Rating: 4.25/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: compelling, emotionally-driven, poignant read; Mindy Mejia really knows how to get inside her characters' heads and pull them apart for readers; this was a complex look into mental illness and familial loyalty--and how each, in their own ways, can tug a person in very different directions

HUGE thanks to Mindy Mejia, Atria/Emily Bestler Books Publishing, and Netgalley for sending a free egalley of this title my way in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.


---"Then why don't we shine?" Lucas asked, pulling me out of my head. I slid my hand up to touch the agate pendant, making sure it was still there before grabbing the oar and setting my jaw against the fire that was going to start raging in my side.

"Maybe we're not far enough away to see it."---


This was a super compelling, poignant read. Mindy Mejia knows how to get inside her characters' heads and really pull them apart for readers to better empathize with and understand. There was a lot of discussion surrounding mental health--particularly the stigmas--and familial loyalty. I would strongly urge readers who are easily triggered--especially by things like suicide or other sensitive disorders--to keep in mind the subject matter.

The prose is gorgeously written and super easy to visualize. While there were moments I felt a bit confused by what was occurring in the story, Mindy Mejia made sure to tie up any and all loose ends throughout the course of the journey. The fact that I was enthralled from page one--and felt like I was in the midst of a race to the finish--attests to the author's ability to draw an audience in and keep them wanting more.


---My mother couldn't bear the weight of her life and committed suicide.

Josiah Blackthorn was afraid of ceilings and escaped into the wilderness.

Lucas raged against a society he didn't know or want to understand.

I saw my mother in a rock and she told me to cave someone's skull in.

Pick the crazy person. Draw the line. See, it's easy until someone hands you the pen.---


There were so many beautifully chaotic moments in this read--from the get-go, these characters crawled beneath my skin and made their homes there, only letting loose once I'd reached the final page. On top of that, Mindy Mejia knows how to maintain an element of surprise. I never knew, from one moment to the next, what I would be experiencing next, which is just the way I like my suspense/thrillers!

I definitely recommend this to lovers of complex, compelling mysteries/suspense tales! The "romance" is a little hard to understand at first, but this poignant read is sure to leave you thinking after the finish! Don't let the title fool you, Penguins--this read will definitely leave a trace!

Admittedly, this one took me longer to get into than her last book. However, this one is just as good. I certainly hope she has another in the works!

I loved this book. Fast paced. Part thriller part coming of age romance. Mejia's perception of people and their motives is profound. She examines loyalty, family relationships, our secrets, and how deep pain of the past can come back to haunt us. The things parents can unwittingly do to their children can cut deep. Whether or not children survive this is something else parents might unconsciously instill in them.

A lot of research went into this book. Mejia's knowledge of psych hospitals, their security systems, layouts, and staff routines was substantial and entirely believable. Her grasp of the lake region of Minnesota is just plain grand. [full review appearing Monday 19 November The Internet Review of Books]

I am learning that Mindy Mejia does not disappoint! Her novels are highly addictive with well developed and deeply troubled characters.

Maya is a speech therapist at a psychiatric facility. Lucas is admitted after reappearing. Desperate to escape and get back off the grid, Lucas entrusts Maya with his story. Due to her own experiences, Maya does what it takes to help. The was their lives intersect is surprising and unique and makes for a good read.

I enjoyed Mejia’s previous book, so I was excited to read this one. I liked the Minnesota/Duluth/Boundary Waters setting. Sadly, I felt the plot was kind of convoluted and by the end I had lost enthusiasm for the main character. I like her writing style, so I will continue to read this author. Just a bit disappointed with this title.

After I read, and absolutely loved, Everything You Want Me To Be, I had high hopes for Leave No Trace.

There are things about this book that amaze me: the atmosphere, the suspense-y undertone, the writing. But unfortunately, I just could not get into this book, no matter how many times I tried (five). The beginning reminds me of Castle Rock - the new tv show on Hulu - without the supernatural feel to it. It's gloomy and extremely slow paced. I was put off of Castle Rock because of the slow pace, and Leave No Trace is no different. I found myself wandering through the pages, bored and lost. The more pages I read, the more I wanted to put it down.

I felt no connection to the characters. They were developed but lacked what I needed from them. There wasn't a lasting impression or a very good first impression at that. Maya is a problematic character, which I don't mind, but I don't think she was the best character for the role - there were just too many issues with her.

Overall, I would have to say this story is a miss for me. However, I do look forward to seeing what Mejia puts out next.

Maya Stark is twenty-three and an assistant speech therapist at Congdon, a facility for the mentally ill. She's had a tough past, and it isn't easy for her to form attachments with anyone. Maya's mom left when she was a kid, and Maya was once a patient at the facility where she now works. So she's surprised when she feels drawn to Congdon's newest patient, nineteen-year-old Lucas Blackthorn. Lucas arrives at Congdon after being arrested for breaking and entering into a wilderness store. Lucas and his father, Josiah, haven't been seen in ten years: Josiah took his son camping in the vast stretch of Minnesota territory known as the Boundary Waters a decade ago and the two haven't been heard from since. It's clear that Lucas wants nothing more than to return to the Boundary Waters. He's a recalcitrant and sometimes violent patient, who will cooperate with no one but Maya. Maya wants to help Lucas, and she wants to know why she feels so strong for this strange and angry boy.

This was my first Mejia book, and while it wasn't quite what I was expecting (I was thinking more mystery, less character-driven novel), it was really interesting. It's told mostly from Maya's point of view, but we hear some from Lucas and others too. It's a very readable book--I tore through it quickly, as there's something gripping about the style and reveal of facts about both Maya and Lucas' lives. We start out knowing very little about either of them--what put Maya in Congdon, what drove Lucas and Josiah into the Boundary Waters, and the novel does a good job of keeping you reading and wondering.

It's an emotional read--obviously being partially set in a mental hospital, it deals with mental illness. I thought, overall, Mejia did a good job with the topic, but if that's a trigger for you, just keep it in mind. The ancillary characters are pretty sparse: Maya's boss, the patients, Maya's dad, etc., but all are well-formed as well. Maya and Lucas are the stars, and both are well-done and easy to picture. The novel did a great job of pulling together all its various pieces. I was impressed how Mejia brought together the different parts of Lucas and Maya's lives--it's quite exceptionally thought out.

Probably the only thing marring this one for me were little things, but they nagged at me a bit. At times, the care Lucas receives seems odd and a bit weirdly thought out--giving a speech therapist such control over his care, for instance, and taking a violent patient into some strange situations. Maya and Lucas' instant attachment was also a little hard to completely believe, as well. But those were pretty small pieces in the scheme of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed my first Mejia book. The plot was the best part for me--I loved how it was a quick read and how enjoyable it was to put together all the various pieces of Lucas and Maya's lives. While there were a few little quirks that kept this from being a 4-star read, it was still a solid, worthwhile read. 3.75 stars.

Interesting storyline about a speech therapist, Maya, with a not-so-normal childhood who is working in a psychiatric facility. Enter Lucas, a patient at the facility who will not communicate with anyone there. He has been in the woods with his father since he's been 10 years old. No one knows what happened to them. In fact, they think his father may have even murdered someone. Maya is able to earn Lucas's trust. She actually becomes way too close to Lucas. So close that she wants to risk everything to help Lucas escape so that he can get to his father who may be dying in the wilderness. An intriguing story with fascinating characters.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for the opportunity to read this book in return for my review based on my honest opinion.

Maya, does not realize that she has as many secrets and similarities to her new patient, Lucas Blackthorn as she does. When he is found committing a crime, ten years after disappearing into the woods with his father, he is sentenced to Congdon psychiatric facility for hopeful re-integration into society. One of the problems is that Lucas won't speak, but when Maya is asked to assess him, he has an instant reaction to Maya, she is then assigned to be his speech therapist and his case is to be her primary case. But what secrets is Maya hiding; why won't Lucas speak; where is his father; where have they been these past ten years; why did he come out of the woods now; these are only a few questions we seek to know the answers to. As Maya tries to find the answers and help Lucas, Maya and Lucas forge a bond that goes beyond patient and doctor, and there are a few incidents that lead her to being banned form being his worker. Now that Maya knows what is at stake, how far will she go to help Lucas get out of the psychiatric facility and is there any going back after this?

It was a pretty fast paced book and there were lots of twists and suspense. I loved these characters and how honest and refreshing they felt, their stories were laid out beautifully and how could you not sympathize with either of them.

This is the second book I have read by this author, I enjoy her style of writing and the twists of the story make for enjoyable reading. This will definitely not be the last book I read by this author.

This was a comp copy from the publisher that I was thrilled to read since I enjoyed the author's first book so much. She has a writing style that is easy to understand and get sucked into. She also develops her stories slowly and methodically. Unfortunately, this one moved too slowly in the beginning for me and became repetitive when Luke was in the care facility and acting out quite violently in his attempts to get back to his sick father somewhere in the wooded Boundary Waters area of rural Minnesota. I guess I was hoping to know more about the father and son missing for ten years, and less about the young woman speech therapist, whose story did not seem credible. The ending chapters tied it together, and even that had parts not entirely believable.

This took me a long time to finish so I wish it could give it a higher rating than 2.5 stars, so I'm rounding up.

Leave No Trace started off really strong for me but somehow tapered off holding my complete interest somewhere in the middle and I found myself placing it in my “for later” pile. It did leave me wondering how it will end so I found myself picking it back up much sooner than expected. For this, I am glad because toward the middle end, the story really picked back up and became a very quick read. However, there is one part in the end that didn’t quite feel right for me. It felt as if that incident alone should not have fared well for the characters, yet it was wrapped up not so much as “happily ever after” but along the lines of “life goes on without another hitch”. In my eyes, the way I have gotten to know and understood the characters, this incident should have caused an emotional turmoil, possibly another traumatized experience. Maybe I am just overthinking it… what do I know, right?

Overall, it was an okay read for me. The plot was original which was why I was so excited for it but at the same time I had set my expectations high which may have ruined the reading experience for me. Leave No Trace was rated pretty high overall compared to my own rating. So I encourage you to read it for yourself. With this said, if you have not yet read this author’s previous novel, Everything You Want Me to Be, you need to get on that – I thoroughly enjoyed it.
4

Mindy Mejia has once again presented readers with a compelling, riveting mystery! Leave No Trace is as heartbreaking as it is a suspenseful mystery you want to get lost in. It left me with my mouth gaping open in disbelief and awe!
*ARC provided in consideration for review*

This was a good story but for some reason I kept getting distracted and losing the thread of the story. Dwelling mainly on mental illness this is how two people come together through strange circumstances and bond. Set in rural Minnesota it sounds like a wonderful place that is unspoiled and wild. Fans of intrigue and physiological thriller will enjoy, not terrible bloody crimes or murder but more a mental unbalance. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Maya Stark has been given the chance of a lifetime. She’s a speech therapist working in a mental hospital, and she’s still pretty new to the job. She knows her way around the institution, as she was a patient there when she was younger, and then an intern, and now that she has her degrees, she’s back to help the patients learn to use the words that they need to communicate their deepest fears and their wildest dreams.

And now she has a prize assignment.

Josiah Blackthorn and his son Lucas disappeared into the Boundary Waters ten years ago, never to be seen again. Boundary Waters is a particularly dense and wild part of Minnesota, up near the Canadian border. It’s frigid in the winter, and the odds of survival go down by the day and even more so by the night. So it was quite the surprise that Lucas showed up at a survivalist store, breaking in to rob it and inadvertently causing the death of one of the owners.

Lucas was taken to the mental hospital where Maya works, and he refused to communicate in any way with anyone. But on seeing Maya, there was a moment, a connection, that he refused every one else, so Maya was given the task of getting him to talk. She was the one chosen to help him find the words to talk about the last ten years, about how he had survived in the Boundary Waters, and maybe most importantly, what happened to his father. But she has secrets too, and they effect her work as much as his haunting eyes do.

Leave No Trace is the story of that connection and the journey that both Maya and Lucas have to take through their respective pasts to find their futures. Author Mindy Mejia, of last year’s Everything You Want Me To Be, is back with a twisty tale of past secrets, pain, and healing that took me on a crazy journey. I was captivated by this story, and I loved watching Maya’s and Lucas’s stories unwind as they became friends and then connected on an even deeper level. I couldn’t help but root for them as they made crazy, desperate choices and found their deeper truths amid all the buried secrets and family issues.

I highly recommend this thriller with its crazy roller coaster ride of emotions. It’s a lovely story of healing and coming home, and it will find it’s way into your heart, leaving traces all the way.

Galleys for Leave No Trace were provided by Atria/Emily Bestler Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

This is a page-turner! Mindy Mejia's psychological thriller is atmospheric and compelling. Her descriptions of Duluth, MN (where I live), the Boundary Waters, and Lake Superior felt mostly spot on. Well researched, well written, and great for any fan of William Kent Krueger, Allen Eskens, or Brian Freeman.

3.5 Stars* (rounded down)

Maya works as a Licensed Speech Therapist at a facility she knows all too well, one at which she used to be a patient herself. One day, someone new arrives: Lucas Blackthorn. Lucas went missing 10 years ago with his father in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, only to turn up alone, uncommunicative and violent.

Never has Maya felt more drawn to someone or needed to help someone more then Lucas, who wants to go back to the Boundary Waters to find his father, hopefully alive. Maya and Lucas’s commonalities are endless, as is their need for each other and even though she knows it’s wrong - she knows she must help him, no matter the cost to her.

“Leave No Trace” is an utterly compelling and suspenseful novel that in truth, was a bit hard for me to wrap my arms around. It stretched the realms of believability, ethics and morality and for me, as someone who works in the legal field, were things I simply couldn’t get past. That said, the characters have bite and their attraction is crazy palpable, and I get why others loved the twists and turns and were unconcerned with the unbelievability factor. Though, I called the ending early on, I do think it was very well done. This is the second novel I have read by Mindy Mejia, “Everything You Want Me to Be” being the first. While I liked that book better, what is evident is Ms. Mejia’s strong suit - which is her ability to create crazy suspense and her character development. She immediately draws you in with her characters and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria and Mindy Mejia for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley and Goodreads on 9.26.18.

EXCERPT: Normally I liked winter - the four-foot drifts, the nostril freezing arctic blasts that drove all the tourists away, leaving the town to the hardy, the survivors who bundled up and shoveled oceans of snow before retreating to our mugs and fleece blankets to wait out the endless December nights. Winter in Duluth was antisocial paradise and for someone whose mother suffered from chronic depression, there was a disconcerting comfort in the isolation. A home I recognized, even if I hadn't asked for it. Today, though, I wasn't comforted by the cold blast of wind numbing my ankle. I didn't find relief in the absence of people on the lake walk. Today I was scared for a man I'd never met.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: There is a place in Minnesota with hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.

Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later...the son appeared. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative and sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with their high-profile patient. No matter how she tries, however, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life

But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.

MY THOUGHTS: I think that if I lived in Duluth over the winter, I too would be severely depressed. I need sunshine. Mejia's writing is such that I felt every bite of those icy winds. I longed to wrap myself up in blankets and light the fire as I read.

I am, because of my background, an instant reader for anything set in a psychiatric facility, anything to do with mental illness, and because I have read and enjoyed Mejia's work previously, I just had to read Leave No Trace.

I raced through the first half of the book, enjoying the setting (despite the cold, icy description!), the character development, the moral and ethical dilemmas Mejia has scripted. But then, for the next quarter of the book, I felt like we were treading water, and my interest waned. But not for long. By the three quarters mark I was once again immersed in the story, not knowing where it was going, what the outcome would be, but rooting for both Maya and Lucas despite their conflicting circumstances.

Kudos to Mindy Mejia for giving us a great read, so very different from every other book currently out there. I will definitely be a starter for her next book.

THE AUTHOR: My name is Mindy Mejia and I’m a writer. I write because, ever since I was six years old, my favorite game has been pretend. My life doesn't have symmetry, theme, symbolism, or meditated beauty and I gravitate toward these things like a houseplant to the sun. I love the perfect words; I love how “fierce” and “confounded” and “swagger” look on the page and how my chest expands when I read them. I write because I believe in the reality of my fantasies, the truth in my fabrications. I’ve always had stories sneaking around my head, thrillers like THE DRAGON KEEPER and EVERYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BE, and sometimes I inhabit those stories more than my own life. (Best not to mention that last part to my husband, kids, or boss.)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Atria Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

A speech therapist becomes the only hope for a teenager after his return from life off the grid. As she tries to find out what happened to his father, the therapist will face questions that have haunted her for years about her own past. Author Mindy Mejia follows last year’s successful release with another commendable thriller in Leave No Trace.

Maya Stark spends her days as an assistant language therapist and her nights renovating the bathroom in her home. She derives a deep satisfaction from both, despite the assertions of her psychiatrist that the only reason Maya can’t finish the renovation project is because she’s using it as an excuse to keep from meeting people. But Maya meets plenty of people at the psychiatric facility where she works. They may not communicate effectively—or at all, in some cases—but she thinks it should count for something.

No one can doubt her dedication to her job or her gift to draw out reluctant communicators, however, which is why she gets tapped to help the boy “returned from the dead.” Ten years earlier, Lucas Blackthorn and his father, Josiah, walked into the woods near their Minnesota home with camping gear. They disappeared without a trace, leaving law enforcement officials and civilians alike speculating they may have died. A decade later Lucas comes back and attempts to rob a camping store. He gets caught, struggles with police, and is sent to the facility where Maya works.

Lucas refuses to talk to anyone, but from the beginning everyone can see he’s drawn to Maya. She gets assigned the task of getting information from him. Lucas does everything he can to break out of the facility to return to him. Despite an initial violent encounter, Maya remains persistent. She makes painstaking efforts to gain Lucas’s trust one conversation at a time, and he finally reveals that Josiah is sick.

All Lucas wants is to go back to his father, a bond Maya can understand because of the deep relationship she shares with her own father. The two were always close but became even more so when Maya’s mother abandoned them both. Lucas, too, has lived through a similar experience, and Maya finds herself drawn to the boy not just as a professional but as a friend. The closer they get, however, the more Maya realizes she and Lucas may have more in common than she first thought.

Author Mindy Mejia comes back in full form with another great thriller. Maya’s well-rounded character will have readers rooting her on early in the book. Mejia also puts just enough distance between the readers and Lucas to make them distrust Lucas early on. Just as Maya labors to earn Lucas’s trust so will Lucas have to earn the trust sympathy of readers. It’s a tricky balance to strike, but Mejia gets it almost perfect.

Mejia sets this book, too, in her native Minnesota, and her deep knowledge of the state shows in the best of ways. She’s able to frame each scene in a three-dimensional way. Readers will get a full picture in their minds of the closed forests and the natural beauty of the state. They’ll also feel the brisk rub of the oncoming winter and smell the air of the forests.

The book relies a touch too much on serendipity to make the plot move forward, and many readers who work in settings similar to Maya’s may object to the development of her relationship with Lucas. She crosses a line, although she fights her conscience for it and Mejia makes that struggle clear. Maya’s indecision makes her seem more real, and her ultimate decision makes sense within the story world Mejia has constructed. It just may ring a little oddly for some readers.

Overall, however, the book is another terrific read from Mejia. Readers will find that Leave No Trace Borders on Bookmarking it!

Beautiful, atmospheric, and compelling. My first thought when I finished this one was a simple "wow".

No doubt the forests and lakes of the Boundary Waters in Minnesota hide many secrets, but it turns out they could hide people as well. Ten years after he disappeared with his father, a boy who is now a young man appears back in civilization, caught ransacking an outfitter store. He is violent and refuses to speak to anyone, almost feral. Maya, a young language therapist, seems to be the only one to get through to him at all. While eventually he communicates with her, he is still unwilling to talk about his past... where he's been, his father, or why they vanished ten years ago.

Maya is secretive to most people about her own past. She has plenty of trauma of her own, and it only encourages her to break through the walls Lucas has put up between him and anyone else. While initially the reader only thinks Lucas has stories to tell, it soon becomes clear that we have a lot to learn about Maya as well. Brave, determined, more than a little badass, we just have to know what makes her tick.

The thing is that YES a lot of this book is highly implausible which would usually lead to a lower rating from me, as I've done with many books. BUT the story and characters are so compelling, the setting is so wonderful, the story telling itself is so well done, that it makes up for it. THAT is how you keep readers hooked even if they have to suspend their disbelief a bit. Well done. The little voice in the back of my head saying "this wouldn't happen this way" was shut up by my pure enjoyment of the book and the beautiful writing. That little voice now asks "when is the next book by Mindy Mejia coming out?". Four and a half stars from me.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and Atria Books, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.