As Simple as Snow
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE ALEX AWARD • Prepare to be spellbound by this chilling mystery that delves into the complexities of friendship, love, and the dark corners of the human psyche.
“This strange tale manages to creep under your skin, and to stay there for some time.”—People
“Oddly mesmerizing . . . its teasing foreshadowings and forebodings make it hard to forget.”—Booklist
Anna—who prefers to be called Anastasia—is dark, spooky, and mysterious. And from the moment he met her, the narrator was mesmerized. And so began their happy yet unlikely romance.
But a week before Valentine’s Day, Anna disappears, leaving behind a dress on the frozen river and a string of unanswered questions. And as the narrator struggles to understand what happened and put together the pieces of the last few months, the clues, codes, and ciphers begin to coalesce into a haunting reality that may implicate friends, relatives, and even Anna herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It turns out that snow is "actually very complicated," and so is Galloway's quirky, engrossing debut. In a small town near a river not far from a city, the narrator, an unnamed high school sophomore, encounters new Goth arrival, Anna Cayne. Holden Caulfield meets the Blair Witch, perhaps but our narrator is more sympathetic and Anna more fascinating than their counterparts. The narrator is unsure why anyone would pursue him ("I'm bland. I'm milk. Worse, I'm water"), but pursue him Anna does, charming him with intriguing postcards, reading recommendations and long walks by the river. He's soon completely, hopelessly in love. But halfway through the story Anna disappears, leaving the narrator and the reader feeling lost and betrayed. The book becomes a search for Anna, complete with ciphers, codes, sightings and buried maps. Does affable art teacher Mr. Devon have something to do with her disappearance? Who was really driving the night fellow student Bryce Druitt slammed his car into the side of the bridge? Galloway makes plain from the beginning that everything in the book might be a clue, and that it's up to the narrator and the reader to solve the mystery for themselves. This can be great fun or lead to great frustration, depending on one's tastes, but there's no doubt that this rich, complex puzzle is the work of a talented author.
