I absolutely love family dramas involving old secrets, and I’ll Never Tell kept me hooked from beginning to end. It starts with the five adult McAllister children (black sheep Ryan, peacekeeper Margo, plain and quiet Mary, and twins Kate and Liddie) and the family groundskeeper Sean all gathering at the family’s Camp Macaw to read the parents’ will. A will reading is dramatic in itself, but this will has an unusual proviso: their father thinks but can’t prove that Ryan may be responsible for an incident twenty years ago that has left Margo’s best friend Amanda in a coma from which she still hasn’t recovered. The other McAllisters must vote about whether or not Ryan should receive his share of the estate. If they vote against Ryan, his share reverts to Sean instead, but more than the money, the will’s proviso forces characters to examine what they really believe happened all those years ago. Is Ryan innocent, and if so, whom among the rest of them was actually responsible?

The book feels like a locked room mystery in that there’s a really small group of suspects. While Amanda’s injury technically happened during camp, the story makes clear that one among the six main characters is responsible. I also really like the timeline that tracks character movements at the end of each flashback chapter, as this really added to the feeling of suspense. There are also some strong thrillerish elements, such as when characters admit that Ryan was low-key being held responsible for the injury all these years, and they realize that their current investigation into the incident may prompt whomever was really responsible to take desperate measures.

I’ll Never Tell is very much a character-driven story, and McKenzie does a great job in exploring the emotions of each character. I love seeing how their current situations shape their motivations (e.g. Ryan wanting to sell Camp Macaw because of his family’s finances, Mary wanting to keep Camp Macaw because of her horses), and I especially love how McKenzie reveals, layer by layer, glimpses into their childhood that also influence their motivations.

The final reveal made me sad, as did the way things unfolded after the reveal. I think this is a testament to McKenzie’s writing and the characters she has created. She has made me care about the characters beyond their roles as potential killers. Rather, I cared about who they were, how what happened to Amanda was shaped by their relationships with each other, and how the event twenty years ago continues to shape who they are, and how they connect with the rest of the family.

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Resort takes place at Harmony Resort, a couples counselling centre on the Mayan Riviera whose name pretty much declares that harmony is the last thing we can expect. I’m a huge fan of soapy dramas and of beach settings, so add in a rather sketchy pair of resort owners and a tropical storm that traps everyone on-site, and I’m all in for a big and juicy summer read.

The novel focuses on two couples at the resort — Johanna and Ben, and Shell and Colin — who all clearly have some deep-seated issues that a few days at the beach will be unlikely to solve. Adding to the mix is the fact that resort owner Dr Miles Markell is a totally domineering egomaniac who flat-out emotionally abuses his wife Grace, also a doctor. Grace and Miles present a facade of a happy and loving marriage, but I absolutely hated Miles throughout. He reminded me of Alexander Skarsgard’s character in Big Little Lies, and just like that character, I was hoping the entire time for Grace to escape and Miles to get his just desserts.

Stapley has written a taut and emotionally arresting story, and I couldn’t put the book down. She takes on the perspective of multiple characters, and through that, provides us with a view of the overall situation that is both intimate and comprehensive. Each of the characters has their own trauma to process — Johanna is a social worker who survived a violent episode with a client’s husband, Ben is a loving husband who struggles to forge a connection with his wife, and a family tragedy has led to Shell becoming an alcoholic and Colin becoming a workaholic — and I love how Stapley somehow ties them all thematically and, more important, emotionally. Beyond Miles’ character, this book also reminded me of Big Little Lies because of the friendships between the women characters. I love how, even though these women barely knew each other, they can still somehow find a touch of connection and support each other.

The overt thrillerish aspects of this story happened closer to the end, when the tropical storm descends and the danger to certain characters becomes urgent. But I love how Stapley maintains a low thrum of menace throughout, such that you know something’s wrong and you want to yell at the characters to run while they still can, but there isn’t yet a clear source of this danger.

If you like Liane Moriarty’s fiction and Big Little Lies in particular, I highly recommend checking this book out. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the emotional lives of several couples, an examination of how various types of trauma impact the way we respond to the world, and, quite simply, an overall enjoyable read.

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Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Storm Crow is a thoughtful YA fantasy about a world where magical elemental Crows hold the key to power. Princess Thia of Rhodaire has trained all her life to be a Crow rider, but her plans are derailed with the kingdom of Illucia conquers her nation, kills all the Crows and destroys all remaining eggs. Thia’s older sister Caliza, who has become queen at their mother’s death, is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and Prince Ericen of Illucia in order to protect their people. Thia heads to Illucia with her bodyguard and friend Kiva, and, more importantly, with a Crow egg she found hidden in rubble. A Crow can tip the balance of power in Rhodaire’s favour, if only Thia can figure out how to hatch the egg and stay safe in an enemy kingdom.

First, I love how Josephson really delves into how the trauma of Illucia’s attack has impacted Thia. Thia develops a deep depression (and to Josephson’s credit, Thia actually says this outright: “I’m depressed”) that keeps her secluded from the rest of her kingdom for months. She also experiences long-term PTSD with respect to fire, because of the attack. And again, I like that this affects Thia without ever devolving into treating her like an object of pity. (There’s a rather dramatic scene involving fire, but more importantly, there’s also the subtle verbal jabs about her decision whether or not to wear gloves.)

The pacing is somewhat slow, especially considering this is a duology and not a much longer series. Part of this is that Josephson keeps us firmly in Thia’s point of view, so while the author peppers hints throughout that other characters are doing important secretive things in the background, we spend most of our time with Thia waiting for some clue to hatch the Crow egg.

I also wish there was more clarity about the Crows themselves, given their importance to the plot. The author included an appendix with the types of Crows and another appendix with all the kingdoms (including a princess that was believed to be dead but will likely feature prominently in the next book), but included little of that information in the story itself. So when characters discussed the oddity of a Storm Crow exhibiting Earth Crow powers, the significance was lost to me, because I didn’t understand what the different types of Crows were in the first place, where their powers came from, or why it all matters.

I do like that the love triangle seems to favour the unconventional choice (similar to The Hunger Games, where Katniss chooses Peeta over Gale), but I do wish there was more chemistry between the characters.

Given the book description, I was also somewhat disappointed that Caliza didn’t play a larger role in this story. I love stories about sisters, and that part of the blurb really interested me. But more than that, while I was interested in how Thia could possibly hatch the egg and launch a rebellion, I’m also really interested in how an inexperienced queen learns to play the game in order to keep her kingdom safe.

Still, overall, The Storm Crow is a good read. I like the subtle ways in which characters tried to gain or show their power, I like that the heroine is heroic while struggling with depression, and the idea of elemental Crows promises for a kickass and thrilling uprising ahead.

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Thanks to Raincoast Books for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.