My Review
So after reading the Dark Corners collection from Amazon Original Stories, I decided that I wanted to check out another collection – this one being the Hush collection, which promises mysteries and thrillers. Because thrillers tend to by second favorite genre (after horror, of course!), I figured that I absolutely HAD to read these.
This first book, Snowflakes, was written by Ruth Ware – one of my favorite authors when it comes to thrillers. I have to admit, I was completely drawn to this series based on the fact that she was one of the authors contributing to it. Since this one is a short story (really short, actually, at only 26 pages), I was worried that it wouldn’t be as good as one of her full-length novels.
I was wrong.
“When father began to build the wall, we didn’t understand at first. We thought it was to keep something in”
Snowflakes introduces us to Leah – a young woman who has spent several years on an island with her father and siblings. She has been completely cut off from everything she has known and loved, including her mother, whom she believes has died.
The reason? A horrible war that is going on, threatening the lives of everyone – including the rest of the family.
“It couldn’t be to keep anything out. There wasn’t anyone on the island but us.
But as the wall grew higher and higher, we began to wonder.”
So every now and again, their father takes the only boat to the main land and returns with supplies. Normally, he returns unscathed, thanks to the bullet-proof vest he wears and the precautions he takes. Leah and her siblings always worry about him, of course – will he return home? Will he be hurt? Is the war really that bad, and will it reach their isolated little island?
One day, he comes back injured and informs them that they can no longer go to the mainland. Instead, they have to do without the random gifts that he would return with, instead making the best out of what they already have on their island.
“There were some truths too terrible to tell, some things it was better now to know.”
However, as time goes on, Leah and her siblings start to question everything that their father has told them – especially their eldest brother, who secretly fixes the boat and takes off into the unknown, leaving the whole family devastated.
But what he discovers, and what happens next, is completely out there – something that no one is expecting – changing everything that Leah has every believed in.
Ruth Ware is a master storyteller. This much is true. Her novels are incredible, and her short stories are obviously hits, too.
I didn’t see the ending coming in this one. I honestly thought that the incredible twist at the end wasn’t going to happen, but wow – this was written so well. It kept me engrossed in the story the whole time I was reading it, and I didn’t take a moment to come up for air once – I read the story from beginning to end, all the way through. And I loved every second of it. I was so bummed when it was over because I wanted it to keep going. This could have made a good novel, but because it was such a short story, the suspense had me on my edge of the seat throughout the entire thing.
If you like Ruth Ware, this is a definite read for you.
If you like suspense or thrillers, again, this is a read for you.
At under 30 pages, it is a great way to see if you like Ruth Ware’s writing style. It will fit in with your schedule, even if you are incredibly busy!
