A time traveling, speculative story starring two sisters on the hunt to learn their mother's secrets.

When Beck and Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona, it is clear that the town has some secrets. The former military site seems to be almost deserted and the families continue to greet the sisters with surprise. But Beck has her mother's journalistic notes and she knows the answers to her death lie somewhere in town.

If you are ready for a creepy thriller, a time traveling mystery, a coming of age story for the ages, then Where the Echoes Die is for you!
#STMartins #WhereEchoesDie #CourtneyGould

I will be thinking about Backravel forever. Would you want to stay? I am an overly curious disaster of a human so I'd probably want to be there to look into it and literally die.
But I am also morose and like being morose so I might not chance it. Let me keep my darkness yall!
Anyway, I totally got why our teen was there and wouldn't leave. Teens are a disaster and don't make the smartest choices. It is part of human development.
I could not get enough of this book. I am so proud of our author.

Arc provided by NetGalley and Wednesday Books

This was a tough read that took me quite a while to get through due to the content and pacing but was overall a beautifully written story of loss and grief. Ellery Birsching was always chasing mysteries in her lifetime as an investigative journalist and after her passing she became the mystery that her daughter Beck began to chase.
I loved the concept of the seemingly magical mysterious town of Backravel and its sinister leader Ricky Carnes. This book combined two of my favorite things to read which is difficult relationships between mothers and daughters and impossible places. The dynamic between Beck and Riley, especially how differently they handled their grief and how that affected their actions was really interesting to me.
I also loved the mystery of the town and understand how Ellery and Beck got so drawn into it. Many of the elements of this story reminded me of some of Emily Henry’s young adult novels which were the first books that reignited my love of reading a few years ago with their small towns that were much more than meets the eye and deeply emotional character journeys.
I think the only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me was the pacing. It worked for the story and nothing really felt too drawn out plot wise but it was just slower than what I typically read and for that reason I struggled with getting though it at times and would have to take a bit of a break from reading for a day or two but I do intend to read more from Courtney Gould in the future.

I had no idea what Courtney Gould had in store for the reader with her latest spooky and mysterious story. I knew it would be a queer, ya novel, but I had no idea how much the theme of grief and how one delas with it would be so encompassing. Its difficult to explain what happens without spoiling, so I'll just say, it caught me by complete surprise and you should go experience it too.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this. It was reminiscent of Don't Worry Darling but in my opinion this was much better executed. I adored the author's previous book and I was nervous this book wouldn't completely live up to my expectations. However, it exceeded them and I loved this even more!!

The mystery combined with a rich and dusty atmosphere and ultimately a deep contemplation of grief made this book a standout of the year for me!!

Beck and her younger sister, Riley, take a road trip to Backravel, Arizona, the small town that their recently deceased mother was obsessed with. Upon arrival, the sisters find that there is something not quite right about Backravel, and Beck is determined to uncover the mystery that their mother had spent years investigating.

I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover! The book left quite a bit to be desired. The plot and setting were cool, but Beck and the other characters weren’t very compelling, so the book dragged. The lack of chemistry between Beck and Avery (considering how quickly they moved) made Beck’s motivations confusing. All in all, creepy (in a good way) but disappointing.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

An unsettling slow burn ride through a small town readers that anyone would struggle to forget. With flawed and compelling characters, an eerie and engaging premise, and a creeping pace that fits the intriguing tone, WHERE ECHOES DIE is a stunner.

A few months after Beck’s mother’s passing, she receives a letter in the mail — “Come and find me”, it says, in what is unmistakably her mother’s handwriting. There’s only one possible place she could be — Backravel, Arizona. But when Beck, and her younger sister, Riley, arrive in Backravel, they’re faced with even more questions than when they first started. Something is clearly off with this town; people don’t seem to remember how long they’ve been there, there are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches, nothing. The only person who seems to have an inkling of information is Avery, the daughter of the town’s leader. As Beck keeps digging deeper into Backravel, and her mother’s whereabouts, she finds herself more drawn closer to Avery. And the longer she spends in Backravel, the more Beck finds herself losing her grip on reality. Throughout the book, Beck faces a series of questions: What happened to her mother? Where is she? Why can’t anyone remember when the town was founded, how long they’ve been there, or what life was like prior to moving to Backravel? What’s the treatment center that Avery’s father, Ricky, runs, and what kind of treatment does it do? What is Ricky hiding?

While reading Where Echoes Die, I often felt like I was transported into Backravel with Beck. Courtney Gould’s writing is so atmospheric and evocative, and I had goosebumps a couple of times. The town of Backravel was as much of a character as Beck, Riley, or Avery, and I loved learning as much as I could about it. Backravel was hauntingly creepy and ominous, and there were secrets at every turn. As is the case with most mystery thrillers, I spent a large portion of Where Echoes Die trying to solve the mystery before the protagonist. In this case, I was throwing out wild theories left and right, trying to figure out why Beck’s mother would fake her death, why she’d leave her teenage daughters to fend for themselves, and where she truly was. While we already knew that Beck’s mother would often leave Beck in charge of the finances and of managing the household, there was something unusual about this situation, and more so, about Backravel. Something that Courtney Gould truly excels in is dropping little breadcrumbs for the reader along the way, although sometimes these clues aren’t what you’d think they are. I had a couple of false suspicions, and many, many inaccurate theories, but ultimately, did figure out what happened to the town of Backravel, and Beck’s mother, before Beck, so I’d consider that a win!

I found myself wishing that Where Echoes Die was longer, especially once I’d finished the book — the pacing felt a little off, and I wanted more of a resolution. I wanted to know more about what happened to Beck and Riley, more about Avery’s life, and even more so, what life looked like for them after they all started the healing process. Most of Where Echoes Die is an exploration of grief and trying to find answers to questions that no one knows the answer to, and it felt like once we got the answers, the characters were finally able to begin their healing, but a lot of that happened off-page. I also wished that we got to see more character growth and development within the characters. I don’t think I had a strong grasp on any of their personalities, or their character traits until about 60% of the book. Whether that was intentional, or not, I’m not too sure. The romance subplot also felt very underdeveloped and rushed as well.

I think Where Echoes Die is a book that I’d enjoy more upon rereading, especially now that I know what clues to look for. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a fast paced mystery!

Shortly after the death of her mother, Beck gets a letter in the mail in her mom’s handwriting, post-marked from the Arizona town she was obsessed with and reading simply: Come and find me. Determined to solve the mystery that held her mom’s attention for the past decade, Beck and her younger sister, Riley, take a road trip to Backravel. What they find is a town where no one seems to remember how they got there or when and a gleaming treatment center on a plateau that everyone is reluctant to talk about in detail. I received an invitation to read a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books. Trigger warnings: parent/child death, cancer, abandonment, injury, illness, asthma attacks, grieving.

After adoring Gould’s debut novel, The Dead and the Dark, and screaming about it every chance I get, I don’t know how to explain where this one went so wrong for me. To begin with, nothing much happens for nearly half the book. I’m usually fine with novels that aren’t terribly plot-heavy if they have other things going for them, but this one doesn’t need that many pages to establish a rather weird but somehow boring setting and characters that aren’t that deep. It’s mostly a lot of Beck being dramatic about events that don’t seem at all noteworthy, which didn’t endear her to me. (There’s also a TON of repetitions of Ellery Birsching’s full name in the narrative. Just… why? I got it the first ten times.)

Beck’s personality is basically her trauma and nothing else. She’s not only grieving her mother’s death, but she’s been stuck in survival mode for so long that there’s not much else to her. She keeps most of the other characters at a distance, including her younger sister, so that there’s no chance for character development or getting to know them, and her relationship with Avery is so awkward and out of place that I didn’t manage to have any particular feelings about it.

Mysteries have a shelf-life within a novel, and this one suffers a bit from being left too long. So many pages pass with Beck uncovering no new pieces that half the book could be summed up with “weird vibes.” Unfortunately, a vibe doesn’t carry a story, and the actual explanations for what’s going on in Backravel feel rushed and under-explained. It all makes sense well enough for what happens, but I guess I wanted to see more of it in action once we understood what was actually happening. I enjoyed the concept overall, but the novel feels like just that: a half-baked concept that never quite manages to manifest.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Once again, I am punched in the gut by a Courtney Gould novel about a queer teen with fraught parental relationships.

CW: parental death and emotional abuse

Beck is a 17-year old fresh off the death of her and her younger sister’s mother and is desperate to do anything that will remind them of her life. She carts them both off to a tiny Arizona town in the middle of the desert, the place her mother was obsessed with for years, in hopes to finally understand what it was about this place that was more important to her than her children.

The representation of grief in this was incredible. The discussions at the end of how to move forward with your life when you can’t decide if the memories you’re bringing along are good or bad really hit me hard. How to continue on when we aren’t able to figure out if we love or hate the person we lost. We all want to go back to who we were before The Bad Thing happened, but in the end, that’s not really possible.

As Beck says, “there is no time before the hurting. We’re all hurting all the time. We can only move on.” There is no time before pain. There is only the learning that comes after it that allows us to navigate it better the next time.

If you love queer girls, books about grief, and vaguely paranormal things happening in weird little towns, Courtney Gould and especially this book are perfect for you.

this book left me hella confused… there was really no explanation of what was really happening. i think it had so much more potential to be a better story if they explained more. beck and riley’s relationship is what made the most sense in this story. they both are grieving their mom in different ways and they have mixed feelings about living with their dad and his new wife. avery and her dad’s relationship was very weird but then we get the reveal of why that is and it makes so much more sense. the desert woman reveal was the best part imo. i kinda saw it coming but i liked it still. overall it wasn’t my fav but it was okay, i just wish there was more of an explanation of how the town became what it is.

Beck has been struggling with the death of her mother. She keeps thinking about happier times. She receives an anonymous letter in her mother's writing, inviting her to the town of Backravel. Beck and her sister, Riley, make the journey to Backravel. Backravel is a bit of an odd town accompanied with some odd characters. The people that live int town do not even remember how they ended up there. Beck investigates the town and tries to search for answers about her mother.

The main reason I gave this book 3 starts instead of 4 as it was a bit more science fiction-y than I was expecting. This took away from the overall story line for me. It was a bit of a slow read but had some exciting twists and turns.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of Where Echoes Die!

Beck and her sister Riley are at a crossroads in their life after the recent passing of their mother. Before their lives change forever as they move to Texas to live with their father, Beck plans one last trip to Backravel, a little town her mother was enraptured by in the last years of her life. In going to Backravel, Beck hopes to uncover what drew her mother back over and over again, and she stumbles upon quite the mysteries.

I think this book had so much potential. With a mixture of sci-fi and mystery elements, it really sent me back to the popular dystopian novels of the 2010s. While it had potential, I think it attempted too much in only an average size novel. Between the romance, the uncovering of the multiple mysteries to explaining the magic or sci-fi elements, I think that both the romance between Avery and Beck, as well as the magic being explained, fell short.

I think this story could have been more impactful if it did not include a romance and focused more on Beck and Riley (perhaps with a dual POV), and the emotional side of their grief and family dynamics alongside the mysteries of the town. The romance was very underdeveloped and felt forced to me. I do not think it helped that I recently read Gould's other novel, The Dead and the Dark, and they felt very similar to me, particularly in the underdevelopment of the romance.

I overall enjoyed the experience of reading this book, but felt incomplete when I originally finished as I came out with more questions than I came in with.

The cover on this one is amazing, and I do love a beautiful cover. Unfortunately, though, this book just wasn't for me. I'm not sure why, but I couldn't connect with the main character. I believe it was due to her more negative attributes, and the rest of her personality just never outweighed these for me. Also, there were some sections which just didn't pull me in due to pacing.
But I have no doubt others will enjoy this read. It just wasn't quite my thing.

Where Echoes Die is a splendid work of sapphic speculative fiction. This slow burn mystery centers around Beck and her sister Riley who travel to a strange little town in Arizona called Backravel that had been the source of their mother’s journalistic obsession before she passed away. With one last chance to visit before heading to Texas to live with their father, Beck is determined to unravel the mysteries that her mother took to her grave.

Full of loss, grief, and the lengths we are willing to go to hold on to those that we love, Where Echoes Die is more than just a thriller full of interesting twists. It is a love story filled with hope.

Recommended for fans of magical realism, sapphic love stories, and thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Courtney Gould for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

17 year-old Beck and her 15 year old sister Riley, are grieving the death of their mother,Ellery. Before they move in with their father, Beck is determined to find out why Ellery kept returning to Backravel, Arizona. Ellery was a journalist and never one to give up on the story, yet she wrote nothing about what drove her to this town time and time again. Beck may live to regret her decision to try and unravel this mystery though as this town and the people who live here are in a word,strange. But grief can make you do our things, and even as the town gets it hooks into Beck and makes Riley sick, Beck cannot just drive away.
Grief, horror, and mystery combine, and I loved the beginning, and the middle, even if the end was just OK in my opinion. I’m seriously not a lover of so many endings, that I’m beginning to think it’s just me. This was such a strange town, and I’m still not sure if the way I felt about the story is what the author had in mind. It was definitely intriguing and different, and I enjoyed most of this book.
If you’re looking for a read that’s hard to put down and is hard to describe, Where Echoes Die will have you furiously flipping the pages.

When trying to unlock the secret behind her mother’s death to a mysterious isolated town that is also connected her mother’s unfinished book, Beck Birsching and her sister soon find themselves in for more than they ever bargained for. Beck and her sister Riley are visiting the town of Backravel, Arizona. The place that their mother had visited a lot and wrote about, what they failed to mention was that they lied to their father about where they were. After their mother’s death, she wrote a letter to Beck telling her to “find her” in Backravel, and now Beck is on a quest to not only uncover the secrets that connect her mother to this town but to help finish the book her mother was writing before she died. From the moment the sisters arrive in Backravel, something is off. No one seems to remember when they got their and their memories are slipping... and the town’s mysterious town leader and his treatment center seem to be holding all the answers to the secrets. The more Beck dives into this the more she finds that she is beginning to lose herself, she wants answers but can she remember enough to find out or will she succumb to the strange sickness that has taken over the town. This was such an interesting queer horror/sci-f- mystery. I definitely recommend going into this one blind, it’s so much more fun that way. The story was unique and it deals with grief and how we all handle our grief and what not dealing with grief can lead to. The mystery of the book keeps you hooked and you keep trying to piece together what exactly is going on in this town and who is behind it or wha tis causing it. It was a unique story that I would definitely recommend!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I thought that the book where echoes die by Courtney Gould, was definitely a page Turner. It made you wanting to know what happened next. It was very intense from the first page to the last page. A mother's love never dies with her son holding her heart by never giving up and never letting it be forgotten either within him and the town where she had lived with her family.

Courtney Gould deserves the highest of fives because she created a brilliant, disturbing and mind-blowing sapphic horror that captivated me from the first paragraph until I got to the last page. Plus, I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m still suffering from a serious book hangover and I really wished this story was longer. Where Echoes Die ticked all the right boxes for me because the word-building was awesome! Spooky desert town with endless secrets? Check. Messy, flawed and unreliable narrator? Check. Going for an emotional rollercoaster ride by feeling all the anxiety, sadness, hope and paranoia that Beck felt? Check. I’ve become a huge fan of this author’s books and I can’t wait to see what she does next! By the way, have I mentioned how much I adore this stunning book cover?

This YA sci-fi mystery follows two sisters who are discovering the mystery that gripped their mother's interest, and entire life, before she passed. The novel is moody and creepy for reasons you can't place. It takes place in a sleepy desert town that would normally never catch anyone's interest--except their mother, a journalist, whose life's obsession was unraveling the puzzle of Backravel, Arizona. Now her oldest daughter is continuing her work after receiving a letter from her mother from "beyond the grave". It's very much "creepy stuff happens in Nowhere" as people are living in daze, continuously losing memories, and clearly hiding something strange.

At >50% in:
The storyline is unique and fascinating, but the plot moves at such a slow pace, and since you spend a significant chunk of it confused with no more clue as to what's going on, it can be difficult to stay engaged.

After finishing: I was lamenting the extremely slow-pace of the plot, but I'm glad I powered through. It never really picks up until the last moment, but I realized that since this isn't meant to be a thriller, you're supposed to feel confused and curious but not at the edge of your seat. Gould is an incredibly talented writer and storyteller, that is undeniable, and I enjoyed the unique premise. As a queer reader, I felt more connected to Beck since she's a lesbian. Overall, this is a great book if you want something that will slowly draw you in with a story that creeps up on you.