Good as gold follows Casey and her misfit group of newfound friends, uncovering the mystery of the old town they live in, and setting off on a mission to uncover all sorts of secrets, lies and treasure covered up by the town’s government. it has subtle hints of romance, found family and also has a strong undercurrent depicting the important of black lives and heritage, which had me squealing with relief at the ending.

A great story of a teen girl who has been forced down a economic bracket and therefore a social bracket. It shows her journey to try to save her family financially while she discovers truths about herself, her family, and who her real friends are.

I had different expectations going into this book than what it was really about. It started a bit more slow than I would have liked but when they began searching for the treasure, the story picked up. That said, I did enjoy the plot and the characters, especially the beginning crushes and relationships which felt very authentic. I would have loved more emphasis on treasure and adventure, but it was an overall good story about friendships and family relationships.

This book is exactly what is described, If you've got a reader who wants a thriller/mystery, that takes place in a town full of secrets, this is a great recommendation.

The characterizations are excellent, and the story is intriguing and definitely gives reader a thrill.

An interesting mystery with coastal vibes. Loved the inclusion of Black American history regarding upper-class Black families land and neighborhoods being taken by powerful white individuals/government. It made this unique and not a carbon copy of Outer Banks.

For fans of pirate and loot, this small-town adventure will be the next book for you! Anyone from a small town hopes of an ancient mystery that could shake the foundation of their small corner of the world. For those who don't have a small-town mystery of their own, this store-bought alternative will suffice nicely. Make a splash with Buford's new book filled with damaged reputations and so much treasure.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!

Good as Gold tells the story of Casey, who was once a "Charmie," until her father lost his job and all their money. She stumbles upon some hints as to the truth of her town's sunken treasure, but winds up uncovering much more. I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would, and will be adding it to my classroom library. It is perfect for fans of Outer Banks, but also readers who may be interested in history that towns try to bury. The side characters are all great, and the story has more depth to it than perhaps the synopsis indicates. Teen readers will love this one!

I NEVER in my wildest dreams expected to read something like this. I’m going to learn to stop going into books blind. I had no idea what was going on or where this was going. But I think that made it so much better. I liked it a lot more that way.

So the cool thing about this was the treasure hunt. I just wish there was more information on what happened and what was going on in the back story. Even if it was just like giving some chapters from the past or something. I just wish it hadn’t been so much focus on Casey, but moreso the town. Don’t get me wrong, we DO get that information, BUT it’s like at the end once everything is already done. I would have wanted all this earlier. I just felt like not knowing would have been the reason I said naw and just wouldn’t care anymore lol That’s just me tho.

I thought her trying to figure it out would somehow make this repetitive. But it wasn’t. It was actually more thrilling? I guess it felt that way because I knew her parents were in a crunch because of the money thing. And then once things started really going, and they tried all these different things that damn near got them killed? Yeah it was weird as hell and not what I was expecting AT ALL. But because of that it definitely made for good entertainment.

The characters were ok, but let me tell you Casey was annoying. I CANNOT STAND people who hate you until they need you. And that was her. Her nose was always stuck so far in the air and then when things happened with her family and she was shunned (without being actually shunned) from her “friends” the people she was so rude to were the people she needed. Proving that they were never really her friends. I just wish she could have realized it before she did.

I don’t really want to say anything else because I don’t really want to give spoilers, but like this weird ass mystery thriller about hunting for gold is pretty cool. There’s a romance that is in my honest opinion unnecessary because it had nothing to do with furthering this plot, but it was still for a reason in the end. I just didn’t think it had anything to do but further the plot. Because what should have happened was that person telling her don’t you remember how you acted toward me?! But I digress.

In Gold As Gold Casey Whitlock's family has fallen from grace with her father's bankruptcy. Once a part of the "charmies," the rich kids in Langston, Georgia, she is now a "downstreamer," living in her grandmother's tiny house on the wrong side of town. Threatened with losing that house as well, Casey reaches out to Tanner for help in selling her family's last valuables in his stepdad's pawn shop. A rust-colored coin she's trying to sell is actually part of Langston's buried treasure that tourists and locals are seeking. Tanner, Casey and his friends, Squid and B decide to look for the treasure and end up finding out the original town Toulouse, a black community now underwater, holds the clues they need to find the treasure. Echoing the popular TV series Outer Banks, the treasure may be the key saving Casey's family and her future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the book before the loan was archived but I will definitely be borrowing once it is available at my local public library. The book is very reminiscent of the Outer Banks so there is definitely a following for a book like this. Haves vs. have-nots. Mystery. Treasure Hunting. I can't wait to read the rest of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for providing an eARC for review.

I very much enjoyed this novel. The characters were likable, but certainly not perfect, and they had real life problems. I really felt we got to know our main character, but would have liked a bit more background on others in the book (although maybe this is planned later). The main character experienced growth and a lot of change, although we meet her after her fall from the rich lifestyle to which she was accustomed. It would have been nice to have some flashbacks of her "before" behaviour to compare how she's grown, although being able to follow her thought process gave us a good idea of what we might have expected.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me, and I wouldn't hesitate to read other works by this author.

My students always love a good mystery, but as one pointed out recently, the main characters in YA mysteries are largely white. With that said, this definitely fills a void that kids are looking to have filled. It also addresses some of the many issues that contemporary adolescents are having to reckon with about this country’s history. I live on the edge of one of those towns that was flooded for hydroelectric power. The families who were moved weren’t (in the case of my town) families of color, but they were the poor & largely voiceless rural mountain people. To that end, this book unintentionally captures their story too. I also appreciate that the author positions the narrator and her family as people who have known power and financial reward. I think that empowers a reader. Another of my students recently complained that too many books “make POC poor, and that ain’t right.” From the mouths of babes. With all of this in mind, it elevates the book from 4 to 5 stars for me.

I really liked this book it was very fast paced and interesting and will be a great read for fans of outer banks.

Good as Gold is a fast paced and exciting read that definitely gives Outer Banks vibes. There's friendship, social issues and treasure. I really liked that the lost treasure was in fact from a town of African American people that was taken away from them and the past was buried. The history is very reminiscent of much of America's history and I really liked that the author was trying to point this very sad fact out. This story was pretty fast paced and it was definitely adventurous, I really enjoyed all the characters and how they all came together. Something I would've loved to see was more details about the treasure and it's history as well as a longer scene of the actual finding of the treasure and its location. I felt like those parts were not as detailed as I'd wished them to be and the discovery was such a small part of the book! Overall this is such an adventurous read that also addresses how history isn't always as it appears.

Casey’s life was perfect, up until it wasn’t. The Queen Bee of her high school, she had expected to sail through life with the constant reassurance that she had money to fall back on. Then, her dad loses her job and everything comes apart. They lose their house and have to move into her Grandma’s old house, they’re saddled with debts that they must pay back and Casey’s ticket to freedom is revoked. And then Casey, along with a small group of friends who’d reluctantly adopted her into their fold, discover that they are sitting on the edge of a secret so large it could blow the whole town apart, as well as provide them with enough money that they’ll never be worrying again.

GOOD AS GOLD, pitched as a Black reimagining of Outer Banks, really sells the whole small town, big secrets trope, with Langston’s history constantly at the forefront, making the reader question just how it was all going to wrap up. This was such a fun, fast read that once I really started to get into the story, I flew through most of it in only a few hours. The only reason it took me so long to finish was because of life and other books that were higher on my priority list. I loved being in Casey’s head and seeing all of her thoughts and feelings. I felt like I could really empathise with her situation at home, and I truly understood why her only option was to find the tressure.

I did feel like this could have been longer. It could have been a bit more developed. I expected more action, more danger, especially from that prologue, and instead I didn’t really feel the sense of urgency. I was told certain characters weren’t happy that they were after the tressure, and that they would do anything to stop them, but it didn’t actually feel like they did anything to stop them. It felt like Casey and the group were merely being challenged rather than threatened and so for that, I wish we could have had a bit more danger.

Regardless, this was a book I really quite enjoyed, one that was extremely easy to read and made me want to continue watching Outer Banks. (I only recently started watching it, I’m on like episode four.) I think people really should pick this on up, because the positives definitely do outweigh the negatives and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting this book anytime soon.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview copy of Good as Gold. As I was reading Casey's story, I was sucked in by the strong Outer Banks vibes and the cinematic opener. However, there were also some stumbles in the storytelling. I thought some of the relationships (B and Casey, especially) felt too quick, and I wish we could have spent more time with Casey doing her research and connecting with her grandma's stories. *Spoilers* I would also have liked to see another chapter to tie up the land rights issue and give me some closure on Casey and her Charmie friends as well. Finally, the epilogue read like years had passed, which would make sense in terms of having things go through court, selling the silver, building new businesses and buildings, and changing relationships, but when Casey said it had been almost a year, I was thrown off. I just find it hard to believe all of that could happen in less than a year and that Casey and her new friends would completely lose touch (to the point that she has no idea that B and Dev are in a relationship) with all of the ways that they would/could be connected. *End Spoilers*

So overall, the story drew me in. I know my students, especially my Outer Banks fans, will enjoy it. And while I enjoyed it, I liked it in the same way I like Outer Banks. It's fun, but I also find myself yelling at the TV because there are some wild story devices that just don't make sense to me. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

I absolutely Loved this book!! The characters were very interesting and relatable. I really loved how the author kept the story moving without it slowing down and getting boring. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.