The Winter’s Child by Cassandra Parkin #BlogTour #Review @Legend_Press @cassandrajaneuk

Today I’m thrilled to be sharing my review as part of the blog tour for The Winter’s Child by Cassandra Parkin, published by Legend Press and available to purchase now – Amazon UK | Amazon US

My thanks go to Legend Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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

First off I’d like to say how gorgeous the cover for The Winter’s Child is, this is one of those covers that would jump right off the shelf at you and shout ‘read me now’.

Susannah Harper is a troubled soul, her fifteen year old son disappeared five years ago, her marriage then broke down and Susannah is still trying to come to terms with the loss. Not knowing if her son is alive or dead, Susannah still has the hope that one day Joel will return, her beloved son who she desperately loves with all her heart.

The story is told by Susannah in the present but alternates to the past and the run up to the disappearance of Joel. Joel is the longed for son that Susannah and John thought they may never have. Both parents want the best for him but show it in very different ways. John wants to encourage Joel to try to do his best and Susannah just wants to protect Joel and wrap him up in cotton wool.  

I’ll be totally honest here and say I didn’t quite know how to take Susannah, my heart broke for her but there was something just not quite right and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Following her story we see this isn’t your average missing child story, it’s so much more and the more I learned the more haunting the story became.

I’m not going to go into the plot too much as I don’t want to give anything away but I will say this is an extremely addictive read, it was uncomfortable reading at times but I just couldn’t put it down and devoured it in two sittings. Parkin has written a story that will stay with me for a long time, it’s a story that gave me chills and is beautifully written. It was very easy to feel like I was there in The Winter’s Child like an extra character sitting in the corner watching the story unfold.

Will I be recommending The Winter’s Child? I most definitely will be.

FOLLOW THE TOUR