Book Name: Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves
Author: Quinn Connor

ARC
Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC of Quinn Connor’s Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves

Stars: 4.5
Spice: 1.75

Standalone
Fast Paced
Plot-Centric
Multi POV
Contemporary - Esque Ghost Story
Similar to Mexican Gothic

- Topics
- Dark Southern Summer Gothic
- Grief & Tragedy
- Consequences of the Past
- Family Complexities
- Family Secrets
- Sapphic Representation in 2/3 MC’s
- Thoughts.
- The Author's Note is poignant and addresses the social issues found within the book I appreciate the publisher putting this at the front- lending a lens through which to view the novel
- Evocative Use of Language
- Atmospheric
- Creepy and Captivating
- Lingering Storyline
- Good Entry Level Horror Book
- THIS IS NOT A GOTHIC ROMANCE

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book and the author’s intro. Unfortunately, the story itself fell a bit flat and seemed disjointed, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed the underlying story with Catfish and Cassie’s family ties to the town. I think there was too much going on though with other elements - the telescopes, Rig and his father, and June’s flowers - that didn’t seem intrinsically tied to the Catfish storyline. Even the fireworks seller didn’t seem to be a necessary storyline and I had trouble tying it all together.

It would be interesting to hear from the author how those different elements were tied to the old town Prosper, so if they were explained a bit more I would have liked it better.

This book was such a disappointment. There were multiple perspectives, but they were so similar that it was nearly impossible to tell any of them apart and keep track of or care about their individual stories.

Three young women are at the center of this story which takes place on the not so fancy side of Lake Prosper. I loved the family connections in this book and "finding one's roots". I could imagine the memories of summer as the writer's descriptions felt they were her own. There was elements of magical realism with some horror mixed in to give a compelling read. I enjoyed the book but do wish it had tied up more loose ends. I wanted to know a bit more as to why this all happened and why specific people were affected. Thank you Netgalley.

As I read this book I could feel the summer heat on my skin and hear the cicadas sing. The descriptions are poetic and rich.
Throughout the story there is foreboding and a chill in that summer air. The plot reads like a ghost story by exploring the past and how it can haunt the present.
The characters all had issues with their parents and I liked how the dynamics were explored.
I felt the different point of views were good as so much could be explored but I would have liked more focus on one character for this type of book.
Thank you to NetGallery for the E-ARC, this review is voluntary and my own opinions.

I really wanted to love Cicadas sing of summer graves: the premise was really promising, the book cover is stunning, the magical realism is definitely there, but it didn’t live up to the expectation. The pace was really slow for the first half of the book and then suddenly picks up speed for the second half, so much so that the last chapters feel very rushed. The writing is elaborate and poetic, beautiful yet difficult for a non native English speaker like me. The multiple POVs were really hard to follow, if it wasn’t for the names of the characters appearing during the narration it would have been impossible to tell them apart.
The fact that the magical realism is in a contemporary setting makes the book more interesting, creating imagery out of a fever dream and an eerie and mysterious atmosphere that looms over the inhabitants of Prosper.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves is a book that, for me, had promise but didn’t live up to it. It’s a book that didn’t seem able to land on what genre it wanted to be — contemporary, fabulism, outright fantasy, or paranormal — so became a mishmash of them all, and not in a good way.

It’s hard to say what exactly drives the plot, since for much of it, there doesn’t seem to be anything of one. Let’s say, for now, a haunting does. A haunting and a trauma. Related, perhaps, but not in a way that’s clear. You would think that this book might play into that confusion, to make you wonder what exactly is real. Is this character really haunted? Or is there something else going on that we don’t know about, because of an unreliable narrator aspect? However, the confusion here simply seems a product of the writing and story in general. It doesn’t know what genre it wants to be, so neither do we have any sense of the framework by which to read this by.

It doesn’t help, though, the random flower magic that’s inexplicably thrown in for? Reasons unknown! Until, lo and behold, it proves useful right at the end. This is partly why I ask exactly the genre it’s supposed to be, because no one in the town bats an eyelid at this sudden magical power showing up. But we’re also told that no one believes Cassie when she talks about the lake being haunted. It’s this kind of pick-and-choose when it comes to the fabulist aspects that, in part, makes it such a frustrating book.

The other aspect of that comes to the lack of feeling I had around it. Perhaps this relates too to the flowery prose it uses, such that you’re held at a distance from the actual narrative and you don’t feel what you need to. It doesn’t evoke the heat of a Southern summer, there’s no creeping sense of unease as the haunting slips into view (in fact, I’m not even sure the haunting even registers until the final third of the book. Perhaps, but only in some minor aspects). You don’t feel at all like you’re being haunted yourself. The idea of the ghost town beneath the dam could, I think, have played a bigger role as well.

On top of this, the three (occasionally four) POVs barely felt distinct from one another. At times, I couldn’t tell whose it was, and was only saved by the fact that it was in third person so the name of the POV character popped up every so often. Other than that, it basically wasn’t possible to tell them apart. They all bled into one, in a way that was much smoother than the book’s attempt to merge four separate genres. Unfortunately.

So, while this book had a lot of promise, it ultimately fell short. Perhaps this is a me problem, though (as ever). I have no doubt it’ll find its readership, but that just didn’t include me.

I’m really sad to be giving this such a low rating. The premise was so good. I love the magical realism/Gothic atmosphere but, unfortunately, there wasn’t really anything else to engage me personally. I found it to be really slow. The multiple POV’s were also kind of confusing because they weren’t labelled and the voices blurred into the same voice. I think a lot of people would love this, though, if you like slow, atmospheric books then this one is definitely for you. I’m open to giving more from this author a try, I’d be interested to see if their other books work for me.

"Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves" is a story about love, family and generational trauma but also trying to find one‘s place in this world and handling grief - of the loss of a loved one, a past that cannot be changed or a chance you never took. It is packed with lots of supernatural elements and I did not know where the story was going. It sure starts out slow but it has such a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere which is underlined by some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read! I liked the different P.O.V and how every character is characterised by a certain kindness even while they are fighting their own battles. If Lana del Rey's Summertime Sadness were a book, it would be this one!✨

This was a slow read for me. I struggled to finish it. I really couldn’t get into the story or the characters. I felt like there was just so much going on. Thank you Quinn, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Somewhere, I read a writer talking about writing scary scenes. They said that the fear comes from what you don't say, what isn't written on the page. And that really sums up this book. Cicadas is a ghost story that isn't over done. It is horror without being gruesome (except in one scene.) It is psychological and physical. I really enjoyed it and have already told everyone I know about it.

This was a slow but intense read. I loved the pacing of the story, where tension crept in slowly but steady and was a constant background noise, but not all over the place. Therefore, the balanced creepy scenes had enough space to make an impression. Also, the author took his time to build strong and recognizable characters and get readers connected to and care for them.
I was especially curious about the tragic history the books is based on: a whole town and lots of its people were drowned by a flood. While this is not a new starting point for a book, the author built a very original and haunting plot around it. Instead of making this just another ghost story, the focus was on the living characters, the impact events have on their lives and how they grow stronger because of it.

Three young women. One sees ghosts. One has visions. One has flowers growing out of her head. These young women bear testament to a disaster decades before their births when Yellow Fever and torrential rains caused the dam to break destroying all in its path, leaving the town and its inhabitants underneath a watery grave.
The messages being heard or seen from Cassie, Lark, and June play heavily into the summer by the lake. The ghosts of the town have been awakened. Is history bound to be repeated in the town of Prosper?
I had a hard time trying to decide if this was a historical fiction with a message, a fantasy, or magical realism. It was a mixed message for me and a little too magical to pick up the message of displacement of the poor and disenfranchised; another bad chapter in American History of forcing people out of their homes in the name of progress. I felt like it needed a sharper focus as there was a lot going on to distract the reader.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for an early copy. Opinions are my own.

This was probably 2.5 rounded up. While I was really intrigued by the premise of this one, and really wanted to like it, the execution didn't quite live up to my hopes. There were multiple narrators whose voices didn't feel sufficiently well-differentiated, it didn't really hold my attention, and some of it just felt like it needed more polish – almost like it was a solid first draft which needed some editing.

The atmosphere was good, though, and the plot was intriguing; the whole concept of the drowned town was fascinating, and I liked the sort of magical realism/horror vibes that the book had going on – it just didn't *quite* get there for me, unfortunately.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The past comes back to visit a town that was plagued by Yellow Fever. A decision made decades earlier caused a ripple effect of consequences that the current townspeople have to resolve.

Interesting novel with believable characters.

An interesting read following three women , however I didn’t feel connected to any of the protagonists or story .

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eArc .

Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves by Quinn Connor was very interesting story. The plot follows four young women, Cassie, Lark, June, returning to their small lakeside town of Prosper, Arkansas for the summer. Due to yellow fever, an unexpected storm that causes the damn to break flooding the town leaving hundreds in a watery grave, makes for the perfect eerie story. Each girl is traveling back for different reasons, but end up reconnecting over the events of the river. A bit of terror, tragedy, bizarre and unexplainable things happening all around them. I enjoyed reading this book, but sometimes I was a little lost. I had to reread some spots to figure out what the point was. Even with that, it was a great read.

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Quinn Connor for the ARC for my Review.

Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves by first time authors Quinn Connor was a fantastic and compelling read. The plot follows four young protagonists, Cassie, Lark, June and Bolt one summer in their small lakeside town of Prosper, Arkansas and their connection to a tragedy that has overshadowed the lake and the town for decades, and the reckoning they must have with the complex history of the place. The authors use elements of magic realism and an atmospheric writing style to explore the idea of belonging and the complicated nature of loving a place and its people.

The novel is well-paced, and I enjoyed the slow simmer of dread and uncanniness that the authors build up in their writing. The plot builds to a point where the dread turns into spine-chilling, deranged terror, teetering inexorably into potential tragedy. And just when all seems lost, I loved the way the threads of narrative surrounding the different main characters connected to offer a resolution that was emotionally rich and fulfilling.

The characters' individual back stories made them stand to me out as fresh and fascinating. The character that was perhaps the most interesting, however, was not one that came with a perspective or narrative voice, but loomed large over the entirety of the novel, i.e., the setting. The lake, the town, the churchyard, the local bar, the boat graveyard, Lark's father's houseboat, her aunt's diner, Cassie's antique shop - all came alive as distinct personalities with a powerful and important presence in the story. Their prominence makes the central questions around belonging and loving that much more effective and satisfying to consider.

I greatly enjoyed the authors' writing style and found myself immersed in their storytelling. I look forward to reading their future works.

There was a lot to like about Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves. I loved our three main characters and their similar but very different complicated relationships with their parents. The writing is gorgeous and managed to convey the beauty as well as the horror of Lake Prosper, although some metaphors felt a little wonky at times (how does a place have "the scrubbed, rebellious look of a little boy in church clothes"?).
While I liked Lake Prosper's history and the inevitable hauntings the characters and their families faced because of it, the actual plot was very slow and sometimes confusing. As much as I loved June, I was utterly confused by the flowers springing up in her hair and how this manifested later on. Some parts were kinda hard to follow and disorienting, though I can't tell if this was intentional or not. Even though the book was pretty slow-paced, I felt like it had too many elements that weren't properly explored. The man with the fireworks, the five fishermen, and Catfish all came up multiple times but they still felt underdeveloped. I get that they added to the air of mystery and I like ambiguity in my novels; I think the slow pace just made me want to learn more about them instead of having scenes that felt inconsequential at times.
Also, I think the book needs another round of editing. I found quite some typos and one or two grammatical errors, which of course didn't make or break my enjoyment but since I received an ARC of Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves, I feel I should mention it.

The beautiful prose and interesting family relationships ultimately couldn't fully make up for the slow pace. I did like it and wanted to explore the characters and the setting further, at times spinning wild ideas about where the story would take me. Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves didn't go where I hoped and while I definitely want to acknowledge it as a beautiful and haunting piece of literature, I couldn't enjoy its quietness as much as I would've liked.

Magical realism (more so than fantasy) with a touch of horror involved.

The story is actually based off true events in a town in Arkansas during the 1950s. It touches on a lot of topics through out but none really in depth.

This story had multiple POVs which was distracting at first. I’m not a fan of books with multiple characters as narrators.

She did a good job of building the scene and story setting. I wish there was more magic involved though.