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I’m excited to help kick off TBR and Beyond Tours’ Summer’s Edge Tour! Please check out the full schedule to visit my fabulous fellow hosts.
Goodreads Synopsis:
I Know What You Did Last Summer meets The Haunting of Hill House in this atmospheric, eerie teen thriller following an estranged group of friends being haunted by their friend who died last summer.
Emily Joiner was once part of an inseparable group—she was a sister, a best friend, a lover, and a rival. Summers without Emily were unthinkable. Until the fire burned the lake house to ashes with her inside.
A year later, it’s in Emily’s honor that Chelsea and her four friends decide to return. The house awaits them, meticulously rebuilt. Only, Chelsea is haunted by ghostly visions. Loner Ryan stirs up old hurts and forces golden boy Chase to play peacemaker. Which has perfect hostess Kennedy on edge as eerie events culminate in a stunning accusation: Emily’s death wasn’t an accident. And all the clues needed to find the person responsible are right here.
As old betrayals rise to the surface, Chelsea and her friends have one night to unravel a mystery spanning three summers before a killer among them exacts their revenge.
If that isn’t enough to send you running to grab your copy…
Top 5 Reasons to Read Summer’s Edge:
The absolute star quality of the writing: Dana Mele crafts a completely engrossing, methodically unfolding story that pulls you into its clutches and doesn’t let go.
Flawless Atmosphere: The growing sense of dread and modern-gothic vibes are impeccable.
Queer Rep: Dark & Twisty Thrillers with LGBTQ+ MCs will always be an instant add to my TBR (and should be to yours too!)
Completely engrossing: Go into this one spoiler-free if you can! The pacing of this book means that the last 20% (and the twist!) is blink-and-you-miss-it insane. Plan on immediately re-reading that ending.
Grey and Unreliable Characters: Humans are messy & I like my characters that way too. There are no true villains or heroes in this one…or so we think.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ½ My FUll SUmmer’s Edge Review:
This book should be a must-add to your summer TBR and your beach tote. I usually devour YA Thrillers like Sour Patch kids on a road trip – quickly and without really paying attention to each flavor. Summer’s Edge impeccable modern-gothic vibes and truly unlikeable characters made me pause my background tv and hunker down until I reached the end.
Dana Mele’s writing is what makes Summer’s Edge stand out amidst your typical YA Thriller/Horror fare – and makes it all the more ready to be savored instead of a binge read. She lets the inner monologues and conversations build the same growing sense of dread and confusion in the reader as is building between this deeply unhealthy group of friends.
Also, 10/10 on that twist and curveball thrown at the end there – I love when thrillers dive even deeper into the supernatural and stick the landing.
Thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours & Simon & Schuster for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Meet Author Dana Mele:
Dana Mele is a Pushcart-nominated writer based in the Catskills. A graduate of Wellesley College, Dana holds degrees in theatre, education, and law. Dana’s debut, PEOPLE LIKE US, was published in 2018 and shortlisted for the 2019 ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel. A second YA thriller, SUMMER’S EDGE, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in Spring 2022, followed by TRAGIC, a graphic novel retelling of Hamlet from Legendary Comics.