Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC! I loved Connor’s debut novel so I was very excited to read more from them. Love that Connor gives trigger warnings list at the start of their books as well.

I was pulled in by the mysterious plot and setting right away! Atmospheric, eerie southern gothic small town  which was well described, it felt like I was there. I love that Quinn Connor’s books always give an acknowledgment of the indigenous peoples of the area the stories are set in, and I once again learned some of the history of the area. Which for this book meant learning about the origins of Pecan trees in the US!

Connor has a way of making me terrified of small southern towns with water 😂 I felt like I really got to know the characters, especially the twins. They were well developed and I enjoyed watching their relationship dynamics. The romance subplots were fairly well written as well, they added to the story instead of detracting from it which can be hard to do; plus the chemistry really came alive through the writing.

The twist had my jaw dropped!! I wanted to keep reading but the next chapter was so long and I needed sleep 😭 there was maybe one minor twist/reveal that didn’t surprise me just because the way it was described earlier in the book. I assumed it was supposed to be that way and known to everyone but apparently not 😂

Some places the story could drag and become a little telling over showing but for the most part I was hooked and engaged, not wanting to stop reading! The ending was mostly tied up nicely but with some open endedness which is exactly how I like my endings. I was left with one nagging question however that I really wish we got more background info on 😭

Autumn stopped aging at 30 but was that because she never returned to the town after that age and when it got frozen? But then Lou is also a pecan child and if they didn’t know he was one, clearly means he aged. So how does the aging but living forever pieces work? How does one pecan child stop aging at 30 but the other stops aging around 50? Was that also because of the timing of the town being stuck in a time loop? But then how did pecan children live forever and age/stop the aging process prior to that? I NEED ANSWERS

Overall an entertaining, unique read that I enjoyed! Quinn Connor is now a fave for me, and an author I’ll be looking forward to reading more of in the future!

Rep: lesbian MC, biracial MCs (white& Puerto Rican)