Thursday 3 August 2017

Isabella's Reading Corner: Girl in Snow



Girl in Snow
Author: Danya Kukafka
Publication Date: August 1st 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Simon & Schuster Canada




Danya Kukafka's debut novel revolves around the mysterious death of Lucinda Hayes, a popular Jefferson High teenager. The story is relayed through the perceptions of various classmates and inhabitants of a town called Broomsville.

Girl in Snow is written in the alternating POVs of three complex and introspective characters. As the tale unravels, their hidden thoughts and memories are divulged, along with their connections to each other. It is compelling to see how their lives intersect in the wake of the tragedy. 

Jade was a classmate and childhood acquaintance of the murder victim. She has a disgust for people in general and seems to hold a particular disdain for Lucinda. Cameron also went to school with her. He is a voyeur and had been documenting her every move in the form of drawings. He was seen watching her the night she died. Russ is a cop with strong ties to two of the suspects, one of which is Cameron. Although she is not alive, Lucinda's presence is always there - ethereal and intangible.

Kukafka's writing is beautifully descriptive and a touch surreal. The book is not just about a murder. There is a delicateness to this study of a small town, the secrets it holds and its residents, set against the backdrop of a chilly Colorado winter. Girl in Snow is addictive, haunting and sublime in it's entirety. It kept me hooked until the last page.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the eBook copy to review.


From the publisher:
WHO ARE YOU WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING?

When a beloved high schooler named Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched—not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the officer assigned to investigate her murder. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three indelible characters—Cameron, Jade, and Russ—must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both. In crystalline prose, Danya Kukafka offers a brilliant exploration of identity and of the razor-sharp line between love and obsession, between watching and seeing, between truth and memory.

Compulsively readable and powerfully moving, Girl in Snow offers an unforgettable reading experience and introduces a singular new talent in Danya Kukafka.


You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on Girl in Snow here.

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