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sare1125's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
celjla212's review against another edition
2.0
I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from this book--was it supernatural? Was Holly's daughter possessed, was their house haunted? Whatever I expected, it sure wasn't what I got.
Mind of Winter focuses on two main characters, 42 year old Holly and her 15 year old daughter Tatiana. Tatiana was adopted from Siberia at almost 2 years old, and ever since has been her parents' pride and joy. But lately, Tatiana (or Tatty, as she's called) has been having severe mood swings, acting disrespectfully, and is just in general not the sweet girl that everyone loves. Is it just normal teenage girl behavior, or, as Holly fears, is it something that goes all the way back to her Russian roots?
Though the book does have two main characters, this book is told from Holly's viewpoint and is really about her. The novel occurs on Christmas Day when Holly and Tatty are snowed in. While Holly scrambles around the house trying to get things ready for Christmas dinner, Tatty acts even more strangely than usual; she changes clothing several times and without any real reason, she appears and disappears seemingly in the blink of an eye, and she's strangely unresponsive to anything her mother tells her to do.
Holly tries to reason away everything that is happening in the house that day, but as it gets later Tatty becomes more and more erratic. As Holly flashes back in her mind to the process they went through to bring Tatiana home, we see the deplorable conditions the young girl was in before she left her native Russia. Holly is searching for any clues, that she may have overlooked even back then, that could explain what is happening with her daughter.
The synopsis and idea behind this book were very intriguing and offered a lot of potential, which it unfortunately did not live up to. Holly is neurotic, and the reader has to suffer through this by reading her extremely repetitive inner monologue. "Something followed them home from Russia." Yes, this thought is drilled into our heads enough that it almost becomes the only thing to focus on.
As I mentioned before, we see a lot of flashbacks through Holly's eyes. Some of them give you a good insight as to the pasts of the characters, but many of them felt unnecessary and didn't add much to the story. They almost just felt like page filler.
The thing that irritated me most was the end--it was very sudden, and I had to read the last page several times to grasp what was going on. This is because up UNTIL the last page, YOU STILL DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. While some readers may appreciate a shocking twist that comes out of nowhere, I think a bit more foreshadowing would have helped me along.
This is not to say that I did not think the end was very unique. It's been a couple of days since I finished Mind of Winter and that ending has stayed with me; I keep thinking about everything that happened between Holly and her daughter and attempting to work it out in my mind. Whether you enjoy this novel or not, Mind of Winter is one that will keep your mind working for a while.
Mind of Winter focuses on two main characters, 42 year old Holly and her 15 year old daughter Tatiana. Tatiana was adopted from Siberia at almost 2 years old, and ever since has been her parents' pride and joy. But lately, Tatiana (or Tatty, as she's called) has been having severe mood swings, acting disrespectfully, and is just in general not the sweet girl that everyone loves. Is it just normal teenage girl behavior, or, as Holly fears, is it something that goes all the way back to her Russian roots?
Though the book does have two main characters, this book is told from Holly's viewpoint and is really about her. The novel occurs on Christmas Day when Holly and Tatty are snowed in. While Holly scrambles around the house trying to get things ready for Christmas dinner, Tatty acts even more strangely than usual; she changes clothing several times and without any real reason, she appears and disappears seemingly in the blink of an eye, and she's strangely unresponsive to anything her mother tells her to do.
Holly tries to reason away everything that is happening in the house that day, but as it gets later Tatty becomes more and more erratic. As Holly flashes back in her mind to the process they went through to bring Tatiana home, we see the deplorable conditions the young girl was in before she left her native Russia. Holly is searching for any clues, that she may have overlooked even back then, that could explain what is happening with her daughter.
The synopsis and idea behind this book were very intriguing and offered a lot of potential, which it unfortunately did not live up to. Holly is neurotic, and the reader has to suffer through this by reading her extremely repetitive inner monologue. "Something followed them home from Russia." Yes, this thought is drilled into our heads enough that it almost becomes the only thing to focus on.
As I mentioned before, we see a lot of flashbacks through Holly's eyes. Some of them give you a good insight as to the pasts of the characters, but many of them felt unnecessary and didn't add much to the story. They almost just felt like page filler.
The thing that irritated me most was the end--it was very sudden, and I had to read the last page several times to grasp what was going on. This is because up UNTIL the last page, YOU STILL DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. While some readers may appreciate a shocking twist that comes out of nowhere, I think a bit more foreshadowing would have helped me along.
This is not to say that I did not think the end was very unique. It's been a couple of days since I finished Mind of Winter and that ending has stayed with me; I keep thinking about everything that happened between Holly and her daughter and attempting to work it out in my mind. Whether you enjoy this novel or not, Mind of Winter is one that will keep your mind working for a while.
booksinthedark's review against another edition
1.0
I was expecting a creepy christmas read and it was full of disappointment. Nothing happened in the first half of the book. Heck, nothing happened until the last ten pages of the book. In the synopsis, I assumed that her daughter would become something different, something darker. I was wrong but that is not why I gave this book a one star. After you discover the why/how of all the weirdness, which still isn't concrete, the last page just goes to prove that NOTHING I read can be considered real or credible. Which means I read this book for nothing. The very last page was the only thing I liked about this book and even so I wish I DNF'd this book when I thought to half way through.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
3.0
An Weihnachten eingeschneit mit der 15-jährigen Adoptivtochter. Dürfte eigentlich kein Problem für ein eingespieltes Mutter-Tochter-Team sein, aber dieses Jahr ist irgendwas anders...
Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall spannend und mitreißend, aber manchmal fand ich es auch anstrengend, Holly und ihren privilegierten Nörgeleien oder obsessiven Denkspiralen zuzuhören. Oft war ich da nicht sicher, ob gerade mit Absicht eine anstrengende Protagonistin gezeichnet wird oder ob ich eigentlich mit Holly sympathisieren soll, aber das macht vielleicht auch den Reiz aus. Genau wie dieses unbehagliche Gefühl, dass irgendwas mit Holly und ihrer Tochter nicht stimmt, aber dass bis zum Ende nicht klar ist, ob es sich um Familiendrama oder (übernatürlichen) Horror handelt. In den letzten fünf Minuten gibt das Buch Antworten, die dem ganzen einen Twist verleihen, mich aber nicht vollends für die vorangegangen Anstrengungen entschädigt haben.
Das Buch ist auf jeden Fall spannend und mitreißend, aber manchmal fand ich es auch anstrengend, Holly und ihren privilegierten Nörgeleien oder obsessiven Denkspiralen zuzuhören. Oft war ich da nicht sicher, ob gerade mit Absicht eine anstrengende Protagonistin gezeichnet wird oder ob ich eigentlich mit Holly sympathisieren soll, aber das macht vielleicht auch den Reiz aus. Genau wie dieses unbehagliche Gefühl, dass irgendwas mit Holly und ihrer Tochter nicht stimmt, aber dass bis zum Ende nicht klar ist, ob es sich um Familiendrama oder (übernatürlichen) Horror handelt. In den letzten fünf Minuten gibt das Buch Antworten, die dem ganzen einen Twist verleihen, mich aber nicht vollends für die vorangegangen Anstrengungen entschädigt haben.
amothers's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/day-775-mind-of-winter/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/day-775-mind-of-winter/
alliochoa's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
1.25
Slowest book of my life. Setting is throughout the course of Christmas Day. Plot timeline was less than 24 hours and it dragged on slowly. The ending was disappointing but the only interesting part of the book.
juliette_21's review against another edition
2.0
Very repetitive book. The first pages didn't make me want to really carry on reading. I only kept on because it's a small book.
Very boring. I didn't like the characters and nothing made me want to enjoy them.
The ending was good but could have been a lot more developed and a lot better. There was potential for this book but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.
Very boring. I didn't like the characters and nothing made me want to enjoy them.
The ending was good but could have been a lot more developed and a lot better. There was potential for this book but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.