Snowflakes
Leah has spent her childhood isolated on a remote island, safe from a devastated mainland. But her family's quiet existence shatters when her father senses an approaching threat and demands they build a wall. As the stone blockade rises, his paranoia escalates, leaving Leah to fear that the violence they fled has finally found their sanctuary. Ruth Ware delivers an arresting short story about a family's crumbling trust as the line between truth and illusion disappears.
- Leah, Jacob, Cain and May - Paul's children
- Paul - The children's father
- Paul is building a huge wall around their farm on the island.
- Paul fled with the children to the island to escape a supposed war on the mainland.
- It has been a year since Paul told them it was no longer safe to travel to the mainland for supplies.
- Cain disappears after a fight with Paul and the boat is missing.
- Men come to arrest Paul and he shoots at them.
- Paul gets shot and killed.
- Leah wakes up in the hospital and her mother is there.
- There was never a war; Paul only believed one was coming.
- Cain realizes Paul was lying about the war when he sees snippets of news from a recent newspaper Paul brought back and gave to May to cut into snowflakes.
- The night they fled, their mother had called the police on Paul, so he took the children and ran.
Snowflakes by Ruth Ware was a very fast read. The writing was as sharp as expected, setting up the isolated atmosphere right away.
The book didn't really land for me due to the heavy doomsday vibe, which just isn't my favorite style of suspense. I knew going in that a novella wouldn't have massive depth, but even for a book this short, the character development felt lacking.
That said, the ending had a surprising twist that I did enjoy. It was a clever way to wrap up a short thriller, even if the apocalyptic tone wasn't a perfect fit.
- Child abuse
- Kidnapping
- Gaslighting
- Gun violence
- Parental death
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
ASIN: B08C7ZMZWH
Publication Date: July 30, 2020
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
