This is an impressive debut by an author who cites the following influences: Andy Weir for showing that science and math writing can be accessible, Blake Crouch for demonstrating how genres can be blended and bent seamlessly, Steig Larsson for writing an inspirational heroine, and Stephen King for inspiring others to make a serious effort with writing.

Arizona is a neurodivergent seventeen year old who travels with her mother to spread her recently-deceased father’s ashes in some of the places he loved. After her mother goes missing at Bodie State Historic Park in California, Arizona receives a phone call from a stranger - he is part of a group that has her mother, is familiar with Arizona’s strengths, and demands that she help them solve a cryptic puzzle if she wants to see her mother returned safely. But how do they know this about her abilities, and how is the group that kidnapped her mother tied to her late father?

There were flavors of The Davinci Code in this story, as Arizona works her way through multiple puzzles using ciphers and all sorts of logic exercises with which I can’t pretend to be familiar. There are a lot of diagrams and maps in this book, as we follow Arizona and her dog Mojo along on this high-stakes adventure. Did I skim over many of the parts trying to explain how she figured out what the encrypted messages and riddles meant (fractals, Euclidean space, monoalphabetic substitution ciphers, frequency analyses)? You bet. Did I get a kick out of the story featuring the history of alchemy and Hebert Hoover anyway? Heck yeah!

This books tells a smart puzzle-filled adventure of a story while also showing us personal growth in Arizona as she learns a bit more about learning to trust people enough to form relationships, and that emotions can’t be dealt with in the same way as mathematical equations. On display is the author’s own love of historical mysteries, literature, and even topography/U.S. geography and an outdoor/nomadic lifestyle. Well done!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books of Penguin Random House publishing for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review. I plan to post my review on my blog at jessicacrawfordwrites.com on April 29, 2025, and will share it on my Instagram account @shelfesteem101 around the same time.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Ballantine for providing me with an eARC for an honest review.

The Language of the Birds is a fun ride through and through! I genuinely enjoyed my time with it, and though I wasn't expecting it to be a YA novel when I requested it, but I think that distinction is often arbitrary, as this is an enjoyable story for adults and teens. I think that Arizona is a fun protagonist, and seeing the world through her eyes provided a very unique person. She is clearly coded as neurodivergent, which is not something we see often in a protagonist, and seeing her be able to solve her problems using those traits was a beautiful thing.

However, I think that the story often gets bogged down by the complexity of the puzzles and the level of documentation that the author used. This is also a positive, however, as it firmly roots this book in reality and history, and provides a level of depth that you would not find elsewhere. All in all, this was absolutely worth the read and I have already recommended it to a few people!

Thank you always, @netgalley, for an ARC of this book!

I love a good mystery, especially involving puzzles and cyphers, unfortunately this one fell a little flat for me and I was so excited to read it! The story is about Arizona, a teenager who is brilliant with puzzles but is grieving the recent loss of her dad to a tragic accident. When her mom goes missing, she realizes she is going to have to solve a mystery for a shadowy figure in order to get her mom back.

On the blurb it says this book has Blake Crouch and Andy Weir vibes - which is does but the thing about both those authors is their writing style is much more engaging. Reading through an Andy Weir book with his massive amounts of science included, is pretty much only bearable because his characters are very funny. Blake Crouch has very involved science fiction stories with strong character development. I really was rooting for Arizona but felt the dialog and character development to fall a little flat for me, possibly because this is a YA book and the main character is neurodivergent. Great to include this type of character (!) but her social awkwardness really leapt out on the page and I unfortunately didn't engage with her as much as I wanted to. I do think if you are a YA fan and like mysteries/puzzles this would be right up your alley, but I was a little disappointed.

This book was a quick read and enjoyable. I loved the story line. I think the author handled grief well. The mother/daughter relationship was lovely. Thank you for allowing me to read this book.

First off let me say this book is really creative and super intelligent. In some ways, I felt kind of stupid as I was reading it because there were a lot of words in there I had to look up. I love puzzles, but this was way too far over my head. I find it wild that a 17 year old would be able to best a bunch of adults. Although, I do think we adults overthink things that kids don’t. But in this case, Arizona is just way more intelligent than the average adult, let alone average 17 year old. And while I struggle to get behind that, I do think author did a good job setting that up with Arizona’s background. I live in the Gold Country of CA, where some of this book takes place and it was fun to trip around with Arizona through areas I know or have visited. I do think the geography details were a little extensive, in terms of details while she was driving and whatnot, but also I think the intention was to take on a huge trip through CA, so I also understand. I think it takes a super creative and intellectual mind to put together a book like this and while interesting, it was just a little too “over my head” for me. I like to be able to try and solve the riddles along with the characters and I could not even attempt that with this book.

The Language of Birds is reminiscent of The DaVinci Code - there are puzzles to be solved and an element of danger.

Arizona, a neurodivergent teen, must save her kidnapped mother by solving a variety of puzzles. There's a great deal of information about how she approaches solving them. Along the way, she also learns that she can trust and get help from other people.

I have been provided with a review copy of The Language of the Birds from NetGalley for an impartial review. I was just drawn into this wonderful story and I just couldn’t get enough of it. It was just so easy to get lost in this great story. I just didn’t want it to end. I just lost myself in and I just couldn’t get enough of these interesting characters. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

If you love puzzles and mysteries you’ll like this one, solving riddles and some history at the same time. Interesting plot, kept me engaged. Not something I would normally read.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Arizona is going through a difficult loss when her mom goes missing, it is up to her to solve a puzzle. She enjoys puzzles. This book kept me on edge from the start.

When Arizona and her mom visit a ghost town, Arizona’s mom disappears while on a tour. Arizona receives a call telling her she needs to solve some clues to rescue her kidnapped mother. Now, Arizona is extremely bright and she has been solving ciphers since she was a little girl. This adventurous tale has you guessing and cheering for Arizona as she solves a mysterious treasure hunt that may have sourced back to the 1930s.

I was blown away by the complexity of the puzzles! I love how smart the main character was and aside from having to suspend disbelief at times to accept what was happening, I had a pretty good time.

This book was interesting. It was filled with history about this country that I did not know. I love a good puzzle and the decoding was fun to read as well. I can't imagine what life would be like to be so intelligent that you really didn't feel like you could fit in or have friends. Good fiction book around some truths.

This book did not grab me right away, but I am glad I kept reading and became so very involved ,in the
brilliant story, and the adventures of Arizona, as young as she is, she is very bright and very special, and
with her Mojo, she did a fine job.
I did wonder if this was intended to be a YA book, but maybe not, though I can see high schoolers
enjoying it a lot.
As a debut offering, it offers a strong character and a well thought out journey, giving a strong
voice to Arizona.
I recommend it to everyone.’
My thanks to Ballantine Books (Amy Jackson) via NetGalley, for reading and review purposes.

This was a delightful YA book! I did not realize it was YA when I requested it, but I enjoyed it just the same. I love puzzles, and found the integration of math, codes, ciphers, and geometry (among other disciplines) really well done. I did see flavors of Andy Weir's The Martian as well as National Treasure, Da Vinci Code but for a younger audience, and I think it was a great debut novel by this author to introduce those younger readers into that realm of mathematic/scientific fiction.

It was cute, a little sassy, some good jokes, and a few twists along the way. A fun little read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books/Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy.

This was not my favorite book. While I really liked the concept and the history behind the clues, it fell flat. I would not qualify this book as a young adult. Maybe a new adult or just an adult. I didn't find the main character relatable or really enjoyable. The clues and cipher were really fun and well thought out, but I didn't think the story meshed well. Personally, I'm not a poetry fan, but if you are, there are a lot of poems included.
All that being said, if you are looking for a very intelligent book that will make you think, with adorable dogs and mysterious clues, you may highly enjoy this book.

A solitary teen must crack the code to save her kidnapped mother. She travels around California and Nevada with her dog in a motorcycle and a pickup truck solving ciphers and finding clues left long buried. There were a lot of things to like – the adventure, the travel, the history, but there were some things that slowed it down for me. I didn’t like that she was carrying a shotgun and the long details on how she solved the ciphers became disinteresting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this DRC.
#TheLanguageoftheBirds #NetGalley

Following the unexpected death of her father, Arizona and her mother are on a road trip to their favorite places scattering his ashes. When she returns from a hike to find her mother missing and their Airstream ransacked she tells herself not to panic. Finding a cryptic note on the counter she learns she must solve a series of puzzles to secure her release. Did her dad take a deadly secret to his grave and what are the kidnappers seeking? Eccentric and brilliant Arizona is no ordinary teen and knows just how to solve the ciphers. With her dog Mojo as company she begins a cross country treasure hunt. I love books like the DaVinci Code and anything to do with puzzles so I enjoyed this unique narrative. The historical details about California ghost towns, Hoover Dam and Herbert Hoover were informative and tantalizing. Arizona is a plucky protagonist despite being quirky and anti social. Arizona prefers books to people and the bread crumbs relating to classics such as Lewis Carroll or Robert Louis Stevenson made me chuckle. An engaging, gratifying read.

The Language of Birds is one of the more unique books that I've read in a long time. A teenage girl's mother is kidnapped and it's up to the daughter to solve a series of puzzles to get her mother back. The puzzles are presented in-text, and honestly I wasn't very interested in them. If you like puzzles and thrillers this might be a great book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for my review copy.

A young woman with a unique ability to solve puzzles and riddles, must put her skills to test to solve her father's murder.

The Language of Birds was that great mix of an engaging, mysterious plot mixed with an emotional, human story. The backdrop of the western US was also a striking part of the story, which made me feel like I had visited a new place. The code-breaking details were a little over my head, but completely following them did not end up being a requirement for the enjoyment of the story, thanks to explanations along the way. This is a story about grief, emotions, relationships, and trust. An exciting, heartfelt read!