCs from publishers. I find thrillers, especially young adult thrillers, to be very hit or miss for me. I think that Girl in Snow ended up being a miss for me. The storyline was rather predictable and I didn’t end up caring about Lucinda as a character all that much. Both of the above points may have been the intention of the author, as the story seems to focus less on Lucinda (even though her murder is used as the initial hook for the story) and the solving of her murder, and more on the psyches of Cameron, Jade and Russ. None of these three characters were bad, they just weren’t particularly intriguing. I also thought that the plot was very slowly paced. However, I do think that Danya Kukafka’s writing style is chilling and eloquent. In addition, I was impressed by the way that she managed to weave the main character’s three different POV’s together. Maybe my enjoyment of the book was diminished because I just finished a bunch of contemporary books, and have been in a very Syfi/Fantasy mood recently. Maybe I have just read too many young adult thriller novels. Maybe thriller novels are just not my cup of tea. Whatever the reason, despite the promising writing style and the simplistically beautiful cover, I ended up not finishing Girl in Snow. Ultimately, I would probably end up rating it a 2.5 or 3 stars out of 5. I am still on the hunt for the one young adult thriller novel that sweeps me off of my feet.
As always, a giant thank you to both Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka in exchange for my honest review.
-Jaime

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka is the story of a murder in a Colorado small town. Lucinda Hayes was a pretty and popular girl in the small town of Broomsville. She is found cover in a light blanket of snow at the high school’s playground. Suspicions immediately fly about who could have killed her and why. The story is told from three perspectives: Cameron, a loner boy who watched Lucinda from afar, Jade, the outcast girl, who secretly harbored hatred toward Lucinda and Russ, the local detective assigned to the case. Cameron must fight the past as the town has not forgotten what his father, a former local cop, did and subsequently disappeared. Jade tries to befriend Cameron and help him with the scrutiny he’s under as several fellow students accuse him of killing Lucinda. Russ, troubled with the past as his former partner was Cameron’s father, must find the truth among the accusations and innuendos. Who killed Lucinda Hayes?
Girl in Snow is an excellent book. The gripping drama with past and present intertwined as the mystery behind who killed this girl is revealed. I couldn’t put it down. I had to finish it. I had to find out after all the twists and turns who killed Lucinda Hayes! There are so many details that I cannot discuss as it will ruin the reveal of the killer. The story gathers the usual suspects and as one by one is cleared or you think they are, it leaves you with more and more questions. Everyone has something to hide in this small town. I will say that Ms. Kukafka writes a story so gripping that you are on the edge of your seat from page one! I highly recommend Girl in Snow!

Girl in Snow
is available in hardcover and eBook

Second half was better than the first half. Unfortunately I didn't find any of the characters engaging so I did find the book a bit of a chore to read.

Three and a half stars for this well written novel. Some of the characters are not particularly likeable but the story flows well. A lonely boy that is easily tormented by a town that believes the worst, his supportive mother and the young girl who experienced the angst of teenage emotion beyond her control. A sad story of abuse, guilt and ultimately the solving of a tragic ending of a young life.

Well written from a young new writer. A high school girl is found dead on a playground with no clear assailant. Written from three different people's perspectives this book was a slow start for me. However towards the end the book picked up and ended well.

Lucinda Hayes was found one morning lying on the carousel in the elementary school playground in the snow. Cameron had watched her for a long time. He would sneak out of his house at night and watch her through her bedroom windows. He would draw portraits of her. Jade and Lucinda babysat for the same family. Jade worked for them first, but once they met Lucinda, they preferred to have her work for them. Russ is a police officer. He was friends with Lee, Cameron’s father, who was accused of beating a woman and left town after he was found not guilty. Russ’s brother-in-law is the janitor at the elementary school who found Lucinda’s body. Over the three days following her death, these people work to figure out what happened to her.

The story is told in chapters alternating between the perspectives of Cameron, Jade, and Russ. One of the first things I noticed about this book is how the three different narratives are so unique. Cameron’s narrative is told in third person. Cameron has some problems and keeps to himself a lot, so I can see why he wouldn’t tell his own story. Jade and Russ tell their stories in the first person perspective, but Russ’s parts don’t use quotation marks around the spoken words. This makes it seem more like it’s being filtered through his thoughts.

I enjoyed this story. It moved along at a steady pace. It was kind of emotional at times, because a lot of the characters had personal struggles. But overall it is a good story.

It was difficult to get into the book and the story didn't really pull me in. Overall it was a good read and I would recommend it.

I did not finish reading this. Very slow and boring. I got 30% into the book and it took 2 weeks. At this point I don't care who murdered the girl. All we kept reading about is the cop and his relationship with his wife and how he met her. Who cares? get on with the investigation. Nothing was happening at this point and I felt we should have had info.

it was enjoyable but honestly not as good as I hoped. But I will keep reading this author.