Book Review: Winter Loon

Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that is best described as being literary fiction. Not just regular fiction or mass-market fiction; but the kind of fiction that requires you to pay attention, has a lyrical sense to it and (of course) doesn't really end well for most characters in the story. These are what I call "Oscar" books. Great stories that are written specifically for the purpose of winning high-end literary awards. The same way you can watch a movie and immediately know it's an "Oscar" movie; this work with books too.

Beautiful & Descriptive
The writing in Winter Loon is such that it is beautiful while still being very descriptive. I always felt like I was in the setting and could sometimes even smell the description (if you will) that Susan Bernhard was presenting. This made for a very immersive book experience. But it also means this is a tough book to read in line-ups at the bank or Starbucks. There's nothing wrong with that of course; it's just good to know going in if you're like me and read multiple books at a time with certain types being 'dedicated time reading' books and others being 'read anytime' books. This is definitely a book you can get lost in and will fill your dedicated reading time with emotionally charged scenes.

Somber, Sad & Depressing
As with most Oscar movies, Winter Loon is a downer. Our lead boy is essentially abandoned by his father, has lost his mother (before his very eyes in the opening chapter) and is shipped off to a crappy town to live with his crappy grandparents. Ugh. The teenage experience is not really much fun for most in general; never mind when you drop a teen into a depressing setting such as this. The hardest parts of this book, ironically, for me are not the moments when someone dies but actually those moments when our lead boy is hungry and without resources (money) or anyone to care that he hasn't eaten all day. There's very little that is encouraging in Winter Loon. If you are looking for an uplifting, overcoming the odds story then look elsewhere.

Overall
This is a really good book. It's dense at times and in some instances the prose can go on and on. But for the most part it's a good read. I'm not sure who to recommend it for because it is really sad and a bit of a tough read. Unlike some of the sad tough novels I normally read this one is not historical so there isn't really anything to directly 'learn' from Winter Loon the way might be in historical settings. That said there are certainly lessons that can be derived from Bernhard's story. The least of which is likely that your life isn't as bad as you thought.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Follow me on Goodreads