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Genre: Contemporary fiction, Mystery, Drama

Release date: June 30, 2016

Publisher: Bookouture

Description:

Willow remembers her childhood as idyllic, full of love and happiness. But was it really as perfect as she remembers it?

Suddenly, Willow finds herself unraveling  secrets in her late parents, Charity and Dan’s past. There are long buried secrets that no one can help her bring to light besides Hope, the aunt that took her in after her parents deaths. When she receives a mysterious invitation to an event from

Who can Willow actually trust now? It seems as if everyone around her has been lying for years. How can she possibly move on with her life without finding out the truth? 

Review:

This one hooked me right from the start. Willow is searching for answers about her parents lives and is desperate to find out anything she can about the people they were. They died tragically when she was seven, so her memories are limited. Hope and Willow’s relationship is strained for reasons Willow isn’t even quite sure of. She knows her aunt loves her, but anytime she asks about Charity she is stonewalled. Because she can’t find the answers she is searching for at home, she sets off on a journey to the truth.

Willow’s voyage leads her to travel the world retracing her mothers steps. All she knows is that her mother had a deep fascination with sunken forests, so she sets off to see them for herself. Willow is a diver and the scenes where she is exploring these underwater forests are absolutely breathtaking. My favorite aspect of the novel is that Buchanan creates gorgeous imagery that really pulls the reader in. She made me want to visit these haunting forests myself, which is not anything I’ve ever dreamed of doing. Her descriptions of the seas and lakes are stunning and conjure up images of true beauty. 

The novel was told from both Willow’s point of view in the present and Charity’s perspective from years ago. Beginning in the 70’s right before her sister Faith’s tragic death all the way up to Charity’s own unfortunate demise, Buchanan takes the reader on a journey that is intriguing and emotional. Along the way you meet a cast of characters that are fascinating and leave the reader wondering what exactly they are hiding. Along with Willow, Faith, Charity, and Hope, there is Niall, a boy the three sisters grew up with on Busby-by-the Sea, Dan, Willow’s father, Ajay who is Willow’s diving buddy, and Lana who was Dan’s first wife. These characters add drama and suspense to an already suspenseful story. 

I don’t want to say too much more as I think this is the type of book that could be totally spoiled very easily. Suffice it to say, I throughly enjoyed every minute of this book. The ending was perfect and neatly tied up any loose ends and answered all the lingering questions I had. I was only sad to see it was over.

Overall rating: 4.5/5 (only because I’m quite stingy with my 5 star reviews!)

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.