Mind of Winter audiobook

Something followed them from RussiaHolly and Eric Judge wake up late on a snowy Christmas day- As Eric rushes off to pick up family at the airport- Holly stays behind to get ready for their holiday dinner guests...but something feels so wrong...and the same phrase keeps running through her mind over and over again...Something followed them from RussiaThirteen years ago Holly and Eric traveled to a Siberian orphanage and adopted the most beautiful little girl- Tatiana, and today "Tatty" is acting strange and moody. One minute fine...the next minute sullen and dark...nothing makes sense...nothing except, maybe...Something followed them from RussiaWith the weather getting worse, and guest after guest calling to cancel- Holly tries to focus on the task at hand...but her thoughts keep wandering to weird occurrences in the past...her husband out in the icy cold...her daughter's odd behavior...and that...Something followed them from Russia...MIND OF WINTER is a creepy, dark, atmospheric tale- with suspense, suspense, and mooooore suspense! It's sometimes a little repetitive and frustrating, but completely worth it in the end.

Holy smoking marshmallows... This was a hell of a ride. I was very intrigued by this story and what I heard about it. I admit the first 30 pages I was like wtf!? This crazy woman has lost it. I stuck with it as it had to be leading somewhere. And boy did it!!That ending...

Mind of Winter is a contemporary version of a favorite Victorian genre, the Christmas ghost story. I had read Laura Kasischke's book The Raising a few years ago with very mixed impressions. It portrayed a university (obviously Michigan) setting excellently with an intriguing mystery, but was marred by implausibility & the author’s failure to make up her mind whether she was going for the out-&-out paranormal or not. This time I think she came down on just the right side of the natural/supernatural divide. She steadily puts the frighteners on the reader subtly but inexorably, moving from creepy to spooky to scarier than all-get-out. (Just wait till you find out what Holly finds Tatiana doing with the intended Christmas dinner!) In hindsight we see some implausibilities in the plotting as Holly slowly realizes what really happened @ that Siberian orphanage. But as a suspenseful read the technique works perfectly for us. Like a Mannheim crescendo the horrible truth dawns more & more brightly as Holly’s memories flood back in larger & larger waves & we are aware of what must have happened just before Holly herself recognizes just what she brought home with her - & what she left behind. This book is also a beautiful piece of writing. Some reviewers actually said the POV was 1st person, but it’s not. It’s 3rd-person limited with a focus so tight as almost to seem like we’re sharing Holly’s thoughts. (Virginia Woolf used a similar technique.) Holly is supposed to be a poet (as is Laura Kasischke in reality) & when there’s a figure of speech it’s fresh & vivid, but still natural & unobtrusive. Seems wonderful that although most of the authors I read faithfully & obsessively are British & some of the books I’ve liked best have been Australian, the very best prose I’ve read recently has been by Americans, Rebecca Scherm, Marisha Pessl, & now Laura Kasischke. How fortunate we are all to have a common language that features so many interesting variations.

1. THE STORYChristmas morning. Holly, Eric, and their adopted daughter Tatiana are going to enjoy a bit of family holiday celebration. Holly prepares the feast, while Eric drives to the airport to pick up his parents. Tatiana enjoys a bit of extra sleep. Yet weather worsens and soon blizzard rages outside. Then, unaccountable vanishings occur. The more time goes, the more the scenery looks akin to Tatiana's birthplace... Siberia.2. A STUDY ON OBLIQUENESSThis novel deals masterfully with focalization. In a way it is all about subjectivity.The whole narration works as a huis clos in between Holly and Tatiana.To begin with, you witness Holly's opinions and thoughts and moods from the inside. And this is not going to be a pleasant feeling... For starters, Holly proves an somewhat oblivious, narrow-minded and highly judgmental person. Early on in the onset, the adoptive mother behaves overtly as an arrant annoyance of a helicopter parent. Yet she is also endowed with a more sensitive, genuinely vulnerable and self-doubting personality. This is but the lightest and most shallow side of the nasty things in store. And as the story progresses, rest assured there is time enough to dwell on the past 13 years since Tatiana has been adopted in the family.As an afterthought, I consider this story quite a potent illustration on the theory of attachment styles. The whole narration is run as a huis clos in between Holly and Tatiana, laden with dormant hostility, episodes of otherworldly unaccountedness, bouts of violent denial, visceral, uncanny descriptions of banal items, and a massive amount of discreet, almost unremarkable factoids yet once gathered, giving one of the most disturbing pattern I have ever read on print.As far as form goes, the whole novel develops undivided by chapters. You only get a space here and now to sever the unsteady progression of this riveting piece of literature...3. BOOKISH AND MOTION-PICTURISH COUSINS:The Eye In the Sky - Philip K. DickLes garçons de l'été - Rebecca LighieriFight Club - Chuck PalahniukThe Trial - Franz KafkaLa Chute - Albert Camus Lost Highway - David LynchThe Game - David Fincher4. SOUNDTRACKA Wolf at the Door - Radiohead

What an odd, creepy little book. I've read some of the reviews, and one complaint is that it's repetitive. Well, it's repetitive for a reason: (view spoiler)[ crazy people tend to be a bit repetitive (hide spoiler)].Any book that takes place during a huge, blinding snowstorm is already winning with me. And I liked how the entire novel happens between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM on Christmas Day. And I liked that you're left with questions. I have questions!!!! If anyone reads or has read this book, please let's chat about it! I'd love to hear someone else's take on the ending. Four stars for such a snow-filled, oddball creep of a book.

Book Info: Genre: Suspense Reading Level: AdultRecommended for: fans of heavily character-driven stories and unreliable narratorsBook Available: March 25, 2014 in Hardcover and Kindle formatsTrigger Warnings: child abuse and neglectAnimals: mention is made (although it is not described) that a cat is run over; four hens peck another one to deathMy Thoughts: I am not sure what to make of this book. Is it a slow descent into madness? Is it a ghost story? Is it allegorical or literal? The descriptions of the Siberian orphanage were enough to tear the reader's heart out, but by the end of the book, that will be the least of the traumas to which the reader has been subjected. So much of this speaks to the sorts of nightmares that adoptive parents have, and to their fears and insecurities.I imagine a lot of readers will be put off by the disjointed and repetitive nature of the narrative, but for me it works to show just how frazzled and stretched Holly is. Holly is also a master of ignoring uncomfortable truths, pretending that everything is okay when really it is not.Tatiana's definition of a soul was interesting to me. “The soul was the thing hidden inside the thing, and it made it what it was. You could not be, say, an actual parrot without a parrot soul.” It isn't the most profound, as Tatiana came up with it when she was nine, but it was interesting, and a good example of the sorts of things that she tended to think about. Make no mistake, this entire book is Holly's paean to Tatiana, to the idea of her, to the reality of her. Holly's obsession with her daughter, and her fears for her, are plain to see for all readers.This one hit me right in the feels. As an adopted child myself, I am familiar with the sorts of things that adoptive parents have to deal with. I am familiar with the things that adoptees have to deal with. The synopsis will lead you to believe that this story is about something supernatural, but to me the story was about Holly and her feelings for, about, and surroundings Tatiana. Who—or what—Tatiana is in this book, that is the question you will have to decide for yourself. This is a very haunting book and I think people who enjoy heavily character-driven stories with unreliable narrators will enjoy this book.Disclosure: I received an ARC through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.Synopsis: On a snowy Christmas morning, Holly Judge awakens, the fragments of a nightmare—something she must write down—floating on the edge of her consciousness.Something followed them from Russia.On another Christmas morning thirteen years ago, she and her husband Eric were in Siberia to meet the sweet, dark-haired Rapunzel they desperately wanted. How they laughed at the nurses of Pokrovka Orphanage #2 with their garlic and their superstitions, and ignored their gentle 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, has not been right in the years since they brought their daughter—now a dangerously beautiful, petulant, sometimes erratic teenager—home. There is something evil inside this house. Inside themselves. How else to explain the accidents, the seemingly random and banal misfortunes. Trixie, the cat. The growth on Eric's hand. Sally the hen, their favorite, how the other chickens turned on her. The housekeeper, that ice, a bad fall. The CDs scratched, every one.But Holly must not think of these things. She and Tatiana are all alone. Eric is stuck on the roads and none of their guests 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 and frightening. Until, in every mother's worst nightmare, Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.

4.0 StarsThis was a very slow burning novel of pyschological suspense and horror. Most of the narrative took place inside the mind of our main character, who was not completely likeable. The novel addresssed feminine themes like fertility and motherhood, which likely would most appeal to female readers. Admittedly, I thought the narrative dragged a bit in the middle section. However, I loved the ending so much. This story was dark and disturbing in such an unexpected way.

I finished Mind of Winter into the wee hours of the morning, once I got to a certain point I just couldn't out it down for my life. This is not only a very creepy psychological read, it's also got a very emotional element to it. You can't help but be drawn into this Christmas day gone horribly wrong. You'll be aghast at the last page ( don't you dare take a peak it'll spoil it for you!)

They never speculated whether Tatiana might have inherited her love of horses from some Mongol ancestor or whether her lovely singing voice had been passed down from a gypsy grandmother. Neither of them speculated as to whether there might be manic depression tucked away in those genes, as there was in Holly's, or heart disease, cancer, anything. Their daughter had come to them without legacy. She was so beautiful and perfect she did not need one. On Christmas morning, Holly Judge comes to with a startling message from a foggy dream she's just awaken from: something had followed them home from Russia.Something had followed them home from Russia! These words, in the context of her daughter, Tatiana's adoption from Pokrovka Orphanage #2 in Siberia 13 years ago, should send chills up your spine. As Holly deals with the domestic mishaps of stressful Christmas dinner preparations, readers tap into the reflective, wistful dusty corners of Holly's mind. Her thoughts drift from her troubled childhood, to her hardest battles, to Baby Tatty's excruciating but worthwhile adoption, to Tatiana's adolescence; these flashbacks are what make up the secure, nostalgic portion of the book.In the present, however, Holly must face something far more frightening than her personal tragedies and memories: her daughter. The frustration of motherhood is really well captured through Holly's third person narrative. She's excessively sensitive—paranoid, easily startled, a bit overbearing—but her egocentric way of thought is forgiven solely because of how relatable she is, how easy to sympathize with.Tatiana and Holly's relationship is slightly morbid, a bit eerie to begin with. There's something lurkingly alarming about Holly being trapped inside the house in a snowstorm with a daughter that isn't acting like herself anymore, and although their interactions only occur within a span of eight hours (or so), they take up the entire novel, which should be an indication of just how scrutinizingly—just how comprehensively—Holly's life story unravels.No matter how much you reflect, the past will always catch up with you, Holly realizes when her reminiscences culminate with a jarring, unexpected revelation that tilts her perspective, sense, and reality a several degrees. The ending of the book—which I won't give away—will make your mind reel and have you rethinking the virtues of destiny, sanity, and delusion of perfection.Laura Kasischke is a clear poet, with smooth and imaginative style that sets a perfectly chilling and increasingly distressing mood. I noticed a lot of readers on Goodreads complaining about the repetition of certain lines and the exaggerated alarm with which Holly perceives the world, but—hello?—that's the entire POINT of her writing style! Kasischke's merit isn't quite literary, but it's sensuous, it's poetic, and it needs to be read like a movie script would: dramatically, frenetically.I know the cover is really creepy, and while I can definitely vouch for a disturbing quality to this novel, I also have to say it isn't all blood and guts and gore; I wouldn't call this a horror novel, exactly. It's more about horror of the mind; Mind of Winter is a shadowy psychological thriller that won't only have your heart leaping up in your chest, but will also make you consider the limitations of a solitary perspective, and what it means to truly understand a story.ProsCompletely absorbing... it was hard for me to stop reading! // Mind-blowing turn of events // Structurally and stylistically bizarre, but that much more impressive // Nothing violent or explicit, but as a trigger warning, there is definitely some emotionally disturbing content // Poetic, repetitive flow to Kasischke's voice // Vivid, detailed style // Introspective // Presents accurate remarks about the joys and dangers of what's inside of us // One of those books that will make you double-take and think hardConsNo chapters or clear structure to the book, which I understand is intentional, but it made it hard to find stopping points while reading (not that I wanted to stop reading) // Creeped out the living sh!t out of me (which is actually pretty cool, now that I think about it)Love"It isn't repression to acknowledge the horrors of this world and let them go. It's freedom."VerdictTranquilly dark, hauntingly portrayed, and ultimately, completely mind-bending, Laura Kasischke's latest novel is a hair-raising glimpse at not only a repressive household's mother-daughter relationship, but also into the scariest place possible: the human mind. While not explicit or particularly horrific, Mind of Winter has some disturbing content that keeps me from recommending it to the average Jane. However, if, like me, you can stomach that kind of psychological manipulation from the author, and if you're a fan of unreliable narrators, macabre portraits of repression and denial, and characters that come with no baggage or legacy, then this is your next must-read. Buy yourself a copy now.Rating: 9 out of 10 hearts (5 stars): Loved it! This book has a spot on my favorites shelf.SourceComplimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Harper Collins and TLC!).

La novela está bien pero el final me ha dejado impresionada y ha hecho que aumente mi valoración final http://huellalibrosicc.blogspot.com.e...

To say that this book is 'haunting' doesn't quite capture its insidious power. I believe this story will be following me around for weeks. Though some readers might guess where the book is leading earlier on, I was gobsmacked by the stunning conclusion, which made everything that occurred in the novel prior come into stark relief. I will be re-reading this book with the benefit of this hindsight, looking for clues and foreshadowing that I missed, and I am sure I will admire it just as much the second time around. This is a moving, terrifying work.

Una historia que al principio pensé en abanadonar por repetitiva. Luego caí en cuenta que lo repetitivo era síntoma de algún problema y aunque todas las pistas estuvieron claras e incluso cuestioné varias de ellas, las pasé por alto y no fue hasta el final algo impactante y horripilante que até todos los cabos.

So creepy, atmospheric and beautifully written. Until the ending, which is a little silly and patronising. But then, book endings often are a disappointment.

Very unexpected story. Creepy!

This book was dark and creepy! I didn’t know what the heck I was reading but it definitely grabbed my attention and didn’t let go until the very end and even then it hasn’t really let go. There is this unsettling and rather bleak feeling emanating from the pages that definitely made me feel a little bit melancholy while reading. It really got under my skin.

Es un libro que empecé a leer porque me enganchó la sinopsis. Pero al poco de comenzar me di cuenta de que no era de la temática que yo esperaba. Aún así seguí leyendo y la última cuarta parte me ha enganchado y entretenido mucho. Es por eso que le he dado 4 estrellas, principalmente por la parte final que es lo que se recuerda.