This was a pleasant surprise in the way it grabbed me from the beginning! I read A LOT, and unfortunately, many books lately haven't been grabbing my attention, or I feel my interest waning a lot of times before I finish.

Sylvie admires her sister Persephone and has a modest, but fun childhood, thinking life is pretty good. Sylvie thinks her mother hung the moon, but Persephone has nothing but a list of complaints about their mom. Sylvie doesn't understand why Persephone feels this way and just chalks it up to Persephone's attitude.

Then, one day, Persephone disappears and her boyfriend, Ben is the prime suspect. I won't go into a whole lot, to avoid spoilers, but the book then skips to when Persephone is an adult and how she copes, or doesn't with what happened to her sister. And, to make matters worse, has to deal with the fallout surrounding her mother's trouble in coming to terms with what happened so many years before.

The book is really about what happens when secrets are kept when they shouldn't be and the havoc they can cause on lives for even years to follow. This book releases in February 2019 and I highly recommend it. I noticed this was the authors first book and I look forward to her next story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this. I really enjoyed it.

Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found and years later, her murder remains unsolved. In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated.

As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house—and what really happened the night Persephone died. As it turns out, the truth will set you free, once you can bear to look at it.

The Winter Springs is a heavily drama filled whodunnit book that will keep you on the edge of your seat! The whole time I was reading this story I thought I had it figured out, but this is not your average thriller.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of The Winter Sister by Megan Collins
Pub Date 05 Feb 2019

The Winter Sister is a lovely debut by Megan Collins. I really enjoyed reading it. I thought the characters were interesting, even if some could have been developed a little more. There were some nice plot twists that kept me wondering. I guess I was a little disappointed by the resolution but not much. In general I liked the book and I look forward to this author’s next book.
3.5 stars

2.5 "pushing it" stars. 16 years after her sister Persephone turns up dead, Sylvie returns home to care for her gravely ill mother. Classified as an unsolved and open investigation, the police still have very few suspects but Sylvie is determined to set out with her inquiries but as she peels back each layer, she begins to uncover a tragic and terrible truth. I found this story to be extremely boring and disappointing.

**I received an ARC Kindle edition of the book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Sylvie returns to her hometown 16 years after her sister Persephone was found murdered on the side of the road. The murder was never solved, but Sylvie's number one suspect was Ben, Persephone's boyfriend. Now that Sylvie is back in town to take care of her mother she keeps running into Ben and decides to delve deeper into the mystery surrounding Persephone's death. Her mother shuts down and won't discuss the circumstances surrounding the unsolved murder. All Sylvie knows is that Ben and Persephone were forbidden to see each other, yet they snuck out every night to meet and one night Persephone never came home. Sylvie feels partly responsible for one part of that night and the guilt has followed her around for years. She needs to make it right by finding out the truth and bring the killer to justice.

This book took off right from the start for me. It slowed down a little towards the end and the conclusion didn't really surprise me. I think it was supposed to be a twist but it wasn't that hard to figure out. I liked the writing style and felt connected to most of the characters. I would recommend it and read more from the author.

An exciting debut thriller that kept me glued to the pages until I finished it in one day.
The plot is pacey, suspenseful, and tragic with lots of twists and turns.
Looking forward to read more by Megan Collins.
Thank you Megan, the publisher, and #Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This book was so hard to put down I couldn’t stop reading it even though it was so sad and heavy. It was full of a lot of flawed characters but they seemed real enough to come right off of the page. Even though they made horrible choices and they did awful things I was still fascinated to see what happened to them. This book really explored grief and the stages it goes through, obsessive unhealthy love and the harm it can do and the regret that can happen from making wrong choices in life. Heavy themes but written in a beautiful way that made you invested in every word. This book broke my heart in all the write ways for a really great reading experience.

Ever since her sister Persephone's murder, Sylvie has lofted beneath a shroud of guilt. If she hadn't locked her sister out of their room that night, Persephone would still be alive. This is the premise of Collins' great new novel THE WINTER SISTER. At the age of 30, Sylvie is forced to leave her comfortable, if stunted, life to return home to take of her mother. The same mother who completely shut her out and dove headfirst into the bottle after Persephone was killed. But upon her return, Sylvie decides to do more than just care for her mother - Persephone's killer was never brought to justice and Sylvie wants the case reopened and the killer prosecuted. But of course, there are many dark secrets that teenaged Sylvie was never aware of that are almost more than even grown-up Sylvie will be able to bear. While murdered of disappearing sisters are currently a popular trope in the mystery arena, Collins' story is particularly well-written and highly enjoyable. I look forward to her next book.

The Winter Girl is a Thoroughly Entertaining Debut Novel.
Sylvie worships her mercurial older sister Persephone. She covers for her each time she sneaks out to see her boyfriend Ben by leaving their bedroom window open a crack so she can climb back in.
Until the night that she decides to leave their window closed and locked.
Sylvie watches her sister run back to Ben’s truck and that is the last time she sees her alive. Their mother begins a rapid descent after Persephone is gone, drinking heavily and shutting herself away in her bedroom, hiding secrets of her own.
Sylvie ends up living with her mother’s sister who has taken over her car as well as her mother’s. Sylvie always assumed it was Ben who killed her sister, leaving her body to be covered with snow, obscuring vital evidence. Sixteen years later and the case has long gone cold. Sylvie is now working unhappily as a tattoo artist and floundering. When her aunt beckons her home to care for her now terminally ill mother, Sylvie moves back into a world of questions.
What happened to Persephone? Who killed her?
After Sylvie unexpectedly runs into Ben, now a nurse working in the hospital where her mother is receiving chemo, she begins to doubt, for the first time, that he is her sister’s killer. Sylvie begins again, this time more doggedly, searching to solve the case.
Full of long buried family secrets waiting to be uncovered, The Winter Girl is a thoroughly entertaining debut novel.
BRB Rating: Read It.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 for the imaginative drama and enjoyable prose
⭐⭐⭐⭐

While this book features an all too familiar plot, it does offer something that I wasn't expecting but very much enjoyed and that is a fascinating and novel family dynamic. I would definitely categorize this one under family drama with a generous sprinkling of the thriller/mystery genre.

I enjoyed the narrator, Sylvie, who has been suffering for 20 years with the guilt she carries over her sister's unsolved murder. She blames herself for the death due to her inactions leading up to that tragic night. Unlike a lot of characters of similar plots, Sylvie's feelings of guilt are completely founded leaving her in a crippling state of remorse.

Although she reads younger than her 34 years, especially considering the hardships she has endured, Sylvie is without a doubt a likeable character that tugged at my heartstrings throughout.

Silvie's mother, Annie, is portrayed in a nonsensical manner, her actions and motives absurd and totally unbelievable.

I figured out the plot twists, the murderer and the motive shortly before the halfway mark, which always sucks. The motive for the murder is a bit ridiculous and baseless.

Overall this is a fast, light and enjoyable debut, despite it's shortcomings. I'm definitely not deterred from reading more offerings from this author. I feel confident the best is yet to come.


I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5-3.75 Stars
A thriller that's part coming-of-age story and part family tragedy. This novel reveals the plot one clue at a time like peeling back the layers of an onion. Interesting character dynamics, solid writing and pace for a debut author, although the ending could be better. It's definitely a page turner and I will look for other works by the author in the future.

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This was a great debut book! Suspenseful and just kept me wanting to read. I look forward to more from this author.

A solid debut, The Winter Sister is a well written whodunit, rich in detail but that fell a little flat for me. Sylvie’s sister was murdered when she was a teenager and the case eventually went cold. Sylvie is positive that the boyfriend did it, but she is hiding many secrets. After the murder, Sylvie’s mom unravelled and their relationship was destroyed forever. Told from Sylvie’s point of view, she is a likable character who blames herself for her sister’s death, but her mother is such a despicable person that it was hard for me to relate to Sylvie’s plight to get close to her again. Yes, she has cancer and who can possibly root against someone undergoing chemo... well, turns out some characters are so irredeemable that even being at death's door can't make them sympathetic. The plot also relies too heavily on coincidence, rather than have the characters earn the knowledge they seek. Except for some places where there were too many details that made my attention wander, the rest of the story held my interest, so it is entertaining enough, just not my cup of tea.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Atria Books!

It’s been sixteen years since her sister Persephone was murdered. Sylvie has created herself a new life, far away from home, but now she has to return to her hometown and confront her seriously ill mother. It doesn’t take long until all that happened that winter night comes back to her, especially when she meets Ben, her sister’s boyfriend, her sister’s murderer. Yet, Ben insists in his innocence. But can she trust him? And what about her mother who always refused to tell the girls who their respective fathers are and who also refused to talk about that night. Is it time now to open Pandora’s box and let the truth out?

Megan Collins’ debut is at the first glance a typical murder case: an 18-year-old girl is strangled and the murderer has been running free for sixteen years. However, at the second glance, it is much more a story about family relationships, about secrets and about love and trust. The small family of three females lived on secrets and lies, had they ever been open and honest with each other, the death of one daughter could have been prevented. Yet, that’s how human beings are, sometimes they lack the necessary courage to do what is right and thus risk to lose all they love.

The novel is well-created, even though at a certain point it is quite obvious how all the dots are linked, I found it full of suspense. Telling the story through Sylvie’s eyes gives you a certain bias at the beginning, but the missing pieces and gaps add to the thrill and the big questions marks Sylvie herself feels can also be experienced by the reader. Collins’ biggest strength is certainly the creation of the characters who all act convincingly and appear quite authentic. I am looking forward to read more from the author.

4-5 stars. A beautifully, chilling look at how families bury secrets, and how a loss can destroy many parts of that secret. A great read for those who love family dramas and chilling and thrilling reads.
Will highly recommend to the members of Chapter Chatter Pub.

I read an early copy of this debut novel by Megan Collins and there's a letter from her publisher at Simon & Schuster saying how blown away they were, commenting that they finished reading the novel in record time and couldn't wait to put it into the hands of their colleagues.

I probably wasn't quite as enamoured but certainly enjoyed the this book which offers some great character development and a few twists you may not see coming. 

I really liked Sylvie. We meet her when Persephone goes missing so we get the chance to identify with the 14yr old who's struggling with guilt over secrets she's kept and things she's done. Naturally these fester so when we meet her again 16 years later she hasn't entirely emerged from her childhood unscathed.

Sylvie and Persephone's mother Annie completely breaks down (to the point of being incapable of looking after her younger daughter) after Persephone's death which is quite a surprise as Sylvie has (almost obviously) always been the favourite. In fact this was a common gripe of Persephone's though Sylvie tried to deny that it was the case.

"Sometimes, Persephone would say to me, it's like you and I have two different mothers. But we didn't. We had one mother one woman who had birthed us both. Maybe it was just the two of us who'd been different - one who saw her clearly, and one who saw her impossibly, as a garden constantly in bloom." p 191*

It's weird then that her mother lets Sylvie disappear from her life and is consumed by the loss of one of her daughters. But not the other.

Now, forced to return home and care for her mother, Sylvie's reminded of the past and confronted by the boy, now man, she believes killed her sister.

But... there are secrets. More and more secrets which are slowly revealed and, though I guessed at one or two, I was still horrified at the behaviour of some of those involved.

think this would be a great bookclub book as the relationship between Ben and Persephone (and how it played out) would be ideal for discussion (or debate). This is a bit of a spoiler-alert, though we learn about it very early on in the book: Persephone often arrives home from dates with Ben covered in bruises. She commits her sister to secrecy and of course that's just another reason Sylvie feels guilty that she didn't reveal what was happening.

And now, Ben offers up a plausible explanation... but I couldn't help but wonder if it's the same kind of excuse domestically violent men use to justify their behaviour or how they rid themselves of any guilt.

Having said that, although we didn't meet young Ben I liked older Ben.

I thought Collins did a good job with the characters, from Sylvie, her mother and aunt as well as the detectives who investigated her sister's case. I probably would have liked a little more from the detectives, but Sylvie was a worthy lead and her 'journey' (sorry!), family secrets and revelations the strength of this debut novel.

I look forward to more from Collins.

Excellent debut novel, incorporating great character development, well paced story and unexpected twists. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Net Galley and Touchstone Books for this advance read in exchange for my honest review. This is a debut novel and a very, very good one. I was drawn in from sentence one and I didn't want to put it down until I'd finished it. The characters were well done, and the plot was intriguing. I was very impressed, and I've already marked the author down as one I'll be following.

This was the perfect mix of psychological thriller and family drama! Can't believe this was a debut by this author!

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins was sent to me by Net galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book captured my interest in the very beginning . A book about the diferent famaily dynamics with sisters , Moms and sisters and father and son. And it just proves that you never really know anyone the way you think you do . There is also a reason people feel and react differently weather it be right or wrong , with the wrong motive or is it the right one?
This one kept me interested until the end with well developed characters and a faced paced well developed story. Yes I do recommend.