Happy Pub Day to Nicole Baart and The Long Way Back! This may look like a quiet character-driven story from the dreamy cover, but this plot is pulse-pounding and twisty once it starts moving. It's perfect summer reading.
Teenaged Eva and her mother Charlie are Instagram-famous for their travel / lifestyle account. Together they lived in a vintage Airstream trailer and experienced the beauty of nature at various national parks. Then the pair returned to Charlie's Minnesota hometown so Eva could attend her senior year of high school.
With graduation approaching, the duo disagree about their plans. Charlie wants one more summer traveling with her daughter, but Eva wants to hang out with her friends before going to college. Charlie and Eva go boating the day after a big argument, and then Eva disappears. Was there an accident? Did someone kidnap Eva? Did she leave on her own?
As law enforcement officials investigate Eva's disappearance, Charlie is an early suspect. Then surprising clues are discovered that prove there's much about Eva's life that Charlie didn't know, even though she thought their bond was strong.
This story is so gripping because it could happen today, both Eva and Charlie's Insta fame and in what happened to Eva. (To share more will spoil the rest of the plot for other readers.) While far from my life, the events felt realistic and believable all the way through. As a lifelong Midwesterner, I love reading novels set in our part of the country - life happens here too! This is an interesting exploration of motherhood, family bonds, and social media's impact on daily life. I just wish the ending hadn't been quite as "neat" as it was.
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for access to the review copy of this novel and to Nicole Baart for the privilege of serving on her launch team.
Teenaged Eva and her mother Charlie are Instagram-famous for their travel / lifestyle account. Together they lived in a vintage Airstream trailer and experienced the beauty of nature at various national parks. Then the pair returned to Charlie's Minnesota hometown so Eva could attend her senior year of high school.
With graduation approaching, the duo disagree about their plans. Charlie wants one more summer traveling with her daughter, but Eva wants to hang out with her friends before going to college. Charlie and Eva go boating the day after a big argument, and then Eva disappears. Was there an accident? Did someone kidnap Eva? Did she leave on her own?
As law enforcement officials investigate Eva's disappearance, Charlie is an early suspect. Then surprising clues are discovered that prove there's much about Eva's life that Charlie didn't know, even though she thought their bond was strong.
This story is so gripping because it could happen today, both Eva and Charlie's Insta fame and in what happened to Eva. (To share more will spoil the rest of the plot for other readers.) While far from my life, the events felt realistic and believable all the way through. As a lifelong Midwesterner, I love reading novels set in our part of the country - life happens here too! This is an interesting exploration of motherhood, family bonds, and social media's impact on daily life. I just wish the ending hadn't been quite as "neat" as it was.
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for access to the review copy of this novel and to Nicole Baart for the privilege of serving on her launch team.
