The Winter's Child by Cassandra Parkin - Blog Tour Review

Today on Life Of A Nerdish Mum, it is my stop on the blog tour for The Winter's Child by Cassandra Parkin. 

The Winter's Child

Five years ago, Susannah Harper's son Joel went missing without a trace. Bereft of her son and then of her husband, Susannah tries to accept that she may never know for certain what has happened to her lost loved ones. But then, on the last night of Hull Fair, a fortune-teller makes an eerie prediction—on Christmas Eve, Joel will finally come back to her. As her carefully-constructed life begins to unravel, Susannah is drawn into a world of psychics and charlatans, half-truths and hauntings, friendships and betrayals, forcing her to confront the buried truths of her family's past where nothing and no one are quite as they seem.

My Review

The Winter's Child is one of the most atmospheric books that I have read this year. Cassandra Parkin's writing is excellent and I was quickly drawn into the mystery of why Susannah's son Joel disappeared and where he is now. I thought the use of mystics/psychics was a unique and unusual way of investigation and it was really interesting to see Susannah's reliance on them even though she knows most of them are charlatans. 

As a blogger myself, it was good to see the main character use blogging too and I enjoyed the blog pieces throughout the book. I really enjoyed mixed media books, especially when they are done well as in The Winter's Child. 

The characters are all complex and you end up having an opinion on everyone whether it be good or bad. What Susannah is going through is every parents worst nightmare and it was quite distressing seeing her trying to deal with the disappearance and everything that happens after. She isn't the most likeable character though and that makes it to me even more realistic as you end up judging her even when you're telling yourself not to. 

I was fully immersed in this story and when things start to get eerie I really felt creeped out even when I had put the book down. The Winter's Child is a dark and emotional book and is a perfect autumn/Halloween read, one to pick up on these dark nights and curl up with a blanket and a hot brew. 

I won't be giving away any of the story, but I will say it is extremely well executed and kept me questioning my own thoughts. 

Oh I also couldn't finish my review without mentioning just how gorgeous the cover is for The Winter's Child. Excellent and eye catching art work. 

Overall an excellent read and I gave this book 5 stars. 

About The Author

I was lucky enough to have Cassandra take part in my blog feature, Getting To Know... so you can check that out here. 

Cassandra Parkin grew up in Hull, and now lives in East Yorkshire. Her short story collection, New World Fairy Tales (Salt Publishing, 2011), won the 2011 Scott Prize for Short Stories and her work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies.

The Summer We All Ran Away (Legend Press, 2013) was Cassandra's debut novel.

Her work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. The Beach Hut (Legend Press, 2015) is her second novel.

Visit Cassandra at cassandraparkin.wordpress.com or on Twitter @cassandrajaneuk 

Don't Forget To Check Out The Rest Of The Tour