A treasure hunt, mysterious clues, and their lives are all at stake? Sounds like an adventure. Samantha Knox has shut herself out ever since her father died in the war and currently works at a book repair shop run by her childhood friends’ father. One day when she receives a mysterious book in the mail, she also finds out that the childhood friends she shut out are back in town, and she decides to bring the book to their father. But when arriving back to her store, she finds it set on fire and strangers asking her for the particular book she left behind. Samantha soon embarks on a treasure hunt with her childhood friends: Joanna “Jo” and Bennet Steeling. But reuniting with a friend she lost connection with and her childhood crush suddenly also brings tension with it, besides having to worry about being chased by people who want the book and having to decode the book, Sam is trying to figure out how to be back with the two people she cut off. So ensues a fun Indiana Jones-esque journey filled with mysterious myths, artificats, decoding cyphers, a diary that is in danger of falling into the hands of the wrong people, and mysterious abound. Sam and co find themselves traveling on train, to boat, to finally land in Ireland where they run into a mysterious group of known as the Brotherhood who are also after the curse. Along them are some Oxford classmates of Bennett’s, and two siblings who keep running into Sam.

This was a fun read and definitely had the adventure vibe I love. It gave me Indiana Jones/ The Mummy vibes and I am all for it. Sam is a girl who is still grieving and has shut herself out in order to not have to deal with everything but finds her quiet life upended by her desire to solve this journey. She’s always been in love with adventuring and decoding mysterious and when this mysterious book filled with codes appears, the fire is light again and she can’t keep away from it. She appears quite timid and shut but she’s got an adventurer’s heart. Jo was one of my favorite characters, I love a gal who knows her way around the world. She’s handy, great with picking locks, and adapting to every situation. Bennet was a sweet love interest, he is caring and a little overprotective, but he also has the same desire as Sam to solve the mystery and they just work well together. Super soft slow burn but it gets there in the end haha. Hoping for more of them in the next book!

This is the first adventure in a series and wraps up pretty neatly so I can’t wait to see what adventures Sam and co go on next!