Owen's life has been turned upside down. His mother has had to take him out of his exclusive private school because his dad has embezzled all the money from his business and left them penniless. His dad is on the run and Owen has no idea where he is. Owen's dad owned the largest employer in the town so there are a lot of people who have lost everything. And they are blaming Owen and his mom. Going back to his old, local school is hard, and when Owen tries to connect with old friends they aren't very receptive.
Owen comes upon an old pecan farm and the lonely farmer, Gus. Gus offers to let Owen work there after school and allows Owen to use his beat-up truck to get around. Gus tells Owen that Owen's father worked for Gus when he was younger and lived in an old run down house on the farm.
We get the perspective of Owen's father from the past, as he lives and works on the farm and meets Owen's mother, a girl from town, who he shouldn't have a chance with. But she falls for him, and they have a secret romance, since her parents would never approve.
The information about how pecans are grown and harvested is an added bonus that I found very interesting. I even had to look up pictures of the shakers to see how they really worked.
Owen's and his mother's life is hard. His dad's life from the past is hard. I felt totally invested in finding out what the heck happened to get them where they are. There are some other details and characters that add mystery to the story, and some element of danger, since Owen and his mother are being threatened by someone. It all made for an intriguing mystery that managed to totally surprise me in the end.
I'm always looking for good YA mysteries, and I can highly recommend The Lying Woods to teens and adults alike.
Published by Disney-Hyperion, November 13, 2018
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
336 pages
Rating: 4.5/5
This sounds so different from other YA mysteries, more gentle and thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't wild about this author's first book, but this one sounds like it will be good. I'll have to check it out.
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