If you like cozy mysteries and the Truly Devious trilogy, this is the book for you! I love me a good and gloomy thriller/whodunnit set in an elite boarding school. Perfect read for fall!

A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

Thank you for letting me read this. Unfortunately for me I couldn’t get into to it. The description sounds good and I’m sure it’s amazing for some people but it just wasn’t a book for me!

Bardo By The Sea was a gripping story.
I realised that I'm more anxious when I read about a murdered young kid, I haven't put this book down until the cold case was solved and every character was safe and sound.

Izzy Brown got a scholarship for the exclusive Bardo Academy thanks to her twin brother, Axl, who is a raising football star. As soon as she arrives she feels out of place in the expensive school and the ginormous houses. She also feels like a social pariah with her schoolmates, everybody judge her and find her lacking, and she is pretty lonely until she joins the school newspaper and she meets Elton Jones-Davies who will help her to investigate an old murder.

Izzy and Elton dynamics are interesting and entertaining. I liked how they try to protect each other when thigs become dangerous. In the end I could see how fond of each other they are and I hope to see them together again in a new book soon.

Chad Alan Gibbs showed us how the darkest past can be concealed under the most shining and prestigious beaches.
The writing is addictive, the storyline is compelling and the mystery is intricate, the characters are flawed but perfect for the story.
I definitely look forward to reading more of his work.

I'm a fan of Chad Alan Gibbs and enjoyed reading this book. It will be a series that I can recommend to my students and will be enjoyed! Good characters and an enjoyable mystery element. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Listen, I know there are some really big new releases coming out this month, but instead of hyping one of those I’d like to call your attention to yet another novel flying under the #bookstagram radar. Chad Alan Gibbs’ Bardo By the Sea was such a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t sure if a young adult novel set in Florida right before the 2008 housing market crash and during the height of the opioid epidemic would catch my attention, but it did.

Part of that reason was the fact that there was a mystery at the heart of this novel. Back in 1983, Bardo Academy’s star quarterback was killed. The cops said it was a drug deal gone wrong, but was it? Izzy, our narrator who hopes to become an investigative reporter one day, believes that that story was a cover up and is determined to figure out who killed Ricky Lee. In doing so, she uncovers the many secrets of the Bardo by the Sea elite.

What really made me love this book, though, was Elton. I know that Izzy is the narrator and therefore the star of this show, but Elton, the young man on the autism spectrum who teams up with her to solve this murder, absolutely stole my heart. In fact, my main criticism of the book is that there wasn’t enough Elton. My only hope, seeing that this appears to be the beginning of a planned series, is that Elton takes a far more prominent role in the next novel.

Kirkus calls this “A fun mystery with a clever hero that offers sharp, surprising takes on big issues.” If you change that to “clever heroes” and include my friend Elton in there, I absolutely agree.

This author has done again a great job in weaving an interesting mystery that kept me intrigued until the very end. Well-crafted characters made this a book I highly recommend.

I apparently can't stand to be in the head of a 16 year old. Too much drama. So not only are YA contemporaries out for me are YA Mysteries. And mysteries are one of my favorite genres.

A fast paced, mysterious book filled with characters you will love and others you will hate, I loved everything part of this book. You witness the unwinding of Bardo in 1983 and what led up to Ricky Lee's death...all thanks to Izzy and Elton. The characters are fantastic, the story intriguing and the ending perfectly tied up in a bow leaving me satisfied!

I really enjoyed this YA mystery of a poor girl who suddenly finds herself living in the wealthy community of Bardo, Florida in the midst of the 2008 housing crisis, where a poor student athlete was murdered 25 years before. With the crime swept under the rug, the budding Nelly Bly sets out to uncover who killed Ricky with her new friend Elton. This was an enjoyable read that kept me guessing, which is always so fun. I would definitely return for more Izzy and Elton sleuthing.

This was a solid read. The language was simple and quick to read. I enjoyed the short chapters and occasional flashbacks to 1983. The setting amongst the 2008 recession was well written and woven seamlessly into the plot. My favourite part was the friendship between Izzy and Elton.

Most chapters ended on a cliffhanger of sorts, which sometimes felt forced and out of place, but nonetheless kept me reading. The teenage language used by the characters felt a little too unrealistic at times but this didn’t take away from the story much. I would have liked the ending to have been expanded a bit more regarding certain characters and relationships but most of the plot was tied up very well.

Most importantly, the mystery kept me engaged and I was always keen to find out what happened next. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for an easy-to-read mystery with a satisfying plot reveal.

This is a sharp, witty YA mystery with well-developed characters. The dialogue and interactions among these high schoolers (past and present) is well-written and realistic, with an honest look at big issues teens face (as well as regular issues that FEEL big to teens) without being heavy handed. You’ll love tagging along with the protagonists Izzy and Elton, on this adventure and hopefully many more!

I enjoyed this book, especially the whodunnit aspect. The mystery really kept me turning the pages. Elton was definitely my favorite character and I liked the friendship he and Izzy built. I also liked the 2008 timeframe and how the housing crisis was effecting the Bardo elites. The glimpse into the opioid epidemic was also enlightening and a realistic look at how even “good kids” like Izzy could get hooked. I would definitely like to see Izzy and Elton solve more crimes!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! I've been busy so it took me a while to read, but I liked this book a lot. The characters had a lot of depth, and I think Elton was written in a good way. He wasn't infantilized, but Izzy disregarded and plowed over his ideas a lot. Izzy as a character was kind of annoying, which made it harder to read.

I am always intrigued by a storyline based in a school involving a murder and trying to solve it. This book is about twins Izzy and Axl who live in a trailer park with their mom but upon Axl being scouted and offered a place in a prestigious school, the family move to a mansion close to the school. Here Izzy attends the school also and in order to pursue her dream of becoming a journalist, she joins the school newspaper and it is here she decides she wants to solve the murder of a schoolboy which happened years ago to which no one was ever found guilty.

I loved the relationship between Izzy and Elton, seeing how they communicated and how Elton dealt with her sarcasm. I’m looking forward to seeing their friendship blossom in the next instalment of this series.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It had twists I didn’t see coming which I am always a fan of. I found it a bit slow to get into and sometimes I was getting confused between the characters, possibly because I was leaving too long between reading it, but once I was into the book I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to seeing more adventures from Izzy and Elton.

I absolutely devoured this book. It's been such a long time since I binge read a book but I sat down to read this and five hours later I resurfaced from the world of Bardo unable to let the story go.

Let me preface this by saying, murder mystery novels are some of my absolute  favorites. I love everything about the genre. That being said Bardo by the Sea delivered and checked all the boxes for a great murder mystery. In this novel, Izzy Brown receives a scholarship to the prestigious Bardo Academy thanks to her brother's promising football abilities. There she joins the school newspaper with dreams of becoming an investigative journalist. She befriends Elton Jones-Davies and together they aim to solve the murder of a former Bardo Academy football star.

Starting with the writing I have to say I was genuinely surprised with how well written this book was. The novel jumps back and forth between 2008 and 1983. I loved the multiple povs of the 1983 time jumps. All the differing perspectives fit so well and made the story in it's entirety flow smoothly while advancing the plot. The writing was easy to follow and made the overall plot appear so seamlessly. This I personally think contributes to how easy it is to slip into this world of Bardo and find yourself reading on and on.

Character-wise the author did a wonderful job of developing each character in their own way. Izzy was just the right amount of persistently inquisitive that did not feel annoying or lackluster. All her other underlying issues made the character alot more well rounded as well. Hands down Elton Jones-Davies, the sweetest and most gentle boy who happens to be on the autism spectrum, was my favorite character. Often I find characters who display disabilities in books are made to seem as if that's all there is but Elton was perfectly written to represent a person on the spectrum while being a very full and rich character.

While I figured out the biggest reveal, the way it was executed left me absolutely breathless. The different twists and turns the author throws your way really makes your jaw drop the deeper you go into the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and would like to thank Netgalley as well as author Chad Alan Gibbs for this copy. A condensed version of this review has been posted to my bookstagram (@krisreadstt) while this review has also been posted to Goodreads.

A rich prep school cold case story in Florida. Two kids, one rich enough to do anything, one who owes the life she lives to her brother's football prowess. A dead kid from forty years ago.

I enjoyed the story; it was a well done cold case mystery and an easy, fast-paced read. It had engaging and unique characters and used POV very well to connect the two timelines of the story. There was a fair amount of back and forth-ing that made parts of the case a little hard to follow, but overall, it was an enjoyable and strong story.
I did wish that there was less emphasis on pop culture references and modern slang; I think it will end up dating the book (like many other YA books, so it's a common occurence, but something I'm not a huge fan of).

Chad Alan Gibbs is charmingly hilarious and has a knack for writing the most lovable characters and stories. His ability to write in details does not go unnoticed and makes his stories the poetic magic that they are.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Gibbs’ writing reminds me of Jerry Spinnelli and I’m here for it!

Happy publication day to Bardo By the Sea! One of my favorite books I have read so far this year. I was so pleased to learn that it is the first of a series and I will be keeping an eye out for the publication date of the next one. I don’t want to give too much of the book away, but it is a mystery surrounding teens and a rich community. I really do think Bardo would be a fantastic summer read or beach read. **Disclaimer: this book was given to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #netgally #bardobythesea #chadalangibbs #bornebackbooks

Murder mysteries are always an interesting read when done right and Gibbs was able to weave together a story with a dual timeline that had me holding my breath. The pacing was well done which is a must for murder mysteries. The suspects mentioned and the evidence revealed were not rushed but flowed easily with the various issues that were tied in. I loved the main protagonist, she was relatable and flawed which made me sympathise and love her even more. All the characters in this book were not perfect wich made the s story so believable and allowed me to be engross in it even more.

Bookstagram review is up. Please see link below.