Friday, July 21, 2017

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka- Book Review

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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