Girl in Snow A Novel by Danya Kukafka published by Simon & Schuster is a must read for anyone who is in need of a great mystery to read this summer! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC so thank you to Negalley the author and the publishing company. While this is not a 5 star read for me it is a solid 4. The story is centered around a murder of a young girl. Although it reads like a mystery I think the way the author sets up the chapters it is also an in-depth look at the three people from her town whose points of views the story is told from. Jade the insecure girl who hates Lucinda Hayes. Cameron the guy who “watched “ her, and Russ the cop who has his own turmoil that unravels throughout the story who wants nothing more than to bring a killer to justice.
Although this book is strongly based around the murder of this young girl it is also important to talk about how this small-town deal with death grieves the passing of this young girl and ultimately passes blame. The ending and the actual killer is a big shocker and after the first twenty percent this book goes real fast! ( )

A thought-provoking and interesting character driven story with a more of a YA feel than thriller but nonetheless a worthy read from a promising new author. ( )

This is a good debut novel and I look forward to reading more from the author.
The story takes place in a small Colorado town and revolves around the murder of a teenage girl.
It is told in 3 different voices, Russ, Cameron and Jade, all misfits in their own rights with very different personalities.
Each of them had a connection to the murder victim, Lucinda and the story follows how the death of this girl has effected each of them.
Lucinda could have been killed by anyone in her small suburb, but as more backstory is revealed through the eyes of different narrators, the identity of the murderer becomes inevitable.
The book really suck you into their stories, wondering where it's all going to go as their secrets are revealed.
The book starts out on a suspense novel with a gruesome death at the beginning but it is more about the characters themselves and the insights, discoveries, loss, finger pointing, betrayal and raw human emotion as opposed to a crime thriller or a whodunits.
It is quite slow-paced but it is worth sticking with it, even if its not quite the story you imagined. ( )

This is a psychological thriller focusing on three characters, Cameron, Jade, and Russ. Cameron is an awkward 15 year old who adored Lucinda, the murdered "girl in the snow." He worshiped her from afar, and could perhaps even be described as Lucinda's stalker. After Lucinda's death, some of his actions become known, and he finds himself a murder suspect.

Jade is a 17 year old Goth girl, also an outsider. She has reasons to hate Lucinda, but she also has knowledge that Cameron was not the murderer. Russ is the policeman who is investigating the murder. He is the former partner of Cameron's father who had been involved in a huge police scandal years before and who is no longer in the picture.

The characters in this novel are very well-drawn. Then plotting is very good and plausible, although the discovery of the murderer and solving of the crime were not particularly original or surprising, which may be a good thing.

3 stars ( )

As I was reading Girl in Snow, I kept getting mixed feelings about the book. In the beginning, I kept checking to see if the book was a YA book (a little more later) and by the end, I found I really enjoyed what I read even if the ending was a bit stretched.

A girl, Lucinda, is found dead in the school playground- her neck is broken and she has been hit in the head.

Cameron, one of our narrators, has autism and has been Lucinda's stalker. He watches her at night and is enraptured with her. He draws her, has her diary, and used to just stare at her.

Jade is a teen with body issues. She used to date Lucinda's ex boyfriend. Lucinda stole her boyfriend and she hexed Lucinda. She wanted her gone after Lucinda also stole her babysitting job. Jade is an aspiring script writer.

Russ is the police officer investigating the murder. He used to be partners with Cameron's father before the father's trial for the murder of a woman. Russ is having problems at home with his wife and her ex con brother, who is the janitor at the school and the one who found Lucinda's body.

The book is told through their eyes, alternating between the three of them. Ultimately the book becomes less about Lucinda and more about why these three act the way they do.

The writing in this book is very simple, which is why I thought it was a YA book. The chapters are very short and the sentences are not too complex. As the book moves forward though, the simple writing is used as a disarming technique as we move through these people's lives.

The art of the book comes through the three individual voices. Each character's chapters are written with a unique voice. Cameron has some type of autism and so he makes lists, points out things, and doesn't quite understand what is going on. Jade will switch in the middle of her narratives into a script form that may or may not be the actual conversation. Russ is the grown up and has a more difficult story as he wrestles with his many demons. Switching voices keeps the book moving.

I am not going to lie, this book drags a ton, especially in the beginning. Even though the chapters are very short, I kept looking to see how many pages I had left. By the end of the book, as the story starts to peak, it does pick up a bit more. There are some twists. I have to also state, I didn't enjoy the actual murderer reveal, but as stated earlier, the murder became a secondary story anyway. I kept wanting to see what happened in Russ' life more than the other two. His life becomes pretty complex toward the ending and his relationship with Cameron's father becomes a great center.

Overall, I thought the book was just ok. Nothing too outrageous and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I gave this one 3.5 stars.

*I want to thank NetGalley for the early copy. I received it in exchange for an honest review.*
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