A dark and stunning debut!

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kitcatgirl2006 Avatar

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"You know what's so awful, Grey?" Evie wipes at her face. then she wraps her skinny arms around her chest and shivers hard. "The dead? They lie. Just like the rest of us."

Magic and mystery collide in this spooky tale, set deep in the heart of the Louisiana bayou...and I was swept into the eye of the hurricane!

La Cachette is replete with everything you'd expect from a bayou: foggy swamps, alligators, a heavy humidity hanging in the air...and of course, a plethora of psychics. This small town is home to the Summer Children, sets of twin flames, many of whom have been blessed with special powers, from psychic foresight to empathic abilities. Grey "Greycie" feels she does not have such a gift, but ever since her twin flame and soul sister Elora went missing a year ago, life has not been the same. Elora's disappearance has left Grey adrift, relying on grandmother Honey, longtime crush Hart, and other friends from town to help her pick up the pieces.

Grey knows there is more to the story than meets the eye, and she can't help but wonder if Elora might be trying to reach her through the wind, through the trees...or through her mind. Could this disappearance be connected to the murders of two other Summer Children from the past? What secrets did Grey's mother take to her untimely grave? Does she possess gifts she might not even fully understand? And who is that stranger with the ice blue eyes that she cannot get out of her mind? Has Elora's fate become one more secret the bayou will hold forever...no matter the cost?

I was lucky enough to read an excerpt from this book several months back, and ever since, it stuck with me. Myers Sain drew me in so quickly and deeply that I was transported to the Louisiana south in a way no other book has...and I was desperate to find out more! The mystery of Elora's disappearance is set up neatly at the beginning of the story, but Myers Sain makes you wait and wait for resolution...and it is ABSOLUTELY worth the wait! Sure, there are red herrings aplenty...but all of Grey's theories seem plausible at one point or another, and as a reader, I was never completely settled on what seemed most likely...and it was wonderful. I love that the mystical elements of the narrative kept me guessing and wondering and I love that even in its resolution, nothing was cut and dried. There is room for backstory and expansion aplenty here, and perhaps if this someday gets a screen adaptation (which would be fabulous!) all of that potential could be explored.

Myers Sain is a newcomer to the YA scene, but you'd never know it: her prose is lovely, short but never too choppy, and full of haunting and foreboding atmosphere that took me out of rural IL (which is always welcomed) and set me firmly in the swampy South. Myers Sain comes from the theatre world but mentions in her acknowledgements a couple of poets she admires, and poetic certainly describes her prose here. When certain descriptors stick with you days after reading them (particularly one sentence where she captures the exact sound of flip-flops on the boardwalk) you KNOW the author has done their job.

While La Cachette might be a terrifying place, it felt incredibly REAL, and I wouldn't be surprised if readers who aren't familiar with Louisiana actually went looking for it. Her characters also spring off the page, full of vim, vigor, and of course, an aura of mystery. I did not anticipate that this would be such a spooky and satisfying read to round out the Halloween season, but color me an absolutely satisfied reader! Already looking forward to Myers Sain's next book (and I'd be happy with that film adaptation in the meantime! 😉)

4 stars