Winter of the Wolf is seriously intense from start to finish. It really tugs at your heartstrings—it’s deep and heavy (and I mean that in a good way) because of everything that happens. I got sucked right into the story and couldn't put it down until like 2 or 3 in the morning. Martha Hunt Handler nails the emotions—heartache, anger, confusion—they're all right there, hitting you hard.

I think anyone who’s lost someone close, family or not, will relate to the characters in this book. Life throws unexpected things at you, and nobody’s ever ready for the death of a loved one. It’s a tough, painful journey, and Handler captures it with such honesty.

This book deals with some heavy stuff—like suicide, loss, mental health, and learning to move forward after a major loss—but it’s a powerful read that speaks to resilience and healing. And hey, on a lighter note, can we talk about how gorgeous the cover is? As a wolf fan, I love how it captures their misunderstood nature.

Winter of the Wolf, by Martha Hunt Handler, is a book about exploring family trauma and grief. Specifically, we follow the healing journey of Bean as she comes to terms with the death of her beloved brother.

Bean retraces the night of her brother's death, while also trying to reconnect with her family. Each member of the family handles the loss in different ways, and Bean begins to see how much her brother meant to everyone.

This book is less a mystery and more a spiritual journey for Bean. It is a book about those left behind by death. How they cope, heal, and move forward while holding on to the memories.

I really appreciated how Bean's journey mimicked that of the thawing of the ice over the river behind their home. That she was able to say goodbye at the same time the corpse of the deer her brother accidentally killed sank into the water. It was very symbolic.

Overall: 2.5-stars

Winter of the Wolf is a young adult novel that explores the journey of a family’s grief after the main character, Bean’s brother, Sam, is found dead in his room. The police rule Sam’s death as a suicide; however, Bean is convinced there is more to her brother’s death, that there might be another explanation.

Winter of the Wolf details a frank depiction of a family coping with grief and how differently people can react to such a loss. For Bean, unfortunately, it meant picking up the slack around the house as her parents retreated inwards and plummeting school grades. However, I appreciated Bean’s growth as she slowly realized that just because her family is grieving Sam differently than her doesn’t mean they loved him any less.

Martha’s (the author) handling of suicide is quite frank; she doesn’t shelter Bean from the reality of her brother’s death as Bean is one of the people who discovers Sam’s body. Martha also makes sure to navigate the anger, confusion and guilt that haunts a family as they try to make sense of their loved one’s death.

Importantly, Martha comments on how suicide can make (former) friends, acquaintances, and strangers feel as if they can comment on the death, blaming the family and/or the victim for the suicide.

Nancy Drew Mystery
The part that I enjoyed about Winter of the Wolf was the Nancy Drew Esque mystery: Bean is a just turned 15 girl who believes her brother didn’t commit suicide and decides to play detective to put together the events leading up to Sam’s death. Was there something the police missed? Was Sam keeping secrets from Bean? Did Bean really know Sam at all?

A significant aspect of the mystery was that Bean’s belief that her brother didn’t commit suicide was contradicted by the facts Bean saw with her own eyes (she found her brother). Bean was stout in her conviction that Sam would never take his own life, but as she attempted to piece together Sam’s last night, she realizes that despite how close they were–soulmates, she says–there was still much Sam kept from Bean. I appreciated that part of Bean’s character development is her recognizing that these secrets don’t detract from how much they meant to each other; they don’t negate the importance of their bond.

While Bean’s detective ambitions felt a bit unrealistic, the mystery did make me want to keep reading and kept me quite engaged with the novel. I also appreciated that while Bean started her sleuthing to get answers, it became apparent that Bean’s journey throughout the book was really about Bean coming to terms with Sam’s death. I also liked how Martha talks about how a person’s faith in the afterlife can be challenged after a loved one's death. Bean and her mother, and even secondary characters discuss how reaffirming their belief in the afterlife–that their loved one is still with them in death–provides comfort.

Inuit Representation or Appropriation?
I have to admit that I vacillated between a 3-star rating and a 2-star rating. There were quite a few discrepancies in the story and narration that interrupted the flow and didn’t meaningfully contribute to the plot. While I did enjoy the sleuthing and the character development of dealing with loss, there were just too many discrepancies in the narrative and story for a 3-star rating.

The first issue I had was Sam's "obsession" with Inuit spirituality. Sam devoutly believed in the Inuit religion. The novel includes the following as Inuit religious beliefs and traditions: respect for all living creatures, belief in the afterlife and souls being comprised of energy, reincarnation and a tradition of mixing blood when an animal dies by your hand. (ex. Sam hits a deer with his car; the deer is dying; he cuts himself and combines his blood with the deer to pay respect to the deer as it dies).

However, there are no Inuit characters in the Winter of the Wolf! If someone wants to explore the Inuit traditions and culture, why not have a character who can directly speak from their family history and experience living in the US with those beliefs?

Sam’s obsession (that’s how Bean describes it) with Inuit traditions felt off to me. Sam’s knowledge of the Inuit is repeated/remembered by Bean, who makes broad assumptions about suicide (they are too enlightened to commit suicide). Bean also doesn’t contextualize how Inuit and other Indigenous people have been treated historically–and currently–within North America. The Inuit population in Canada, for instance, has a suicide rate that is 9x higher than the non-Indigenous suicide rate, which is attributed to the impacts of “colonization, forced placement of Indigenous children in residential schools in the 19th and 20th centuries, removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities during the “Sixties scoop” and the forced relocation of communities has been well documented.” (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/99-011-x/99-011-x2019001-eng.htm)

Bean and, most importantly, Sam’s lack of awareness about the impact of colonialism on the Inuit makes no sense for someone described as ‘obsessive’ about their culture and history.

I will admit that Sam’s belief in reincarnation allowed for moving moments when Bean and Sam’s best friend, Skip, imagine that Sam has been reincarnated as his favourite animals: a wolf and red-tailed hawk. But, Bean and her mother are also spiritual. They believe in the afterlife, in souls, reincarnation, sixth senses, intuition and more. Yet, they didn’t subscribe to a particular religion. Sam’s belief in nature and reincarnation could’ve easily been characterized as a deep respect for Inuit beliefs without claiming them as his own. Sam was never subjected to the systematic racism that Inuit people still face, so it felt, to me, Sam’s relationship with Inuit beliefs in the book were tilting towards appropriation.

Unconvincing Characterizations
There were also a few unrealistic behaviours that completely threw me out of the story. For one, Bean finds out her mother hasn’t been taken any of the medication her psychologist has prescribed her. Bean makes the point that it’s alarming all of these drugs have just been sitting there. Her mother agrees and asks her 15-year-old daughter to dispose of them (since it’s not good for the environment to flush them down the toilet). But, what mother would allow their 15-year-old to handle all those drugs, especially after having a child commit suicide?

What was with Bean’s older brothers (including Sam) waxing poetics about how attractive she is? I get that the author was trying to show to the reader that Bean was growing up and becoming an ‘adult.’ But, it was so weird for her brothers to talk about how their friends will find her hot and their use of the word attractive. No brother–that I know–would comment on that. They could’ve, instead, easily talked about their despair over her growing up–and romantic relationships are (traditionally) an inferred part of growing up. Those interactions between Bean and her brothers were just plain weird.

Finally, the introduction of Bean’s two romantic interests should’ve been cut out of the novel. The characters themselves contributed to the plot; however, the emphasis on them as romantic interests just seemed like a non-starter since the book completely jumps over Bean’s relationship with a fourteen-month time jump.

In Conclusion
At the end of the book, an important Author’s Note talks about the real-life event from the author’s life that Sam’s death is based on. The circumstances of Sam’s death demonstrate how important it is that kids, teenagers and parents are made aware of the causes for Sam’s death. Also, I liked how the author cited the Indigenous sources she used in the novel. However, both these contextualizations to the story didn’t make up for the jarring characterizations nor the lack of authentic Inuit representation.

Overall, despite the setbacks to the narrative, I still enjoyed Bean piecing together the last events of her brother's life. Her coming to terms with Sam’s death and how her family dealt with his death felt honest and real.

In this story, we are introduced to your everyday family – four siblings, two loving parents, and a busy family life. Our main character, Bean, is an intelligent, compassionate and soulful young woman who shares a close relationship with her one brother, Sam. They have a beautiful relationship, one that I wish for my own children. Sam seems to be misunderstood by others – he has deep spiritual beliefs and feels connected with nature and animals. He fell in love with the Inuit way of life and from the glimpses we have of him – he incorporated this into many aspects of his life.

One moment, one decision changes this family forever. Sam dies in a traumatic manner for all involved – his Mom that finds him and his family that are left not knowing what they could have done or should have done to have helped him. Everyone believes that he took his own life and for the most part, everything seems to point to this. But in her heart, Bean knows this could not be true. Lost and feeling alone, Bean sets out to discover the truth. What she uncovers slowly and piece by piece, is forgiveness, understanding and an accident that breaks your heart.

Winter of the Wolf is a beautifully told story that made me cry, made me want to reach out and give Bean a hug and help her discover the truth. Bean is wise beyond her years, she shows strength, courage, and compassion. While the child in this story, so many times she takes on the role of caregiver as her Mother spirals out of control in dealing with her grief. Bean has a strength in spirit and mind, that so many of us wish we had. She knows her brother and is determined to find out the truth. I loved watching her grow emotionally and in her own beliefs (one of the most powerful moments came when the girls held a spiritual ceremony at a location that was special to Sam). I also loved the connection with the wolf – Sam’s spirit animal, as I think we all find glimpses of our loved ones that pass away in nature around us.

This is an incredible story of forgiveness, understanding and spiritual beliefs with an important underlying message to teens. I was not familiar with auto-erotic asphyxiation and was shocked to learn about this practice. I would have liked to have read a bit more about Sam and his connection to the Inuit way of life but I also appreciated how Bean felt a different connection to faith and religion, outside of a building and mostly in nature. Winter of the Wolf is a well written novel that is suitable for young adults and adults alike.

This book was completely not for me in the end. The concept was interesting and I thought that there would be more exploration of grief, but overall I just felt disappointed with the turns the book actually took. Bean was not a main character that I enjoyed at all. I felt that she was annoying. Granted, I have not gone through the grief that she must be and that everyone handles grief differently.

This book follows the life of Bean (yes, this is a very unusual name for a person and I was surprised with it. I thought it was a nickname.) as she navigates life post her brother's death. We are given glimpses into the lives of the family members before Sam's death and of course how they each cope after it. Being closer in age, Bean was very close to Sam, closer than she was to her two older brothers. Sam's death somehow brings the family together with each person re-discovering and establishing bonds with each other.

Of course, there is some mystery surrounding the death and Bean, troubled as she is by all this, makes it a point to find out the truth . Bean believe that her brother did not commit suicide and if he did, they should have been able to see the signs. The story is quite tragic, filled with lots of grief and some moments of understanding and even happiness. In this myriad of emotions, the author seeks to bring about an awareness of different belief systems, people's ideas and ideologies. This is an interesting aspect of the plot and was quite an eye opener.

I was a little put off by Bean's attitude at times, but in retrospect, it was probably a reflection of her grief and coping mechanisms. The story is well-written though a little confusing at times, but it is definitely worth a read! I enjoyed the references to animals and how the author weaves the story around people's belief systems without sounding like she is preaching. This book is well worth the read especially to admire the bonds of friendship and family that forms the backbone of the plot.

this was a really good mystery, it had emotions and really dealt with tough topics. I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more from the author.

I’ve read some books lately that dealt with grief but I have to admit that very few of them was able to do so as touchingly as Winter of the Wolf. The language used by the author was simply beautiful yet it wasn’t overly complex and really felt like it was coming from a teenage girl. Saying that, Bean and the other teenagers in this book felt a lot more grown up than I did at that age. Not that this is a bad thing. I do think that teenagers these days are more mature. Their eyes are far more open to the world than mine were and this level of maturity they have should be acknowledged and respected.

I loved how individual Bean and Sam were as people. They didn’t follow the crowd and were comfortable being themselves. Characters like this are so important for the YA age group. I remember when Glee first aired on TV and wishing I had something like that when I was at a more impressionable age. I’m really glad that today’s youth have some solid characters to look up to.

And for those just looking for a good story, Winter of the Wolf is a great mix of thriller and drama. Plus, it also provides the level of education I enjoy, as it touches on the Inuit culture.

Bean shares an incredibly strong bond with her brother Sam, and when he passes away through supposed suicide, she finds it hard to believe. With his strong Inuit belief’s, would he really take his own life? With her family struggling to come to terms with the loss Bean, with the help of her friend Julie, decide to do some digging to try to find the truth. But will the truth be what she expects? And will she, and her family, be able to move on from their loss?

This is a beautiful, thought provoking and moving story. Bean is one strong young girl who holds her family together through the loss of her beloved brother. She believes she knows him the best, and doesn’t believe for a second that he would actually take his own life. But as she delves into her amateur investigation, she finds out things about Sam that she didn’t know; making her question whether she really knew him as well as she first thought.

Her best friend Julie is a fantastic character, always by Bean’s side no matter what; and is there to help her in her investigation and to find peace in her loss.

The story is heart wrenching in places, especially when it comes to how Bean’s parents cope with the loss and the things that she has to pick up to keep her family running. But it’s also heartwarming how the loss brings her closer to her other brothers.

There is a supernatural and magical element to the story, and even the setting appears magical in itself. It really drew me in and helped me to immerse myself in the story.

I was so intrigued by the Inuit beliefs part of the story and found it fascinating. The spiritual side is also really lovely, and will help anyone who has experienced a loss; helping them to find peace and have gratitude in other areas of their life.

Knowing that this story means something to the author too made it a poignant read, and highlights some important areas and risks. I also love the fact that all book sales proceeds received by the author go to the Wolf Conservation Center.

Overall this is a beautiful and thoughtfully written novel, that will sweep you up into Bean’s story, bring out a range of emotions and completely fascinate you. I would absolutely love to read more from this author. Recommended by me.

I enjoyed this novel so much, and considering my somewhat shaky relationship with YA fiction, I was quite surprised from the get-go how much I didn’t want to put this novel down. It had everything: a compelling story, well fleshed out characters, depth and meaning, along with a sensitivity regarding what can only be considered as ‘big ticket' issues. This might be marketed as a YA novel, but it's really one that suits all ages, in my opinion.

Bean was a beautiful narrator, so honest and loyal. I enjoyed her family interactions and especially her relationship with her best friend Julie. This novel has a spiritual underpinning that appealed to me greatly. It raised a question that I hadn’t thought much about, to be honest, that of whether we need to be born into a culture in order to live by its rules. Bean's brother Sam had decided from a young age that the Inuit life and beliefs were what he wanted to live by, even though he wasn’t Inuit himself. It's like he chose it as his religion. I found that really interesting and quite thought provoking.

There are some heavy themes in this novel but they are handled with sensitivity and intelligence. This is one of those rare novels that walks the line between education and entertainment with perfect grace. Despite the grave beginnings, it soars to a hopeful finish that left me feeling fulfilled and inspired.

Many Thanks to Net Galley, Greenleaf Book Group and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

Very recently a popular actor in Indian cinema passed away and a case of suspected suicide was registered. The uproar that erupted is still creating a media storm. There are some claiming friendship milking the tragedy for what it’s worth, there are some for no fault of theirs paying a hefty price as fans have gone berserk, then there are the politicians making hay amidst the mayhem, then there are the genuine fans who are left bereft losing a talented actor who feel that as each day a new allegation arises, he’s being killed again and again. Well, in this age of painstaking scrutiny, no peace for the dead too. But the fact that emerges out of this pandemonium is very simple, it is the need to understand why the suicide happened and if at all, if it really was one?

This is what reverberated in my mind as I read this touching and emotional story about a teenager who loses her soulmate brother to death. The chapters that captures the misery of the family was devastating that I did take a break from reading and shed a few tears.

Bean is the youngest of four siblings, but it is Sam that she’s closest to in more ways than one. The love that binds them together is beyond words that can ever be described. His loss is therefore insurmountable but when her mother collapses completely and refuses to emerge out of the fog and care for her other children, Bean takes over the task as caretaker and glues the family together.
The journey she undertakes with her best friend Julie to understand Sam was necessary for her survival and I loved how the author has shown the deep friendship between the 2 girls caring for each other and sharing the pain and heartache.
Every part of the story in dealing with the sorrow and the spiritual journey that Bean and her mother believes in were wonderfully done. The author serves as an advocate for wolves and she has clearly used her experience in blending a mystery with the natural elements using the forests and Innuit beliefs beautifully for this tragic tale of loss and overcoming grief.

For all readers who have had to endure grief, this book is definitely gonna melt your hearts! Brilliant.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/; Amazon India, Goodreads, and Twitter.

To be honest, what caught my eye was the cover and title at first. I'm a huge wolf lover and if by any chance there are wolves in a book I will read it. I also only skimmed through what this book was about. I noticed that it had a traumatic event and some grief. My interest was piqued. I'm glad I read this book.

I like going into books blind. That being said, I'm glad I did with this one. This book caught my attention from the moment I begun to read it. The story is easy to follow and easy to understand. I really enjoyed the way the author put the Inuit beliefs in this story. The added spiritual beliefs of reincarnation was also interesting. It gives it a different perspective on how we normally view life and death. Even if you don't believe in the Inuit beliefs or reincarnation it's still a very good read. It was nice seeing a wolf used in this story as a guide and not a threat. Wolves are often perceived as evil, dangerous, or a bad omen. When they are actually often misunderstood. Wolves are beautiful, very interesting and majestic animals. It was nice how the author put this in her story.

While Bean is dealing with a very traumatic event in her life as well as her family we get to see how the grief took its toll on each character. We get to see their healing process as well. I believe in instict, intuition, gut feelings, or whatever you may call it. Some people are more tuned into their intuition and I like to think I'm like that. I could totally relate to Bean and understand her journey for answers. I could also relate to her grief and pain. It was very interesting how the author added these different "gut instincts" or "intuitions" in her story.

While Bean and her family are grieving you also get to see them healing and growing. I really did enjoy this story and how it unfolded. I'm glad how it ended. But I would also enjoy more. I would really be interested if the author wrote about Bean in the future. I give this book 4.5 stars.

The story follows Bean and her family after the tragic death of his brother, Sam. Bean believes that her brother did not intentionally commit suicide and would like to know if the cause of his death was related to his Inuit beliefs.

I love how the author narrates how each of the family members dealt with the loss of a loved one. I love that Julie, Bean's best friend never gave up on her and supported her throughout her grieving and when she feels like no one understands her. The story is well written with a good pace of events.

I'm happy that after reading this novel. I began to appreciate and respect the spiritual beliefs of the Inuit people. That there is a soul in every living thing and that we are all interconnected. I love how the family was able to surpass this difficult ordeal and was able to be united again and move forward.

Although this novel has good intentions of promoting awareness about the environment, burial practices, animal welfare, and auto asphyxiation, I feel that this novel is not for me.

I'm grateful to the author, to the publisher, and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review the eARC of this novel.

The Winter of the Wolf is a story about the tragic and untimely death of a teenage boy and how his family and friends work towards grieving and eventually accepting his loss.

17 year old Sam Kane's body is found in his room by his mother in an apparent suicide. Sam loved and had a strong belief in the Inuit culture and customs and lived his life according to those beliefs. He was a strong, fearless, intelligent, kind, spiritual person with a deep understanding, love and appreciation for Nature and everything that inhabited it. He loved life and wanted to experience everything that life and the world had to offer. He was in no way a depressed soul, hence, his apparent suicide comes as a shock to his family but they eventually learn to accept it. All except his 14 year old sister and soul mate Bean, whose intuition and heart refuses to believe that Sam could have killed himself. She is also upset that her father and two older brothers, seem to have easily moved on from this tragedy, while her mother has become a shell of her personality. So on her 15th birthday, Bean and her best friend Julie make a pact and decide to dig deeper. Using Sam's Inuit beliefs as a main guidance, they question family and friends, go through his belongings and even perform a Shamanic ritual to find out what exactly happened. Along with the closure she eventually gets, Bean also comes to accept as a certainty (something that she has constantly and intuitively felt) that even though Sam's physical journey in this world has come to an end, his spirit is still very much alive and thriving. She also realises that she has been unfair in her assessment of her family's reaction to this tragedy--every person has his/her own personal way of coping with tragedies. Through dialogue, they learn to appreciate and celebrate Sam's life and his achievements in its entirety, and appreciate each other, with the result that by the end of the book, the Kane family are much closer and happier as a family than they have ever been.

For me, the character that stood out was Sam. Even though he is alive for only a few pages, his strong, intense personality shines through which only gets stronger as each character reminisces about him later on. The writing and language is simple but very emotional and my favourite parts are definitely the chapters describing the Inuit's culture, Shamanism and the Shamanic ritual that Bean and Julie perform at the end to get in touch with Sam's spirit. Even though it's not my belief system, it was still very interesting to read about and the author manages to explain complex ideas about this native Indian culture in a manner that is easy to understand.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publishers Greenleaf Book Group and Greenleaf Audio and the author Martha Hunt Handler for both an e-ARC and audio-ARC of this book. I both read and listened to the book. The audio is narrated by Kelly Pruner and she has done a fine job. There is both crispness and clarity in her voice and pronunciation and I didn't have any problems with the new audio format that NetGalley has introduced.

P. S.: I am not sure if my review does any justice to the book, but it is worth a read.

This book is beautifully written and gives an insight into suicide within a family.

Martha Hunt Handler has covered the topic with thoughtfulness and understanding what the effects it has upon the family and beyond

With the dead brothers Inuit faith, for which I admit to never even heard of before, his sister's tries to understand his death but without accepting his suicide as the reason.

As it comes to light on this death, you can almost start to feel the lifting of the family and how they begin to reunite together in grief and memories of their loved one.

Enjoyed it very much

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for ARC

Thank you to NetGalley, Martha Hunt Handler, Greenleaf Book Group Press, and Greenleaf Audiobooks for the opportunity to listen to Winter of the Wolf in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I requested this audiobook for two reasons:
1) I love Inuit culture. I did a report on it in 5th grade after visiting Alaska and I currently incorporate Inuit mythology and language into my own writing.
2) I wanted to try out NetGalley’s new app, NetGalley Shelf. Reading on there seems okay, but I wanted to see how this whole audiobook thing worked (not well).

I enjoy listening to audiobooks in the car, while playing games, or while grading papers. I listened to the majority of this one while playing Minecraft. I had a lot of trouble with the app in terms of getting the book to download properly, having it lose my place, having to re-download because the download failed so many times …it was a bit of a mess. But hey, it’s a new thing, and it will improve! (The publisher sent me the e-book version as well so I could cross-reference and go back and see if I missed anything or just to reread a certain part).

Regardless, I found the talents of narrator Kelly Pruner to be absolutely fantastic. She has a great reading voice and really added to Bean’s character. Bean is a fifteen-year-old girl living in the states. After her brother’s supposed suicide, Bean and her friend dig a bit deeper, as that was just not the way Sam was at all. Her older brother, Sam, loved Inuit culture and wanted to have a burial in the way of that tribe. One of my draws to this book was the Inuit culture. While there were some interesting elements laced in, it felt like the cultural aspect fell a little flat and wasn’t quite fulfilled for Sam’s character the way it could have been.

Bean and her family deal with this loss, among the daily high school life of drama and friendship. I felt like the book ended in the wrong place, that it needed just a few more chapters. It is rather short, less than three hundred pages and about a six-hour listen. I enjoy the voice and writing style. When I look at the cover, I lean more towards children’s rather than young adult, but the tone and feel are definitely in the young adult category, addressing serious issues that many young adults face, such as dealing with the loss of a loved one, suicide, and family.

I enjoyed this book, but would caution who I recommend it to, as the wrong reader might struggle with some of the presented topics. I would certainly buy this book for myself or a friend, though I am not so sure about using NetGalley’s audiobook app again…^_^’

I read this book to review for the website I co-run, The Bloom Stack. I really enjoyed this novel and read it in one sitting, which is quite rare for me to do with my full time job.

Martha Hunt Handler deals with heavy topics such as suicide and learning to deal with the death of a close family member, with her descriptions being hauntingly realistic.

We would love to feature more novels like this one on The Bloom Stack in the future. Our email is team@thebloomstack.com.

Please keep an eye out for our upcoming review on Winter of the Wolf.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this book's ARC. All opinions bellow are mine and mine alone.

I found the blurb interesting and was looking forward to reading this book, but it seems I was not the right audience for it. I tried to fight through the last third, but ended up DNFing towards the last chapters.

I did like the author's writing style, and found the beginning of the story interesting.
But it seemed to me like the story could not decide what it really wanted to be.

The main character, Bean, is dealing with the loss of her brother, who officially committed suicide. But Bean is sure he didn't.

It's not really a story about dealing with loss and grief, nor a mystery story. The parts where Bean tries to find the real cause for her brother's death are sort of half-hearted, and the solution just appears towards the end without Bean doing anything to find it.

But what really made me want to drop the book was the way the spiritual elements were handled.
In particular the fact that the author mentions in a positive way a book, written by an American, that is supposed to describe the Australian aborigenes, a book that said people have requested to be forbidden in Australia because of its inaccuracies and negative depictions of their culture. At that point I had to force myself to continue, until I couldn't anymore.

This book can be read in a few hours but it will be one that imprints itself in your mind and doesn’t go away. I love to read something that is different, something that stands out from the crowd, yet I can still connect with at my level. This is such a book.
Bean, the only daughter in the household and youngest child at 15 years old, is the central character of the story. You could say it isn’t about her it is about her brother Sam but is it a journey of discovery as she finds a Sam she didn’t know. We are after all unique to everyone in every relationship we have with them. We all have numerous personalities.
Bean and Sam have a very special connection between them that they don’t have with their older two brothers. In fact, the closeness they have is rare between siblings to this degree. Sam is at one with nature and practices Inuit Cultural ways. He really knows how to work the system at home too and can wiggle his way out of most situations if dealt with by his mother. His father is much stricter.
After a really bad day where everything that can go wrong does, Sam is found dead in his bedroom and it is put down to suicide, something that his sister Bean cannot accept.
Bean has her own journey of discovery in this story. I loved her character and the way she went about hunting down the truth, especially respecting her brother’s beliefs and ways. I was fascinated with the Inuit Culture as she used her own knowledge he had taught her and discovered paths she never thought she would need. The author joins nature and the old ways of the tribes combined with good old investigating to get to the truth.
This is a heartfelt read, at times I felt helpless and sad myself but it is so much more. It is about moving on and finding peace with yourself and others. Beautifully written.
I wish to thank Michelle Fitzgerald of FSB Associates and NetGalley for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

I received a free electronic copy of this amazing novel on July 7, 2020, from Netgalley, Martha Hunt Handler, and Greenleaf Book Group Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Martha Hunt Handler to friends and family. She writes a tight tale with fascinating protagonists and a storyline that dips into your heart very close to the beginning of the novel.

This novel is so persuasive you can feel the ice crystals forming on the bedroom windows. It is a book I missed sleep to read, and would do so, again. I hope to see many more novels from Martha Hunt Handler.