This book was very intriguing, and the plot and setting was very unique; it made for a great murder mystery!

It was a great debut novel, but I did find the beginning a little bit slow, which is why I couldn't give it 4 stars.

What I liked most about the book, was the atmosphere and imagery of the PNW. But overall it was a little slow moving for me and didn’t grasp my attention to binge read it, as much as I hoped it would.

There are a lot of moving parts in this book but they are easy to follow. A murder is dressed up like a suicide and Elijah is arrested and tried for it. That is the main timeline but it also jumps around to before he left town to try and become a famous author and when he returned after failing. I liked the various timelines and the inclusion of diary entries from the victim. I liked the labyrinth established by the killer even if the ending seemed too rushed and simplistic. And I appreciated that the author didn't try and use an existing Indigenous Tribe to finagle a connection but instead made her own so as not to provide an inaccurate representation. It worked for me!

I initially picked this book up because I heard the author on a running podcast and was intrigued. I am really glad I did. I am not always one to enjoy books set in small towns. Often, the towns are quirky which can be code for unrealistic, weird, or even offensive. Sometimes there are too many characters and too much drama. Drama, yes, you'll find that in Sarah Crouch's Middletide, but you will also find a lovely sense of place, characters with a lot to lose (and a lot to gain) as they explore their past and present selves and desire changes for the future despite the losses they've experienced, and beautiful writing.

I thoroughly enjoyed Elijah's story. His flaws were apparent, but as the mystery progresses, so were others in his small town. The setting of the Pacific Northwest was just incredible. I've traveled to the region some, and truly felt the author did a great job in that regard. I enjoyed Elijah and Nakita's relationship as it ebbed and flowed, though I was annoyed at some of her father's actions (maybe that's cultural, maybe that's because the book was set in the 1990s). My biggest complaint with the book was Dr. Erin Landry. I felt like some aspects of her character were believable, but others seemed too far fetched for the time period - she seemed ahead of her time in regards to political/cultural norms especially in the region. I didn't understand why she came to live there. Something was just off about her. But overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit and would recommend it to others. 3.75 stars rounded up

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I would call this book more of a mystery than a thriller. The writing in this book was superb and the layering of the storylines was so well-done. The depth within which Crouch developed the main characters was brilliantly captivating, leaving the reader with a feeling that you knew these people in real life. The book is part small-town life, part love story, part prodigal son returns, part mystery. This was not a heart-pounding creepy thriller filled with jump scares. It was a more intelligent novel -- a captivating whodunnit mystery with so many memorable characters in a charming small town, you almost forgot you were reading a whodunnit mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review!

They were accurate in saying it was similar to Where the Crawdads Sing. However, I felt like it lacked the same depth. I felt like the author spent a lot of time explaining him living off the land again and not a lot of time on the bigger picture of whodunnit. The ending felt rushed and it didn’t pack a punch like the author thought it would. Maybe I was expecting it to be too much like a thriller and not just a crime fiction. Overall, the book had a good concept but the execution just fell short for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I didn’t really know what to rate this book but I think I’m gonna land on 2.5 rounded up.

There were a few things I loved but also a few things that weren’t my favorite.

Right away I loved the setting of the story with the Pacific Northwest and the woods and the water and the small town near the reservation.

One thing that was hard for me right away was the timing. I had to keep flipping back to keep track of where I was in the order of events.

It was a page turner in the beginning until it wasn’t. The end wound up feeling very rushed and just felt like the final events and twist were all spelt out. I was almost hoping for one more twist that left me shocked.

I do feel like there’s a lot of potential here so I would look for another book by this author.

Thank you netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Middletide is a slow burn but it does catch your attention right away. I absolutely love the PNW which had me wanting to read this right away! The last half is faster paced than the first half. The first half is a little dull.

Elijah is a failed author but writes a novel that is very similar to the situation surrounding Erin, a girl found dead on his property. Elijah maintains his innocence but ends up going to trial for her murder.

I was hoping for a bigger ending and kind of thought it just... ended. But overall this was good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A quiet uniquely written small town mystery set in the beautiful PNW with gorgeous atmospheric prose.

Disquiet descends on a small town when the beautiful young doctor is discovered dead and all clues point to the reclusive young man who returned to the community he abandoned years prior to chase big city dreams. Elijah Leif returns to his childhood home after his first foray into publishing flops. With a derelict cabin and a large swath of forest his deceased father left for him, he settles in to live on the land and hopefully rekindle a relationship with his first love. After Dr. Erin Landry is discovered lifeless on the periphery of his land, clues are uncovered that suspiciously look like the plot of Elijah Leif’s own novel.

Told in an alternating timeline, the story focuses on a man trying to reignite his passion for life as he navigates his daily life on the land, the mystery surrounding the doctor’s death, and a rekindled romance between Elijah & Nakita, who he had originally betrayed. It’s a slow-burn literary murder mystery that includes thoughtful discussions on grief, identity, and hope.

If you’re looking to settle in for some quiet murder mystery vibes, reminiscent to Where the Crawdads Sing, then I highly recommend adding this beautifully written debut to your TBR.

Lots of time jumping, which is always challenging for me when reading digitally. However, the book was beautifully written and had me interested from the start. Multiple POVs, murder mystery genre, with beautiful imagery throughout.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC.

Thank you so much for the advanced copy! There are so many good books coming out on 6/11….which also happens to be my birthday 🥳
I loved Middletide. This is the definition of an atmospheric novel. I will say it was a little slow to start but I got into it with time. It was also tricky reading on a Kindle because I couldn’t go back easily and figure out if the chapter year was before or after the last one. But overall- enjoyed the multiple layers to this novel and the love stories intertwined into the thrills and small town feels

4.5 Not at all what I was expecting, this was a surprise in a GOOD way. This was definitely part mystery, but this also incorporates romance storylines, small town drama, and some lovely nature descriptions. I thought the 90s setting was a perfect fit for this story.

The author did get me when the journal entries were found. I genuinely was angry at our main character and absolutely hooked at this point. This was a nice slow burn unfolding of relationships and machinations. I really enjoyed this!


I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lauren Crouch, and Atria Books for early access to this title in exchange for an honest review. What an excellent debut! This extremely atmospheric and well written novel takes place in Washington state and follows Elijah Leith who has recently returned it the area he grew up. Elijah is a “failed” author whose book revolves around a death and the local town doctor turns up dead under the exact same circumstances as written by Elijah in his book. It’s told in past and present POVs which at first made it difficult to get into the story but once I understood what was happening and how the timelines fit together I was able to get invested into the story. There were similar vibes to Where the Crawdads Sing and if you enjoyed that book I’d highly recommend picking this one up. It releases on June 11th!

I was excited about the premise of this book, but was disappointed in the execution overall. The voice was boring for me and the pacing felt too slow to keep my engagement.

There were a number of things I liked about Middletide. The writing is evocative, especially in terms of its description of the landscape and of day-to-day life, especially homesteading. I found many of the characters appealing, especially in terms of how relationships lost can drive an individual to both noble and devious actions. I also thought the entire conceit of the novel was interesting and the how-did-this-happen aspect of the plot kept me engaged. The major flaw of the book, in my mind, was pacing. The mystery was "slow burn" in terms of its unfolding, and I liked that. However, the resolution (i.e., "solution" of the mystery and courtroom happenings) were incredibly rushed (and hampered by a few too many sudden "ah ha" moments). I was also puzzled a bit by the tribal aspects of the novel, as they felt invented and were largely irrelevant to the plot. In spite of these flaws, the book kept me turning the pages.

I thought this was really well done. I was engrossed in the story from the beginning. Very good. One of those books that I actively picture in my head as I am reading.

i’ll be honest, this book was hard to get through. it’s a decent debut. it’s got at least one fully rounded character, some very detailed backstory, and more atmosphere than you’ll know what to do with. if you’re a fan of “where the crawdads sing,” then you’ll be pleased to know that this book is its fraternal twin. but be absolutely clear – this is literary fiction with a strong romance element and a “mystery” to solve. i say it that way, because if you’re a regular reader of the thriller/mystery/crime genre (or at all paying attention), the setup, reveal, and resolution are all pretty obvious from a very early point. does that make the book bad? absolutely not. i’m a firm believer in the journey being the worthier part of the experience, but because of the way this book was marketed to me (gripping, thriller, crime fiction, the cherry-picked description on the back), i kept waiting for *something* to happen and felt exponentially disappointed every time i flipped the page. sure, a crime happens, but i really didn’t think that there was enough time spent on making that a focus rather than a hurdle to clear in the last 20% of the book.

i’ll read anything. i don’t constrain myself to genre. but misaligned expectations can really disrupt my enjoyment of a book i might have otherwise really liked. is it a lot of different genres? cool, say that. should you go in with no expectations at all? also fine, just say that! writing a book is a herculean feat, so dishonest marketing really irks me – all that hard work pushed aside for one marketer’s weird choices. i think this author is a good writer who has plenty more up her sleeve and is going to only improve her craft with time. i would have just preferred that the people involved with this one had more faith selling this novel as what it was rather than what they wish it would be.

thanks to atria books for the digital copy of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great thriller. It reminded me a little of gone girl, but it was still really good. I guessed a few things that happened, but it was still really good. I have this a 4 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the early release copy.

This story pulled me in from the beginning! I did not realize this was Sarah Crouch's debut novel until I was about halfway through and looked up the book as I tend to go into books mostly blind.

Her writing style was incredibly easy to read (in a good way) and descriptive enough to allow the reader to visualize the environment and characters throughout the entire story. I sometimes struggle with stories that jump back and forth from past to present but felt as though Sarah did a great job of tying the chapters together so the flow of switching timeframes was seamless and easy to follow.

The plot of this book was a mix of mystery, thriller and a whodunit murder that had me trying to guess the ending throughout and telling myself "It can't go this way, it's too obvious" while my views of the characters shifted with each page. The conclusion was not exactly what I was expecting but felt a bit rushed or unrealistic.

The timeline of the trial and how the entire trial played out did not seem super realistic as a murder investigation takes months if not years in the real world. The justice system doesn't operate that quickly. However, as this book takes place in a small town in the past, perhaps that was more realistic for that time period.

All in all, I did not feel like I was reading a debut novel of an author and was very impressed with Sarah's writing throughout. I look forward to seeing what she will come up with in the future!

This was such a good read from start to finish. It was smart and atmospheric and the characters were well developed.