Title – The Winter Sister
Author – Megan Collins
Publisher – Atria Books
Genre – Mystery/Thriller
Rating – 4/5 (as a debut novel)
A couple of days ago, I seeked a friend of mine for a question bothering me. “How does one know between right and wrong?” I’d asked him. He gave me a simple yet diplomatic answer, “what you do will be right, what you’ll not do will be wrong!”. I felt good in that moment because the answer was satisfactory to me. Then I started reading this book, ‘The Winter Sister’. It hit me hard somewhere inside with a slight pain in my chest and that choking feeling where you know it’s smothering you but you’re capable of breathing just fine. Everything was connecting to the reality I was facing. A tiff with my sister, who apparently was blaming me of betrayal. A question in my head which gave me a feeling that I’d done something wrong but with no guilt or regret. And the choice of asking that question to someone I thought would give me a totally unrelatable answer.
I felt like Slyvie, who didn’t keep the window open that one night for her sister to sneak back into the house, after which she went missing forever. I felt my sister walking in the shoes of Persephone and slowly drifting away from us all. I felt the absence of love in my life that consists of pain, wounds and tears but they’re still beautiful as long as two people are in love. I understood that things we do in love are all just and right. I got my question of right and wrong being justified to me through a fictional story. I guess it wasn’t simply another fictional novel I read. It was something I’ve lived with, in bits and pieces all through my life. Not every character similar but people played their parts well.
Loved this book by Megan Collins! It’s a crime thriller, revolving around many secrets. Between two sisters, the addict mother, the abandoning father, the neighborhood psychomaniac, the bruised lover and everyone interrelated, including the murderer. Your fingers will hold this book in a tight grip till the very end.
Happy Reading!
Stay tuned with Auldrin for more book reviews.