“The first time I heard about the disappearance of Kiera Templeton was while I was studying at Columbia University.“

My thanks to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Snow Girl’ by Javier Castillo.

This tense thriller was originally published in Spain in 2020 and has been translated from the Spanish by Isabelle Kaufeler.

What a ride this was and it’s easy to appreciate how it became such a phenomenal bestseller. While the author is Spanish, the novel is set in New York City. It opens on Thanksgiving Day, 1998. Aaron and Grace Templeton are attending Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with their three-year-old daughter Kiera. Suddenly Kiera becomes lost in the crowd.

The police are alerted and a city wide search begins, yet there is no sign of the little girl though worryingly her clothing and cut hair is found suggesting that her abductor has changed her appearance. Years pass and the case goes cold.

Miren Triggs had first been drawn to the case while she was still a student. She is now an investigative journalist and has spent years trying to help the Templetons find Kiera. Then on the 5th anniversary of the abduction, a video marked ‘1’ arrives showing Kiera alive and well, playing in a bedroom. Further videos arrive over the years. No further details to avoid spoilers.

This was a fascinating crime thriller. The narrative does move about in time to various points on the timeline of Kiera’s disappearance. These are clearly designated at the chapter openings. There are also occasional chapters from an unknown location that presents the viewpoint of the abductors.

I found Miren a very relatable protagonist and admired her tenacity in the investigation of the case. I was impressed by the pacing and how well the plot was developed. There were more than a few edge of the seat moments.

Overall, I enjoyed ‘The Snow Girl’ very much and was delighted to learn that there is a second Miren Triggs book, ‘The Soul Game’ that is currently listed for publication later this year. I certainly plan to read it.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This was an enjoyable read. I liked the pace of the book and how the story unfolds. A good beginning and definite end to complete the whole story.

4.5*

Novel set in Peckham

One building, three time periods: 1843, 1994 and 2008, with the changing vistas of Peckham forming a colourful backdrop. I was particularly interested in picking up this novel because I grew up very near to Peckham, in fact, Rye Lane was our go-to high street. As a child I went to Jones and Higgins, the department store which was built in 1867 and was just one building in the Golden Mile, which at that time rivalled Oxford Street. It closed its doors in 1980. Shoe shopping as a child was always a highlight because in those days you could get your feet measured and get an X-Ray of the bones in your foot (that was REALLY a thing).

There are copious mentions of The King’s Head, a pub, which in this story is portrayed as a rough joint. I only know that it was a heart-sink moment if the 63 bus from King’s X terminated there because I lived beyond it on that route. And hanging around that area was to be avoided at all costs.

There is a great sense of the River Peck which in the Victorian era was used as a dumping point for sewage, causing a miasma in the hotter months which afflicted Horatio and his family, who lived in the house at that point. The tenants in 1994 and then the owners in 2008 both researched the context of the house in which they lived, throwing up more interesting information that contributes to the storyline.

Peckham has seen such changing fortunes. It was an easy place to shop and find exotic foods; the travelling fun fair that arrived on Peckham Rye each year was often beset by violence; and whatever became of the Lido, housed behind great fencing units that crumbled as the years passed? In 1985 there were riots and again in 2011, and in 1989 a visit to the local Marks & Spencer involved cash transactions with a cashier behind a solid grille for protection. Much has changed as the intrinsically mundane suburb, with a wonderful variety of solid housing vernacular, has inevitably become gentrified.

The story is as much about the building – groaning and creaking with a hint of menace throughout – as the people who inhabit it. Tragedy and crime are almost embedded within the timbers of the dwelling from suspicious deaths in 1843 and 1994, to a couple trying to find a way forward to finance the much needed renovations, but Seb has been involved in demise of Lehman Brothers and is actively pulling the wool over Maxine’s eyes…

This is a well written novel, that moves easily between the different storylines.

If you enjoy this novel then you might want to see the film Rye Lane which is a good natured and sharp film set in the area; and of course Only Fools and Horses is set there. So it is a residential area that quietly gets the limelight, perhaps in sharp contrast to its more flamboyant north London counterparts.

A tight-knit thriller with everything that you would expect from a book that's already been adapted into a Netflix hit. From the missing toddler to the phone call 5 years later, the police investigation and the twists and dead ends, this is very well constructed and utterly gripping.

This inspired the Netflix series and was an excellent and thrilling read. It kept me turning the pages far into the night.

This exhibits a narrative structure that features multiple timelines for different protagonists. The author, Castillo, cleverly concludes a chapter on a cliffhanger and then transitions to another timeline. This left me feeling irritated but didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the read. The book not only explores gun culture in America but also delves into the intricate and time-consuming process of police investigations into missing person cases. Castillo emphasises the fact that such cases are not easily resolved and require significant effort and persistence from law enforcement agencies. Nonetheless, a few instances appear hard to believe, especially with the number of unrelated incidents towards the main character. Miren's character development throughout the book is intriguing, and I enjoyed this element of the read.

Overall, this did not live up to its online hype, but it was still worth the read.

When 3 year old Kiera Templeton disappears during a crowded Christmas parade police soon exhaust all avenues. She seems to have vanished. So when, a few years later her mother receives a video of her child playing in an unfamiliar room no one can believe it. Even though 5 years have passed Kiera is easily recognisable. But it leads to nothing and when this happens again and again everyone but her mother loses hope. Except for journalist Miren Triggs who has been obsessed with the little girl's disappearance since she was a student so she desperately wants to help.

This book reads like a treasure hunt where each missing piece leads to another clue. It was a good read even though I sometimes felt as frustrated as those searching when promising leads turned out to be dead ends.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

This was an extraordinary book.
I feel like I was Mirens side kick and we went on this search together.

Not every book demands a long review, it being genius is enough

Thank you Netgalley and Javier Castillio for this Arc of The Snow girl. It's great when you come across an international author. It's been the first of Javier's books and I really enjoyed this one. Firstly, the abduction of a Kiera, a 3 yr old girl who is taken within moments of being taken whilst her Father is buying a balloon in a huge Thanksgiving parade. The second undercurrent story is of Miren, a journalist, who has to come uncover her own demons, to make sense of the story of Kiera's abduction,

The narrative is told from several POV and on a few timelines. The present and the day Kiera goes missing, There are a few jumps in between but as the story progresses, I felt these tied in really well.

I love Miren's story. The hardship she faced, coming to terms with what happened to her while she was putting herself through college to become a journalist . She was definitely my favourite character and a strong one at that.

I found this book fairly well paced and written well.

A very interesting read, I liked the differences in perspective and the time jumps - I don't usually like time jumps as I find them confusing but did really enjoy this one. Miren - I love you girl!!!! I really want to keep reading more stories where she's a main character as she's vibey and I like it.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this eCopy to review

The Snow Girl is an intriguing read, as it follows a number of characters all connected to the disappearance of Kiera Templeton.

Spanning numerous years and points of views since Kiera's abduction, we gain an insight into not only the parents' grief but those investigating the crime. As well as a history of how journalism was changed by the advent of the internet.

I found Miren Triggs' story particularly moving as she struggles to overcome being raped, ultimately completing her degree and becoming a journalist. Keira's disappearance is very personal for her and she will not give up investigating even if she has to do it in her own time.

The Snow Girl is the name given to a little three-year-old girl who goes missing during a public festival. There are hundreds of people there and her parents take their eyes off her for a minute and then she is gone. A common theme because it is an horrific idea for any parent, but this story is a little different.

The fallout of the missing child is, as expected, traumatic for both parents with the father spiralling into a deep depression particularly. They live in hope of finding her and continue to search for many years. After a while the police do not have her case as a priority. So it is really only down to the press and one investigative journalist to continue the search for the truth about what happened to the little girl.

The book follows the perspectives of several people, sometimes in the first person but mainly in the third person, and covers many time periods. This is often confusing and repetitive but we read on in the belief that the events will all make sense at the end and the timeline falls into place. It does to a certain extent and the climax is much easier to read and follow than the earlier parts of the book, where the 'thriller' aspect does not apply. The ending is a little far-fetched but it does make an exciting conclusion following a rather slow and plodding build up.

Mainly an interesting read about loss, hope, revenge and atonement. Plus it looks as if this may well be the beginning of a series featuring missing children and the journalist who has her own trauma and demons to deal with. Something that is bound to send chills running through all of us.

Really didn’t enjoy this book. From the writing style to the lack of pace, it wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Michael Joseph Penguin Random House and the author for the chance to review.

I can only hope this book has lost something in translation because it’s a huge jumble from start to finish. I’m a quick reader so can generally keep track of books with changing timescales and POV’s but this one had me scratching my head! I usually really appreciate chapters ending in a cliff hanger and then that thread not getting immediately picked up in the next chapter ( it can be very thrilling) but the author’s persistent attempts at this ploy failed.

Definitely a page turner, just one more chapter turned into where did the last couple of hours go. Can’t wait for the next book.

Miren Triggs is a journalist student who begins to investigate the disappearance of three year old Kiera Templeton. Soon the parents start receiving videos of their daughter. Will they find out what happened to Keira?

This was a complex slow burn of a novel and although I have read plenty of missing children novels this did seem to have a uniqueness. The writing was well done, however it jumped around a lot with multiple timeframes and points of view, which sometimes made it a bit confusing. I did find the overall story a bit slow to get to the conclusion and sometimes found my attention waning. Overall it was a good story but not one that I fully connected with. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Translated from the original Spanish and transferred from Malaga to New York this is the story of 3 year old Kiera Templeton who was attending the 1998 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with her parents when she disappeared. I don’t have children myself but I can understand that this must be every parent’s worst nightmare. Told in multiple timelines and multiple POV’s this did get a bit confusing at times and it’s a bit of a slow burner although well paced, but stick with it, I found it soon became clear and it’s definitely worth it.

Briefly, we follow the paths of the parents, FBI Detective Miller who is assigned to the case and Miren Triggs a fledgling journalist at the time of the abduction who has herself suffered an appalling attack in the past. Despite best efforts there is no sign of Kiera but 5 years later the parents receive a tape showing Kiera playing in a room and then further tapes at irregular intervals.

Miren was a great character someone I could really care about, having been through a terrible ordeal herself she really cares about finding Kiera and is tenacious in her investigation. A tense and gripping thriller using cliffhangers at the end of chapters to rank up the suspense, very satisfying read with an emotional ending.

A child goes missing on the eve of her 3rd birthday at a crowded Thanksgiving parade. The terror and desperation that the parents of little Kiera feel is very effectively conveyed to the reader. And if you have ever loved a child (and even more so, if you have one of your own), it is not hard to imagine how dreadful it must be to find yourself in such a predicament.

Despite their continued efforts to locate their daughter, Kiera's parents are left bereft. Until, in subsequent years, they receive videos of their child apparently still alive.

The book also features a young journalist named Miren who becomes fiercely invested in Kiera's case, because certain aspects of her own story that make her determined to find this child. Not that this is easy.

The book is fast paced and well written. But it can be confusing at times, because it features not only multiple POV but also multiple timelines for different characters.

Plus, the author is fond of ending chapters on cliffhangers and then suddenly shifting to another POV which can at times be frustrating. Nevertheless, if you can concentrate hard and read the book within as short a time as possible, it tells a compelling story. I give it 3.5 stars.

Just finished this book and I could not put it down. It was a bit of a hard read being a parent myself, I lost my daughter for 5 minutes once and it was the worst 5 mins of my life so it was hard to read what the parents in the book were going through.

The book flicks back and from the time when Kiera disappeared and then to 5 and 12 years after her disappearance. I liked the way the story was told and this back and forth in the timelines. I loved the character of Mirren and was really rooting for her.

My only comment is I would have liked to hear a bit from Kiera’s point of view, especially in the chapters where it was 12 years later and she would be able to articulate herself, this have been interesting to hear the odd chapter from her. Other than that I don’t have any other comments, this book was amazing.

A very good read. Enjoyed the unravelling of the plot. Got a little confusing with the timelines but still all made sense. Will look forward to future books by this author.