The Wayside is an incredibly unique, slow burn, dark academia mystery that simmers with tension before striking out with twists you don't see coming.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which follows a mother who is on a mission to understand the suicide of her son, and her unrelenting quest to piece together his last days at college before the unimaginable happened. When it becomes clear that there might be more to the story than just a straightforward death, she finds herself entangled in a situation that runs far deeper than she could have imagined.

This book manages to be both a mystery and a profound trail through a parent's grief in the unexpected loss of a child. Kate is a hugely sympathetic character, whose desperation for answers seeps through every decision she makes. Her certainty that there must be more to the story, while also having to accept that her son is gone either way makes for incredibly compelling reading.

No spoilers, but this story still manages to serve up some huge swinging twists that will surprise you and have you frantically flipping forward to see how it all conclusively ends.

A fantastic addition for those autumn reading lists.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy for review in exchange for an honest review.

Review: This is a pretty standard thriller. As a debut novel, it was well done. There are things the author can work on in her next work, such as some believability around the story and narrative plot holes/ picking things for convenience. There was a strong academic setting which was good, especially for this time of year. I didn't love the main character, I found her slightly off putting at times. That being said, this was a crafty story and I think most will enjoy their time with.

I had very high hopes for this one. The description sounded very interesting. From almost the start of the book, I struggled. I did not want to stop reading it in fear that the story would get better. I understand the book is about grief but I had a hard time sympathizing with the main character Kate. The ending was honestly predictable and was not a wow moment.

This one is a hard, chaotic read with a dark ending that you see coming but also sort of desperately hope will have one last twist. If you want an academia mystery with darker and darker twists and to feel like you're at the bottom of a cliff when you finish this is the book for you.

Kate Cleary's son takes his own life and Kate goes to his college apartment in his elite college town and enmeshes herself in his life to dry and discover when he got to the edge. To examine if she could've stopped it. At first there's a question of if it's delusion brought on by grief but as Kate uncovers more and more details about Jake's life it becomes clear something happened that changed her son.

A lot dark, a lot sad, and a little soapy. I read it in one sitting.

I rarely read thrillers, but this one captured my attention thanks to its dark academia setting and a very interesting premise. And surprisingly — or perhaps not — it delivered. I truly enjoyed my time with this book, despite its heavy themes.

Kate is an immediately relatable character. She has a strong voice, but even beyond that, it was interesting to learn about Jake from her perspective. After all, she’s learning about him for the first time too (through his diaries and possessions) and trying to slot the new information in with what she already knows.

And true, she makes some mistakes and questionable decisions, but they felt justified because of her grief. I don’t know a single person who could be normal in that situation. Her bad decisions sometimes bring her closer to answers, but sometimes cloud her judgment too.

The prose is atmospheric and descriptive without being too much. There is an occasional strange description like “the doors were shut like mouths” (not verbatim), and sometimes unnecessary details with perhaps too many brand names. But overall, this story is told well, with tender, yet crisp language.

It gets started quickly as well, which I appreciated. Authors sometimes make you go through grueling chapters of funerals and grieving for people you don’t yet care about. But not in this case. The story begins with Kate already on a mission to find out the truth behind her son’s death. She’s grieving, yes, but you slowly get to know both her and Jake and you end up grieving with her by the end.

The Wayside keeps its pace throughout. There are a few more introspective sections, where you learn about Kate’s or Jake’s past, but this is not overwhelming. Something that did confuse me were the chapters from Jake’s POV. They weren’t diary entries and seemed to be pretty immediate, so I’m not sure how they’re there, logistically. At the same time, I’m sort of glad that they are since you get a clearer picture of his mental state as well as of what happened to him.

There is also a slight romantic aspect of this, which I didn’t like mostly because I don’t think it fit in well with the themes of the book.

Also, I have to say that while I didn’t quite believe the reason why Jake decided to die, I do think that the final twist made it all the more plausible and terrifying. Sickening, too. And even though this is fiction (and Jake’s death is the inciting incident), I do wish he had someone else, someone kinder to talk to.

And I liked where Kate ended up, at the end. Yes, the story is sad and Kate will never not be sad, but at least she’s in a more hopeful, warm place both mentally and physically,

Overall, The Wayside blends mystery, lit fic and dark academia seamlessly while delivering a heart-breaking portrait of a grieving mother. It’s fast paced and yet emotional, with some truly atmospheric and stunning scenes. I highly recommend checking it out!

Trigger warnings for suicide, depression, alcohol and drug consumption, blood and injuries, stalking, and death.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Blackstonepublishing for the book #TheWayside by #CarolineWolff. Kate’s sons Jake has committed suicide while at college. Kate is having a horrible time with this and decided to go stay where he has been living and try and find answers. Along the way she finds some disturbing things but will not give up. Did Jake really jump or was he pushed? What was troubling him?

The Wayside by Caroline Wolff was an intriguing thriller.
The premise immediately drew me in and I couldn’t predict where it would lead.
It was so well written and the characters were fantastic. I was interested from start to finish and read it quickly.
I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
An exciting read.

Thank You NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Kate is mourning the death of her son by living his life and investigating his death. There are elements of dark academia, thriller, domestic drama, but ultimately this book is about a mom who is grieving. Yes, some of the things she does are questionable and even bordering on creepy. But grief is unpredictable. I think if you go into this expecting a thriller that focuses on dark academia themes, you may be disappointed. This is part of it but not the main focus.

That being said, I thought it was interesting to see how Kate lived through her grief and thought some of the things she did were very realistic as to what a grieving mother might do. She's trying to understand her son. She's trying to distract herself. She's trying to make sense of his death.

The twists were a little predictable at times but it kept me reading and wanting to know more.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't work for me. I found large swaths of it to not make any sense. It was incoherent and also boring at the same time. The characters were self-destructive but not in a way where you even understood them. I hope you have better luck!

The Wayside comes out next week on August 13, 2024, and you can purchase HERE.

Jake tamped down an urge to laugh. It was all so performative. Hard to suspend his disbelief and take it all seriously, same way he'd never quite been able to shuck his secondhand embarrassment and give into the spectacle of live musicals.

Jake Cleary was found at the bottom of a cliff, seemingly dead by suicide. He had been his elite liberal arts college for a few years successfully, so it came as a surprise to everyone. His mother, Kate, is sure that something is wrong, that Jake didn't kill himself, so she moves into his apartment to investigate the last few days of Jake's life.

Whew. Doesn't that sound like an interesting plot? Too bad this isn't what I got out of this book. This is a horny woman, who is grieving her son, but being really creepy about it. Kate using his student ID to get into dorms, the library and into classes was weird and make me question the security of the school.

I really feel that the horniness of it all is what took me out. Like, I get it....but also, the way she spoke to the cop when she was 'so sure' that he wanted to sleep with her? No way, Jose.

Potential but nah...not happening.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the copy of The Wayside by Caroline Wolff.Kate travels to her son’s college to investigate what would prompt her son Jake to take his own life. Eventually, it veered into the thriller genre but the majority of the ebook was about Kate coping (or not) and I wanted to know more about Jake and his life at school. There were missed opportunities to give context and background to him and his life that would have made the ending more believable and flow better.

I really wanted to like this book, and I refused to stop reading, but…
There were too many storylines, and it did not play as a psychological thriller. The grieving mother was fine, and I appreciated her walking in her son’s footsteps. The secret society was a poorly played red herring. Sasha’s story went nowhere…was she pushed by one of the twins? It all felt pointless. The “terrible night” that derailed Jake was not explained very well. The events did not seem nearly as traumatic as Jake made it seem. Jake comes across as whiny and not very likable. The twist with Sophia was good, but then made the secret society irrelevant. What was Jake’s real issue, the secret society or his family secrets?

A determined mother searching for answers. I wanted more. It felt like there was something missing from this book. But overall it was such a good page turner.

I had high hopes for this one. The introduction to the story only raised my expectations, but as the first few chapters dragged on, I felt myself lose interest.

Instead of building suspense, I felt the prose was uninterested and dull, and the rare dialogue stiff and unnatural. In one of the first chapters, there's also not a single sentence that doesn't have at least two brand names or media references back to back.

Because of my short attention span and low patience, this book just wasn't for me, but I'm sure some people'd enjoy it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

1.75 star read for me unfortunately.

I do think that this book would be enjoyed more by a person who has not ready many different psychological thrillers or thrillers in general, like if this was my first or second psychological thriller novel, it might be rated higher.

I think if this book focused more on the dark college society (plus it's a secret) instead of the loss/grief the mother was experiencing, I would have enjoyed it more. This book just took me forever to get through which typically tells me that a book just is not for me, but I did want to finish it so I could give a full and honest review.

I rarely will give harsh criticism, but I was on the struggle bus trying to finish this book. The premise of the novel sounds good. Mysterious death of mother’s son and others at prestigious university causes mother to search for answers. Unfortunately, the author tried to be too culturally relevant and the story went off the wayside. Aside from mourning her son, the main character is struggling with her sexuality and deciding whether to get in a relationship with a student. That aside, the story moved so slowly I felt like I was slowly being dragged through an unmedicated root canal. It felt like the author was trying to check all sorts of boxes to be accepted in every type of genre but missed the mark with what could have been a truly amazing story.
Thanks Net Galley for the advanced copy.

I was truly intrigued by this one it was definitely a gripping and engaging read, it was just not what I was expecting. I wanted a little more suspense and less of the grieving mother.

This highly tense psychological thriller blends mystery with dark academia, dysfunctional family dynamics, mental health issues, and queer representation.

It delves into the depths of motherhood, exploring how far a mother can go while grappling with guilt, grief, and the quest for answers about the last days of her son, who died under suspicious circumstances just before his 21st birthday. Did he simply fall off a cliff, or was it something more sinister?

Kate Clearly's son, Jake, a student at an elite liberal arts college, was found dead beneath a cliff. Despite their strained connection in his final days, Kate refuses to accept that he had suicidal tendencies. As she searches his room and reads his diaries, she discovers a suspicious correspondence with a mysterious individual. Her obsession with the incident intensifies when she learns that another student has also died under similar circumstances.

What dark secrets lurk within the walls of the school her son attended? Was he part of a secret community that drove him to the brink, or was he silenced by someone else?

Kate's quest for the truth leads her into a relationship with a woman who harbors secrets of her own, possibly connected to her son. But as Kate delves deeper, she realizes that ignorance may have been the safer choice, and that the ugly truth could destroy her life forever.

Overall, the final chapters and twists are truly heart-wrenching and intense. While the main plot may lean more towards family drama and women's fiction than dark academia, the execution of the story as a whole is satisfying. It's a promising debut that you shouldn't miss.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was fantastic. I couldn’t put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Kate Cleary’s son Jake is a student at Paloma College, a prestigious liberal arts school. When he dies of what appears to be an accident or suicide Kate refuses to believe it was either, so she remains at the school to investigate. Then another student dies. What is happening at the school?

Ooooh, give me a dark, secret college society any day and I am in! In fact, I could have used more intrigue, less grieving mother. But I liked it OK.