Thank you to Orc publishing for the arc of this book.
It’s not the type of book I usually read, it was heavy and depressing from the start.
Was an ok read, not great, but ok.

I really enjoyed this book, despite its somewhat grim storyline. Greta and Ash are twins, whose father and stepmother have abandoned them. They have no money and Greta has been traumatized, but once they open up to some strangers, they find that there are some kind people in the world. They have neighbors who pitch in to take care of them and they have each other.

This book was well-written and the characters are well-drawn. I particularly liked Alice and Elgin and Nate as the secondary characters, who helped Greta and Ash.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS by Lisa J Lawrence in exchange for my honest review.***

When Greta and Ash’s evil stepmother convinces their father to abandon them, their eccentric landlord takes them in. Greta is also dealing with school bullying following a date rape. TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS is a story about the family we have and the family we create, about friendships, love and forgiveness.

Lisa Lawrence tackles some important topics in this mishmash story that could have benefited from a more interwoven timeline, characters with greater depth and fewer tropes. In the beginning, I wondered if A TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS was a modern retelling of Hansel and Greta, because the stepmother was pure evil without an ounce of dimension. My favorite characters were Nate, Elgin and Priya, who played pivotal yet small parts of the story.

The rape storyline didn’t pack any emotion and Greta’s journey seemed to happen without the steps necessary to healing. TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS didn’t evoke any feelings for me, but I was interested in the storyline, which moved along at a steady pace. Better editing could have tweaked a few parts to make this a 4 or 5 star review.

Hello, I will be adding this review to my Instagram, blog, and Goodreads two weeks before its publication date. I will also add this review to Amazon and Barnes and Noble on the publication date. I will add links to reviews once they are public. Thank you.

Trail of Crumbs by Lisa J. Lawrence is a story about a High School senior named Greta who is trying to keep herself afloat while dealing with an awful stepmother and the terrible realization of what happened to her one night at a party. Luckily, she has a twin brother, Ash, and unexpected friends to help her along the way.

Greta is such a tragic character from the beginning. It is constantly one thing after another that goes wrong and at some points she just can't deal with it any longer. This book takes us along for a ride of heartbreak and rebuilding of oneself. She is a character of real emotion as well as her brother as they both cope with the issues they face in different ways. The book also teaches us that it is okay to ask for help and even tell others of an incident because that in itself can also help the healing process.

The writing style for this book was a little confusing because at times it would switch from the present to something that happened in the past and I would have to reread a couple sentences to understand what happened. 

Overall, it was a good short read and I would give it 3/5 stars. If you like contemporaries with hard issues I would recommend this book which comes out March 26th, 2019.

Thank you Orca Book Publishers for this eARC through NetGalley.