The thing I love most about Adrienne Young's writing is the lyrical beauty and undeniable atmosphere she builds. The small forest town setting is painted vividly through the words on the page and I genuinely loved the way I could imagine this story coming to life.

I do think the first half had a very somber tone and the pacing was a bit slow, but the second half picks up with a lot of tension and suspense revolving around the death of Johnny and so much more that gets uncovered.

I wanted a bit more of the fantasy element in this story - James has a sort of supernatural connection to her twin brother, even after his death, and while this seemed like it would be a major feature of the story, it was barely utilized and left me wanting a lot more in that respect.

I appreciated the deep dive into small town interpersonal relations, and I really loved the bond between James and Micah, twisty and messy as it was - even if the romance kind of fell in the background for me in the grand scheme of the rest of the mystery plot.