Going back and forth between current events and the past, this suspenseful book kept me guessing.

Thank you Netgalley and Doubleday Books for the ARC!

I enjoyed the writing style. It was fast paced and kept my attention. Unfortunately, with the dog fight and Misty being killed this isn't a book for me. I only have 1 thing that will turn me off of a book and it's animal cruelty.

A gripping mystery/thriller that weaves together a murder case with themes of friendship, adolescence, and revenge. The writing is original and the story introduces fresh elements to the idea of the body of a long missing person being discovered. The multiple points of view add to the intrigue and keep the pace quick.

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

I ended up DNF'ing Kala at the 25% mark. I was hooked immediately from the first several chapters, but then I felt a severe slowing in plot and found all of the lingo/phrases throwing me from being interested in the story. I'd recommend this to those who reach for more atmospheric thrillers, but overall it was a miss for me.

Summary
Summer 2003, a group of six Irish teens; Helen, Mush, Joe, Aoife, Aiden and Kala, were inseparable. Then Kala disappears without a trace. Everyone went their separate ways and 15 years later Helen is back for her father's wedding, Joe is a famous musician who's come home and Mush still lives in town. During this time, remains are found in the woods and Mush's twin cousins disappear. Mentally they all return to the summer that Kala disappeared. Jumping perspectives and timelines, we see how the group became friends, and what led up to Kala's disappearance.

Review
Wow. This book had a lot going on. It took me some time to read it because I really needed to focus on the story. Not in a bad way, but between the Irish words and writing style, along with not wanting to miss any details because there were multiple storylines happening with the different characters. It is a deeply layered story, with the loss of Kala just being the core to everything else going on, even all these years later. Losing Kala affected all of her friends in different ways and the effects still trickle down.

That said, there was a lot going on. With each of the three main characters perspectives, Helen, Mush and Joe, in the past and present, there is a lot of jumping around so it could get confusing as to when you were and who was the narrator. But Colin Walsh did a wonderful job of tying the stories together. The ending though.... Ugh, it didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story. There were a lot of unanswered questions at the end and I wish there was more closure.

Fifteen years ago, Helen, Joe, and Mush were part of a friend group in Ireland that centered around Kala- until Kala disappeared.

They're all back, and remains have been found in the woods. And other girls have gone missing. What happened?

This book hit all the right spots for me. I love Irish literature and literary mysteries, and this was a masterful, suspenseful example of both. It explores the cost of belonging and what we will do to keep our secrets in the past. You should read this.

The characters drew me deeply into this story and I did not want to put it down. The mystery was well crafted.
Many thanks to Doubleday Books and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

KALA is a haunting, breath-taking book by Colin Walsh, telling the story of a group of friends and an Irish community plagued by loss, grief, and murder.

I really loved this novel by Walsh, finding myself immersed in the setting and the fully-realized characters. This book had twists I didn't expect, moments that made me laugh and cry, and an incredibly satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend this novel, particularly to those who enjoy murder mysteries and Irish literature.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books, Doubleday for this ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

A coming of age story, a thriller, a history of friendship from teenage years to adulthood- the book is all of these things and much more.It is long-too long and drags especially for the first 100 or so pages of the book.It is written from the perspective of the major characters speaking in alternating chapters and this is a style that I’ve always found difficult. If you read it, you have to concentrate-the cast of characters are so interwoven that at times it is easy to get confused. I liked it , glad I read it but also-GLAD I finished it😂😂

This book falls squarely into the literary thriller category and is reminiscent of Tana French or Valerie Perrin. I was immediately drawn into the plot of Kala, who goes missing. I also enjoyed the time jumps between the past and 15 years later.

Walsh's writing was solid and engaging, and I look forward to reading more from him.

FANTASTIC AND FAST READ! THANK YOU FOR E-ARC. PERFECT READ FOR FALL AND A BOOK THAT WILL KEEP YOU UP WAY PAST YOUR BEDTIME!

Thank you for providing an advance copy of this book. Unfortunately, I’ve decided not to finish the book but I feel that other readers would better appreciate the story.

First, I really enjoyed the setting and actually listened to a bit on audio. Listening to the Irish narrators was intriguing.

However, I was expecting a thriller and it was too slowly paced to keep my attention. I thought that the many scenes jumping from the past to present was confusing and I found myself missing chunks in the narration. Perhaps it was my expectation to read a thriller that ultimately led me to be confused by the book.

Overall, based on the portion read, I think that readers will really enjoy reading about the setting and getting to know the characters so long as they are not expecting a fast-paced thriller.

I've seen Colin Walsh's novel "Kala" marketed as the thriller of the summer, but, although it is thrilling at times and there is a mystery at its heart, the book felt more like a character study of the three narrators and of the Irish setting, which jumped off the page. I enjoyed reading about both timelines, past and present, and I thought all three narrators had a lot to add to the story. Each narrator has a very distinctive voice, and I found this a little tough to get past when I first started the book--Mush's voice, in particular, was a little jarring when I first encountered it--but I really appreciated the different voices by the end. Often when reading a book with multiple narrators, I find myself preferring one over the others, but I liked seeing the story through the eyes of all three of these narrators, and I particularly enjoyed the author's choice of second person narration for Joe's sections, as it really does perfectly reflect who he is. Please be aware that "Kala" is heavy at times and deals with difficult subject matter, which I think Colin Walsh handles sensitively and well. I did predict the twist at the end, but by that point I was long past focusing on what actually happened to Kala and more caught up in the narrators and their stories. I'd definitely recommend this one--give the book a little time and soon you'll find yourself immersed in its world and in its characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Doubleday for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

I normally am good at figuring out what kind of books I would like, and this fell into the usual category, but fell short of my expectations.

really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

This one unfortunately just wasn't for me. I am so glad it's getting great reviews. I struggled a lot with the pacing and it was too much of a slow burn for me. I'll be recommending it to people who are looking for this kind of story.

The six of them were an entire world and they didn't need anyone else. The girls were Kala, Helen and Aoife. Kala and Aoife have been friends since kindergarten. Helen moves to town as they are all fifteen and slowly the other girls take her into their tight friendship. The guys are Joe, Mush and Aidan. Joe is the golden boy, top of his class and sports teams, good-looking. Aidan is the wise guy with relatives who are on the shady side. Mush is everyone's best friend, a chill guy who likes everyone. Together they are invincible and take on the world, adventuring every day. Kala and Joe are a couple but the rest are just friends.

But teenage friendships tend to fall away when adult lives intervene. Joe became a rock star and has been living abroad in Hollywood. He is also an alcoholic but that's a secret. Aoife grew up, married and moved away. Helen is living in Canada working as a free-lance journalist. Aidan is no longer alive. Mush was injured in an accident that left his face disfigured and these days just runs the cafe with his mom. And Kala. Kala disappeared at the end of that magic summer when they were all fifteen and no one knows what happened.

But now the gang is back together. Helen's father is marrying Mush's aunt and Joe is also back in town. They tentatively reunite but there's news no one expected. Human remains have been found and soon they are identified as Kala's. She was murdered. Who would have done that and is the killer now looking for one of them?

This is a debut novel and Colin Walsh gets it right. His recreation of teenage years when one is just finding their way and friends are everything is spot on. The tension builds until I had to put the book down periodically and walk around a bit before reading more. This is a debut novel from an Irish author noted as one of the best rising authors of his country. The revelation about what really happened is a page-turner and the reader will remember the characters long after the book is finished. This book is recommended for thriller readers.

I was really looking forward to this book but was ultimately disappointed and I struggled to finish it. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and felt that the book was very slow. The Irish phrases were also sometimes difficult to understand. I am in the minority on this because other readers have really liked it but this book sadly wasn't for me.

KALA ended up not being for me. My opinion is obviously in the minority considering it has a 4.13 rating on Goodreads, but I don’t really have any specific criticisms other than I just couldn’t get into this one.

Early reviews described it as an atmospheric literary mystery with a coming of age element, which is literary catnip for me! Some of my favorite books are in this niche genre so I was highly anticipating the release of KALA. However, I did not find the writing to be particularly atmospheric or literary and the ending was a bit wild, so this just felt like a slow thriller? I enjoyed the coming of age portions, but the pace overall needed to be faster.