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I’m not sure where I’ve been but I had never read anything by Jennifer McMahon, until now. I stumbled across The Winter People and when I was reading reviews for it, many said that it was similar to Pet Sematary by Stephen King. Pet Sematary is one of my top ten, if not top five, books of all time so I had high hopes for The Winter People. While I didn’t love it quite as much as Pet Sematary, it was still a really good read. This review will be spoiler free.
Synopsis:
West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.
Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara’s farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea’s diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother’s bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she’s not the only person looking for someone that they’ve lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
My Thoughts:
- Rating- ⭐⭐⭐⭐
While The Winter People is technically in the horror genre, in my opinion, it was more suspense with some supernatural spookiness. There were definitely creepy moments but I was never quite horrified. That’s not a bad thing, though. When I’m in the mood for something scary, I tend to prefer an atmospheric story with a creeping sense of dread and this book accomplishes that.
I loved the setting of the old farmhouse at the edge of the woods in Vermont. It was described well and the location added to the spookiness. Most people fear what could be lurking in the woods and for these characters, they fear who (or what) keeps peering at them from the trees…
I also greatly enjoyed the dual timelines. I don’t always like this in books but I felt both timelines kept my attention and so I wasn’t dreading switching between them. The historical timeline was my favorite simply because I tend to enjoy historical stories more; and I did find those characters to be slightly more interesting.
My only true complaints with this book are I felt it dragged on a bit too long and I didn’t love the ending. I felt that the big resolution to the “mystery” fell flat and took away from the creepiness. I also wasn’t crazy about the many different story threads and points of view. Before I really understood who was who, all the different character points of view were confusing. Overall though, this was a really good read.
Final Thoughts:
The Winter People may not have been a five star book but I still enjoyed it and would like to read more from Jennifer McMahon. If you have any recommendations by her, let me know! I’d also love to know if you’ve read this book and what you thought. Thanks for reading!
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