I couldn’t put this down! A page turner from start to finish. Will definitely recommend to others. I hope others love it too!

I was so looking forward to this book about a teen whose mother goes missing and who has to use her brilliant puzzling skills to find her. I had even heard about it in a book preview from one of my trusted book podcasts. Unfortunately, though this had a lot of potential, the execution fell a little flat for me. I loved the neurodivergent representation, the puzzle and code idea, and the historical tie-ins. It felt like it could have been a New Adult version of The Da Vinci Code or National Treasure. However, the minutiae of the puzzles overwhelmed the story and plot, and left me feeling bogged down with little connection to the characters. The ending also felt rushed and incomplete given the drawn out journey to get there.

This felt very much like a debut novel but I would be curious to see how the author progresses in future books. The promising elements of this one didn't quite blend together to form a cohesive, impactful story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy. The Language of the Birds released on May 13, 2025.

Seventeen-year-old Arizona is traveling with her mother with their Airstream trailer in tow. The two women are dealing with the recent death of Arizona’s father, who was killed in a motorcycle accident. While on their current road trip, Arizona’s mother goes missing. At first Arizona tries not to panic, but then finds the Airstream has been broken into and torn apart inside, like someone was desperately searching for something. There is also a note that has been left on the counter for her to find, making it very clear that her mother has been kidnapped. The kidnappers believe Arizona’s father took a secret to his grave and the only way Arizona can get her mother released is to figure out the secret and turn it over to the kidnappers. The only way to accomplish this feat is solve some complex puzzles. Luckily Arizona is very skilled with codes, puzzles and riddles - she has spent her life doing those with her father, as well as being a very avid reader of history and all other types of books. Arizona has a faithful sidekick, her dog Mojo. She has never really had friends and has been made fun of in school for being odd and different. The adventure of searching for the secret her father may have hidden forces Arizona to come in contact with others and finds she can enjoy someone else’s company and friendship. The book gets a little bogged down with all the ciphers and obscure references but it does fit with the plot of the book. I enjoyed the characters and the struggles someone considered different comes across and how to overcome them. I give the book 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. The book is out now.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

K.A. Merson’s "The Language of the Birds" is a mesmerizing novel that blends folklore, mystery, and the enduring power of storytelling. Rooted in lush, evocative prose, the book invites readers into a world where language itself becomes a force of transformation—both for the characters who wield it and for those who become entangled in its mysteries.

This novel is about secrets—the kind passed down through generations, the kind buried deep within personal histories, and the kind encoded within the natural world. Merson constructs an intricate tapestry of myth and reality, crafting a story where symbols and hidden messages take on tangible weight. The narrative, much like the titular birds, flutters between voices, histories, and interpretations, demanding careful attention from the reader.

Merson’s writing pulses with an almost hypnotic rhythm, making the novel feel like both a dream and a puzzle. Every interaction, every revelation carries an undercurrent of magic—not the kind tied to fantasy, but the subtle magic of words and perceptions shifting before one’s eyes.

The novel’s characters are richly developed, each one shaped by the stories they tell and the truths they hide. Their relationships serve as the heartbeat of the book, offering moments of quiet tenderness alongside sharp, unsettling twists. The pacing is deliberate, allowing space for reflection while keeping tension simmering just beneath the surface.

"The Language of the Birds" is a literary enigma—unfolding in layers, revealing just enough to keep readers spellbound while leaving room for interpretation. Merson has crafted a novel that lingers, inviting readers to return to its pages, listen closely, and perhaps discover a new meaning hidden within the lines.

This novel focuses on Arizona, a seventeen-year-old whose father is dead and whose mother has been kidnapped. She pursues tracking down her mother and the kidnappers with her dog Mojo, and her love of puzzles, riddles and codes comes in handy because she learns that her mother was kidnapped because of a secret her father took to his grave. This was definitely a uniquely premised and enjoyable read for me, even though I felt that the puzzle-solving Arizona had to work through was way too complex and detailed. Nonetheless, I applaud the author’s creativity.

This was a clever mystery featuring a genius teen girl named Arizona. She is tasked with solving cyphers and puzzles to free her mom from captivity. She spends her time in or near her camper with her dog. I enjoyed reading the places she visited and luckily I had visited some of these places which helped with my imagination. While trying to solve the puzzles she loses some of her social anxiety and lets a few people help her. She went on quite the adventure!

I enjoyed the puzzles and literary reference though some went over my head. The story was creative and believable. I could see this becoming a type of series featuring Arizona. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this novel.

The Language of the Birds is a great read for code lovers and puzzle solvers. I am neither of those, but I still enjoyed the characters and the plot. I was slightly overwhelmed by some of the coding details, but Merson's writing style definitely held my interest. The main character, Arizona, is a brilliant and resourceful teenager. I enjoyed getting to know her.

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. I actually got a decent chunk into this but I never felt invested in the story and had to DNF

"The Language of the Birds" by K.A. Merson begins with an intriguing premise: a brilliant, puzzle-loving teenager named Arizona whose mother is kidnapped, leaving behind a demand for Arizona to uncover a "great secret" her supposedly dead father took to his grave. This setup, involving codes, riddles, and a mix of fact and fiction, promised a fascinating adventure.

Arizona herself is an interesting character – highly intelligent, more comfortable with books than people, and driven by a love for puzzles. Her journey across the Sierra Nevada mountains with her dog, following a trail of ciphers and ancient texts, definitely has moments of cleverness. The idea of uncovering mysteries hidden in U.S. history and the Western landscape is a compelling concept. While not explicitly marketed as a Young Adult (YA) novel, its protagonist and themes would certainly resonate well with that audience.

However, despite the strong concept, the execution felt somewhat underdeveloped for me. The intricate puzzles and historical details, while clever, sometimes overshadowed the emotional core of the story. I found that the urgency of finding her kidnapped mother occasionally took a back seat to the intellectual chase, which made it harder to fully invest in Arizona's journey. The plot, while ambitious in its blending of fact and fiction, sometimes felt a bit convoluted, and I struggled to connect with it as much as I'd hoped.

Ultimately, "The Language of the Birds" is a unique debut with a very smart protagonist and some fascinating ideas about hidden history and codes. But for me, it didn't quite deliver a consistently compelling narrative, feeling more like a series of interesting puzzles than a cohesive and emotionally impactful story.

★★☆☆☆

#TheLanguageOfTheBirds #KAMerson #Mystery #BookReview #Bookstagram #DebutNovel #PuzzlesAndCodes #YAAppropriate #HiddenSecrets #AdventureMystery #Cryptic

Enjoyed this courtesy copy from NetGalley. I think I'm a bit above the target audience age-wise, but a good mystery adventure nonetheless.

This book has many features that I tend to love when reading a suspense/thriller novel - puzzles, interesting characters, and danger.

Arizona and her mother are off to spread her father's ashes. However, her mother is kidnapped, and Arizona is tasked with deciphering clues to ensure her mother's release. For a seventeen-year-old, she is pretty smart and knows her way around search engines and the like to uncover the information she needs to solve the riddles. While it isn't stated, it is obvious she is neurodivergent, which helps when solving the riddles, but hinders her in trusting others or making friends. 

I did enjoy trying to solve the riddles, but I could tell I was no match for Arizona or the author. The ciphers were very cerebral and not meant for the average reader. I believe I read that a lot of this information was true, and if you had the desire to look it up on the internet that you would find the same information. Some poems lead Arizona to the next clue, once she has deciphered them. These poems are repeated, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good because I wouldn't remember it, but bad because I feel like it was filler. I also question whether a seventeen-year-old would be tasked with helping save her mother, no matter how brilliant she was in uncovering the clues. 

I did enjoy the book and how everything came together. Furthermore, I even appreciated the burgeoning friendship between Lily and Arizona. I think that is something Arizona was lacking, and this helped shape her future.

We give this book 4 paws up.

Dear The Language of Birds,
You ended up feeling like The DaVinci Code for YA readers to some degree. You had the same fun, monument related puzzles, except set in Nevada. I loved that your MC was some decent disability rep. It is never stated outright what her neuro-differences is, but it is clear that she thinks and experiences the world in a different way, but she was drawn authentically. You were well paced and taught me a lot about that area of Nevada and Herbert Hoover. You would be a fun introduction for a YA reader to puzzle mysteries. I enjoyed getting to know Arizona and her perspective on the world.

Seventeen year old Arizona and her mom are grieving the tragic loss of Arizona’s dad. While spreading ashes in his favorite locations around Nevada, California and Arizona, Arizona’s mom is kidnapped. In exchange for the return of her mother, the kidnappers force Arizona to dive into the world of ciphers and code that she once shared with her father. What she discovers along the way brings questions to the forefront — of the potential mystery her dad was chasing and how she will manage to thwart her mom’s kidnappers.

This was a good novel that merged a coming of age theme with a “National Treasurer” type plot. There was a lot of focus on the decoding of ciphers and clues that the protagonist has to work through as she navigates appeasing the kidnappers while also trying rescue her mom. It also really focused on Arizona’s personal growth and interactions with external stimuli that have been difficult for her growing up. Following along with her was interesting but also at times a major slow down to the pacing of the novel. But, overall a good read for anyone who likes puzzles, mystery and some historical fiction too! 3 stars.

Based on a digital Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!

I am so torn on this book, it has a great concept with a teen that struggles to connect with the world being more comfortable with riddles and puzzles chasing puzzles left by her recently deceased father. Except that isn’t what this book ended up being, its a kidnapping mystery and the puzzles come from the the kidnappers trying to get something, its never really important enough to the story.

The book is told from a few different perspectives but Arizona is the main character we spend the most time with. I don’t think I liked Arizona as much as others did but I certainly didn’t dislike her. At times she falls dangerously close to being that neurodivergent genius that has horrible people skills yet is allowed to get away with it because she is genius, its an old tired trope. But for the most part she manages to pull through without falling too far into a trope. She does grow through the book, coming to be better at dealing with people and having a better understanding of herself.

Unfortunately the secondary character don’t fare much better. I expected more from Lily, it felt like the book was setting her up to be more than just a plot device for Arizona’s growth. Arizona’s mother and kidnappers chapters also don’t add anything to the story other than the pad the page count. They seem to be more about setting up another character making the revelation feel a little too forced, I think leaving that out would have made the revelation and potential betrayal have much more of an impact on Arizona and the struggle to come to trust again. The Adept doesn’t really add anything, I would have preferred he not have any chapters.

I don’t find this book works with the plot that it was given. The kidnapping story just doesn’t work, there is no tension it never feels like Arizona’s mother is in any level of danger. Nor does it feel like Arizona is in any level of danger or pressed to complete something in a strict time lime. This may be where the book struggles between whether it is adult or young adult. There is some level of minor violence but nothing too serious. I wish that it had been more of a story about a young girl following the puzzles left by a deceased father that helps her work through her grief. Unfortunately the ending of the book falls flat, it doesn’t know if it wants to commit to the fantasy aspect of it or be more rooted in a realistic ending and so it just stutters to an end that isn’t satisfactory.

The puzzles are interesting but the details get a little well boring as they go through every little step of the puzzle. Maybe if you really really love puzzles you will love this part but as much as I like puzzles its okay to not go through them step by step by step since this is still a story and sometimes it gets a little too much into telling than letting the story show us.

The Language of Birds has a lot of potential but as it gets lost in the weeds it loses what potential it had.

What I liked: An adventure set in various locations of rural California and Nevada

What I disliked: Plot holes galore! A lone teenager doesn’t have money for gas, food, lodging, a scuba diving trip, veterinarian services for emergency surgery on a dog’s gunshot wound, and amazing internet service to do complex computer research from remote campgrounds

Meet Phoenix, a highly intelligent teen, grieving the recent death of her father and the sudden disappearance of her mother. She is now tasked with utilizing clues to find her mother before the clock runs out. I found this novel to be well written and complex; however, I also realized I needed to be in the right frame of mind to read it. It is definitely not a throw it in your beach bag book. If you are in the mood for puzzle solving and a cerebral challenge twisty mystery, this book is for you.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballantine Books for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Teenaged Arizona and her mother hit the road in their Airstream to help grieve the loss of Arizona's dad who had recently died in a motorcycle accident. Then, while out sightseeing, Arizona's mother goes missing and their Airstream is ransacked. A note with a puzzle is left behind. Arizona must solve the puzzles in order to save her mother but from who? And why??

This book gave me serious Davinci Code vibes! I absolutely adored Arizona (and her sweet dog) and found myself devouring it! I felt like I never knew who to trust and was so worried for Arizona as she moved deeper into the mystery. Each puzzle she solved and unlocked was so fascinating! I tried not to fall too deeply into the explanations of the logic and clues and instead focused more so on how her brain worked and how she solved the complex puzzles. I kept having to remind myself that she was just a teen and working ALONE to save her family. It was quite inspiring! I'd recommend this for readers who enjoy cat and mouse chase storylines with puzzles and history woven in. Super fun read!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review!

I didn't know going into this story that The Language of Birds is technically more YA than a typical adult mystery. That being said, I found the main character engaging, interesting, and relatable. As a 17-year-old, Arizona is not a "typical" teenager...  she is a wickedly-smart introvert who has been homeschooled due to her neurodivergence (not fully explained but definitely has issues with auditory processing, some obsessive tendencies, and perhaps lands somewhere on the spectrum with reading social cues) whose best friend is her dog Mojo ... and she is exactly what I think of when I hear the term "neurospicy." I actually like that the author chose not to provide a diagnosis and not put Arizona into some sort of box.

In the story, Arizona and her mother are both morning the recent loss of Arizona's dad in a motorcycle accident and travelling the West in theiir Airstream trailer (bonus for the Airstream piece as my family also had one when I was a child). To their surprise, they get pulled into an intense bit of intrigue that appears to be related to Arizona's dad's death. Racing against time, Arizona must decode complex puzzles and clues to uncover more of the story. Part puzzle and part treasure hunt, The Language of the Birds interweaves, US History, alchemy, and secret societies with each reveal.

This book would be great for those who love complex puzzles and riddles. I appreciated the neurodiversity representation and Arizona's personal growth as she had to step out of her comfort zone and do some pretty scary things, beginning with making her first friends along the way.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Language of the Birds is all about solving puzzles, cyphers to be specific. Overall, the cypher solving and story were interesting but it was constant. One after another. It got tedious after a while and I started to lose my interest. I needed more story than just being in the MC’s head repeating the same thoughts over and over. Puzzle solvers will probably enjoy trying to figure out the cyphers along with the MC.

The language of the birds is a quirky mystery whose heroine is its memorable hallmark. Arizona is a seventeen loner who prefers to spend the days with her dog mojo cracking complicated puzzles and codes and deciphering texts from eras past. When Arizona’s mom is kidnapped, Arizona must go on a treasure hunt cracking codes to find her mom. However, the answers lay with Arizona’s dead dad who held the codes to a centuries old secret of an underground society.

This is like the da Vinci code with a memorable heroine in Arizona. Arizona is the standout in this novel and her voice is unique and one that will be remembered. The plot moved quickly and the chapters were short and helped the pages turn fast. I enjoyed this one-even if the plot could be a little too “high brow” in parts!
Well done- and will be recommending.

Thanks to the publisher for proving this arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.