The Winter's Child (Legend Press)

The Winter’s Child by Cassandra Parkin

Originality ♥♥♥♥

Quality of Writing ♥♥♥♥♥

Plot ♥♥♥♥

Setting ♥♥♥♥

Character ♥♥♥♥♥

Overall ♥♥♥♥ (4.5)

“I should be used to the sharp sting of memory by now, one cold hand caressing my face while the other drives the icicle through my heart, but there are some pains you never get used to.”

This quote alone sums up why this book is amazing – the whole narrative explores grief and mental illness in such a beautiful, honest way that whilst at times it was a little depressing, I just could not put this book down.

The Winter’s Child follows a mother’s journey on the loss of her teenage son – Joel who has been missing for five years. In that time she has split up with her husband and her everyday life consists of thinking about finding her son and waiting for him to come home. With too much time on her hands, the emptiness of Susannah’s life takes a toll on her health, mentally and physically, and we follow her struggle to come to terms with what happened to her family and why it fell apart.

I enjoyed the whole book – mainly because the characters were so well developed (including Susannah’s ex-husband who I really felt for, and the rest of the side characters – for once a novel which has side characters who are relevant!). Everyone is so relatable and realistic (even the fortune tellers who Susannah mentions very much) that it makes them likable despite some of their actions. You actually care what will happen to them.

Although the story was predictable and played out exactly as I thought it would, I cannot help but love it. Despite a slightly un-original ending, I haven’t read a book so satisfying in such a long time, a book which was so difficult for me to put down.

Thank you to Legend Press for the lovely review copy!

4.5 stars

This book is available at Amazon: The Winter’s Child Amazon

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