The plot was intriguing, and I like the character development, but for someone this book just dragged a little for me. Sadly just a case of the wrong reader.

This is a book I will likely come back to at a later date as it was currently not for me at the time I decided to read it.

I just finished reading. . . at midnight . . . as the clock ticked over to the beginning of All Souls Day. How perfect!
Why?
Because this is a story about a lost soul -- a ghost story -- a fabulous, eerie, page-turning ghost story. But what makes this book so special is the rest of the story surrounding the legend of the ghost bride and the modern-day characters who interact with her. What does she want? What does she need? Will she harm them to get it? Shannon Schuren does a fabulous job of intertwining a coming-of-age story with the secrets of the past. As a stellar storyteller, Schuren creates characters we immediately care for, perfectly flawed and incredibly human in their interactions with each other. The dialog is crisply written in a way that makes us feel like clandestine eavesdroppers on family arguments, painful revelations, and heartfelt hopes and dreams. Add to that an incredibly well-developed, page-turning plot and you've got a highly-recommended must read. Just start reading early enough at night so that you don't get to the wonderfully scary bits at midnight like I did!!

Where Echoes Lie had a really captivating concept. I really liked the idea of the small town with the lore of the ghost bride and the many different versions of the legends surrounding the cliffs and the infamous bride and her fated end, and how this lore seeped into the main character's own life and family relationships. I could also relate to her desire to be a photographer and pursue art and some people just not being able to understand her desire to do so because they think she should do something more "practical". I think a a lot of young people will be able to relate to that concept very closely.

Unfortunately, something about the book just couldn't hold my attention. It was hard to get really invested with the story and the characters despite some of them having pretty relatable qualities. I won't rate it low because I don't think it's a bad book by any means and has a lot of redeeming qualities, it just felt slow and at times sad and I couldn't get into it. I don't think that's necessarily an issue with the book so much as an issue with me, in the sense that it just wasn't my cup of tea. But I could see how other people would enjoy it. This is one of those things that could be classified as "NRN- Not Right Now." I didn't love it right now and it felt a little too slow for me, but I could see myself maybe returning for a reread in the future and maybe having a better time with it. Maybe I'm just burnt out on this general type of book after feeling like I just read a similar title recently. Still a very interesting concept, though.

After reading the synopsis for Where Echoes Lie I was beyond ready to dive into what was sure to be a spooky read! However, once I was about 54% through I hadn't felt anything spooky at all. There were a few mentions here and there regarding the bride that supposedly haunts the small cliffside, but nothing that left me with goosebumps or the hair standing on the back of my neck.

This book was much more a coming of age story and a family drama. I think that if it had been marketed that way I would have likely timed my reading of it better. Since I was looking for something creepy and atmospheric, and didn't really get that, I found myself struggling to finish this one. I think I got about 2/3 of the way through before setting it aside to move onto something else. Unfortunately, I think this might be the case for several readers because of the synopsis and marketing.

I wanted to love this one, but ultimately it fell short. If readers are looking for a coming of age and small town family drama, this one definitely fits the bill!

If you’re a fan of CW’s Nancy Drew then you’re going to LOVE this thrilling new ghost story about a ghost bride and the curse she puts on Rena’s family.
Every since her murder, the ghost bride has search for nothing but revenge. And she found it in a way, by cursing the family who may have caused her demise.
Not just a normal thriller, this book focuses closely on the coming-of-age of our main character Rena as she deals with trying to solve the curse the ghost bride has left on her.
While it gets a bit slow in some parts, this is such an interesting story that is sure to keep you up at night

DNF at 24%.

I told myself I wasn’t going to DNF this book, but I really couldn’t do it anymore. The only character I could put up with was the main character. Everyone else was truly repulsive and maddening. They were all so controlling and did not care one bit about the main character. Her parents were truly awful parents, and her boyfriend was awful too. Not to mention she called her parents “Momma” and “Daddy.” The final straw is when other characters would call her dad “daddy.” It just made me really uncomfortable.

If you are looking for a chill down your arms thriller this YA book is what you need. Rena Faye believes in things that she can see with her own eyes and touch with her own hands. Living in small rural Kentucky, she also knows that there is a bit of supernatural that keeps her family's small motel open and dinner on the table. Her town, known for the spooky tale of a bride who walks the cliffs at moonlit only makes Rena's life more complicated when she finds out this isn't a spooky tale and she's in fact related to this legend.

Thank you to PenguinTeen for providing me a copy to read and review. This spooky mystery has interesting twists, a dark atmosphere, and an easily relatable MC that you want to root for the entire book. Rena does have a toxic family environment which frustrated me because I know what that feels like so proceed with caution as the ending doesn't really give you much closure on their abuse towards her. I did enjoy the twists and turns when learning about The Ghost Bride and their story, it definitely kept the writing interesting! I think overall, loving Rena so much and wanting her to succeed is what made me push through the story.

Big hopes for this one, but it came up short for me.

What I liked:
The family theme. Trust in the family. Support each other.
Standing up for yourself. Coming of age theme.
Ghost bride.

What I didn't like:
Family drama.
Not enough creepiness or ghosts.

The family theme even though it was great, I feel like it overwhelmed the plot. And there was so much drama and anger with parents punishing children for trying to be themselves, children being mad for parents not communicating. I know it's realistic, but so much can be solved with good communication and would have liked to more of that.

Oh and what controlling father figure, and a boyfriend. So much gaslighting, controlling, patronizing. Ugh.

And oh the ghost? The curse? It felt lost in the family drama story, and didn't give the creepiness this book deserved. This just wasn't for me.

Unfortunately this book was less mystery and ghost and more teenage drama. I was very invested in the ghost parts when we had them, but there wasn't enough for my liking. Another unfortunate point for me was the fact that I just could not stand our MC's family and boyfriend. I felt the issues were unresolved, you're not always meant to like characters but it was as if the MC didn't get the growth she needed and ended up not much further off than where she started which was a shame.

Thanks so much to the publisher and netgalley for an earc in exchange for my honest review.

A Spooky Mystery indeed! It had a lot of fun twists and is a coming of age narrative but it just wasn't a story for me. I wanted to enjoy this, but I ended up DNFing halfway through when my heart wasn't in it.

Rena and her family own a motel in rural Kentucky where a legend of a Ghost Bride has been told for centuries. Her family has been told that the women in their family line are cursed. To rebel and get away, she goes to the neighboring Atwater Hotel to get a job. There she starts to find pieces of the real ghost bride story. Rena has seen the ghost bride so it becomes real and not a story anymore. Rena has to discover what the story is so that the bride can get her final rest .

Rena feels cursed in her own way. She's the "problem child" while her brother Graham is the "golden child". All she wants is a chance to be heard and no one in her family, except her grandma Malice, wants to hear. I felt bad for her. She also had this photography talent that she didn't get enough credit for.

DNF @ 20%

I was hoping that this would be something super creepy. Unfortunately, this felt more like a small-town drama rather than a ghost thriller. If that is your thing, you might like this more than I did.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

This surprised me and wasn't quite what I expected. I was expecting a really scary kind of story and while there is some of that with the urban legend of the ghost bride and the atmosphere of the town and the woods what came across more and made this book great was Rena and her finding herself, figuring things out and all the family drama and such. I related quite a bit more than I expected to this book and to Rena with her story. There were quite a few times while reading this story that I wondered if the author had seen parts of my life while writing this - it was uncanny some of the similarities for me to myself and parts of my life in the past and such. This was one of the first books in a while that I can remember feeling compelled to keep reading, wanting to finish it and know what would happen - it really kept my attention and interest.
This story is about Rena and her family and life. In this book, Rena is excited to have a summer trip that she's going to go on with her Grandma, but at the last minute, it gets canceled by her parents. Then when she is stuck at home helping out with the family business, she goes to talk to her Grandma who tells her there is a curse on their family related to this urban legend of the ghost bride who jumped off the cliff to her death whichever version you've heard of the story. Rena spends the summer trying to figure out the truth behind the story at the root of the ghost bride legend along with navigating her way through finding herself and coming into her own. She has to learn to assert herself and deal with her mother and family and their different views and beliefs on things as well as trying to improve things so she doesn't continue the negative cycle she's in with her mom/parents.
It's all very well written and a low-key spooky story woven into helping to tell about Rena's coming of age experience as she's growing up and figuring herself and other things out. I enjoyed this story and felt it resonated with me on varying levels. This is a great book that I would recommend checking out.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for letting me have the chance to read and review this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and coming of age story that was the heart of this novel. Rena was easy to root for and I really related with her.

That being said, there were a few surprising twists but that’s it. I was disappointed with the lack of resolution in the ghost story aspect and the poor family messages that were never solved bugged me. I hate leaving a bad review because I understand the work that goes into it I just didn’t feel it was that memorable.

DNF at 30%.

I had hopes for another exciting YA ghost story with lore and a bit of mystery. For me, this was more a coming of age story that, up until I stopped, hinted at a family curse. I felt the main character, Rena, spent more time angry at her mother, father and brother pushing the plot into a family drama feel instead of what I was hoping for. In all honesty, I had a hard time connecting with Rena because of her bickering persona. Was not exactly a fan of her family either. They felt stifling, unsupportive and ..well... clueless. The whole dynamic made it hard to appreciate the plot flow and building mystery.

I hate the fact I didn't connect the way I had hoped and though this novel wasn't for me, it may be exactly what you need on your TBR. Check out a few other reviews by some amazing readers on here and decide if you're slipping this into your next Spooktober.

Happy book birthday to this beautiful, spooky haunt of a read! I'm trying to make Spooky Season TM last as long as possible, and this has absolutely hit the spot. I was entranced by the cover, intrigued by the description, and engrossed the entire time. Big fan, thank you for this book!

Ghost Brides, curses and urban legends makes Where Echoes Lie a great spooky read. When Rena discovers that there may be more to the Ghost Bride story and that it may have a direct connection with the women in her family, she decides to investigate a little deeper.

Although much of the story is fairly predictable, the format is enjoyable and the lore behind the Ghost Bride unique. I enjoyed the atmosphere the most and the authors descriptive writing made rural Kentucky come alive for me. I’d recommend this to any fan of a good creepy story shrouded in mystery!

This was a mystery full of twists and suspense. But it was also a great coming of age story for the main character Rena. She is easy to relate to and has you rooting for her. Some of the plot was easy to guess but it was still great to read along. There were great side characters as well as the family aspect that added to the ghost story.