ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Penguin Teen! Quotes used are from an uncorrected proof and may change in the finished copy.

"Everyone has at least one secret that'll break your heart."

And in the town of La Cachette, the self-proclaimed Psychic Capital of the World, those secrets are bloody and well-kept, despite nearly every resident having some sort of magic. That is, except for Grey, who lives in Little Rock with her father during the year and comes down to the most south you can get in Louisiana to visit her grandmother and friends for the summer— but ever since her best friend and twin flame Elora went missing six months ago without a trace, Grey's powers have been awakening, and the town she considers home hasn't been the same. No one is being honest with each other, and just when Grey thought she might get close to figuring it out, a mysterious blue-eyed stranger shows up that throws everything out of balance and starts raising questions about the town's dark history.

"How do you keep a secret in a town full of psychics?"
"You tell the truth. At least part of it."

One thing that really stood out to me about this book was the atmospheric setting and how vividly constructed the town of La Cachette was. I mistook the flowers on the cover for coral and the alligator for a tide pool rock, so I was expecting a coastal mystery when I started (no, I did not read the summary very closely and yes, I've scheduled an eye appointment). I was really surprised when the book dropped me into the Deep South bayou, but Ginny Myers Sain built the town in my mind from the ground up. Even when I was iffy on other elements of the story, I always had a clear image of the boardwalk, the gator pond, the houses, and areas like L'il Pass and Keller Island. This is, like I said, a very atmospheric book and perfect if you're craving an immersive summer mystery.

Despite this book coming out at the end of this month (Aug. 31, 2021), it was surprisingly tropey in a way I'd expect from a much older book. There is an odd love triangle with two boys who have very intense eyes, one being a childhood friend and the other being a new boy with strong powers; a lot of twins; a dead mother with a mystery surrounding her; a cast of magic kids (which I wish had been developed a lot more!); weather that matches the drama of the scene; and a predictable solution to the mystery of Elora's disappearance that involves... well, I'll let you read it.

However, there is a ton of back and forth and secrets revealed, so I did end up second-guessing myself a lot and getting really wrapped up in theorizing, especially during the final arc. I ended up being nearly exactly right from the beginning, but I still had fun reading this. I will say that this is one of those strange books where I feel like things are crawling at a snail's pace until something happens, and then I'm going a mile a minute, and then we're back to the slow crawl until something else happens. I believe my problems with the pacing came from the in-between parts feeling a little forced. The side characters and Grey's relationship with them felt underdeveloped compared to the love triangle going on, which was sad because I wanted more. I could feel the personality in the other Summer Children lying just below the surface, but there was a lot of mud in the way.

There are clear influences and old common tropes that might make you laugh a little bit, but overall I liked this debut and got through it pretty quickly. The ending is super dramatic and high-tension and the epilogue is VERY cheesy, but I look forward to seeing more of Ginny Myers Sain's work.

"Knowing is hard, but it's a thing you can survive. The not knowing will kill you in the end. It's the secrets that fester."

 ❧ 3 ★