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Review: As Simple As Snow by Gregory Galloway

in a sentence or two: Anna (prefers to be called Anastasia, thankyouverymuch), the quirky and secretive new goth girl disappears, and the only evidence left behind is her black dress laid out on the snow by a hole in the frozen river. her 'bland-as-water' boyfriend is wrapped up in her mysteries, which only seem to be multiplying after her disappearance...

the narrator, Anna's boyfriend, has quite the complicated home life. he's the last child at home with an older brother living down south and a sister that disappeared never to be heard from again. the death of his other sister so many years ago severely altered the way his parents treated him, each other, and the world (and not in a very pleasant way). the narrator (remains nameless throughout, except for the letter G) is going through his boring and pretty much useless high school existence until Anna comes along. she's pretty, sure, but she's also goth - complete with black make up, black clothes, and black doc martins. after a chance encounter in the library (where he is hoping to meet girls, ironically), they begin a relationship unlike anything he would have ever expected.

Anna was a total riddle, both in the book and to me as a reader. a lot of the things she said worked herself in circles or just averted the topic altogether. the narrator was intrigued by her and drawn into her mysterious ways, just accepting her the way she was. her disappearance really did shatter the world of the narrator, and the way in which that is portrayed is so authentic and realistic it hurt my heart and periodically brought tears to my eyes.

all of the characters in the book are flawed. seriously. and for some characters, you don't even know how they are flawed, just that they are. you are simply left to take Anna's word for it and deal with her insinuations and vague references. that was the heaviest part of the book for me - the total abundance of flaws and prevalence of hurtful behavior. realistic, but heavy.

this is the hardest review i've written so far. i just could not find the words to describe the book or the way i felt about it. much more than an edgy novel, more than a ghost story, more than a introspection of people in the narrator's life, hardly classifiable as a romance, impossibly crafty and creative, this book is a thoughtful and mysterious story full of riddles from within the characters and from the plot development from Galloway. the whole thing was suspenseful, sad, creepy, funny, and creative. most of all, it was intentionally mysterious and therefore (for me) a bit unfulfilling. overall, i do think it is deserved to win the Alex Award and is one that i will want to read again some day to try and pick up more of the subtle intricacies.


fix er up: there just was not enough resolution for me. i know it's a mystery and i know that a major point of the book is to be unresolved and unsettling...but it was too much for me!

title: As Simple As Snow
author: Gregory Galloway
genre: Edgy, Mystery



  1. isn't obvious that she committed suicide? i mean she was a goth. end of story.

  2. Sounds kind of interesting. It has a lovely cover.

  3. the cover is pretty - agreed. the hardback cover was different, but i do believe this is the prettier of the two covers.

    and yes, interesting is definitely a word to describe this book!

  4. I have not ever heard of this one - thanks for bringing it to my attention!

  5. you're welcome! it's definitely one of the most interesting and well composed YA books i've read in a long time. let me know how you like it!


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