YA books

Review: Come Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker

~ megs14malloy

Come Out, Come OutCome Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

This book has so much to offer, including great rep and an unsettling atmosphere. I really enjoyed meeting these characters and going along on this journey with them.

It was always easy, actually it mostly wasn’t easy, but I appreciated how Fern and Jaq both grew over the course of the story. There was some great messaging involved with both of their stories.

I also felt it was a nice balance between the Horror elements and the Contemporary elements. For me, certain issues, mainly the Horror bits, were wrapped up a little too easily, but overall, a strong Queer YA Horror novel!!

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Review: The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power, edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker

~ megs14malloy

The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and PowerThe White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power by Terry J. Benton-Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

💀💖💀💖💀💖💀💖💀💖💀💖💀

From the publisher:
13 SCARY STORIES. 13 AUTHORS OF COLOR.
13 TIMES WE SURVIVED THE FIRST KILL.

The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power is a YA Horror Anthology with something for every Reader.

Spoiler Alert: I loved it!

Everything from the set-up preceding the stories, to the diversity of topics, the subgenres of horror displayed, to the narration was fantastic. I def recommend the audiobook.

The stories included are as follows:

1.) All Eyes On Me by Faridah Abike-Iyimide. Buzzwords: Circus setting, clowns, ‘good for her’ Horror, Queer.
2.) Hedge by Kalynn Bayron. Buzzwords: Sibling relationship (brothers), grief, argumentative teens, hedge maze, Eco-Horror.
3.) The Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake. Buzzwords: Korean-American MC, sibling relationship (sisters), rich kids behaving badly, revenge ghost.
4.) Best Served Cold by H.E. Edgmon. Buzzwords: Indigenous MC, LGBTQIA+, Body Horror, (view spoiler).
5.) The Protege by Lamar Giles. Buzzwords: Absent parents/kids fend for themselves, sibling relationship (brothers), magician ((the showman kind, not the magic school kind)), Secret Society.
6.) Docile Girls by Chloe Gong. Buzzwords: Asian-American MC, High School drama, Teen Scream, Slasher, Revenge Thriller.
7.) Grey Grove by Alexis Henderson. Buzzwords: Southern Gothic, paranormal, podcast element, cold case investigation, seance.
8.) Everything’s Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson. Buzzwords: Mixed media, obsession, disturbing behavior, hiding in plain sight.
9.) Heaven by Adiba Jaigirdar. Buzzwords: Futuristic, post-apocalyptic, Eco-Horror, creature feature, isolation.
10.) Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia. Buzzwords: Iranian-American MC, non-binary MC, Persian culture, archeology, gender identity, ancient entity.
11.) Wasps by Mark Oshiro. Buzzwords: Latinx MC, gentrification, generational story/responsibility/lore.
12.) Hell is Other Demons by Karen Strong. Buzzwords: Demons, possession, religion, Queer.
13.) The Road to Hell by Terry J. Benton-walker. Buzzwords: Southern Gothic, Queer, haunted house, sense of place, unique perspective.

I really appreciated the diversity of topics which these authors brought to the page, and also, the arrangement of the stories within the collection.

I was always excited to see what was coming next. There were no two stories, even remotely similar, close to one another. It kept me fully-engaged and on my toes.

As someone who loves many Horror subgenres, I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite, but some standouts for me were from Edgmon, Giles, Gong, Jackson and Strong. With this being said, I would be happy to pick up more work from each and every one of these talented authors!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

‘Tis this season for this type of collection and I absolutely recommend it for your Autumnal TBR!
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Review: Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner

~ megs14malloy

Old WoundsOld Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was really strong. I enjoyed the set-up, character work and action. I liked how the Social Horror elements were more frightful than the Monster bits…

Old Wounds is an intense and engaging YA Horror story featuring two Trans-MCs, who while on a road trip across country, end up getting stuck in a small town where they must fight for their survival.

Max and Erin are estranged friends who used to date. Max wants to go to California and ends up convincing Erin to go with him. Erin is a little confused by this, considering Max broke up with her abruptly 2-years ago.

We follow the kids from the start of the trip through to the bitter end. It was a little awkward at first. They both have a lot of thoughts swirling through their heads, but are getting comfortable communicating with one another again.

I was hooked into this from the start. I felt like the character work, from the first moments, was so well executed.

I loved getting to know both Max and Erin. They’re very different, but have a lot of history and are connected by many experiences.

As I learned their reasoning for making the trip to California, it made me sad, but I could definitely appreciate their reasoning. I think for Erin, she was more concerned for Max than herself. I liked that dedication to a friend.

It doesn’t take long before they get to the small town where they get stuck. This is where the main action will play out. I loved the Horror vibes of that. The creepy small town feel, it was like you could feel the walls closing in on them.

That’s one of my favorite Horror tropes; protagonists ending up in strange town where the locals aren’t behaving normally. You just know that some scary stuff is about to go down. That the MCs are in serious danger.

Kisner nailed that set-up. It was very cinematic.

The kids meet a few locals, after having some car troubles, and they’re told a legend about the town involving a monster. To me, it sounded like a story of sacrifice, but Erin and Max didn’t see it that way. At least not initially.

You follow Max and Erin as things get weirder and weirder, and as their circumstances get increasingly more dangerous.

This is all you need to know about the plot. It gets wild and crazy. It had me glued to the pages. There’s a ton of social commentary and I need to doff my cap to the author for the way it was all presented.

The social elements were seamless with the rest of the narrative. Everything flowed smoothly after the incredible character development and plot set-up. It was easy, as the Reader, to interpret what I believe the author was trying to get across, without it feeling forced.

I’m NGL, this is a heavy read and I would recommend being sure that you are in the right headspace when you read it.

Overall though, I think it was beautifully done. I could have done with a little more towards the end, but that could’ve been because I was attached Erin and Max by that point.

I was impressed by this. I went in with zero expectations and Logan-Ashley Kisner has captured my attention. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I really hope this book gets the attention it deserves. Well done!

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Review: Under the Surface by Diana Urban

~ megs14malloy

Under the SurfaceUnder the Surface by Diana Urban
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Under the Surface is the latest Thriller from one of my go-to YA authors, Diana Urban. I have been soooooo freaking excited about this one. I love Urban’s stories and synopsis for this sounded hella fun.

Teens trapped in the Paris Catacombs, yes, please!

This story follows Ruby and Sean, two teens enjoying Paris on a class trip. Ruby and Sean are good friends, but lately their feelings for each other have started to lean in a more romantic direction.

They’re both excited to escape from their regular lives for a bit and experience the City of Light together. It doesn’t get any more romantic than that.

Their romantic aspirations are derailed, however, when Ruby’s best friend, Val, sneaks away on the first night to meet up with a French boy she had met earlier in the day.

Not wanting Val to get in trouble, Ruby goes after her, hoping to bring her back before getting caught. In an unfortunate set of events, Ruby ends up reining other classmates, Selena and Olivia, into her endeavor.

When they find Val, she’s with the mystery boy and he has an enticing offer; the chance to attend an exclusive party underground in the infamous catacombs of Paris.

This intricate maze of galleries and tunnels were once used by the city as a way to house their dead, due to serious health concerns regarding overflowing cemeteries. It’s believed that over 6-million bodies were stored there.

As you can imagine, these catacombs are fascinating to many people. The girls weren’t immune. They were dying to explore this underground tunnel system.

Unable to find the party and feeling like they are being watched, and worse, possibly chased, the crew of teens end up hopelessly lost under the surface.

Up above, Sean is the first to suspect that something may be seriously wrong. It’s not like Ruby to disappear without telling anyone. Certainly not overnight. He won’t rest until the adults start to him seriously and begin a search.

And if they won’t, he’ll find her himself.

This book sucked me in pretty quickly. I loved the idea of these teens being in Paris on a Senior Trip and then having the ultimate misadventure. I had no idea how stressful it would become though.

Originally, I rated this 3.5-stars and rounded up to 4, mainly because it did slow down a bit for me in the 2nd-half; that being my only critique, that it’s a tiny bit too long.

With this being said, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, so decided a straight 4-star rating was more true to my experience.

I feel like Urban did a sensational job building the tension in this story. The level of claustrophobia and panic I started to feel, it was real.

Even considering being in the place of Ruby, Val, Olivia, or Selena, OMG, I can’t even imagine how horrifying it would be. Sometimes when I was reading, I had to get up and walk around, to stretch and take a break. It got that stressful, all whilst remaining entertaining.

The interpersonal drama is very YA, but it is a book for Teens, so what else would we expect. It fits the target audience. Also, that never bothers me. If it did, I wouldn’t gravitate towards YA books so often.

I do feel Urban did a great job making these characters relatable as well. They’re all going through different struggles common to the Teen experience. If anything, that should only help to connect Readers more with this story and the nail-biting events contained herein.

The things that happened in the catacombs, it got wild. Urban took it in a direction I wasn’t expecting. For me, I wouldn’t say I disliked the direction it took, but once certain things were revealed, I was slightly disappointed.

In saying this, I am not really critiquing the book, it’s not my story to tell and it’s 100% personal taste, but I just wish it hadn’t gone down certain paths, if you will.

Because of this, the first half was stronger for me than the second, however, I do think overall this is still an exciting YA Thriller, toeing the line into Horror. It succeeded in making me feel claustrophobic almost the whole way through!

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for YR, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I feel like this is Urban’s most adventurous work to date. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next!!

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Review: Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place #1) by Alexandra Christo

~ megs14malloy

Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place, #1)Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💙💜🖤💙💜🖤💙💜🖤💙💜🖤💙

This was so good! I love this type of gritty fantasy world.

I recently unhauled over 70-books, and during the course of that massive undertaking there were quite a few books and series that I needed to decide if I was still interested in.

The Into the Crooked Place duology was one of them. The overall rating isn’t great, but the synopsis still intrigued me. After I got rid of the books that didn’t make the cut, I decided to just pick this one up. I’m so glad I did!

This is a YA Fantasy story, published in 2019, that sweeps the Reader away to Crejie, a gritty, urban landscape where vice runs rampant.

The characters we follow are all part of the seedy underbelly of this society. There’s a bit of a mafioso-feeling to it. They peddle in dark magic, versus the commodities they would commonly deal with in our world.

We follow four mains: Wesley, a powerful underboss, Tavia, his lead busker, Karam, his muscle, and Saxony, a girl filled to the brim with magic.

There’s a new dark magic unleashed on the streets, think of it as a dangerously high-powered drug, that is corrupting souls to do another’s bidding. It’s wild.

The four team up together to try to stop this plot before it gets out of hand, but this means they’ll need to overthrow the powers that be. This would result in Wesley coming to power, but is that really what would be best for everyone?

This book reminded me so much of Amanda Foody’s Shadow Game trilogy, which I loved. At the time I read Foody’s books, I had never read a Fantasy world quite like that.

Into the Crooked Place is the first YA Fantasy I’ve read since that rivals that sort of magical gangster feel. I’m not sure why this is a setting I enjoy so much, but I ate it up.

I loved learning about this cast of characters. Their relationships were nuanced and I enjoyed their various backstories and motivations. Watching them come together to fight for a common cause was gripping.

There is so much action in this too. A ton of fights and drama. I never felt a lull. It was go, go, go. Towards the end, OMG, I was flying through this so fast and I cannot believe how this ended. I never could have predicted it.

I do see how this wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone, but I think if you’re like me and enjoy stories with this type of vice-filled setting, you could enjoy it as much as me.

The characters were very easy to get attached too and root for. I will be picking up the sequel very soon, because I am so not ready to leave this crew behind.

I need to know what happens.

I’m so glad that this book survived that unhaul and I’m even happier that I finally made the time for it. This one really surprised me!

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Review: Seasick by Kristin Cast & Pintip Dunn

~ megs14malloy

SeasickSeasick by Kristin Cast
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

I’ll be honest, I think the trick with Seasick is going into it with the right mindset.

If you are expecting deep prose and super compelling character interactions, you may want to look elsewhere.

If however, you’re like me, and you’re just here for a good time, this could be a lot of fun for you.

To me, one of the things I appreciated about Seasick was that it didn’t seem to take itself too seriously. This is like B-Horror, which I am a huge fan of. It feels campy, and in spite of the mega-yacht setting, it feels low budget.

The plot and characters were outrageous, nevertheless, it was a wicked good time. I loved seeing that body count pile up, as I tried to figure out who was behind it.

This story follows a group of recent high school graduates, who after being inducted into a prestigious society in their small Oklahoma town, set out on a celebratory yacht trip to Bermuda. For some, a trip of a lifetime.

As the Reader, you’re clued in from the start that it’s going to end up being a total bloodbath, but it was fun watching that whole drama play out.

Estranged best friends, Yana and Naya, team up to figure out who the killer aboard is, before they fall victim themselves.

I mean, that’s it. It’s pretty simple, but it was a blast, NGL. This is like a made-for-tv movie with a ton of hot actors trying to survive a Slasher. It def gives those vibes.

The yacht setting was fun, because it feels claustrophobic. There’s literally no means of escape. These kids are trapped, and one way or another, they need to fight in order to survive, whether they like it or not.

I did enjoy a lot of the teen drama, but that’s sort of what I’m into. So, boys and girls behaving badly is like candy for me. I was eating it up.

Will this go down in history as one of my favorite YA Horror/Thrillers ever? No. However, can I walk away happy I read it and feeling like I had a really great time? Absolutely!

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Campy Teen Screams and books set on boats. This is filled with catty drama and ridiculously fun kills. There’s a whole bunch of Readers for this out there, and you know who you are!

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a wild voyage!

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Review: Blood Heir (Blood Heir Trilogy #1) by Amelie Wen Zhao

~ megs14malloy

Blood Heir (Blood Heir Trilogy #1)Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first time I laid eyes on a copy of Blood Heir, many moons ago, my first reaction was, I kind of want the girl on this cover to kidnap me and hold me hostage…

Instead, I bought the book and it remained hostage on my shelves since 2019, which seems like cruel and unusual punishment for this poor book.

Recently, I’ve had some flops for reads and I needed a change of pace. I decided it was finally time to give this beauty a go, and I’m so happy I did. This could turn into a full-series binge for me.

In this story we meet Ana and Ramson. Ana, full name Anastacya Mikhailov, is the crown princess of the Cyrilian Empire. She’s also an Affinite, individuals who have the ability to control the world around them. Ana’s special ability is that she’s able to control people’s blood.

Her ability has always been kept a secret, but after her father is murdered, she’s the main suspect. She needs to find her father’s actual killer in order to clear her name, and more importantly, save her life.

The world is grossly corrupt though, and Ana’s gonna need some help. She cannot succeed navigating her way outside the kingdom walls on her own.

That’s where Ramson comes in, a cunning crime lord with an agenda of his own. He may have met his match in Ana, and we all know where that leads…

This was such a nice change of pace for me. I haven’t read a Fantasy story in a while and I found this one very easy to engage with. I loved learning about the main characters and the way they came together, having an important mission, was a delightful set-up.

Every time I would put this down, to go to work, or you know, do other adult life things, I was always excited to come back to it. That’s a sign of a great book.

It was adorbs watching Ana and Ramson catching feelings. Him especially, because he was such a tough guy and I think his attachment to Ana came as a real surprise to him.

I liked Ana’s ambivalence to it a bit as well. She wasn’t swooning over this guy. She did have a job and she needed to get it done, but you could tell, even if she couldn’t right away, that the attachment was going in both directions.

I wouldn’t call it a Romance story though, so don’t get scared away if that’s not for you. I’m not crazy about a lot of romance in my Fantasy either. This is def more about the magic system and politics. At least it felt that way to me.

Speaking of, the magic is so interesting. The idea of the Affinites and all the various powers they wielded, it was a cool concept. I thought the author executed it well. It was easy to understand and opened up a lot of potential powers.

The politics and world are really built out in the second half, when we end up learning a lot more about Ana and her family. There were some jaw-dropping developments.

I would say this succeeded in creating a solid foundation as the 1st-book. There’s still a lot of room to grow, particularly in the world/politics, so I’m super excited to start the 2nd-book, Red Tigress and follow along with all that.

Overall, I felt this was really strong. My favorite element was the magic system, but I can’t deny how attached I’ve become to both Ana and Ramson.

This book has proven again why it’s so important to never ignore your backlist. There’s a lot of books lurking on the shelves that are real winners. Don’t neglect them. Have a peek. You may just find one like I did!

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Review: Gleanings (Arc of the Scythe #3.5) by Neal Shusterman

~ megs14malloy

Gleanings (Arc of a Scythe, #3.5)Gleanings by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gleanings, tagged as Arc of the Scythe #3.5, is a collection of 13-short stories set within Shusterman’s incredible world of the Scythe. A world without death, or disease. A world I fell in love with as I binged the entire trilogy recently.

This was a fantastic collection. I listened to the audio and loved the multiple narrators, including Shusterman himself. It provided great new insights and gave me some extra time with a few of my favorite characters that I wasn’t ready to say good-bye too yet.

I appreciated how the collection was arranged and liked how it was sort of book-ended by stories following one of my favorite characters of the series.

My favorite story though, which personally I think is worth picking up the entire collection for, is hands-down The Martian Minute, which gives the Reader tons more insight into the Mars disaster. It’s a bit of an origin story for the most wicked villain of the series.

I loved how varied the perspectives were and how many of them connected to the original series. As bonus content goes, this leans into the must read category.

I did read this immediately upon finishing The Toll; as in, I started it the next day, so the entire series was fresh in my mind. I was emotional about it ending and didn’t want it to be over. This provided just the right amount of material for me to feel like I can walk away with a full heart now.

Shusterman is a genius. That’s clear throughout this series and I am really hopeful that we’ll eventually get more in this world. I’m not sure if that is in the cards or not, but you better believe I would be first in line at the bookstore if it ever comes to fruition.

Overall, I had a fabulous experience with this. I’m sure glad I made time for it and am happy to display it with the rest of the series on my shelf!

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Review: Six of Sorrow by Amanda Linsmeier

~ megs14malloy

Six of SorrowSix of Sorrow by Amanda Linsmeier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up **

💕✨️💕✨️💕✨️💕✨️💕✨️💕😊💕

Six of Sorrow is a YA Dark Fantasy story from Amanda Linsmeier. This is the first novel that I’ve read from this author, but I’m excited to get to more.

This story is set in a small town, where six girls, all with the same birthday, have been thick as thieves since they were kids. More recently though, a misunderstanding has caused a fracture in their once tight group.

Our main character, Isabeau, who goes mostly by Iz, only has one friend left from the group, her best friend, Reuel, who would never abandon her.

On the night of their 16th-birthday, Iz and Reuel are hanging out at Reuel’s house, when Iz has to leave suddenly. When Iz leaves, Reuel is sitting on her front porch. The next morning Reuel is gone.

News of Reuel’s disappearance shakes the close-knit town and massive search efforts are put in place. This incident brings out the other girls from the friendship group and they begrudgingly begin talking to Iz again.

After all, one of their own is missing. It’s time to put petty differences aside in order to find her.

Three days later, Reuel reappears. She’s unable to express where she has been, or what has happened to her since she’s been gone, but it’s clear something is off.

She’s in rough shape, very sick and it’s unclear as to why. The girls are all concerned and this concern ends up bringing them even closer together. Then another one in their group disappears…

We then follow the remaining girls as they try to figure out the mystery of their town and what’s happening to them. They end up researching town history and local lore.

Soon it becomes clear that they might all have more in common than just their birthdays. They’ve been connected by something much deeper, and darker, than that since before they were even born. Now they must stop an evil force before it destroys everything they love.

I had a lot of fun with this. Linsmeier quickly drew me into the story with the development of this quirky town. It’s apparent that something is special about this group of girls as well. I mean, how can a group of six all have been born on the exact same day in the same small town?

The town was also atmospheric in an unsettling, yet intriguing way. There’s a legend of a local witch and other things that just seem a bit peculiar. It’s definitely a unique setting that added a lot of substance to the story.

There were some interesting occult elements and I loved to see how the author used those to explain everything that was going on. There’s even a Book of Shadows!

For me, the star of the show though was the friend group. They had interesting dynamics and I liked watching them band together and work towards a common goal. They had much more power together.

Overall, this was a quick, compelling read. I like how the story evolved and played out. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a great time. As mentioned above, I’m looking forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. If you enjoy a Dark Fantasy story with strong friendship vibes, you should definitely pick this one up!

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Review: 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards

~ megs14malloy

49 Miles Alone49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

In 49 Miles Alone we follow cousins, Katie and Aster, as they embark on a 4-day, 49-mile hike through the Utah desert.

We can tell early on that Katie and Aster are incredibly close, however, something has happened within the past year that has caused a fracture in their relationship.

As hiking is an activity they’ve been doing together since they were kids, it seems they’re intending to use this trip, in one way or another, to repair their relationship.

They’re both experienced backpackers, but as everyone knows, the world is a dangerous place, due both to nature itself and other humans.

As the trip starts off, the girls are both fairly quiet. There’s a lot of thinking going on, but unfortunately not a lot of communicating. Eventually, though circumstances require them to begin to open up and work together.

There’s limited supplies, an illness, a freak storm and an injury, but the most unsettling may be the people they encounter on the trail.

They meet a couple, Riley and Finn, and end up tenting near them for a night. Something about them seems off to Katie and Aster when they share a meal with them.

That night, the cousins hear the couple fighting and witness Riley fleeing their campsite with Finn in hot pursuit. Unable to assist Riley in the dark, Katie and Aster hunker down until morning, at which time the find the couple’s campsite abandoned with no sign of either one of them.

How are Katie and Aster going to be able to help this other girl, when it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to even help themselves? Will they make it to mile-49?

I adored my time with this YA Survival Thriller for people who enjoy being out on the trails. The topics explored were great, the character arcs were fantastic, and the intriguing bits so well plotted.

Honestly, this is my favorite Natalie D. Richards to-date!

I read this so quickly. I found the cousins both interesting and I enjoyed learning about their relationship, including all they’d been through together.

In addition to getting both Katie and Asters perspectives, we also get a mystery perspective from an individual who has obviously been severely injured on the trail.

This perspective was peppered in and I loved the mystery of who that was, and how it was going to connect to the story of our cousins.

When they meet the couple, there were many red flags, and that situation def upped the stakes for our girls. It was completely gripping. I had to know the ultimate outcome.

I love hiking and being out in nature in general, exploring new places. This is a proper Survival Thriller and it never got too OTT-for me. I thought it was very well done and well plotted. The drama felt real and I loved the character arcs for both Katie and Aster.

I love how Richards kept it intriguing throughout. There was always something to question and wonder about. I also really enjoyed the emotional journey for both girls. They grew so much by the end and I loved the ending. It’s so satisfying.

Thank you to the publisher, SOURCEBOOKS Fire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

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