ŷ������

ARC for review. To be published September 2, 2025.

1.4 stars

When April Fischer was five years old there was a huge disaster at the Copperton mine in New Mexico where her father worked as foreman, an explosion then a gun battle. Her mother told her her father was killed that day, along with eighteen others but April isn’t so sure. Somehow (and this is not clear to me, either it’s not said or I somehow missed it) there has always been this story that April, “the Bicycle Girl�� found a portal that day at the time of the explosion and was told to fly?!?! And April may have some memory of being told to fly?!? This became an Internet rumor, then a horror movie, so April has always been a pariah in town, and only has one friend, Grace. But at one point had other friends. All of this is a muddled mess and makes no sense.

And now (or for a long time, I don’t know) there’s a cult built up around this belief in the portal and the cult also believes that on April’s 17th birthday she will obtain some unknown power (from whom and why is not clear at all. This is a terrible cult.). In advance of her 17th, April’s Aunt Silvia gives her some documents that she tells April will help her find her father. Will they? Is he still alive? And what will happen on April’s birthday?

So, as you might have gleaned, this is a mess. And it would have been worse, except about 3/4 of the way through there’s a section that sort of explains a bit of the above…otherwise I don’t think I would even know as much as I do. And then, who is parenting April and her younger sister? Her mother is sick a lot with fibromyalgia, but, lady, listen, YOUR SIXTEEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IS THE BAIT FOR AN ACTUAL CULT. Imma need you to get outta the bed and, I don’t know, maybe do something? Like, for starters, MOVE AWAY?!?! April would be better off being raised by the actual Bigfoot than you.

I know this is YA, but young adults deserve an actual story that makes sense and explains things, not just something where a bunch of ideas are thrown out there with no real attempt to link them into a story. The author has the tense, moody feel down, but, ugh. Im sorry to report it’s not recommended for anyone. There are the makings of a decent story somewhere in here, it just needed to be written.