Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton – 336 pages

ARC from Forge Books and Netgalley for an honest review

Book Blurb:

Cadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn’t she always know her secret would surface? An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, now a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie’s memory then all her other years combined. Now grown up, bound by long-held oaths, and faced with truths she does not wish to see, Cadie must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to protect the people and the forest she loves, as drought, foreclosures, and wildfire spark tensions between displaced migrant farm workers and locals.

My Review: 4 stars

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Waiting for the Night Song is a debut worth reading and remembering. This book packed a punch with its combo of mystery, memory, friendship and loyalty.

This is one of those books that covers a lot of hot topics without ruining the heart of the story. The present storyline covers climate change, forest fires, race and romance, while unhinging the truth of what happened during the summer that Cadie, Daniela and “summer boy” were kids.

Cadie, an odd and adventurous child, and Daniela, a popular and undocumented child, become besties due to circumstance. They form a bond that is tested by immigration issues and a boy whose mysterious situation becomes a fascination and obsession for them. Some awful things happen that summer but even besties have secrets.

Dalton uses pacing to her advantage while letting this story unfold. Her writing is lyrical which makes the understanding of beetles and their effect on forest fires easy to grasp. I loved all the references to Blueberries for Sal, one of my fave childhood books, as well as the titles of all the books the girls shared with one another. It brought back a lot of my own summer memories. The setting was revealed with lush description and was so well portrayed that it could be its own character.

Overall, this was a fine debut. Its comparison to Where the Crawdads Sing are understandable but not advised. Read this for its own uniqueness.

Quotes I liked:

Cadie longed to be found, but even more, she ached to be lost.”

“Maybe that’s how summer ended. A moment that turned one leaf from green to read, a moment no one noticed unless they were looking for it.”

“When someone says you’re overreacting, but you know you’re right, keep reacting until it’s over.”