Set in a small Colorado town where nothing much happens, a high school girl named Lucinda Hayes, who seemed to have everything going for her is found murdered. As the investigation unfolds, so does a snapshot of three individuals connected to her in some way. There's Cameron, a socially awkward voyeur who had a crush on Lucinda and had become somewhat of a secret stalker. Then Jade, a classmate who both envied and despised Lucinda and finally, Detective Russ Fletcher, the shady character who happens to be investigating the murder.

This was a decent debut novel but, I do think it had a YA audience feel to it. I liked the way that my opinion as to who the murder might be had changed as I read. I do wish that the story was a bit more plot driven but, overall, the author did a good job.

DNF.

I just couldn’t get into this one. Maybe it was my mood or the slower pace. Just wasn’t the right fit.

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukalfka

Too often authors try to be so, so literary and unfortunately they wind up being silly in their pomposity. For example, here is a quote which is supposed to be the thoughts of a high school student:

“If this moment were a song, Cameron thought, it would be a quiet song. the sort of song that drowned you in your miserable chest. It was stunning and tender. It dropped, it shattered and Cameron could only feel the weight of this melody, this song that felt both crushing and delicate.”

REALLY? These are the thoughts of a high school student?

Another quote: “Last night, almond eyes glaring out into the lawn. A pink palm spreadwide on Lucinda’s bedroom window screen. The clouds overhead, moving in fast, a gray sheet shaken out over midnight suede.”

Ayyyyy….. here is the author is stretching so hard to sound LITERARY, to put in so many descriptive words into one sentence and the outcome is that it isn’t either literary nor comprehensible.

Or how about his one: “He hated to imagine his sadness inside her. Mom didn’t deserve any of it. “ UGH. What does this mean, “his” sadness inside of her?

And another which may be the worst: “Her cheekbones were high and bright!....”her mouth was open in laughter; you could see the gap between her two front teeth. Cameron loved that gap. It unclothed her.”
How are cheekbones bright? How does the gap in her teeth unclothe her?

Also, please editor, if there is one, can you just cut location 72 (on my Kindle). It goes on and on and on about foreheads resting against a frosted window. Say what? Several sentences? A whole paragraph?

One more: “He could not look at Lucinda like this because he had missed her most important parts: the way her legs flew out when she ran, from all these years of ballet”. Her most important parts? Flew out? Flew out when she ran? Flew out where? And p.s. legs don’t fly out in ballet.

“Her pink striped sweater looked fake and sad….!” I started laughing out loud at that one. I was trying to imagine that if it were a happier moment, would her sweater have looked real and happy?

This does not make any sense at all.

In fact, I have given up trying to make sense of this book. Rating of 0

The author cleverly intertwines the varying perspectives of this story, which revolves around the death of a young girl. The dead girl is immortalized in the minds of those who knew her, while the police officer investigating her death finds hidden surprises in the life of someone who, to everyone else, seemed to have the perfect life. Who you are on the outside often doesn't match who you are on the inside, and the three characters-the boy, the girl, and the cop-who are left behind must come to terms with the fact that the dead girl was merely human, just like them.

Simon & Schuster and NetGalley provided me with a copy of Girl in Snow. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

When 15 year old Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, the police quickly narrow in on a short list of suspects. Will Russ, the primary investigator, be able to keep looking objectively when he has a personal connection with two of the subjects? Fellow student Cameron, as a stalker of the neighborhood and of Lucinda in particular, seems a logical subject of interest. So is Jade, whose jealousy of Lucinda could have morphed into something more. With a few adults rounding out the list, will the investigation reveal their secrets?

Written in three perspectives, that of Russ, Cameron, and Jade, Girl in Snow is disjointed and lacks the thrilling pace that books of the genre have typically. The novel lacks the punch that it needs and does not allow the reader to form a connection with any of the characters. Girl in Snow lost my attention part way through and not even the ending was enough to pique my interest. There was not enough realism to make the book believable, especially considering the fact that the Russ would have not been allowed near the case in real life. As far as debut novels go, it was a good first attempt by the author. The premise had promise, but the execution of the idea was such that I just could not get behind the book. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Girl in Snow to other readers.

I wanted to love this book. I thought the premise sounded fantastic, the characters were intriguing, and the plot seemed great. As I started reading I noticed that it seemed a bit more YA than it was portrayed. The plot was slow and at times a bit thick to slog through. I did like the writing style as more of a narration than flipping POV.

This book held so much promise but it just wasn’t for me.

Equal parts mystery and character study - everything I want out of a story.

This is a mystery about a teenage girl who is murdered. Approached as a character study, three individuals tell the story of their experience throughout the novel- a young man that stalked her, a girl who hated her and a policeman. The plot unfolds quite slowly at times making it difficult to continue. However, it was well written and fascinating to follow the perspectives of Cameron, Russ and Jade.

Teenage girl found murderer. Who done it ?
Background as seen through the eyes of three people through alternating chapters. Feels like a YA book.

This book is clearly a 4.5, told in a very different writing style.

You get pulled into every single character, especially the three that have voices...Cameron, Jade and Russ. Danya Kukafka's writing makes them just come alive in the retelling of this story. I love how you empathize with all the characters in the book, through their good and bad.

Here is just one quote I really liked from this book.

Nostalgia is my favorite emotion. It's like, you think you know how to deal with the passage of time, but nostalgia will prove you wrong. You'll press your face into an old sweatshirt, or you'll look at a familiar shade of paint on a front door, and you'll be reminded of all the time that got away from you. If you could live it all again, you'd take a long moment to look around, to examine knees against knees. Nostalgia puts you in this dangerous re-creation of something you can never have again. It's ruthless, and for the most part, inaccurate.

A thriller about the mysterious death of a small-town golden girl and the secret lives of three people connected to her. Each chapter is narrated by the three different characters. All the characters are pretty miserable so this is not a happy read! I realise that death is never a pleasant topic but this really does make you feel down. The opposite to a 'holiday read'.

This was an alright book. It was interesting and had my attention for most of the book, but it did drag on and I lost interest at points. I wish that it stuck to the storyline more and describes the characters less. A bit could have been cut out. But all in all it was good.

Mystery thrillers are a thing, ya know? Cheating husbands are a thing, ya know? Unreliable main characters with memory loss are a thing, ya know? And this just combined that but ya know what? It failed. It failed so much I can't even believe I finished it. I finish it because I was curious as to who actually killed the girl and why and how it will be revealed. Mysteries keep me going, you see. And when it's poorly done, I get sad and disappointed af.

Girl in Snow is about the death of 15-yr old, Lucinda Hayes, a well-loved high school student. This is told in three points of view -- Cameron, Lucinda's stalker; Jude, a girl who hates Lucinda; and Russ, one of the investigator assigned to Lucinda's case. These three POVs tell not only the events leading to Lucinda's death and the investigation that comes after. These POVs also tells the things they observe as by-standers in the life of other people.

As a psychological thriller fan (but this statement might be a bit too much for me. lol.), Girl in Snow was an insta-read for me. Death of a teenager, narrators with their very own issues, an unrealiable point of view? Count me in, please! However, as I said, Girl in Snow disappointed me. It tried to carry the Girl on the Train vibes with one of the narrators, Cameron, who stalks Lucinda, found himself unsure of the events that happened the night she died. He's not even sure if he was home or not, if he has anything to do with her death or not. It's all a crazy blur to him.

What pushed me to keep on reading: (1) the NEED to know who actually killed Lucinda, and (2) how will things be revealed. Let me go through my first NEED. This is a psychological mystery. So you see, it's a MYSTERY. I NEED to know the answer. When there's a mystery there has to be answers and theory-making, and all that fun things. I analyzed the characters. I read and tried to analyzed them and understand them and their involvement in the Lucinda's death. And that really motivated me to finish this.

In relation to my first motivation, I'm really intrigued by the revelations in psychological thrillers. Usually there's tension and a thrilling surprise once things were revealed. However, Girl in Snow majorly fails in this department for me. Instead of going into that heightened tension, the revelation was just so plain and anticlimactic. It was a real let down. I was like: that's it?

OVERALL, Girl in Snow is a mystery thriller that tried to ride the thriller-hype but failed to stay on board. It has an interesting premise and nice story-telling. The multiple POV is certainly a great mystery thriller drive but the execution of the story itself just didn't work out well for me. I would still be interested to give Danya Kukafka another go though since this is her debut novel.

I had a hard time even finishing this book. The characters were boring too me and I even skimmed pages trying to find a part that would keep my interest... This book is written more for a teenager .

Three stars: A troubling novel with unlikeable characters, a haunting story line and beautiful writing.

When a beautiful golden girl turns up dead, everyone in a small Colorado suburb, starts whispering. Who would kill Lucinda and why? Of course, all eyes turn on Cameron, the eccentric, quiet artist who fell in love with Lucinda. Cameron isn’t quite normal. He spends hours and hours, still as a statue staring and observing everything around him, his favorite pass time was to watch Lucinda. Would Cameron kill Lucinda? What about Jade, the sharp tongued, acne covered teenager who had every reason to hate Lucinda as she took many things that Jade held dear. Then there is police officer, Russ, who promised to watch over his partner’s son. Russ has his own trouble and secrets, but he is determined to help find out who killed Lucinda. Who is the murderer?
What I Liked:
*Girl in Snow is a difficult book to read and review. It is one of those books that takes a long time to grab hold, but when it does, it will keep you reading. This is a book with a slow pace that manages to work despite the unlikeable characters. What makes this one tick is the mesmerizing writing and attention to detail.
*The book features three points of view. Cameron was the voice I found the most fascinating. It is never revealed what makes Cameron different, if I had to guess, I would say he has some form of autism. He is bothered by loud sounds, he doesn’t function in the social world, and his preferred pass time is to stand for hours on end, quiet like a statue and observe. It was interesting being inside Camron’s head. Jade is a sharp tongued teenage girl full of hate and self loathing. She is hiding her guilty secrets and anger at her mother and the rest of the world. I found her voice funny, and I especially enjoyed her snarky scripts.
*What made this book work for me was the haunting writing. The writing is gorgeous. I appreciated the attention to detail. The descriptions are carefully crafted and stunning. If you like lovely writing that focuses on the details, this is one to read.
*Of course with any good mystery, there are lots of suspects and plenty of motives. I have to admit, that I was never sure as to who the killer was, and then when it was finally revealed, I was shocked. I didn’t see it coming.
&The ending draws to a satisfying close. Everything is revealed, the questions are answered and it ends as well as a story can end when it involves a murdered girl.
And The Not So Much:
*I was never sure as to why the author included Russ, the police officer’s voice. I did not like Russ at all, and his view point really didn’t offer much toward the story. I could have done without Russ all together. I hated his chapters.
*As I mentioned, the pace of the story is slow. It plods along, exposing little secrets as it goes. If you want a fast paced mystery with exciting twists and turns, this is not for you.
*I was bothered by the whole story line centered around Cameron’s dad. I wanted to know more. Where did he go?

Girl in Snow is a sophisticated type of mystery. This is not a book for everyone as it features a slow pace and an unlikeable cast of characters. What makes this book fascinating is the writing that is full of rich descriptions and haunting detail. If you want an interesting story, check this out, just remember to be patient.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

Each chapter is narrated by three different characters: Cameron, Jade and Russ. The main plot is the death of a young girl who was found dead in the snow, apparently she was hit in the head with a object and left to die. Well, I should start saying it was a bit hard to get into this book and even harder to keep reading it. I found it really slow and by the end of the book I was tired and I just wanted to finish it.

All the characters are really sad, although I liked the way the author combined the three of them in the end of the book. Definitely is a well written book with a promissor plot, I didn't fell connect at all with anything in it though. It was just an OK book, nothing that I will remember in the future.

Have you ever read a book with disturbing, unlikeable characters and an uncomfortable plot (as well as uncomfortable sub-plots) (Gone Girl comes to mind), yet you can’t put it down? Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka is just that kind of a book. 15 year-old Lucinda Hayes has been found murdered on the playground of a nearby school. Cameron Whitley is a strange kid with few friends who has been stalking Lucinda for years (he calls it “statue nights” where he sneaks out of his room and simply watches Lucinda); he is of course a prime suspect, as well as overweight, acne-scarred, backwards Jude Dixon-Burns, who lives in an abusive home with an alcoholic mother and only a homeless man as a friend, who hates Lucinda because she is popular. Russ Fletcher is the police officer investigating the murder in this small Colorado town. He is very backward, has no ambition, has been friends with Cameron’s mother, Cynthia for years (was her husband, Lee’s partner until Lee left after a scandal some years before), and is married to a Mexican National, Inéz, whose brother, Ivan, is the night janitor at the school; Ivan is a suspect because he discovered the body and because he is a convicted felon.

The book is written in the style of Gone Girl, in that the chapters are entitled Cameron, Jude, or Russ, and tell the story through each of those characters. The novel is extremely well-written, and the author is able to tell the story with amazing expertise, especially since this is a debut novel for Kakafka. Through her writing, she is able to invoke emotions in readers that are unexpected, and the dénouement is quite surprising.

While this is an uncomfortable read, it is highly recommended for anyone who is looking for something different. Although the style of this novel has been compared to Gone Girl, the story is nothing like it and this unique story will appeal to readers who enjoy suspense, thrillers, general fiction, and good writing.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

GIRL IN SNOW by Danya Kukafka has been chosen as The Marvelous Site's Novel of the Month for February 2018. The following review is a "reviewaka" which is based on an ancient Japanese poetry form. (To learn how to read/write a reviewaka, you can go to http://www.themarveloussite.com/quick-guide-to-reading-a.html.)

Girl in Snow
by Danya Kukafka
c2017

circling teen’s murder
beats the heart of voyeurism
loving from afar

where sight is not always true
powerful, lovely, gritty

MM