I enjoyed this book, but am not completely sure who the audience is. In one sense, I think it might be young adult as the main character is a 17 year old girl, who has just lost her father and her mother is kidnapped by a group making her solve ciphers to release her mom. However, the ciphers are really hard. It feels like the Da Vinci Code at times, I don't want to give away the details, but there are some deep conspiracy theories along that line. I don't think most teenagers, or adults for that matter, would be able to solve any of the ciphers on their own. So while the book is very smart, and clearly the author did some excellent research, I was just along for the ride, would have preferred something I could engage in more directly. However, the main character Arizona is quite charming, and I enjoyed the other characters she met along her adventures.

I thought this was a great book, but I'll be honest I skipped almost all of the puzzle part of the book which left me with a nice mystery with wonderful characters. The puzzles were elaborate and I applaud the very brilliant author who put them together for this book. And while I personally love puzzles of any kind, my life is too busy to go through and try to figure them out. I loved Arizona! She's a brilliant teenager who appeared to be on the spectrum somewhat, although it was never mentioned. Her and Mojo followed the quest, in hopes of finding answers and of course, helping to free her kidnapped mother. I think this book would make an excellent movie!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This one is the Goonies meets National Treasure! It’s full of cryptic mystery and intriguing adventure. I had such a great time on this ride!

Arizona and her mom have lost the patriarch of their little trio. They plan to honor him and release his ashes in places he loved. Her and her dad had a fascination and hardcore hobby of ciphering and decoding. When her mom turns up missing on a hike in a national park, the stakes are quickly raised to rescuing her at all cost. Turns out- there may be more to her dad’s love of cryptic puzzles than just a hobby. Was her dad’s death really an accident? Now Arizona has to put her honed skills to the test to solve equations, coded texts and riddles to save her mom in time.

This thrill ride takes Arizona everywhere from dessert caves to island dives, and readers will have a blast tagging along! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Really fascinating and fun book about a girl's search for her family after her father dies. It's a cypher mystery book, so know that going in! The puzzles were detailed and fun to get to the solutions. I loved the real history facts woven throughout and the main character was a great look at a neurodivergent teen finding her place in the world.

Arizona lost her father three weeks ago, in a motorcycle accident. It’s just her and her mom now, and in memoriam to him they spread his ashes at their recent a future vacation sites. Arizona’s mom goes missing at one of those sites and Arizona receives a bizarre phone call instructing her to solve a cipher to get her mom back. Homeschooled and generally people adverse Arizona feels al alone and totally ill-equipped to handle this, but with no one to turn to and not trusting anyone, what I she to do? Who could know her dad and her loved ciphers, and what does this have to do with her missing mom?

When I first started reading I was worried I wouldn’t be able to relate to 17 year old genius, Arizona, but I found her to be a lovable main character that I rooted for throughout this novel. She’s quirky, lost, and unintentionally funny, in a way that makes you want to rescue her. While at times I found this novel to be slightly heavy on the science/research. I very much appreciate the level of detail that Merson went to, to create this novel. There is an astounding level on intricacies in this novel. Part coming of age, part mystery, and a whole lot of whodunit with a quirky heroine, I would definitely recommend picking up this novel.

Merson in the author note thanked Andy Weir, Steig Larsson, Blake Crouch, while I haven’t read Crouch, you can definitely feel the influence of the other authors in the best of ways.

This is a combination of a story of family, a young woman, seventeen year old Arizona and her dog, and a friend who she turns to in order to share what she is thinking, a father whose body is discovered somewhere in the desert, and a mother who has, apparently, been kidnapped.

Arizona is an unusual young woman, so when she realizes that her mother has been kidnapped, she turns to what she feels is best to do, she follows what she is best at, solving puzzles.

I really enjoyed this story, despite some of the setbacks that Arizona went through, and loved how this story was wrapped up in the end.


Pub Date: 13 May 2025

Many thanks for the ARC provided by K.A. Merson & NetGalley

An amazing main character in Arizona, a riveting mystery plot, and a fascinating way to incorporate puzzle-solving into a novel. I am a very poor solver of cyphers, but that didn't stop me from loving spending time with a complex and beautifully-conceived brilliant neurodiverse teen, whose unique skillset allows her to solve problems from angles other people can't see. I can't wait to read more about Arizona!

I found this book about Arizona and the fight to find her mother, but also solve her father's death, fascinating, and it was a really good YA read. It has a really gripping story, and the ciphers/codes throughout the book definitely add to the suspense of the book. I enjoyed the "treasure hunt" aspect of it - like I was right along with Arizona, rooting for her to figure out the clues quickly in order to figure out what was really going on with her parents.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

I was 100% not the target audience for this. I think the premise here is so so intriguing but the puzzles and the history just confused me a lot, in all honesty. The parts outside of the puzzles, I really enjoyed. I loved Arizona’s character, but the book wasn’t for me unfortunately. This was written by an insanely intelligent author though, so props for that because, WOW.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Language of the Birds.

The premise was so intriguing and I was excited my request was approved.

The problem is that the plot was too cipher and riddle-y for me. I'm not smart enough to follow along. 😅

Arizona is a smart, neurodivergent 17-year old who is skilled in ciphers and puzzle solving.

When her mom is kidnapped and the only way to secure her release is to decode a series of cryptic notes, Arizona, with her trusty dog at her side, embarks on an adventure that will lead to shocking revelations and new friends,

The narrative was too science-y and brainy for me to follow.

I appreciate the work and effort the author took to create the narrative.

I also loved how much of the story is based on real life documents and history. I didn't know much about Herbert Hoover other than that he was the president.

I didn't dislike Arizona; I appreciated her talents and skills and I loved her dog. I also liked how her mom wasn't a helpless victim; she sought ways to escape.

I understand solving the riddle also enabled Arizona to develop her verbal and communication skills and learn to socialize.

I prefer my mysteries more straightforward and with a lot less math.

I had to pause my reading because I got really sick, and this book required processing at a level I couldn't while so ill, but I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I just finished it today and am obsessed. I already recommended it to people within the first 10% or so. It's intriguing and made me remember how much I loved ciphers as a kid, so it inspired me to get back into those. Definitely recommend.

I definitely was not the target audience for this book. It is geared more toward young adult readers. I appreciated the puzzles and riddles that challenged Arizona, it was not enough to have me invested in the story. I appreciated the history focus of the book, but there was just not enough to help me care about the characters. So it was a difficult and uninteresting read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

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Did not read. Have way too many books on my shelf - need to cut back. Hoping to get to it in the future though.

While I enjoyed the premise of this story, I just could not remain engaged while reading it. A mother and a daughter embark on a road trip, freshly grieving the sudden and tragic loss of their husband/father. The daughter, Arizona, suddenly finds herself alone as her mother has gone missing in a ghost town they are visiting. Arizona, only 17, must use her love of puzzles, riddles and research to find her missing mother, and through it all discover even deeper secrets about her family and her father’s accident.

I loved Arizona and the cast of characters she meets along the way. My issue is solely with the amount of technical puzzle solving within the story. The puzzles are laid out within the story in so much detail that it distracted me from the actual plot. I love a good riddle based mystery and I consider myself a puzzle/riddle enthusiast but the way the puzzles are detailed is daunting and really pulled me out of the storyline; I found it challenging to get through these sections and after a certain point lost interest in continuing on to find out what happens in the end.

I wish I was able to power through the overly descriptive puzzle scenes and find out what happens but I just could not get past the writing style and disjointed plot line/puzzle solving. I made it about half way through the story and then put it down.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for my copy; all opinions are my own.

I was into this until about part two. First, Im not a poem person, and secondly, this book makes me feel stupid. The puzzles and the intelligence needed to figure them out is over my head and involved too much brain power. While I think this book could be a 5 star read for its intended audience, unfortunately, it wasn't for me, and I ended up dnfing at chapter 15.

This was such a fun thriller. It was a novel idea putting the teenager in charge of solving the puzzles to get the mom back. Arizona's journey to find her mother and solve these ancient mysteries was a fun read.

I have recieved this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The Language of the Birds," she says. "Alchemy."


Okay, so I got this book because it was all about puzzles and I absolutely love puzzles. And yet, after finishing this... I think I love certain puzzles. I'm not going to lie because my brain feels like mush right now. Some of these puzzles, like the decoding and everything, did seem very cool. I liked seeing how Arizona would end up solving them. It just ended up hurting my brain at the same time too.

Other than that, I had a very hard time figuring out who I could or couldn't trust. Just like Arizona. For the longest time, I thought certain things felt too convenient and that they would both end up disappointed. And yet, I was completely wrong! I'm embarrassed but also impressed at the same time. I was wrong about so many people and I will happily say so.

In the end, it was a fun book that gave me national treasure vibes. I absolutely loved the dogs, Mojo and Gus, and I'm glad that the culprits were found and will end up in jail (hopefully!).

This is a YA Amateur Sleuth novel that revolves around 17-year-old Arizona and her efforts to decode ciphers/codes/clues from her deceased father to rescue her mother who has been kidnapped by a mysterious "cult" who will stop at nothing to possess this ancient secret.

While there was good writing here, I found myself skimming and struggling with the sheer amount of computer and tech-speak which unfortunately didn't engage my non-scientific brain. There are some twists and turns and a nice female friendship that develops between the normally reclusive Arizona and someone she meets along her adventure. It felt a little like a mix of Indiana Jones and National Treasure to me.

So, while there were a couple of good things about this read, ultimately, I found it a bit too tediously involved with the specifics of decoding and also a bit over-the-top in some of its premise.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group / Ballantine Books for providing the free early arc of The Language of the Birds for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This was a really fun YA mystery. I enjoyed the main character and her ability to solve puzzles and be a sleuth with everything. I think the publisher should begin to make comparisons to the Inheritance Games and it might find more readers. As an adult I some moments to be juvenile but I also realize that I'm not the intended audience.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS – by K. A. Merson

‘Seventeen-year-old Arizona’s favorite things include cryptography, geocaching, the writings of Jules Verne—and exploring the Sierra Nevadas on her Russian Ural motorcycle, with her dog Mojo riding shotgun in his sidecar.’

‘She’s not, in other words, your average teenager.’

‘So when she learns her mother’s been kidnapped and finds a cryptic test accompanying the ransom note, she’s not just horrified—but electrified. Solving puzzles and cracking codes are what she does best . . . .’

That. Was. Awesome!! If you like a heartfelt thriller wrapped in a mind-bending puzzle, I think you will LOVE this book!

Double bonus points for the familiar setting centered around my neck of words—Highly Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books (Random House), for providing me with an eBook of THE LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS at the request of an honest review.