Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand | Rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.5) From 2014. This book was won via Goodreads First Read Program. This in no way effects my review or alters my opinions on the novel at hand.
Winter Street is an unfortunate example of a novel with a promising plot, penned by a very talented author, that went horribly wrong. No, maybe not horrible -- just... a lot of lost potential. I couldn't get into it. I couldn't connect with it. Not constantly, anyways, and when it seemed to be getting better it just didn't for me. It was very disappointing because I wanted to love this book, I really did -- I wanted to be able to enjoy it and perhaps find a new favorite, but it just didn't work for me.
It had such a chance to be the perfect, lovely and light holiday-centric read, that's what upsets me the most. Elin's an excellent writer, really, and her stories are the perfect read when you're looking for stories in the genre. But in the end, Winter Street was wasted potential upon wasted potential for me. And even its moments that shined brighter than the rest couldn't save it.
While it follows a families Christmas in various POV's, it often feels like it drags on in areas where it shouldn't. Or just makes you feel like you've missed something. The sparkle is just missing in it. It's not that it's written terribly, because Elin is quite the writer, it's just lackluster. It didn't engage me like I expected. And the ending just frustrated me to no end -- is there a sequel planned? Or was that just it? Because if that's just it for it all... I'm not a very happy camper.
If there's a sequel in the works than perhaps this stories potential will be fulfilled. Even though I wasn't intrigued by it, I'd be willing to give a sequel my attention to see if it's improvements make the story worth more than it is. I would be interested to see a real ending for it. Maybe it's one of those stories that just doesn't settle with you the first time reading it. Maybe it's just me, but it just didn't do much for me by the stories end.
