Thursday, February 22, 2018

Audio Book Review: Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand @elinhilderbrand ‏

Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand book cover and review
Hilderbrand's writing is mesmerizing and her characters are complex, which kept me interested in Winter Solstice.

We meet the Quinns - a blended family whose patriarch, Kelly, lives on Nantucket in an inn that he and his second wife, Mitzi, run. Unfortunately, Kelly is in the advanced stages of brain cancer. We get perspectives from all of the kids, the ex-wife, and even some side characters.

Like I said, the writing is excellent.  You can feel what the characters feel.  But really, not much happens in Winter Solstice. It covers about three months, and we get background stories of all the characters.  A few have been in prison, one son has returned from being a POW, and several have had extramarital affairs, so there is a lot to keep one's interest.

Winter Solstice is the definition of character-driven.  And that isn't a bad thing once in a while, especially by a talented writer.  I didn't understand why we were introduced to some of the tangential characters (i.e. Eddie and the lottery winners) especially when their story was just dropped at the end of the book, but this is a small complaint.

I like audiobooks when you forget they are audiobooks.  When you forget you are being read to and simply enjoy the story.  Erin Bennett is just such a narrator. No annoying voices, no extra drama.  Excellent.

I totally didn't realize this was the fourth book of a series, Winter Street, and I can honestly say I don't think the reading suffered because I hadn't read any of the other books.  But I would be interested to start from the beginning and see how these characters progress.

This is a clean, sweet story that I think teens would enjoy also. The characters will stick with you, and I'd recommend Winter Solstice if you enjoy heartwarming novels about the complexities of family.

Published by Little, Brown and Company, 2017, audio by Hachette
Audiobook obtained from the library
304 pages

Rating: 4/5





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2 comments:

  1. I love audiobooks. Right now I am in the midst of a book for book club, Little Fires Everywhere, and have another in the queue, Lincoln in the Bardo. So many books, so little time.

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  2. I don't ever listen to audiobooks, but feel like I should. Perhaps I need a longer commute. I want to listen to them, but can't figure out when I would do it

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