I received an early copy of this book for an honest review. I’d say this book is between 3 and 3.5 stars for me.

It is a well written and descriptive book set in coastal France bouncing between 1985 and 2010, however the way the characters spoke made it read more like the Gatsby era. Like some of the other reviews mention, it was a lot more coming of age with a mystery tangled into the story. The first half felt really slow and repetitive but once you finally start figuring out what’s going on it gets better. Overall it was very dark book with *trigger warning* quite a bit of child sexual abuse which is the basis of the storyline.

I thought this was a mystery, but while there is a hint of mystery, it’s more of a coming to age story. Ruby and Imogen are stuck with terrible parents and their friends at a chateau in France for the summer. It’s a compelling story that kept me turning pages. It’s also very stressful as it deals with childhood sexual abuse. I thought it was a good book!