Name: Nina's review of Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke
Item: Mind of Winter
Rating: 4
Author: Nina

Laura Kasischke

The critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Raising returns with a haunting and shadowy thriller about the love between a mother and daughter. Something had followed them from Russia. On a snowy Christmas morning, Holly Judge awakens, the fragments of a nightmare—something so important that she must write it down—floating on the edge of her consciousness. Something had followed them from Russia. It was thirteen years ago that she and her husband, Eric, went to Siberia to adopt the sweet, dark-haired child they had wanted so desperately. How they laughed at the nurses of Pokrovka Orphanage #2 with their garlic and superstitions, and ignored their insistent warnings. After all, their fairy princess Tatiana—Baby Tatty—was perfect. As the snow falls, enveloping the world in its white silence, Holly senses that something is not right, and has never been right in the years since they brought their daughter home. Now Tatty is a dangerously beautiful, petulant, and often erratic teenager, and Holly feels there is something evil lurking within their house. She and Tatiana are alone. Eric is stuck on the roads, and none of the other guests for Christmas dinner will be able to make it through the snow. With each passing hour, the blizzard rages and Tatiana's mood darkens, her behavior becoming increasingly disturbing . . . until, in every mother's worst nightmare, Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.

Mind of Winter

Winona

solid. not life changing, but thrilling with enough stream of consciousness interspersed that it’s more than being simply plot driven. in fact, there’s almost no plot - which I personally like. there’s something to be said about a book that occurs over 1 day (mrs. dalloway style) and how it weaves in and out of actions and feelings. 

also, absolutely phenomenal prose. will definitely read more by this author.

Nina

solid. not life changing, but thrilling with enough stream of consciousness interspersed that it’s more than being simply plot driven. in fact, there’s almost no plot - which I personally like. there’s something to be said about a book that occurs over 1 day (mrs. dalloway style) and how it weaves in and out of actions and feelings. 

also, absolutely phenomenal prose. will definitely read more by this author.

Something had followed them from Russia. It was thirteen years ago that Holly and her husband, Eric, went to Siberia to adopt the sweet, dark-haired child they wanted so desperately. How they laughed at the nurses of Pokrovka Orphanage #2, with their garlic and superstitions, and ignored their insistent warnings. After all, their fairy princess Tatiana—Baby Tatty—was perfect. As the snow falls, enveloping the world in its white silence, Holly senses that something is not right, and has never been right in the years since they brought their daughter home. She and Tatiana are alone. Eric is stuck on the roads, and none of the other guests for Christmas dinner will be able to make it through the snow. With each passing hour, the blizzard rages and Tatiana's mood darkens, her behavior becoming increasingly disturbing . . . until, in every mother's worst nightmare, Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.

A Novel

Ryan Mateyk

Much like this review is going to be, this book was all over the place. We have Holly Judge and her adopted, Russian daughter, Tatiana, who I can't help but picture like this due to the countless times she's described as blue-skinned and black-haired:

These two, mother and daughter, are stuck at home together on Christmas Day, trapped inside because of a raging blizzard. Some weird stuff happens.

I enjoyed the concept and was hooked reading the synopsis in the bookstore; you just can't beat creepy kids (it reminded me of the movie Orphan). But I was ready to scream about five pages in when I read that something had followed them back from Russia for the millionth time (it sounds impossible but anything is possible after this book!). The execution was sloppy and illogical. One minute the roast was $60, next we're told its "12 pounds at $12.99 a pound," seemingly solely for the nice ring that sentence has. Holly first tells us Tatiana is never sick and never goes to the doctor. Next, we hear she sometimes catches colds that last for weeks, again, for effect. And then we are told Tatiana's lips turn cerulean blue. Can a human's lips really turn cerulean? For reference, this is cerulean:


It is still getting two stars from me since I did manage to read it in the better part of a day and really did want to find out what the big secret was. I echo the sentiments that this would've worked better as a short story or novella, which certainly could've cut out a lot of the inconsistencies that kept me from enjoying it.

Kelly Gorman

Lets just say - I started this book last night, and very little got done until I had finished it. Very creepy.

Winona &
Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke

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Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke