Title: Waiting for the Night Song
Author: Julie Carrick Dalton
Publisher: Macmillan-Tor/Forge
Publication date: January 12, 2021
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Summary
There’s one event from her childhood that Cadie has kept a secret all her life. But now, that secret is coming to the surface. When she gets a message from her childhood friend, Daniela, about that night, Cadie rushes home. This dark secret taints the otherwise idyllic summer that Cadie and Daniela spent together.
Now a forestry researcher, Cadie also finds herself in the middle of a struggle between migrant farm workers and the locals when wildfires spark in the area. Forced to face the truth of what happened that summer brings up memories that Cadie would rather keep hidden. Now, she has to decide what she is willing to sacrifice in order to protect the people and the forest that she loves.
Review: Waiting for the Night Song
Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book to review! It sounded intriguing, so I decided to pick it up. And I wasn’t disappointed! This is a slow-burn mystery centered around forestry and power struggles that will keep you interested until the end.
The way this book is structured is its strongest feature. Dalton switches back and forth between past and present, much like Where the Crawdads Sing. This helps to build the suspense of what happened that summer and why its so dangerous that information is coming to light. Dalton does a great job building this tension throughout the book, not just in the plot but also between the main characters. You can feel it in almost every aspect of the book.
However at times, there are a lot of descriptions about forests and forest research that can take away from the main plot. These were sections I tended to skim. I also wish there was a bit more development in the characters. Outside of Cadie, many of the characters felt flat to me. Adding more character development would have made the story even stronger.
Despite that, if you’re looking for a slow-burn mystery set in a lush forest setting, Waiting for the Night Song is for you! I’d definitely recommend it if you like reading books like Where the Crawdads Sing.
3.5/5 stars