Wow...a beautifully written story with an unexpected twist. No spoilers here as I tried to be vague.

This book – let’s just say I was sucked into this and couldn't put it down until I finished it. Also…there may have been some tears. (Who am I kidding – there definitely were). I absolutely had no idea where Lockhart was going to go with this story and to be honest; I couldn't stop thinking about all the things.

Cadence is from a wealthy family and every summer she and her cousins along with her aunt’s boyfriend’s nephew meet on the island her grandparents own. Cadence refers to herself, her cousins Mirren and Johnny, and Gat as The Liars.

We are introduced to each of the characters as well as the rest of Cadence’s family. Most of the conflict of the story comes from the wealth Cadence’s grandfather has amassed and who will inherit or get what they want out of him (between Cadence’s mother and two aunts).

Immediately as a reader you know that something has happened but as I mentioned, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Cadence is suffering from memory loss based on something that happened her fifteenth summer on the island as well as crippling headaches. Since no one will tell her what happened and why The Liars didn't respond or reach out to her while she was recovering she has decided she will spend the month she is there for her seventeenth summer trying to figure it all out. Plus, she gets to see everyone and she really is looking forward to it.

As the month progresses, Cadence begins to remember and when she finally realizes what happened and what the end result was, she is devastated...I was too. I honestly didn't have an idea that was the way it would end and when I finished, I had to go back through the story to find the hints. They are there but they are so subtle I applaud Lockhart on sneaking them past me. I was so absorbed in Cadence’s story that I didn't even realize until she did, what was going on.

The only other thing I can say about this book is that you should read it. It is a great example of why I love the YA genre and I will absolutely re-read this book. This one will be on my favorites list forever and I recommend you get this as soon as you can.

Loved it! The narrator does a fantastic job with this story and recommend you check this out.

I love this book and the narrators did a great job with the characters. Check this one out!

The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the second book I’ve read by her and I have to say, I enjoyed the story and based on both books I will definitely be checking out more!

I wasn’t really sure where this story was going to go based on the summary, but I don’t mind a darker storyline in the books I read and Kira’s story isn’t all rainbows, that’s for sure. There is no question in my mind that Kira is a survivor and I’m convinced that Cady Bennett came into her life at exactly the right time. Kira’s memories go back to a point where she was living alone and wild in the woods and she has no idea how long she had been trying to survive that way. When Cady and one of her rescue dogs find her, she immediately becomes a part of her family. Although that is great, it is clear that Kira still struggles being “normal”, but she has Cady, her adopted brother Jude, and their neighbor Free to help and support her.

I have to say, while I enjoyed the characters in this book, my absolute favorite person was Jude. He brings the right level of optimism and levity to this story to balance out the pieces that could really make this a tough read. He loves his family and is extremely loyal and I love that about him. There are several things in his story that could have made him an angry teenager, but I appreciate that he is the type of character to challenge everyone around him to see things in a more positive way.

Cady was an interesting character for me. She has some secrets and by agreeing to her father’s request and going home, she is opening some old wounds. Not only that, her decision has created some challenges because of the secrets she has kept and Kira’s history. I loved her relationship with Kira. She wasn’t forcing her to be someone she wasn’t and while she was protective (as any parent would be), she gave Kira the space needed to come back to the human world on her terms.

So, to get to the story, when Cady’s estranged father tracks her down and asks her to help locate a missing girl, she agrees and brings Jude, Kira, and Free with her to the Sierra Glades National Park. As I mentioned, this has brought back some tough memories for Kira and she becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. What they don’t know is that this search will put them all in danger and those secrets I mentioned will force everyone to face some things that they probably would have rather left uncovered.

I can’t say much about the story for fear of giving something away, but I will say that I loved how Barnes developed the relationships amongst the characters, including the search and rescue dogs. They were integral to the story and the secondary characters were just as well done and are the catalyst to several things that happen in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. This story kept me turning the pages because I had to find out what was going to happen next with everyone and while I wanted a bit more at the end, I thought this was well done and only solidified the fact that I need to read more books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. If you are looking for a story with a bit of a mystery and some interesting characters, check this one out!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book but I think I liked the first one (The Red) better. I'm not entirely sure why but in the end, it doesn't really matter because Reisz did a fantastic job with both.

The Rose is focused on Lia, the daughter of Mona Lisa from The Red, and I was happy that we got to see a bit further into those characters lives through Lia's story. The mythology and power behind the relic really drives the story and creates the connection between Lia and August at first but I loved how Reisz used the conflict that Lia was having to develop something more.

Overall a great book in this series and I'm definitely intrigued to see what Reisz writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review to come