What a psychological thriller! This is such a twisted story! Dysfunctional family in the worst possible way! Just a few ways to describe this author's debut book. This book will be hard to put down once started. Highly recommended!

Tl;dr: The Winter Sister may start off on familiar mystery/thriller lines but veers deep and dark with its unflinching look at the devastation wrought by belief in all-consuming love, grabbing you by the neck and forcing you to look at the wreckage it makes.

The Winter Sister left me absolutely furious and despairing by the end--and I think that's the point of this debut novel. It doesn't want to soothe you with a happy ending or even a happy-ish one. It would rather punch you in the throat and hiss "Look!"

To which I say, "Yes, please!"

It does start off on familiar ground--thirty year old Sylvie, who lives in a careful bubble of nothingness with a job and life she's not that interested in, is summoned home by the aunt who basically raised her after Annie, Sylvie's mother, fell apart fourteen years ago when Sylvie's older sister, Persephone, was murdered.

It's for the reason you think--Annie has esophageal cancer, and will most likely die.

So Sylvie returns home, back to a mother who ceased to notice her or anyone or anything except vodka and pills after Persephone's murder. Sylvie doesn't want anything to do with her mother or the town she left behind when she went to art school.

Upon her arrival, her mother is not interested in her or her cancer treatment. Recently sober, she is, at best, sarcastic and rude. At her worst, she continues to do what she's always done for as long as Sylvie can remember--locks herself away in her bedroom and refuses to come out. These periods of rejection and isolation used to occur every month, and Persephone had named them the "Dark Days."

As for the town, it's still the same too--small, insular, and there's still no real effort to find Persephone's murderer. Sylvie isn't surprised by that either though. She's convinced Persephone's then boyfriend, Ben, was the killer--but that he will never be brought to justice because his family is "the" town family, storied, rich, and untouchable.

Ben is, naturally, still in town and working as a nurse at the hospital where Sylvie takes her mother for chemotherapy. In between hunting down a copy of Wuthering Heights for her mother to read, she deals with Ben, who insists he didn't kill Persephone, and thinks the creepy neighbor kid, Tommy, who lived nearby and was "obsessed,"did.

Yes, this all seems pretty standard. But here is also where Megan Collins goes deep and dark.

Let's start with Ben. He's not a bad guy who has secretly got a heart of gold and is really a big softie. He's a deeply messed up man who drifted into being a nurse after returning home to live with his father on the "family property" for money after deciding impoverished life on his own wasn't cutting it.

That doesn't sound so bad? Ok. Well, check this: Sylvie drifted into her job as a tattoo artist because she used to paint designs onto Persephone's bruised body after she saw Ben.

Yeah, but Persephone's secret lover/murderer was the one who really bruised her. Right?

Right?

Nope. No secret lover/murderer in The Winter Sister, and Ben put those bruises on Persephone. ( (spoiler reason) why he did it is interesting--we'll get back to it*)

Ben is one of the reasons The Winter Sister works--he does want to be a decent guy but has no idea how. A lifetime of being taken care of no matter what and messed up family dynamics have left him prone to feeling before thinking, and he's also never gotten over Persephone's death.

In short, he's a powder keg and Sylvie is the fuse.

Speaking of Persephone, Annie can't even bear to say her name, much less discuss her with Sylvie. Although when pushed, she reveals that she's done many of the (many) awful things she's done because she loved Persephone. In fact, she even pushed Persephone away when she was alive and favored Sylvie because she loved Persephone the best.

Yes. She totally did it, totally believes it was for the best, and can't understand how destroyed that makes Sylvie feel. (Though, to be fair, it's clear to even Sylvie that she ceased to exist to her mother as soon as Persephone went missing)

And that's the tip of the iceberg where Annie is concerned. Let's just say she puts the T in toxic parent, and could replace Narcissus as the picture for narcissism in the dictionary.

I want to talk about so much more about what happens, but I can't because (spoiler) and then (spoiler) and then (spoiler!!) and then the final showdown. That last one is obvious but it still works, especially in light of how (spoiler!! aka "hi! enormous and uncomfortable mess!!") is going to result in whatever peace may have been found by a lot of freaking out followed by what should be 87,545, 543 years in therapy but, given the world Megan Collins has created, is unlikely to happen.

But I can say this spoiler free--where most authors would have taken the genre plot and made Persephone's killer be who it is, there are very few authors who would have had the murder be so horribly, terribly meaningless.

Yes, I mean meaningless. By the time Persephone is murdered, the reason why she is has already happened (and often, and for months) and isn't, in the end, even really about her at all, which is one of the reasons I finished The Winter Sister feeling hollowed out and reeling.

Persephone dies because Annie is convinced she is part of a grand and tragic love story, one that caused her "dark days," one that has, in fact, colored most of her life, ruined Persephone's, and has driven Sylvie's so far into the ground I don't think she'll ever see the sun again. There's a reason Annie reads Wuthering Heights, and it's with Annie's belief that she's a modern day Cathy and (spoiler) is her Heathcliff that she manages to ruin her life and cause Persephone's death and ruin most of Sylvie's life.

One of the things that I don't like about Wuthering Heights is that it's regarded as a love story. I don't think it is. It's about obsession, definitely. It's also about two people behaving horribly to everyone around them and making the next generation* suffer. Persephone is the obvious sufferer, but in the end, I think the least damaged. By the time The Winter Sister ends, the two main characters have already suffered and well--I don't see an end to it in sight anytime soon. Annie might not have killed Persephone, but she doomed her by loving herself and her twisted version of love more than herself and her daughters. Persephone of myth got to return to the living every year, but the Persephone of The Winter Sister never will and I'm not sure Sylvie truly can herself. Ditto for Ben.

Okay, that was long even for me but The Winter Sister really got to me. A lot. Highly recommended.

A twisting thriller that sets its stall out early on, but maintains a sense of elusiveness right until the closing pages.
Sylvie was 14 when her sister went missing. She blames herself for covering up the bruises on her sister, and for locking the window on the night she was murdered.
Having avoided her alcoholic mother for years, Sylvie is forced back to the family home to care for her mother. At this point, she tries to dig into her sister’s death as she’s convinced Persephone’s boyfriend of the time was involved.
The trouble with digging into secrets is that you can uncover some pretty big skeletons in the closet. Nothing quite prepares you for where this goes.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance read.

To start, I did enjoy this book. It was an easy read, well written, with an easily follow able plot. No unreliable narrators! However, it constantly felt like I had read the book before because it combined so many basic cliches: girl comes home to deal with ill parent after long tumultuous absence, sister had been killed and the murder was never solved, and secrets, secret forbidden relationships, secrets, lots and lots of secrets. I would be a bit more specific, but that might be considered a spoiler. Just expect that you will be a couple steps ahead of the book pretty much the entire way.

Sylvie's sister Persephone went missing for three days and was found dead in the snow when they were teens. The murder devastated the whole family Sylvie and her mom so deeply, nothing was ever the same again. The murder remained unsolved and created a great rift between the mother and daughter.
The story then moves 16 years in the future when Sylvie gets a phone call that Sylvie's mom has cancer and she needs to come home and take care of her. The story line delves into who might be the murderer. But really this novel was about torn family relationships and the secrets we all keep.

If the reviews rolling into Goodreads are any indication, this is going to be that Talked About Thriller for the next few months. Good to know, good to know.

In the meantime, I'll be over here considering what genre I need to move onto now that Thrillers have stopped being actual Thrillers, and are not just family dramas with a bit of murder thrown in.

Sigh.

Sylvie was 14 when her sister Persephone was murdered. The Missing signs hadn't even had time to warp from the cold when her body was found, strangled to death. Sylvie's mother sank into a 15 year depression coma, and Sylvie moved far away from her, from the town, and from Persephone's boyfriend who she was certain had murdered her sister.

Cut to 15 years later, and Sylvie's mother is dying of cancer. It's time to come home and face the secrets they've all been hiding.

And face them they do. All of them. Every single last one, over every single page. Somewhere in the middle, the mystery is solved, but who really cares about that? Especially considering it was obvious from around the second chapter.

There were definitely some twists I didn't see coming, which is always nice. Those twists had barely anything to do with the mystery part, but a good twist is a good twist.

I have a lot more Thrillers to go, and I'm getting concerned. I can't tell if I'm getting more jaded or if more books are getting genre mislabeled.

I’m sorry to say that this one did not live up to my expectations. I’ve seen some great reviews for The Winter Sister mentioning the beautiful writing and shocking secrets and both fell a little flat for me.

The story is not really anything new. Nothing at all about the mystery plot line surprised me in any way. However, where the book shined was in the interpersonal relationships. Even though Sylvie and her mother, Annie, drove me crazy, their dysfunctional relationship was kind of fascinating. Annie’s story of toxic love and the emotional and psychological impact of it to not just her, but her children was compelling and frustrating. The only character that I really liked was Ben and I mostly just felt sorry for him, too.

Overall, The Winter Sister was just not for me. I was looking for a mystery and surprising twists, but it ended up being much more domestic drama. The writing wasn’t bad, but it didn’t blow me away, either. I also found the ending a little more open-ended then I prefer. Most people have seemed to enjoy this one much more than I did, though, so it still might be worth your time to check out, especially if you are interested in more domestic driven stories.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2.5 Stars

Thanks @netgalley and Atria for another riveting read! This was an early e-galley and as different types of art are integral to the plotline, I’m [crossing fingers] that the final print has beautiful endpages and some nice typset flourishes sprinkled throughout.

A relatively predictable plot and some jumbled sybolism mar this otherwise enjoyable yarn where my favorite character was Annie, a minor villain. I loved how author Megan Collins spooled out the secrets bit by bit with Annie’s angry confessions and the way Annie’s obsessions continued even after the reveal. I would have enjoyed it even more had Annie NOT shown a glimmer of redeemability towards the end.

The plot goes just where you expect it to. I predicted the “twist” at 20% in, but had to wait until 80% for the big reveal. For me, the symbolism lacked focus—flowers, mythology, stars—I would have rather seen the author develop just one of those more deeply.

Definitely worth reading, but don’t expect this suspense to leave you tense.

3.5 stars

One winter night, Sylvie's sister, Persephone, does not return home and is found strangled to death. Years later, the case remains unsolved. Sylvie is living on her own and is called by her aunt to come take care of her ailing, alcoholic mother. When Sylvie returns to the scene of her former life, she is confronted by both people and emotions from her past as she works to uncover her sister's killer.

This was not an out-of-this world suspense for me although I did enjoy certain aspects of it. I feel like this plot line has been done many times before and that it was quite predictable. Nevertheless, I thought that Sylvie's character was well-developed and interesting and I found myself rooting for her. I also liked the atmosphere and the CT setting. Over all an ok read. 3 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Atria Books and Megan Collins for my complimentary e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sylvie's sister Persephone was found dead in the snow. The murder shocked Sylvie and her mom so deeply, nothing was ever the same again. Fast-forward 16 years to present day, and Sylvie is working at a tattoo parlor and just kind of skating through life when she gets a phone call from her aunt. Sylvie's mom has cancer and Sylvie needs to come home and take care of her. Sylvie does so reluctantly, and when she gets there all of the old memories start flooding in.
I enjoyed the story. It seemed to drag a little at first, and the mom just didn't come off as believable. However, there was a good mystery and a surprise as to who the real killer was. So if you like mysteries, then I say give this one a try.

The Winter Sister was suspenseful, mysterious, and emotional! I enjoyed the gorgeous way that author Megan Collins portrayed the characters and how they felt. It made the scenes so real. Sylvie’s older sister Persephone disappeared one night when Sylvie was fourteen. Persephone was found later murdered. So many things occurred before her murder. Everyone played a part in what happened to Persephone or feels guilty about what happened to her. Sixteen years later Sylvie ends up coming back to stay with her mother in her hometown where Persephone was murdered. Sylvie hasn’t been able to let it go what happened and begins to stir up answers to her wondering of what really happened to Persephone. The secrets and the truth were shocking!

When Sylvie was a teen, her sister Persephone was murdered. Sylvie feels at fault for that night. She was in charge of making sure the girls bedroom window was unlocked so Persephone could sneak back in after visits with her boyfriend. Growing tired of covering for Persephone, Sylvie decides she is locking the window once and for all so Persephone HAS to face her mother. What she didn't expect was for Persephone to NEVER make it back home.

Years later, Sylvie carries that guilt. Her sister's case has grown cold. She's moved away from her hometown. But, when her Aunt Jill calls with news that Sylvie and Persephone's mother is sick, Sylvie has to revisit to care for her mom. While there Sylvie decides she is going to dig until she can find her sister's murderer. What she doesn't realize is that, her mother had dark secrets.. Ones that may lead her to Persephone's killer.

This was a pretty good debut. I really disliked Sylvie and Persephone's mother. She always put her feelings before her kids and was a crappy mother, in my opinion.

When Sylvie's older sister, Persephone, was killed when she was 18 she blames herself. Sixteen years after her death, Sylvie hasn't quite moved on but hasn't been back to her hometown since her sisters death. Her mother became an reclusive alcoholic that hasn't been there for Sylvie since that awful day. But when her mother becomes ill she moves in with her to help take care of her. At the hospital Sylvie runs into Persephone's ex-boyfriend and the one that Sylvie believes killed her sister. Her mother refuses to talk to her, the police say they did everything they could to solve the crime, and the ex screams his innocence. Somebody killed her sister and got away with it, so Sylvie sets out to learn the truth.....finally. I did enjoy the mystery. Everyone has secrets and a lot has been covered up. So you never know who is telling the truth. The only thing I really felt was kind of blah was when the murderer was revealed. I didn't think that it should have happened the way it did. After 16 years of being kept secret and the way it was just blurted out, well, it didn't seem to be realistic. Overall, it was a good book and I would check out more from this author.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

What a sad, beautiful book. This is less a psychological logical thriller than an exploration of grief with a town of broken people, and a sociopath and a malignant narcissist just to make things interesting. The twist is a bit obvious but that’s hardly the point. Will make you cry.

Haunting story. Such a great story full of twists and fantastic characters. I felt like I was right there with Sylvie the entire book. A must read.

I loved this book. I found it to be a quick and easy read with just the right amount of suspense. It is a story of family, forgiveness and the bond between people. It is a tale of secrets and coming home. Megan Collins has written a book about two sisters, Persephone and Sylvie, and their family secrets that, like all secrets, only stay secret for so long. The characters are believable and real. The writing well done. I'd recommend this book to others without reservation.

Her older sister snuck out at night to see her boyfriend. She'd leave the window unlatched so she could sneak back in before morning. But her sister has bruises and it looks like this boyfriend is treating her rough. She locks her out so she will have to come through the front door and will to explain to her mother why she was out and how she got bruised. But she never came back home...

Touchstone and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published February 5th.

When she is located she's dead. She was strangled. Her sister tells the cops about the boyfriend but there's no evidence to make a case. She leaves the city and moves on after graduation. But when her mother gets cancer and needs her care, she has to go back home...

She checks in with cops and finds the case is still open but they have no leads. She looks for leads and one man tells her to talk to her own mother. She knows she didn't kill her, why talk to her? When she does, she tells her nothing. But as she snoops around the house she learns things she never knew.

The killer is still alive and well in town. Proving it is almost impossible, but when tempers rise, the truth comes out.

This is a sad tale with lives being ruined by one person's actions. Some of the secrets were shocking. There is hope for the future if they can shut the door on the past...

This was an ok thriller. Not a "have to read it in 2 days because it's just that good" type but I did like it.
I honestly skipped some chapters just to see if I'd like it more because I wasn't liking it much in the beginning. I'm glad I finished it though because it turned out that I figured out who did it before it was revealed. I was still left wanting a little more from this than I got.

3.5*
Sylvia left her hometown just as soon as she could. Rushing off to College and a new life! Leave her past behind.

Years have slipped by and her mom Annie is quite sick. It’s time for Sylvie to face her past demons, return home and try to help. No choice, really. You see, she’s now the only daughter. He sister Persephone was murdered at the age of 18. The murderer never found, the case long ago dropping from everyone’s radar.

When Sylvie returns home she immediately begins researching the details of her sister’ murder. Along the way even running into Persephone’s old boyfriend, Ben. Are they able to unlock the secrets of the past to find a killer?

I have such mixed feelings about this book.
Where to start?
Well, it was very well written. Had to remind myself it was a debut. But it lacked… something. Depth? Maybe simply...heart? The story-line itself was oh so familiar. Been done several times with just slight variations of the same formula. (Teen girl murdered. Sibling returns to small town and attempts to solve the decade old murder). I just hoped for something a little more...or maybe different.
Overall the writing saved this book for me and I will definitely be reaching for Ms.Collin's next release.

A buddy read with Susanne ❄️

Thank you to Isabel DaSilva at Atria Books via NetGalley, and Megan Collins for an ARC to read and review.

The Winter Sister is a twisted tale of dark secrets. The story of murder, family drama and guilt kept me up until 4am reading. I suspected everyone, crossed them off my list but then would come back to them as the story continued.
Thank you to the publisher and Megan Collins for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.