Book Review: Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

YA, Thriller/Mystery, Sci-Fi

eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 352 pages

June 20, 2023 by Wednesday Books

Blurb:

Two sisters travel to an isolated Arizona town to investigate its connection to their mother’s death, but uncover more than they bargained for in this supernatural thriller from the author of The Dead and the Dark.

Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She can’t stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, longing for a time when things were more normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail that reads Come and find me, pointing to the small town at the center of her last investigation, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.

But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona, it’s clear that something’s off. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by a gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and when Beck digs deeper into the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery, she begins to suspect that they know more than they’re letting on.

As Beck and her sister search for answers about their mother, she and Avery are increasingly drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has fought to keep buried. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, but when she starts losing herself in Backravel―and its connection to her mother― she risks losing her way back out.

In Where Echoes Die, Courtney Gould draws readers into a haunting desert town to explore grief, the weight of not letting go of the past, first love, and the bonds between sisters, mothers and daughters.

My Review:

I was looking forward to this one after reading and loving the author’s first book.

This one takes on a more sci-fi plot line than her first book’s paranormal dynamic (which I preferred) but still keeps true with the sapphic love interest for the main character.

This book doesn’t hold as much mystery as I would have liked. The sisters arrive in this weird town that has no cars, cemeteries or churches but instead looks like a military simulation of what a town should look like and for some reason I felt like Dean and Sam Winchester from Supernatural might end up investigating a town like this. The author does do well using the setting to give the reader all the creepy and unsettling vibes.

But moreover this book is about loss and grief as Beck and her sister have lost their mother and Beck is desperate to find out why – what was in Backravel, AZ that caused them to lose the only parent they were really close with. It’s an accurate depiction of how two people, sisters in this case, can show grief in completely different ways.

I still prefer the author’s first book to this one but I did enjoy it.

My Rating:

3.5/5 Rounded to 4 (I Lived to Tell the Tale+)