Winter of the Wolf is a harrowing yet alluring depiction of grief and the pain and questioning that follows after an unexpected loss of a loved one.

Bean has recently lost her brother, Sam, to an apparent suicide. Questioning the cause of Sam’s death, Bean embarks on a journey of spirituality and grief in order to find out the truth.

I’d like to start off by stating that this book made me cry twice and that despite its heaviness, it has made me feel lighter. Combining elements of nature, death of a loved one and reincarnation, Winter of the Wolf portrays the painful process of grief and the questioning of a believer. It is a heartbreaking story of a sister so close to her brother she considered him her soulmate, and how his beliefs came to shape her, even after his passing.

Following Bean and her family through this difficult time, we witness how each member of the family has been affected by Sam’s death and just how special he truly was.

Handler writes and develops these characters incredibly well and makes you truly care for them and their well-being. Especially Sam, a character that is physically absent but ever present behind every action.

It is impossible not to connect with this story and its characters. I guarantee you every reader will undoubtedly take something away from Winter of the Wolf. I walk away with an even bigger admiration for the indigenous beliefs mentioned, a deeper interest of the afterlife and our connection to nature. I also applaud the author for donating all book sales proceeds to the Wolf Conservation Center. PROTECT OUR WOLVES.

What I Loved:
Wow! Winter of the Wolf was such an emotional read. I get so invested in a story that has a mystery element but also draws me in emotionally. It was beautiful to read!

My Synopsis:
Sam Hanes has died from suicide by hanging in his bedroom. His sister, Bean, is absolutely distraught over losing him. Everyone around her is saying that Sam committed suicide. As Bean relives the event through her memories, she just can’t believe that he would do that. She knows her brother in a way that others do not and is determined to uncover what really happened to him.

While Bean is working to figure out what has actually happened to her brother, she is also learning to manage her own grief as well as the grief of her family. Winter of the Wolf blends mystery, grief management, forgiveness, and spirituality, to create a beautiful, touching story.

How I Felt:
I just need to give a quick shout out to this fabulous cover! It caught my attention immediately and I knew I wanted to read it!

This story was so emotional. It really provides a glimpse into grief and explores how people manage it. I was blown away by Martha Hunt Handler’s writing style and ability. Her descriptions created vivid images of the scenes I was reading about. I felt drawn into the story where I would forget I was reading, losing all sense of my surroundings, and it was as if I was in the book. It’s the best experience possible when reading.

The characters were so incredibly real. Bean, the main character, shared her emotion and feelings in a way that made her feel like my friend, not just a character in a book. She was open about her thoughts, concerns, regrets, and insecurities and was the perfect character to convey this story. I felt like the way her feelings were written made them relatable in my own life, and I appreciated that.

Overall, this was a story that covered friendship and family, emotion, spirituality, and grief. It was written and edited well, and I highly recommend it!

Content Warnings:
Discussion of suicide, loss of a child or sibling, mental health, bullying, autoerotic asphyxiation.

To Read or Not To Read:
I would recommend Winter of the Wolf for readers of all ages that enjoy an emotional story with a mystery to it!

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Winter of the Wolf
Author: Martha Hunt Handler
Genre: YA Spiritual/Mystery
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ • ✨/ 5
Reviewed: Maya

This is a hard one to review and rate. I thought the writing was beautiful and the storyline flowed really well, but I just didn’t find enough action in this book. 15-year-old Bean is very spiritually involved until the mysterious death of her closest brother, Sam and begins to try and connect spiritually with Sam to unravel what really happened. Not being a believer of anything I can’t see or experience myself, I didn’t really connect with what a lot of the book was about. The imagery in this book was excellent and I could easily imagine everything was happening (even if I could only see it as a work of fiction and nothing more). Bean was an extremely well-written character and she seemed to be very genuine. I was confused with Sam’s character though; he is a Inuit-believer and cannot harm another soul, yet later in the book there are revelations that he does things that I would thought somebody with such a strong belief system wouldn’t do, especially him because it just didn’t add up. I loved the way that Inuit culture was such a big focus in this book and I found it to be very fascinating. My biggest problem with this novel was how slow the ending was, especially for such a short book. At the second last chapter, I was left feeling very confused because it was a couple of months after the original storyline and I believed Sam’s death was going to be ‘open-to-interpretation’ (don’t worry, the book was concluded). I would have much preferred it to all be in the same timeline and for the conclusion to have been explained a couple of chapters earlier because I thought it was rushed and made to squeeze into the ending. I highly recommend this book for people who are interested in spiritual books, the environment and the Inuit culture.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Greenleaf Book Group Press and of course Martha Hunt Handler for providing me with this free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is set for the 7th of July, 2020.

This review will be published on Goodreads and Instagram. Links and dates will added to this feedback once it has been published (within the next week or so).

Winter of the Wolf is a beautiful exploration of grief, love, loss and finding yourself. The characters are relatable and easy to connect with. The plot heart wrenching and heart-breaking covering the hard subjects with tact and grace.

4 stars.

This explores the gut wrenching loss of a sibling and how you are willing to do anything to bring them back, at any cost. This book centers around Beans journey to uncover whether her brother Sam really did kill himself. It is hard to read at times. A loss like this is profound and the way the main character is written only affirms this. The story grapples with the spiritual connection you have to a loved one and how even when they’re gone, they feel everywhere.

A unique and heartbreaking story.