I was thoroughly disappointed with this novel. I was expecting an intense thriller that would take me through the journey of finding this girls killer, but instead I was met with a novel that followed the lives of these three people more than the story of the girl who died. 

This novel progressed so slowly for me, I had a very hard time getting through it. In addition to that, I was on a deadline to finish this novel, so pushing myself to finish it made it feel like legitimate torture. 

The characters in this novel fell very flat for me. They were weird and so unlikable and I felt zero connection to them throughout the novel. The police officer's relationship with his wife was weird and I really didn't see how that was working. Cameron was a freak and I didn't really understand why his character was important to the story at all, and Jade just sucked. 

The writing in this novel was also something that I couldn't really get behind. It didn't hold anything that made me want to read more of Kukafka's work. 

I don't even feel like talking about this story because it frustrated me so much. Instead of getting a novel that would keep me at the edge of my seat, I got a novel that made me want to fall asleep. 

Additionally, I skimmed through most of the book after I realized that the entire thing was slow. 

I apologize for the horrible and mean review, but this really wasn't for me. 

The cover was very nice though!

Well-written, but very slow pacing. Nothing that grabbed me or made me eager to continue. Somewhat predictable whodoneit.

This book had me guessing until the end. Lots of secrets are revealed and not everyone/thing are what they seem. My heart went out to a few of the characters. A great read that I would recommend.

Girl in Snow is a book written from the perspective of each of the main characters. It is a book that slowly but surely sucks the reader in. With each chapter, the characters become increasingly well rounded and richly depicted, enabling the reader to become a fly on the wall, watching as events unfold. This is a character driven novel that is well written and very engaging. I would definitely recommend it. Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely stunning. And this is a debut novel from a young author. I never would have guessed the ending, which is the best, in my opinion. I could not put this down. I keep blaming the weather for my tiredness, but it's really this book. Nothing could convince me to go to bed yesterday before finishing. I highly recommend it.

For a psychological thriller, this book was not bad. I would actually say that I enjoyed reading it. The characters were generally different than you would expect from this kind of book. At the same time though, none of the characters were were fleshed out enough to make the reader feel anything for them. The POV was really strange in that it read like it was first person speaking in third person at times and it did not work. The subplot about Lee and his guilty or not guilty/dead or not dead status was never resolved even though the reader keeps being led to hope for a resolution. Lee's story was also mysteriously and slowly revealed for reasons which were unnecessary. I was disappointed once it became clear, early in the book, that this was just another high school girl gets murdered story. The fact that her killer was never a key player in the rest of the story was also disappointing.

So sorry but this one just wasn't for me. Thanks for letting me try it.

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka is an outstanding and surprising first novel.
When a young girl is found murdered in a sleepy suburb in Colorado, everyone has their own theory about who killed Lucinda Hayes and why.
Was it her stalker, Cameron, whose creepy behaviour has everyone pointing fingers? Or was it rebel Jade, the only one who wasn’t sad about Lucinda’s death? And can local policeman, Ross, ignore his personal investment in the case and find the killer?
There are a lot of books about young girls found murdered in a sleepy town but this isn’t one of those books. This book is primarily a book about Cameron, Jade and Russ and the impact Lucinda’s death has on their lives. I liked that Lucinda’s death and who killed her is in a lot of ways irrelevant, it was more than that.
If Girl In Snow is any indication of Danya Kukafka’s writing style then I will definitely be interested in reading more. Girl in Snow uses beautifully descriptive words to make the author feel like they are seeing what each character is seeing, thinking and feeling.
“When they told him Lucinda Hayes was dead, Cameron thought of her shoulder blades and how they framed her naked spine, like a pair of static lungs.”
Cameron Whitely has been fascinated by Lucinda for a long time. At night he often used to escape from his bedroom and go to stand outside of her house to observe her. After her murder his mother is horrified to discover numerous drawings of Lucinda scattered on his bedroom floor.
Cameron is left reeling after news of Lucinda’s death is given to him and the other students in an assembly.
“If this were a song, Cameron thought, it would be a quiet song, Cameron thought, it would be a quiet song – the sort of song that drowned you in your own miserable chest. It was stunning and tender.”
As the novel progresses we learn how Cameron’s status as an outsider was cemented by the actions of Lucinda’s best friend, a girl named Beth.
“Beth once told Mr O – Cameron’s favourite teacher – that Cameron was the sort of kid who would bring a gun to school. Aside from having to deal with the administrative mess that followed – the interviews with the school psychologist, the calls home to mom, the staff meeting – Cameron had the same nightmare for four months straight. In the dream, he had to live the rest of his life knowing those families were out there, missing their kids. Mom had lots of meetings with the school’s counselor’s, and after, she’d come home vibrating and angry. Unfounded and unprofessional she’d say.”
When the police learn of Cameron’s obsession with Lucinda it is no wonder he is high on their list of suspects.
Jade offers a different perspective on Lucinda, one that differs vastly from Cameron’s own perfect view of her. Lucinda and Jade had known each other since childhood as their parents knew each other. They were never friends though, they reluctantly spent time together at these times but were always involved in different activities. Jade always got the impression that Lucinda was merely tolerating her presence.
Then as they got older Lucinda became a figure of dislike for Jade as Lucinda took everything Jade had wanted. Jade had a steady babysitting job but got called less frequently by them as soon as Lucinda started to be able to babysit for them as well.
Then to top all this off Lucinda had stolen the affections of her best friend Zap and the promise that their friendship could have been developing into something more.
Lucinda had an easy popularity and an idyllic home life whereas Jade is an outsider in school and has a fractious relationship with her family. Her sister Amy thinks she is cold-hearted and doesn’t understand why she is the way she is. Her mother is cold and distant, frequently putting Jade down and there are hints that there is something secret and broken in their relationship.
Jade feels like she is the only one who is not upset by Lucinda’s death, she feels separate from the spectacle and drama she feels others are making of it.
“Emotions shouldn’t have names. I don’t know why we bother talking about them, because emotions are never what they are supposed to be. You could say I feel ecstatic, or guilty, or disgusted with myself. You could say all of the above. Amy sobs, but I identify only this foreign lightness: like someone has sucked the weight from my legs, taken the terrible thoughts out of my head, softened some sharpness, jabbing at my ribs. I don’t know it’s so calm.”
Jade thinks her sister Amy is being a bit dramatic sobbing at the death of someone she isn’t even friends with and Amy thinks Jade is heartless.
‘It’s pretty fucked up, Jade,’ she says. She pauses before the word ‘fucked’ to consider. We’ve known her our whole lives, and now she’s dead and you’re not even pretending to be sad. “
Jade has two versions of every conversation she has – the real one and the version she wishes she had had. The version she wishes she had with people she records in screenplays.
Russ is the cop investigating Lucinda’s death. When he started out in the force his partner was Lee Whitely, Cameron’s dad. It is made clear from the beginning that Russ misses Lee greatly and that the reasons why Lee is not around now were a source of scandal at the time.
Russ is shocked when he discovers Cameron is a suspect and he thinks back to his promise to Lee that he would luck after his son. Russ knows he will do almost anything to protect him.
Russ becomes further conflicted when it is suggested that his brother in law, Ivan, may have been involved in Lucinda’s death in some way. Russ knows his wife, Ines, would want him to do as much as possible to protect Ivan but he finds that he cares less about protecting him than he does about protecting Cameron.
The strength of Girl In Snow lies in Danya Kukafka’s ability to create characters a reader can care about and via their unique voices she provides a study in the nature of grief and loss in all forms.
I loved it.

Girl in Snow A Novel by Danya Kukafka published by Simon & Schuster is a must read for anyone who is in need of a great mystery to read this summer! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC so thank you to Negalley the author and the publishing company. While this is not a 5 star read for me it is a solid 4. The story is centered around a murder of a young girl. Although it reads like a mystery I think the way the author sets up the chapters it is also an in-depth look at the three people from her town whose points of views the story is told from. Jade the insecure girl who hates Lucinda Hayes. Cameron the guy who “watched “ her, and Russ the cop who has his own turmoil that unravels throughout the story who wants nothing more than to bring a killer to justice.
Although this book is strongly based around the murder of this young girl it is also important to talk about how this small-town deal with death grieves the passing of this young girl and ultimately passes blame. The ending and the actual killer is a big shocker and after the first twenty percent this book goes real fast!

"For the first time in three and a half years, Cameron started to cry. The tears were hot on his cheeks. They dripped onto the portrait, creating lakes where there had been only paper. Because Cameron could only do such realistic portraits of things he had seen. Lucinda dead on the carousel was one of them."....


This mystery thriller starts with the death of fifteen year old Lucinda. Found lying on the play ground, covered by a layer of snow. This small Colorado town is about to become hot with gossip. Lucinda was a shining star, why would someone want her dead?

The narrowed suspect range from stalker, Cameron Whitley, to Jade Dixon-Burns, a jealous girl. Is one of them guilty, or are they looking in the wrong direction?

Investigating officer, Russ Fletcher, is the ex partner of the father of one of the suspects. Why is Cameron a suspect? What will Russ uncover, and will he tells what he knows, or protect Cameron as a favor to Cameron's father?

Told from each characters perspective. As the story goes, you learn of their secrets and ultimately what happened to Lucinda. A definite page turner. I loved these well written characters. I couldn't wait to find out what they were hiding. Let's say each of them held big secrets.

Thank you Danya Kukafka, Netgalley, and Simon & Schuster Publishing.

Didn't find this book interesting at all,struggled with finishing this!!!!

I didn't have a favorite point of view to read from. I loved that all of the main characters were broken but I didn't love them enough to really want to follow their direction. I liked the twist but I never really believed that Cameron didn't remember that night. Interesting and fresh take on the story and I always love alternating perspectives. The writing was beautiful. The descriptions seemed real. Struggled a bit to keep my attention on a couple of the character pov chapters. All in all I enjoyed it and read it in 2 days.

At first I didn’t like this book. I really didn’t want to finish it but I had received a copy in exchange for a review so I made myself keep reading and I am glad I did. This book is not a love story but it is about love, all kinds of love-motherly love, brotherly love, sexual love, forbidden love, obsessive love. The book opens with the death of Lucinda Hayes, her body found by the carousel on a snowy school playground. It proceeds over the next three days in chapters from the standpoint of the main characters Cameron, Jade and Russ. At first this felt a little choppy but it was really quite effective. Cameron was a loner and a bit of a voyeur. He loved Lucinda from afar, sneaking out and watching her from a hill behind her house. All his life he had had a problem he referred to as being Tangled. When things were too much for him to handle his mind would black out although his body would not. The night Lucinda died, Cameron was Tangled and he remembered nothing. Jade was also a loner, a chubby girl who also observed Lucinda from her house across the street and saw Cameron watching Lucinda. She hated Lucinda because she had taken Jade’s boyfriend and her babysitting job. Russ was a policeman working the case. Over the three days we learn a lot about these three characters and about others in the town through their eyes. The murder remained a mystery with several possible suspects until the end. This book is a good mystery, a study of a small town and all its secrets, and effects of love or the lack of it.

The shifting tenses and POV between first and third person made this a very unpleasant read and I have no interest in finishing the book.

Wow. Just Wow! This book was just so good--a complete page turner. I was so sure I knew who was the murderer but boy, I was wrong. It is not as action-packed as a murder mystery can be but I really enjoyed the backstories of the various characters. There was a a stunning amount of detail that brought the story, setting and characters to life. The story is told by three different, main characters' perspectives: Cameron, Jade and Russ and each stands out in their own way. It was fast paced and flowed smoothly.

For a debut novel, this is certainly impressive and I hope to read more by this author soon! If you get the chance, make sure to pick a copy of this book up!

Sixteen-year-old Lucinda Hayes is found dead in the snow in front of the neighborhood elementary school one morning. While the police investigate the usual suspects – the neighborhood ex-con, her stalker and her recent ex-boyfriend - anyone could be responsible, which is why it’s important that the story is told from alternating perspectives. There’s the reality that Cameron sees, except that he blacks out sometimes so his narration is unreliable at best. Then there’s Jade’s perspective except that she is a liar and Lucinda’s rival, so it’s unlikely that even if she knew the truth, that she would tell it. Then there’s Russ, the police officer who’s investigating his first murder and who has not one conflict interest but several.
Lucinda, however, isn’t the only connection between these characters as the narrative traces their connection and for most of the novel, instead of giving clues, only points out how likely it is that any of the characters could have snapped and murdered this popular teen.
Danya Kukafka’s prose alternates between spurts of brilliance and description of the mundane with sentence structure that don’t always follow the rules of standard grammar. Bonus points for taking creative license; points deducted for it being distracting. There were moments where the age and reading level of the target reader seemed a little ambiguous. Was this a book for teenagers or for adults? With mostly teenaged characters, there were moments when it felt like it would appeal to the Young Adult reader, someone who might list Pretty Little Liars as their favorite book, someone who enjoys themes like the pretty, popular girl finally getting her due. Then there were clear adult themes - marital angst and characters dealing with aging - and quotes from Gabriel Garcia Marquez  and characters reading Pablo Neruda’s poetry in its original Spanish, and the book felt advanced enough to merit the hours spent reading it.
But while the complex characters proved to be quite multidimensional, the author’s way of revealing that layer by layer just became a little irritating over time.
Finally, after about 300 pages, one suspect is revealed as a witness and another suspect, an innocent bystander who wants nothing more than to matter, finds that they don’t, that they are no longer the main character in their own story and the other buildings start crumbling.
Girl In Snow does not have a clear hero or a clear villain, and the time spent on developing red herring side characters and following sub plot lines, could have been invested in refining what might have been a better story. The final chapters were a little anticlimactic and even after the reveal, the characters didn’t feel deserving of empathy or their views, strong enough to change your positions. Interesting but not quite thrilling.
I received a free electronic download of this book from Netgalley in order to complete this review but this did not at all influence my opinions of the story.

BOOK DETAILS
Title: Girl In Snow
Author: Danya Kukafka
Genre: Thriller
Format: Electronic
Source: Netgalley

I wanted to like Girl in Snow - there's such atmosphere here from page one. But the story overall was a bit too teenage angsty for my tastes. If you like dark YA, then this would be a winner. And the author is very adept at characterization. We get to know our narrators extremely well. Even though this was a miss for me, I think that's mostly because of my subjective preferences. Again, fans of dark YA type stories with a lot of teenage angst will surely enjoy Girl in Snow.

Danya Kukafka's debut Girl in Snow is a deceptive book. It looks like a psychological thriller, and sounds, at least going by the description, like a psychological thriller. But unfortunately, it doesn't read like one.
Lucinda, a teenager in a small-town Colorado, is found murdered on a playground carousel. There is no dearth of suspects for the investigating officer, Russel (Russ), to choose from. The first suspect is Cameron, a teenage boy obsessed with Lucinda who stalks her night and day.  The second is Lucinda's ex boyfriend, Edouard a.k.a. Zap. The third is Jade, an overweight teen with an abusive mother who resents Lucinda for taking away everything and everyone that matters to her. The fourth is the night janitor, Ivan Santos, who happens to be his brother-in-law with a prior arrest for dealing drugs. Russ has one additional interest in the case --Cameron, is the son of Russel's ex-partner Lee. Before he disappeared, he tasked Russ with taking care of Cameron. Also, it is hinted that Lee disappeared because he did something "bad".

Going by this description, the book promises to be fast-paced, thrilling and full of twists and turns. What we get instead is something knotty and vague. The pace is too leisurely and there is a lack of  urgency, which makes one wonder if the book is going anywhere.

We get Cameron, disturbed and agitated because Lucinda is dead and he cannot see her again. Plus, he has no memory of what happened and he has Lucinda's diary with him. We have Jade, who thinks of herself as a witch who is receiving messages from the dead Lucinda to find out the truth. We have Russ who loves his wife Ines and hates his brother-in-law Ivan; who used to be in love with his ex-partner Lee, and who would rather see Ivan hang than Cameron. The sub-plot about Lee seems superfluous and ultimately has no connection to the central mystery of Lucinda's death.

One eventually realizes that the murder is the last thing the writer wants to focus on. Instead she uses it as a scaffolding to explore the inner lives of all these characters. We are immersed deeply into their thoughts as they go about their daily lives. This would have been a great way to give us unreliable narrators, and keep us guessing. But that doesn't happen. In spite of being given so much exposure to them, I ended up caring for none of the characters.

The ending was very predictable, and though it was executed well, it was a disappointment. What I did like about this book is that the language is very atmospheric. It creates sharp images and evokes a tactile experience. But ultimately, the beuatiful writing wasn't enough. Girl is Snow, unfortunately, wasn't for me.

FTC disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for this honest review.

Note: This review will go live on my blog on 26th August, 2017.

First, thank you to NetGalley (Simon and Schuster) for a copy of this e-book for my enjoyment and review. The characters were, in my opinion amazing, as was Kukafka's writing. Her prose flowed along very well, easy to follow, back and forth from each character being investigated in the murder of a young high school student. Three of her classmates, a police officer and the school janitor were all described in their relationship with Lucinda and the murder investigation. It is a somewhat dark story, no humor or upbeat kind of story – but well written and easy to read.