Blackthorn Winter Creative Writing

Juliana Martin-Drake, is a young, adopted teenage girl, who moves with her mother and brother, from sunny, Malibu, California, to a dark, gloomy European town called Blackthorn. She is forced to move so that her mother can find her artistic self again, in her old town, and separate fron Juliana’s father. Juliana hates it in Blackthorn. She misses her father and friends terribly. Then, all of a sudden one of her mother’s friends is murdered. Juliana decides to take matters into her own hands and solve the murder mystery. Along the way, she begins to remember her life before she was adopted at age 5. It was all a blur until slowly but surely it becomes clear the end of the murder mystery.

Blackthorn Winter, by Kathryn Reiss, is a book I like to call my favorite. I have read many books, however this book that I read last summer, is my absolute favorite. I remember, every morning, jumping out of bed, to find the book, and reading it until my hearts content. I remember I could not put Blackthorn Winter down, even after only reading page one. From the detailed writing, I was able to paint pictures in my mind of what each character looked like, along with every unique setting explained. Its suspenseful, and unpredictable plot makes the book almost impossible to put down as well. Kathryn Reiss does a fabulous job of using great detail, to describe Juliana, and her experiences at Blackthorn. She explains Blackthorn, as the worst possible place for Juliana. It is painted as a dark, foggy, gloomy town with artists and drunks. People of all sort, are living in Blackthorn. She compares and contrasts the sunny beaches of Malibu, to the foggy, cold beach of Blackthorn. She makes it seem as if Blackthorn is hell for Juliana. Juliana is portrayed as a young teenage girl, who desperately wants her mother and father to not get a divorce. She is confused. She does not understand or have any recollection on her infancy. All she wants is normalcy, and that is the exact opposite