3.5 stars!! This book drew me in right away!!

This is a story of two sisters. One is the all loved good girl and the other is the rebel. One is murdered and the other is left to pick up the pieces.

This book hooked me in the first couple chapters!! I wanted to know it all. Each page turn I was excited for more. I loved all the past tidbits and learning more about Persephone. The farther you get in this story the more twists and turns you find!!

Though I enjoyed the plot of this books and the writing was beautiful and flowing. I have to mention this book started to drag. And then the build up lead to this great reveal and I was kind of let down. I came to the conclusion chapters before of what happened. I feel like it may have fizzled out after that. BUT I enjoyed this authors writing and I will be on the look out for her next book.

This book may have been a little predictable but I think it still is a pretty darn good read!!

**I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and in return gave my honest review**

I absolutely loved this book. It was a psychological thriller but it also came across as women's fiction because of the theme of the sisters.

Unraveling what happened to Persephone made this book such a large turner.

This was truly a gem. I love that it kept my mind interested because of the mystery, but it tickled my heart as well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. It was well received and an honor to read.

A story of family dynamics, murder and guilt

After having been away for 16 years, Sylvie returns to her hometown after her aunt pressures her to return to take care of her alcoholic mother Annie who is dying of cancer. Sylvie had left home because of the guilt surrounding the disappearance and murder of her 18-yr-old sister Persephone years before. Her mother had fallen into an alcoholic daze and was unable to care for her younger daughter.

Now that she is back Sylvie recalls the events that had lead to her leaving her home. Her sister Persephone had disappeared one winter night and her body was found three days later. She had been murdered. Unbeknownst to her mother, Persephone had been dating the mayor's son Ben.

Sylvie is carrying her own burden of guilt. Persephone had an arrangement with Sylvie that she would leave the window in their bedroom unlocked and raised so that Persephone could climb in upon her return without disturbing their mother. On the night that Persephone disappeared Sylvie, in spite, had locked the window in an attempt to get her sister in trouble with their mother. Persephone tried to get in but couldn't succeed and eventually quit and wandered off into the night. Three days later her body was found. She had been murdered. Hence, Sylvie's burden of guilt.

Ben becomes the initial murder suspect. But after a brief investigation the police let him go, claiming that he had an alibi. Sylvie continued to believe that Ben had murdered her sister. Upon her return she presses for a re-opening of the investigation. When that doesn't occur Sylvie decides to conduct her own investigation. At first stymied, she identifies another possible suspect but that doesn't pan out. So she digs deeper. It turns out that their mother Annie had deep secrets of her own.

When the identity of the murderer is uncovered it comes as a shock to Sylvie and the reader.

This is an engrossing tale of twisted family dynamics, small town secrets, and the damage inflicted by years of guilt.

I was provided with an ARC by the publisher via Net Galley.

4.5 stars rounded up. This novel is comprised of a lot of little mysteries that have to be revealed to uncover the main mystery: Who killed 18-year-old Persephone 16 years ago, when her sister, Sylvie, was just 14 years old?

After the death of her oldest daughter, Annie fell into self-medicating with alcohol. Sylvie leaves town as soon as she graduates high school—it’s never easy being a poor kid in a rich community, but it’s really not easy when you’re the sister of a murdered girl and the daughter of an alcoholic mother. She can move geographically, but she can’t escape her own feelings of how she played a part in her sister’s death. Sylvie returns home only when her mother is dying of cancer and has no one else. Between the day-to-day caring for a woman she has a tense relationship with, Sylvie is compelled to unravel the mysteries she’s uncovering now that she’s back in town. That’s the enjoyable part of the book—watching the little clues revealed one by one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I loved the mix of two genres in this book. It's part thriller, part family drama. The thriller part feels familiar, but the twist was solid and wasn't a twist just to have one - it made sense in the context of the story.

The family drama really shined through. It's a great exploration of the breakdown of the mother/daughter relationship and it felt raw and real. 3.5 stars.

The Winter Sister is a well written, spellbinding novel. It is a story of how the inescapable past impacts on the present in profound and often tragic ways. The characters are interesting and unique, and the plot has a number of unexpected, suspenseful twists, which keep the reader guessing. I was engrossed from the start and could not put this exciting book down. Thanks to Touchstone, Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I knew within a few chapters of starting The Winter Sister that this wasn’t a book I wasn’t going to finish. I struggled to the end, but I wish I had stopped sooner. It was ok but not for me and I should have trusted my instincts.

The Winter Sister is about two sisters. Sylvie’s sister Persephone disappeared sixteen years ago after sneaking out to meet a boyfriend she wasn’t supposed to have. Her murder remains unsolved.

In the present day, Sylvia returns to her home town to look after her estranged mother whilst she is receiving treatment for cancer at a centre where Persephone’s former boyfriend now works.

Whilst she is home Sylvie decides to look again at the mystery of her sister’s disappearance.

The big twist reminded me of the twist in Last Time I Lied and I had an inkling whilst reading it that this might be the case.

The reason I struggled with this may just be that I have read too many other books that were written along a similar line so if you are fairly new to the genre you will probably enjoy this book.

One thing I did like about The Winter Sister was the dysfunctional relationship between mother and daughter. Neither character was likeable, but I did enjoy the description of their bond.

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins is a mystery novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Atria Books (and particularly Isabel DaSilva for the personal request to review), and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:
When Sylvie was 14, her 18 year old sister Persephone went missing. Sylvie’s mom locked herself in her room and didn’t come out, wouldn’t talk to anyone, not even her remaining daughter. After Persephone’s strangled body was found in a snow bank, Sylvie’s mom’s behavior deteriorated into alcoholism. Eventually Sylvie went to live with her Aunt Jill.

On Sylvie’s 30th birthday, Aunt Jill called to tell her that her mom had cancer. A few months later, she called again, saying Sylvie had to come home to look after her mother. The welcome home was strained on both sides. But when she takes her mother to her first chemo appointment, Sylvie recognizes one of the nurses. Ben had been Persephone’s boyfriend, and had been with her the night she died. Sylvie still believes Ben killed her sister.

While trying to traverse the rocky relationship with her mother, Sylvie starts to uncover the secrets that have surrounded her life since childhood. She learns more about her sister, about Ben, about her mother, and about herself. They’ve all kept their own secrets, and wallowed in their own guilt – some earned, and some not.

 
My Opinions:.
This debut novel introduces us to an inspiring new author.

This book is about love, hate, secrets, lies, guilt and betrayal, as well as the repercussions these behaviors have on others. But it is mainly about family, albeit very dysfunctional families. It begs the question, how well do we truly know our siblings, parents, or children.

Although the ending was predictable, and the murderer fairly evident, the journey the reader took was captivating. The characters grew in depth as their stories were revealed, often through memories. The writing was good, and the storyline very entertaining. I found it to be a fast read.

I’m looking forward to more from this new author.

The Winter Sister is the first novel from author Megan Collins, but nothing about it felt like a début. It's one of those books that feels so incredibly well-done in every conceivable way that I found myself myself constantly wondering how it could possibly  be someone's first novel.

It's been sixteen years since Sylvie's older sister Persephone went missing, sixteen years since Sylvie's life was changed in unimaginable ways. Before Persephone's disappearance, Sylvie lived a pretty average life. She and her mother had an extremely close relationship, and even though Persephone could be volatile at times, Sylvie still loved her fiercely. But when Persephone's body was found three days after Sylvie reported her missing, Sylvie's mother retreated into a haze of drugs and alcohol, leaving her remaining daughter to cope with the devastating loss alone. Fortunately, Sylvie took refuge in her art, and soon left her home town for art school, and she hasn't been home since.

Now though, Sylvie's mother has been diagnosed with cancer, and Sylvie is called home to care for her. No one is thrilled with this idea, but there's no one else to step in, so Sylvie reluctantly moves back into her childhood home and does her best to mend fences with her mother. As you might imagine, this is much easier said than done, especially since the person responsible for Persephone's death was never caught, leaving Sylvie with tons of unanswered questions.

Then, to make matters much, much worse, Sylvie runs into Ben, Persephone's former boyfriend, and the person Sylvie has always blamed for her sister's death. Despite the fact that Sylvie shared her suspicions with the police, they were unable to find evidence to tie Ben to Persephone's murder, and now Ben is working as a nurse at the center where Sylvie's mother is receiving treatment. Ben has always professed his innocence, but Sylvie doesn't believe a word of it; she knows he physically assaulted Persephone back when they were dating, and that's all the proof she needs. But as she and Ben begin to share their memories of Persephone's last days, Sylvie begins to wonder if things really are as clear-cut as she used to believe. Is it possible that Ben really isn't to blame? And if that's true, then the real killer is still at large.

From reading my description, you might think this is just another in a long string of thrillers about missing girls, but The Winter Sister is so much more than that. The mystery is definitely compelling, but equally fascinating is Sylvie's inner struggle to find personal healing in the midst of unbearable loss. Ms. Collins has managed to create a story that will appeal to those readers who love spine-tingling thrillers as well as those who are drawn to the resilient heroines and complex relationships most often found in women's fiction.

I love it when authors allow their characters to inhabit that moral gray area instead of being totally good or completely bad. It gives the story a much more authentic feel, and Ms. Collins definitely excels at that here. Everyone from our heroine to the villain feels like a three-dimensional person you could easily come into contact with in your daily life. She has developed well thought-out backstories for her characters, and their motivations never feel overdone or cartoonish. I didn't like or relate to every person in the story, but I felt I knew what caused each of them to behave the way they did.

The identity of Persephone's killer really surprised me. There were a few times I was pretty sure I'd figured out who was responsible, but none of my guesses were correct. I always enjoy it when an author is able to keep me guessing the way Ms. Collins did. She threw in some red herrings, and I definitely fell for a couple of them.

If you're looking for a compulsively readable story to curl up with this winter, do yourself a favor and give The Winter Sister a try. It's a rich and enjoyable read that will transport you out of your real life and into the lives of its characters - and who doesn't love a story that can do that?

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Talk about secrets. Everyone seems to have them. Though I did figure things out pretty early, this book was still enjoyable. This book shows you how each person deals with a tragedy and the guilt they hold with them. It was fun to be in my home state while reading this book, though the town in fictional.



*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

Megan Collins brings us a story of trials and tribulations, eerie coincidences and hidden family ties. There are a bit more tantrums and wilting flowers that I find appealing. I prefer my protagonists to be brave and stalwart women. That said, this is an interesting look at how we look at and to our parents in childhood, and the fact that we often assume that our siblings see the parent from the same aspect that we do.

A sad tale, this, but an intriguing puzzle. Megan Collins has a good imagination. I will watch for her next story.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Megan Collins, and Touchstone Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

THE WINTER SISTER BY MEGAN COLLINS BOOK REVIEW
Estranged family members, a cold case murder & a main character racked with guilt make up this domestic thriller from Megan Collins.

RETURNING HOME WITH PLENTY OF BAGGAGE
The set-up of this story is fantastic. Immediately Megan Collins throws readers headfirst into a tumultuous home environment. Sylvie’s older sister, Persephone, is not making the best choices. She’s sneaking out, lying to her family & covering up secrets. The truth is, Persephone has no choice. Their mom, Annie, is a total mess. Annie is passive aggressive, overbearing & an alcoholic. After Persephone is found dead, Annie spins out of control & their family is torn apart.

Years later, Sylvie is pulled back into her mother’s web. Consumed with guilt, she’s back home to take care of her ill mother. Megan does a great job here balancing the strained mother-daughter relationship with the added caregiver role played by Sylvie. Both women have secrets, anger & resentment but yet, here they are muddling through the mess together.

DEBUT DRAMATIC SUSPENSE
This is not a twisty type of thriller, but rather procedural in nature. Readers come along as Sylvie digs up clues from the past. She is determined to find out exactly what happened that night. As she becomes close to the truth, the story builds nicely. This is where Megan Collins really shines.

THE VERDICT
I am Into This book. At the heart of the story for me is love, healing & forgiveness. While The Winter Sister deals with some heavy subject matter, Megan’s writing style carries the narrative well. Read this if you’re in the mood for a lighter psychological thriller that wraps up nicely at the end.

There is one huge part of this book that reminds me of The Winters by Lisa Gabriele. Have you read it?

Special thanks to Megan Collins, Touchstone & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

This was a book I felt ambiguous about. I wasn’t blown away by the story. It was too predictable for my liking, and yet I didn’t really dislike it enough not to enjoy the overall story, even though I basically knew exactly where it was going. It was well written for a debut, but it just didn’t have the suspense factor needed to keep me captivated.

Ms. Collins’ tale of family dysfunction and murder hooked me from the start. The web of family secrets ensnares both victim and reader. While the basic premise of this story might be tried-and-true in the mystery/thriller genre, the author gives the story a little something extra in the form of an interesting and unexpected twist as well as highly empathetic characters.

After hiding her sister’s secret boyfriend, clandestine “dates”, and bruises, Sylvie has lived with guilt since the day her sister’s body was found by the side of the road. Sixteen years of sadness and guilt later, she is going through the expected motions of life, but she merely existing. When circumstances force her to return to her childhood home, she must confront her sister’s cold-case murder, her estranged mother, and her late sister’s last boyfriend, whom the family has long thought to be responsible for Persephone’s death.

The story tension is taught from start to finish. The tone is morose and resigned as a result of each character’s respective guilt over their part in Persephone’s demise. Readers can’t help but deeply feel the loss of Persephone and how it has utterly destroyed her survivors. Sylvie’s desire to find the responsible party reflects her need for absolution.

Ms. Collins’ beautiful writing draws her readers into the chilling New England setting, the odd and unsettling family relationships, and Persephone’s highly questionable and disturbing relationships. I loved the symbolism within the story. The constellation painted on the family room wall starts as a representation of Sylvie’s idolization of her older sister, but it becomes a reminder of Annie and Sylvie’s role in Persephone’s end as well as a reminder of their personal stagnation.

Ms. Collins includes some interesting red herrings and creepy secondary characters that help to keep her audience guessing. Even if readers do guess all or part of the outcome, the journey is quite satisfying. Equally satisfying is the ultimate outcome of the story. Along the way, there are a few things that didn’t work for me, but overall, I was completely engrossed in this story. The Winter Sister is a well-written page-turner!

First, the cover. Caught my attention from the beginning so did the first few pages and was that way until the last page. What an amazing, suspenseful, intriguing, engaging debut novel. Kept me guessing until the end. I've come to love that about thrillers.

The Winter Sister has all what I always look for on this genre, believable characters and quite a few unexpected twists along the way. I enjoyed it a lot. It was very interesting to get to know these characters, and how their family dynamics changes after Persephone, Sylvie's sister was found dead. How Sylvie and her mom's daughter-mother relationship breaks apart not only because of Persephone's death but also because the mom takes on alcohol as a way of coping with the pain and suffer. How 16 years later Sylvie has to go back to her old town, her mom's house and to a mom on the way to die of cancer while having to face again, after all these years, the one person she strongly believes killed her sister, Persephone's old boyfriend, Ben.

I loved The Winter Sister. I devoured it in a week. A wonderful debut thriller. The writing is so unique for this genre, almost magical. Totally recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not a hugely original storyline. I felt like I’d read the book before even though I never had. But the main character, Sylvie, is likeable and her story makes the book worth reading. Frankly it was hard to like any of the other characters. I had issues with some of the clunky writing but other parts of the book were wonderfully written. And there was a lot of repetition. The painted wall must have been mentioned every two pages. Yes it was symbolic but enough already. That being said, the book was a good read overall and I look forward to more from the author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

Fourteen year old Sylvie and her older sister Persephone were the daughters of Annie, a single mom, who would have have Dark Days (as the girls named those days) on the 15th of each month. Annie showed open affection for Sylvie while holding Persephone at arms length, which caused Persephone to resent her mom and to act out in more ways than were obvious to most onlookers. When Persephone would sneak out of the house at night to be with her boyfriend Ben, Sylvie had to keep a window unlocked so Persephone could sneak back into the house afterwards, because their mom wouldn't let either girl date yet, despite Persephone being a senior in high school.

Sylvie also had to paint over bruises on Persephone's body after each time she had been with Ben. Then, one night, Persephone disappeared and her body was found three days later. For several reasons, Sylvie feels like it's her fault that her sister lost her life and she is sure that Persephone's boyfriend killed her although officially the murderer is never found. Annie, retreats into a perpetual drunken stupor for the next fifteen years, abandoning Sylvie to live with her aunt Jill.

Sixteen years later Sylvie must return home from where she is living in Boston because her mom has been diagnosed with cancer. Sylvie is still haunted by what happened to her sister and her mom's reaction to her sister's death and dreads walking back into her old home and seeing her mother. Having feelings stirred up about past events, Sylvie prods the police department to start investigating Persephone's death while talking with others and working on discovering what she can on her own. Secrets began to be revealed...almost everyone close to Persephone and Ben had secrets and Sylvie has to face her own actions the night of Persephone's death.

I think the book got better the farther into it that I read. At first I thought Sylvie and Persephone were too unlikable for me to care about them but as I learned more about their childhood and more about their mom, I could feel compassion for them. There are so many secrets and so many guilt feelings from so many people that it becomes a guessing game as to who might have the biggest motive to murder Persephone. Thank you to Touchstone, Atria Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Psychological thriller about a woman who returns to her hometown 16 years after her sister is murdered. The murder has gone unsolved and the main character is tortured over her actions the night her sister died. Estranged from her alcoholic mother, she finally faces her past and confronts her family’s demons.

Sound familiar? I have read this plot multiple times. I am getting a little sick of the trope of a child or sibling returning home after several years distanced from family due to a murder. The plot feels recycled. My review even feels recycled. I even thought about copying and pasting an old review for another book and updating where appropriate, but I held off!

Despite the predictable and overused plot, the characterization is quite strong and keeps things interesting. The tone is quite dark and never seems to ease up. So, all in all, The Winter Sister is a decent, yet predictable, psychological thriller. If you are a fan of the genre, it might feel like you have read this before!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sylvie doesn’t want to go home. Sixteen years ago her sister Persephone was murdered, and her mother, a single parent, was undone by it. Sylvie’s built a new life for herself and would prefer not to revisit the old one, but her aunt calls and summons her. Sylvie’s mother is gravely ill and Aunt Jill says it is Sylvie’s turn to take care of her. Reluctantly, Sylvie packs and heads home to face her demons.

I was invited to read and review this compelling debut novel courtesy of Net Galley and Simon and Schuster. It will be available to the public tomorrow, February 5, 2019.

Persephone went on a date the night she was killed; she wasn’t permitted to date and so she had to sneak out. And right away my antennae twitch, because who doesn’t let their seventeen-year-old daughter date? The heck? She was a senior in high school, yet was reduced to climbing in and out of the bedroom window to avoid her mother’s anger. At fourteen, Sylvie was her confederate, leaving the window just a finger’s width ajar so that Persephone could return home undetected. But Sylvie had become increasingly ambivalent; Persephone came home with bruises with increasing frequency, asking her little sis to paint temporary tattoos to cover them up for her. Should Persephone be seeing Ben, the boy responsible for the bruises? One night she decides not to leave the window open. That way it will be out in the open. Persephone will have to come in through the front door. She’ll be busted, but then the problem of the abusive boyfriend will be where it belongs, right on their mother’s plate. Let the adult do the adult job, she figured. But that night, unable to sneak back in, Persephone instead returned to her boyfriend’s car, hopped in, and never came home.

Her body wasn’t found for three days.

The guilt of the thing followed Sylvie everywhere she went. She told no one. Their mother took to drink and locked herself away, refusing to respond to her daughter’s pleas on the other side of the door. Aunt Jill took Sylvie home with her when it became obvious that her mother had ceased to mother.

But now, Sylvie has to go back. And she carries so much anger with her; how is it even possible that Ben, the boyfriend, was never arrested or charged? How is it possible that he is working—of all places—in the clinic where her mother goes to receive her chemo?

Collins’s narrative is deeply absorbing, with a component of the psychological thriller in that at times, I wonder whether she is reliable. Things are certainly not what they seem. The resolution is surprising, yet fair to the reader. It’s a clever plot with layered characters, and I look forward to seeing what Collins writes in the future.

Recommended to those that love the genre.

A great read from a promising new writer! The Winter Sister had compelling characters and storylines that kept me turning pages. The only critique is that one of the major twists was kind of predictable( no spoilers here). Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for review.

4.5/5 stars

PS the title reminded me of my favorite Captain America movie- the Winter Soldier. Anybody else?