Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

It’s early in the morning, and a fresh blanket of snow has just covered a sleepy suburb in Colorado.  All is calm until the body of high school student Lucinda Hayes is found on the playground.  When the popular and beloved girl is found murdered on school grounds, her entire community is shaken to its core.  In the days following Lucinda’s death, we follow the aftermath through the alternating perspectives of three specific people: the boy that loved her from afar, the girl that was jealous of her, and the officer investigating her murder.  Through their collective eyes, we learn more about how Lucinda has forever connected them together.

The narrators are unreliable, the perspective shifts, and the ending hits you out of nowhere.  I have a lot of thoughts on Danya Kukafka’s debut novel, Girl in Snow (out today!), and I’ll tell you all about this chilling novel as you read more.

I first picked Girl in Snow up thinking it was a murder-mystery, but instead found myself diving deeper into the lives of the three narrators.  Character-driven, this novel focuses on the unrequited love, the forgotten friendships, and a past that seems to haunt each and every person.  Lucinda is not the center of the story, but she is the connecting thread among each storyline.  It’s not until the very end that you find out exactly how deep the connection is and what happened to Lucinda.  

This wasn’t my most favorite read in the thriller/mystery genre.  Dividing the narrative into three separate perspectives was distracting.  I had to go back several times to see who was narrating the section I was reading so I could keep the characters and their stories straight.  I never knew until the last moment who Lucinda’s killer was, and I think you’ll be shocked as well.  There were some details about characters that were shared that left me questioning exactly why it was included as I read it, but once I finished reading all of the pieces fell into place.  I finally understood.  This is one of those books you just have to wait until the end to find out if you like it or not.  My only wish is that we would get more information about Lucinda to be a bit more invested in her connection with the rest of the characters.

While the narrative structure may not be my forte, I fell in love with Kukafka’s turn of phrase.  She is another author I would add to the Wordsmith Club (you know, that club I just created…) for some of her lines that I just had to highlight to save for later.  Her attention to detail does not go unnoticed.

Photography was about capturing moments other people had missed.  Photography never worked on Lucinda.  She couldn’t be reduced to a single second.

I think the same sentiment could be applied to Kufafka’s attitude toward writing.  She uses her writing to capture moments other people have missed, and I’d like to think that those details I mentioned earlier are reworked into her writing as fiction based in reality.

Girl in Snow will give you plenty of mystery and just enough of a thrill to keep you engaged and entertained.  This read is not for everyone, but I think those that like to get “the rest of the story” rather than just the story of the crime itself will enjoy it.

TL/DR: Girl in Snow is a murder-mystery that is not so much about the murder but rather the relationships surrounding the murdered girl.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Title: Girl in Snow
Author: Danya Kukafka
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2017
​ISBN: 1501144375
Format: eBook / Hardcover
Source: NetGalley / Simon & Schuster