Okay let's go. I listened to the audiobook for the history, and my initial thought on it was that the first two acts of the book are pretty complex. The time shift, the flashbacks, are somewhat difficult to distinguish from the current time period. Both Francesca's part and Ben's part. I don't know if in the physical book these time changes are better marked so that they are easier to understand. I can only say that this greatly hindered my enjoyment of the story. The part where Francesca is trying to save herself and her daughter is the most interesting part of the first acts, I don't know if her past and things from her childhood are so relevant to the story. In the case of Ben's section, his past is somehow more relevant to try to understand why he had a certain attitude, however it didn't make me like him as a person, even knowing his reasons. The third act, came out of nowhere. Which was a nice surprise, but it was also very fast. That moment in the forest, the search for the daughter, the fear and the regret for the situation, happened very quickly, and could have been worked on a lot more. There was a lot missing in that last act to really make you want to understand the characters in the forest, to understand what was happening in that situation. The suspense and mystery of the opening scene was good, but it went by so fast that it was a bit incomprehensible. Who are these characters? Who is the white widow? Who is the second oldest character Francesca meets near the house? What is her reason for appearing? What is the point of these characters existing? So that last part of the story should have been two-thirds of the story instead of a quarter. The time the author spent explaining and going back in Francesca's past and childhood could have been cut in half and expanded the forest scene. My final thoughts regarding the book are: The concept is good, but the practice is not very good. Three-quarters of the story was spent developing something that I thought was unnecessary, and what could have been the best part of the story was left out and passed too quickly.

📖My Thoughts📖

I’ve been sitting here staring at a blank screen for quite some time now, trying to figure out exactly how to put into words what I just read. Did it have my attention? Yes, though a few times I didn’t seem as into it as others. Was it an easy read? For the most part. It jumped back and forth between now and then, and at times it took me a second to figure out what was going on. Was it gripping? Very much so. I read this pretty quickly because I was so enticed by how the story was unfolding. I admit there were parts that I really just didn’t know where we were at, as I thought the story was headed in one direction, but suddenly to a sharp turn and proved me wrong. I think I’m going to need some time to process this one. There were several elements of this book though I’m not convinced they all meshed well together, but maybe I’m just missing something completely. Overall the book was okay and that may absolutely change once I get a chance to process it more.
Thank you Netgalley, She Writes Press and Susan Speranza for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Francesca is married to Ben and they have a four year old daughter, Addie. Their life seems perfect as Francesca is a music teacher and the reside on a beautiful piece of property in Vermont. There is an accident and Francesca sees a new side of Ben. As a result of the accident she has experiences that are a result of going into the woods. Much comes up about the past and the present that is unknown but causes much upheaval.

Ice Out
By Susan Speranza
She Writes Press, 24 May 2022


“Francesca Bodin has a near-perfect life as an accomplished music teacher and professional flutist living in the Vermont countryside with her husband Ben, and their four-year old daughter, Addie. This ends suddenly when a snowmobiling accident traps the three of them in a frozen lake. Ben, after escaping onto the ice, leaves her and Addie to die.”

Wow, I loved this book, a lyrical story of love and forgiveness. When a snowmobiling accident leaves Francesca and her family in the icy waters of a Vermont lake, her husband, Ben manages to escape. But what about her and their young daughter, Addie? Did he leave them to die?

Francesca struggles to shore and tries to find Addie. Believing the family dog pulled Addie from the lake, she follows them into the forest. What she encounters there is both terrifying and dangerous. But what is real, what is imagined? Will Francesca choose love, or vengeance?

Don’t miss this book! It’s a beautifully written page-turner that you’ll finish in one sitting.

Thanks to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley, She Writes Press and Susan Speranza for am advanced reader copy to review.
I liked it.

I loved this book, in the beginning. Beautiful writing! Then about 3/4 through, it turned silly and fairytale-ish. Go back and rewrite most of the ending and you'll have a 5 star book.

Thank you for NetGalley, Susan Speranza and She Writes Press for a pre-publishing copy of this novel.

I'm afraid this one just wasn't for me. So much so that I couldn't finish it. I gave what I read a good shot and made it 60% of the way through before giving up.

A tragedy has put our protagonist Francesca in the water of a frozen lake. A terrible situation to be in, she had been with her husband and daughter just moments before, but now, she is in the water and it is bitingly cold and terrifying. A great start to the story, but unfortunately the author chose from this point on to keep flashing back to Francesca's life before this event. So much so that whenever we return to her in the lake, I just kept thinking, ugh... get out of the water already. So much time flashing back whilst she is busy freezing to death that I genuinely got very bored.

The flashbacks themselves are enjoyable and I think if put together as one long section I may have enjoyed it more. After the third or fourth time we see Francesca in the water calling out for her toddler daughter rather than actually removing herself from the water I had decided she was doomed to die and I was annoyed with her. It does no good to make the reader irritated by the same character they are supposed to be empathising with in a life or death situation.

As I couldn't finished I hunted down other reviews and spoilers and I'm glad I stopped, this novel just wasn't going in a direction that I would have enjoyed.

Did not personally enjoy reading this. I think this book could have been great in theory but did not have a great interpretation.

I don't often give two stars but this was really not very good. It went from mediocre to extremely tedious to batshit crazy at the end.

The premise sounded alright: a snowmobile accident has left a wife and daughter under the ice struggling to get out while the husband cowardly saves himself and runs off. Then there are flashbacks of what happened up to that point.

It could have worked...earlier this year I read Conchita de Gregorio's incredible 'The Missing Word' which also deals with a monster of a husband, but in such a powerful, lucid and moving way. Ice Out was none of those things.

Ice Out, by Susan Speranza, is a novella that reads like some kind of sad, suspenseful fever dream. After reading it, I'm still not sure what it's about or if there's supposed to be any point to the story. The only thing that I can guess is that maybe it was written, as therapy, after an especially traumatic event or night terrors.
The beginning starts off with Francesca Bodin telling us how near-perfect she is and how much everyone adores her and her great talent as a life as a professional flutist. Then she meets and marries Ben who seems to suffer from PTSD after witnessing his twin sister's death.
They go on to have their daughter, Addie.
Later they get into a terrible snowmobiling accident that dumps the whole family into a frozen lake. That's when things become even more of a nightmare.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was initially drawn to this book by the cover and the description. Francesca Bodin, her husband Ben and their daughter Addie are out enjoying the snow when a snowmobiling accident happens. The book alternates between Addie and Ben's perspectives which I do enjoy.

The book started out well but without going into too much detail and spoiling things I kind of lost interest about halfway through. I did finish the book but overall I didn't really enjoy it and thought the second half was too far out there for me.

I was really looking forward to this book and was disappointed. The entire structure of the book was quite confusing. The way the story is laid out to the reader just does not work. I found myself stopping and not wanting to finish the book. The characters were fairly ordinary and not much seemed to happen through out the story.

If I had to sum up my initial reaction to this book, it would be one phrase - What the…..?

I must have missed the point of this. Francesca falls through the ice at the beginning of the book. Then it takes most of the book for her to get out of the ice all the while reliving her life in flashbacks. A very normal, ordinary life. This takes so long by the time I got to the end of her part, I was a little muffed to discover that we now had to read Ben’s side of the story.

Thankfully, Ben’s side doesn’t take as long.

But then, it goes into this weird other worldliness that makes no sense about these group of women led by a White Witch who encourages this group of women to some sort of strange afterlife (I guess) killing of the men who killed them.

Or something like it.

Then the story comes into read time where we learn Ben left her on the ice because he was scared (what a guy!) and the book ends not really on a great note?

I really didn’t understand the point of this book. What story was being told? I couldn’t really grasp a theme or reason and couldn’t really relate to any of it.

Different and engaging, unlike anything I have read before. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

2.5 stars (rounded up to 3 on here)
When I first read the plot summary of this one, I was so excited to read this book! However, I felt like the first 80% of the book had very little to do with the plot summary. I felt like Francesca and Ben’s points of view could’ve been condensed significantly without affecting the overall plot. I would have loved for The Forest and the Morning sections of the book to be expanded upon. Overall I really liked the ending of this one, but I wish it didn’t take so long to get to that point.

A book about dull characters doing everyday things. The only conflict in the entire book is the central one, the accident on the ice, which is visited only in short, repetitive bursts scattered throughout what is ultimately a list of everyday experiences, none of which are compelling at all to read about. The book follows the overly saccharine yet charmless romance of two underdeveloped characters. The central theme of forgiveness is explored with less than the level of depth and complexity I would expect of a children’s book. The elements of magical realism are somehow just as dull as the uneventful bulk of the story, and only creep in at the very end. All around a very uninteresting experience.

This story was really good and very well written, a bit unrealistic in places but very enjoyable all in all ..

I thought this book was good & I will be recommending it to other. Thanks for the opportunity to read & review this book.