The town of Glory is famous for two things: businesses that front for seedy, if not illegal, enterprises and the suicides that happen along the Indigo River. Marsden is desperate to escape the “bed-and-breakfast” where her mother works as a prostitute—and where her own fate has been decided—and she wants to give her little sister a better life. But escape means money, which leads Mars to skimming the bodies that show up along the Indigo River. It’s there that she runs into Jude, who has secrets of his own and whose brother’s suicide may be linked to Mars’s own sordid family history. As they grow closer, the two unearth secrets that could allow them to move forward . . . or chain them to the Indigo forever.
Disclaimer: I was provided with an ARC by Abrams & Chronicles YA Books in exchange for an honest review. However, all the thoughts, feelings and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
“We forget for a reason. If you remembered every single bad thing that ever happened to you, you’d never stop being sad.”
The blurb of this book gave a kick to the gut when I first heard about the book – and as I have come to experience; my gut is never wrong. And reading this book was nothing short of a bigger kick to the gut; which if taken rightly is one of the best things ever to happen in reading!
Marsden Eldridge aka Mars is a girl whose family’s past is a great big shadow on her and sister’s present. All she wants to do is save money and take her younger sister far away from the Covrt, the swamp that has taken the lives of so many!
Jude Ambrose is a boy who loves his elder brother, and is trying to understand why the brother, who has always protected him, would leave him by taking his own life. This trying to understand; makes him cross paths with Mars, a girl everyone in town talks about, but nobody actually knows about.
AND THAT’S ALL THAT YOU WOULD GET ABOUT THE PLOT FROM ME ANYWAYS.
The writing style of the author is slow; yet ironically moves at a steady pace – every single chapter gives new tidbit for the reader to find – like a layers being peeled away from the onion to find its invigorating!
The whole story is told in Mars POV; which is honestly great; but you know me; I love me some dual POVs – and I think it would have been made perfect if I had gotten Jude’s POV as well (especially that one single part which had me literally wanting to punch Jude!).
The ending though is left a bit open ended; I would LOVE to read an epilogue of where the characters are few years down the line; especially considering that they are in their teens in this book!
It was the gothic and haunted feel of the environment is beautifully captured by the author and it is the exact reason I will be keeping an eye on what she will be producing next!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐