Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* When Corey gets the call that her friend Kyra drowned in an iced-over lake, it's been seven months since the two of them talked, and Corey drops everything to return to the tiny, isolated town of Lost Creek, Alaska. She expected at least a bit of a warm welcome from the town she grew up in, but instead, she finds chilly demeanors and secret whispers, even from Kyra's own parents, whom Corey considered family. When Corey starts asking questions about Kyra's death, first she gets reluctant, enigmatic answers, and then she finds disturbing clues about Kyra's final days, as her bipolar disorder spiraled out of control. Nijkamp builds a captivatingly creepy atmosphere in her sophomore novel, with well-paced ghostly apparitions, lightly magical occurrences, and an eerie sense that someone's watching Corey at every turn. What's more terrifying, however, is Lost Creek's mistreatment of Kyra, even by her own parents, which is fueled by a twisted quest for hope. The horror trappings are certainly compelling, and they'll keep the pages turning, but at its core, Nijkamp's novel is a harsh rebuke of an all-too-common, troubling trope in many YA novels: fetishizing deeply creative, suicidal teens as too bright to live. With exceptional handling of everything from mental illness to guilt, and a riveting, magic realist narrative, this well-wrought, haunting novel will stick with readers long after the final page.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Nijkamp's reflective examination on love and returning home pairs well with the haunting environment of Lost Creek, a tiny Alaskan town where strange things are known to happen. Corey and her family left Lost Creek seven months ago, and it's been hard to leave behind her best friend, Kyra. Both girls grew up in Lost Creek, but Kyra's mental illness drove a wedge between her and other residents, with Corey caught in the middle. Just before Corey's planned trip back to Lost Creek, Kyra is found dead, leaving Corey just five days to uncover what happened and say goodbye to her friend. Told through a combination of flashbacks and present-day passages, this complex coming-of-age tale is hindered only by a repetitive fixation on Corey's guilt and her musings on the concept of home. But this intense focus on Corey's thoughts and feelings lets readers immerse themselves in her pain and her drive for answers; Nijkamp (This Is Where It Ends) has an uncommon talent for drawing readers deep into the psyches of her characters. Ages 14-up. Agent: Jennifer Udden, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Leaving your best friend when you're a teen is difficult and painful under any circumstance. When you know that friend has a bipolar illness and considers you the only person who understands, leaving is 10 times more difficult and painful. Corey moves from Lost Creek, AK, to a much bigger town in western Canada. Soon caught up in her new school and friends, she doesn't follow through with keeping in touch as much as she promised. Then, just before coming back to visit, she learns that her friend Kyra is dead. The circumstances surrounding her death and Corey's efforts to peel away layer after layer of silence and evasion by those in Lost Creek make up the bulk of this story. The narrative, which alternates between Kyra's mostly unsent letters and Corey's gradual realization of why and how her best friend died, certainly creates an abundance of emotions. The narration by Sandy Rustin and Jennifer O'Donnell enhances the dark atmosphere that seems to flow through this tiny Alaskan town. Listeners cannot help feeling an array of feelings, ranging from disbelief to anger, sorrow, loss and grief. VERDICT The story works better as an audiobook because of how the narration paints the blend of emotional and physical creepiness. Not for those faint of heart, but good for libraries where teens appreciate dark tales with a touch of the supernatural.-John R. Clark, formerly at Hartland Public Library, ME © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When Corey learns that her best friend, Kyra, has died tragically, she returns to her hometown of Lost Creek, Alaska, after a seventh-month absence. Staying with Kyra's parents, with whom Kyra had a tense relationship, Corey has five days to figure out what really happened. While Nijkamp's introspective sophomore effort has effective flourishes of horror, the writing is ultimately emotionally unconvincing. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Seven months after Corey left her hometown of Lost Creek, Alaska, and her best friend, Kyra, behind, she returns, grief-stricken, to learn what caused Kyra's death.Expecting the comfort of shared grief over Kyra's loss, Corey's instead treated with coldness and suspicion. Kyra's parents house her with discomfort, and the more Corey probes for answers, the more opposition she faces and the more isolated she becomes. Their friendship had been strained by Kyra's intensifying bipolar disorder, their different ways of interpreting the world, and Kyra's unrequited romantic love for Corey, yet their bond endured until Corey moved away. Thereafter, Kyra painted obsessivelyvibrant murals and vivid paintings in town and at the abandoned hot springs resort where she spent her last months. The community expresses new reverence for Kyra and her art, which they view as revitalizing the community's fortunes. Mysteries proliferate: what accounts for the abundant fresh salmonberry flowers in January? Corey's isolation is compounded by both the isolated Alaska setting and a sense of horrors hidden in plain sight. What's missing is a connection between the two girls' complicated friendship and the archetypal horror narrative that fuels the tale's compulsive readability. The author's avoidance of clear references to Alaska's Native heritage belies the thematic insistence on the power of storytelling to shape the world. Settlers stole the land, readers are told, but the story of this thievery remains untold.Intriguingly spooky but never quite coheres. (Suspense. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
