Language: R (100+ swears, 54 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (passionate kissing, drinking); Violence: PG-13 (fighting, harassment, description of dead body)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Noa and Jamie are in Cape Hope, part of the Florida Everglades. But Noa is a Chaser, one of the locals struggling to make a living, and Jamie is a reluctant member of the Collective, the rich resort owners/guests who are trying to drive out the Chasers. After Noa and her friends Tech and Shawn are harassed by a group of Collective teenagers, they decide it's time to act. They begin investigating an old accusation at the heart of the feud between the groups: that a Chaser started a hotel fire and murdered a Collective. But first they need to find the hotel which disappeared off the map, and they need a boat. Thankfully Jamie is back in town after a two year absence and happens to have one.
The murder mystery aspect is slow to start and not as prevalent as readers may expect. However, the relationship between Noa and Jamie and the disappearance of Noa’s brother kept the pace going. I enjoyed the novel’s shifting points of view between Noa and Jamie, allowing each character to develop. The lush descriptions of the setting places readers in the Florida Everglades. Furthermore, the tension between the Chasers and the Collective brings up issues of classism and identity as the teenagers work to figure out what they will stand for and against.
Noa and Jamie’s ages are not specified, but they are written as older teenagers. Two secondary characters, Shawn and Jordan, are LGBT+. Tech is described as having dark skin, and Jordan has olive skin.
Ms. Megan, HS Librarian
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