Fantastic debut novel by Hester Young!

Unexpectedly good read! I picked this one up at the library because I liked the cover and the premise was interesting. I didn't expect to get sucked into this Southern gothic in quite the way I did. The mystery kept twisting until the last page, and the characters were well plotted and believable.

I wish every book was as enjoyable as this one. Took me a little bit to get into it, and then once I did I couldn't put it down. Read it if you like mysteries, paranormal, hot Texas guys and women who kick ass. (not girls. Women. Plus no love triangle so plus ten for that!) Ummm, kick ass in a "I am going to do this even though I am dying on the inside" way, not in a ninja/swordfighting way.

3.5 stars. Even though I figured some stuff out, I enjoyed this book and will read the next in the series.

Great start, definitely lost steam over time becoming a less a good spooky story and more tepid romance novel.

I went into this thinking (and hoping!) I was going to love this book, and there were many parts of it I did love - the Louisiana plantation setting, the narrator's voice - "an outsider," the well-developed characters, and the mystery of it it all; but there were things missing that would have made it a better read for me. I ended up "liking" the book well enough, and I am pretty certain I'll pick up the next book to find out what happens next for Charlie. Thanks to the publisher and the author, I won a copy of this book, and this was my unsolited and honest review.

Close to being a great book, but had to settle for being good because some key portions of the plot were soooo obvious. Still enjoyable though.

The genre of Southern Gothic Mystery is new to me. This is the first of this type I have read and I loved it. The story was told wonderfully. I could not stop reading. While the idea of someone knowing what was going to happen to children in danger or what did happen to children that had been lost was outside of my normal comfort zone, I enjoyed the entire story.

There was a mystery, of course. The who-dun-it actually lead to more and more mysteries of the Evangeline house. The Deveau Family has a lot of history. As with many families there are secrets. Within those secrets is love, abandonment, murders (yes, more than one), and family dynamics. The love is interesting. From the very first interaction with this family you know something is not right. Each family member is off, they all have secrets, and they are not all as they appear. The more I read, the more I understood their relationships with each other. Even the hired help in the Evangeline house have secrets that lead to the long time mystery being solved.

The relationship between Noah and Charlie was intense. Charlie was still dealing with the death of her young son. Noah had his divorce to come to terms with. I have to admit that I figured out how Noah fit into the story long before it ended, but I still did not know the why’s of who he was. Their relationship almost seemed doom before it started yet they both realized what they had with each other and worked so very hard to make it work. When doubt came in they pushed through, when fear was there they stayed strong with each other, and when they were in danger they knew that could trust each other.

This is a great read. The pace of the story was perfect, the characters are strong and mysterious, and the ending is amazing. I definitely recommend checking out The Gates of Evangeline.

I picked up The Burning Island from a display at the library and realized it was the the third in a series, so I returned it and checked out this book first. So glad I did. I really enjoyed the paranormal suspense and the atmospheric Louisiana swamp plantation house setting, as well as the various characters. Looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.

I feel like the Louisiana swamp where one of the pivotal scenes in the book takes place is a good comparison for the novel overall. It's murky and meandering and full of scary things you can't quiet see but you know are out there. There's a lot going on, but it didn't feel overly jumbles to me. Charlie has dreams of children that need help, and it has a paranormal/ghost story feel to it. There's the cold case involving a missing child, and the Deveau family has lots of secrets, some that go back decades. Charlie also gets a chance at romance, all while she's still grieving for her son. Young manages to keep it all together, though, doesn't let the story ramble too much or get overly stuck in the subplots. I guess, really, there are no subplots - it all ties together in the end, it's just getting there that sometimes seems like your paddling around and through and past dead ends and tree roots.

You can find my whole review, along with an excerpt from the audio at my blog, Carol's Notebook.