Reviews

The Snowstorm by Triona Walsh

lexreadsalot's review against another edition

5.0

A fantastic twisty read! I loved all the twists and turns in the plot. The characters were really well developed as well! I also enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery & the small Irish town life. I cannot wait to read more from Triona Walsh!

booksnbrains's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

walshie_writes's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

emreads64's review against another edition

4.0

ARC

Thank you to Bookouture for this Arc copy on Netgalley.

Everyone is a suspect.

This book had me on the edge of my seat for the entire thing! It was so grilling and well written. I very much enjoyed the writing style, it flowed beautifully and felt very natural. The descriptions were perfectly detailed, you could really get a picture of the setting in your head and imagine the scene unfolding without it being over detailed, which is when things can get a bit tedious or boring.

I loved the foreshadowing throughout, “A picture falls off the wall? It means someone is going to die.”

I did feel like maybe we needed more tome to get to know Maura, Seamus, Sorcha and Ferdia, so we could form a bit more of an attachment to the characters. As it would have been a lot more impactful when Maura was found dead and the reveal of the killer and the plot twists would have been more shocking if we had known the characters a bit more.

“Flames of her rich, auburn hair had escaped and now, medusa- like, snaked off at every which angle.”

I did not guess who the killer was correctly, i did think that it would be Daithi who was the killer as he was just too nice and I thought it must be too good to be true.

I read this book in less than 24 hours. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

I gave this 4⭐️.

reading_w_dee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

The Snowstorm intrigued me from the start, when friends gather together to celebrate a friend long lost; then a snowstorm hits that prevents anyone from leaving the island and their friend is found, murdered. I love a mystery where no matter where you go, the murderer is at a close proximity. 

It's a race against time, before the snowstorm fades and those on the island can leave. But there are so many twists, proving that a lot can change in ten years. Who is keeping a secret? Who murdered their friend?

marcirenee1974's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I went into this book blind and was pleasantly surprised by the book. I really liked it and now have another author's backlog to add to my TBR! I also love a good, strong, kick-ass woman as the lead problem solver and this book really gave you all of that! You could really feel the sadness from the characters from their communal loss, but some of them were really a bag of dicks as humans.

#TheSnowstorm 
#NetGalley

readwitray's review

4.0

Cara and her 5 friends reunite 10 years after the death of her husband but when one friend turns up dead. Secrets start coming out. 

I love the authors Bookoutoure has! Their writing is always amazing and pulls me in. This is the first book I have read by Triona Walsh. She was descriptive about the characters and the island. You could really feel like you were stranded on a Irish island. 

You could not figure out who it was because everyone felt guilty. It felt like I was reading a version of clue.
“It was Sorcha in the.. with the…” or “It was Férdia in the… with the…” Everyone had a motive but the real motive didn’t come out until the end. Great book!

voicenextdoor's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I picked this up because of the atmosphere and it did not disappoint. Set in the Aran Islands off the coast of Ireland we are snowed in with an old group of friends who have gotten together after many years apart to remember and celebrate the life of of their friends who pasted away 10 years earlier.

I had the chance to visit the smallest of the islands a few years ago on my honeymoon and to say that I was living for all the little details of life on the Inis Mór is an understatement.

I think for the seasoned thriller reader you will find this fairly predictable, but that didn’t take away from my experience of reading it. It’s a solid thriller, with a slow reveal of many secrets and many twists. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys locked room/trapped on an island mysteries or has an interest in the Irish setting.

Audiobook was great. I’ll definitely be keeping an ear out for more narrated by Jacqueline Milne.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

mommasaystoread's review against another edition

2.0

The Snowstorm turned out to be a bit different than I hoped, and not really in a good way. It started off well enough, but I expected something closer to everyone being stuck in the same place, as in the same house, rather than everyone running around willy-nilly all over the island. However, I could've overlooked that if the rest of the mystery weren't so convoluted and if it hadn't been so easy to figure out despite that. Some things were just mentioned too many times for them not to play a part in the reveal, which like the rest, would've been more effective if Cara had been a little more adept at her job. Instead, she seems to just do a lot of running from point A to point B and back again.
Jacqueline Milne narrates this one, and she is the better part of the story for me. She does give a satisfactory performance, and a few times, the narration is all that kept me listening when I otherwise may have given up because the pace had slowed.
I also liked the setting, and I could've enjoyed this one more if it hadn't been quite so predictable. As it stands, I'll just have to chalk this one up to not the story for me. I do think there are a number of readers/listeners out there that would enjoy this book. I just prefer something a little grittier. Something that challenges me a bit.

alwaysaudreyreads's review against another edition

3.5

 "It’s an icy New Year’s Eve. Snow blankets a windswept Irish island as the wild Atlantic Ocean rages.
Six friends gather. It has been ten years since the tragedy that tore them apart. A lot can change in a decade…
Childhood bonds are now lifelong secrets.
Dear friendships have twisted into deep jealousies.
A happy reunion is shattered by a dead body."

This was a fun isolated murder mystery. As the story unfolds we learn more about the six friends, their history together, and the secrets that they've kept. I enjoyed the setting and characters in this story but the pacing felt a little slow. I found myself solving the clues in this story chapters before the main character. I did still enjoy the story, I just think that it could have been paced better to allow the reader to walk along with the characters instead of ahead of them. If you like an isolated murder mystery, this is a quick read with a nice cast of characters.

Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture  for the gifted copy of this book.