Winter Longing by Tricia Mills

Winter Longing by Tricia Mills


Released: August 2010
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 256
Source: Around the World Tours


Rating: ♥♥♥♥


A plane crash in Alaska takes
Winter’s first love away forever . . .


When Winter's boyfriend is killed in a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness, she's robbed of the future she'd only just allowed herself to believe might be hers. Winter and Spencer had been destined for one another. And after his death, Spencer's presence continues to haunt her.


But when her next-door neighbor becomes an unlikely friend, Winter begins to accept all that she can't change. Can she open herself to a new future . . . and a possible new love?

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Winter Longing is what I would describe as a quiet emotional story that you suddenly just find yourself slipping into without even realizing it. Right from the get go you know that Spencer is going to die. The back of the book tells you that. One thing that stood out to me more in this story was how someone who was gone from the beginning still had such an impact throughout the story.

I'm glad the author decided to never really put Spencer there while he was alive. You only learn about him through memories and a tiny paragraph before each chapter. For me, this made me understand why Winter was going through such a hard time without him. The more you learn about the two, the more heart breaking it is to know that they'll never be together. I don't just mean that in the love sense, but the two have been best friends for most of their life. It made the sense of loss much more powerful.

Tricia Mills did a great job of covering a girl who is slowly slipping into depression. Everyone takes death in a different way, and Winter cannot understand how everyone around her can simply move on with their lives while she still can't. Then she meets Jesse. He's not the character who just steps into the room and suddenly everything is going to be peachy again.  His character takes time to step up, but is played out so well, you can't help but love him.

This was a great story about loss, healing, love, and second chances. It's almost a great reminder that we should never take anyone in our lives for granted because you never know when they might be gone. You're definitely going to want to pick this book up.

♥amber