What The Valley Knows  is an absolutely un-put-down-able novel. I'm a mother of three sons, and I happily neglected all of them, hiding myself in the bedroom while they banged on the door, just to find out what would happen at the end. 

As a former high school English teacher, and a young adult author myself, I cannot recommend this novel enough. It has something for every single reader. 

Young adults will love the points of view from the novel's two teenage protagonists: Wade, a football superstar and Molly, a tuba-playing band girl with a ton of smarts. Christie flows between the third-person perspectives with an incredible agility. These two teenagers are real, relatable, and vibrant. I wanted to reach out a shake Wade's screws loose when he makes bad decisions, and give Molly a hug when she finds herself in a horrible situation no young woman should ever have to face. 

Plus, the chapters are almost James Patterson short, so even reluctant teen readers will be able to stay riveted through cliff-hanger after cliff-hanger. 

Adults will appreciate the outlook of Ann, Molly's widowed mom trying to keep life together amidst two jobs, a creepy boss, and life with a daughter who won't open up. Her perspective reminded me quite a bit of one of Kristin Hannah's female protagonists. Joy Candellaro from COMFORT AND JOY, I believe. 

WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS is set in Millington Valley, a small Pennsylvania town, and the backdrop for Molly's senior year at a brand new high school. Ann drags a reluctant Molly to the new town for a paralegal job, and now, Molly hates life because of cheerleaders who make her life hell, and jocks who seem too cool for her to connect with. 

That is, of course, until she meets Wade. Quarterback of the football team. Falling behind in English. When he's forced to go to the tutoring center where Molly works, fireworks erupt and the rest is history. 

But is it? 

Not in this novel. After a gruesome car wreck that leaves Molly disfigured with a horrible truth niggling at the back of her mind, Wade has to come to a conclusion that could cost him his hopes of a football scholarship. And Ann must reconcile that perhaps she hasn't been as observant of a mother as she could have been to Molly, and maybe everything that happened could have been prevented…if only. 

Several times throughout the novel I found myself in tears, or rubbing goosebumps from my arms. WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS put the reader in me through an emotional ringer, while the writer in me drank in the fluid narration with vivid sensory descriptions, and hoped that Heather Christie is up for a Millington Valley series.

Because I certainly am!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!  I am surprised this book got so many 5 star ratings.  Not that it was bad, but it was just kind of dry and boring.  The story was ok, interesting more as it progressed but I thought the writing was really basic and nothing special at all.  I would have definitely liked it better if it had been in first person maybe through the eyes of Molly and Wade, skipping the mom's point of view because she didn't add that much to the story being about the Molly and Wade for the most part.  With all that said, Molly and Wade are a cute couple and get together in spite of many social issues in their small town.  Alcoholism is rampant there which is scary but probably true in real life in many small towns.  Their charachters are pretty one-dimensional though and I felt like I didn't know them really well at all.  Wade said he loved her but I didn't really feel it, I almost felt he was faking it in the beginning because he just wanted to be with her once.  Also I think that part when the sheriff crossed the line telling Wade the truth about what happened to Molly was completely unbelievable.  And wrong.  The whole story was just a little odd.  Quick read though and covers a few important issues like rape, bullying and alcoholism.  Not the best book I 've read this year, but then again, not the worst!

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS by Heather Christie in exchange for my honest review**

GRADE: D
1.5 STARS

Moving to a new, small town for senior year works out better than Molly imagined. Though she’s a shy band geek, she’s made friends and is dating Wade, a star football player, unaware he’s also an alcoholic. Then a car accident leaves her in a coma, unable to remember what she was about to tell Wade as his Jeep crashed.

Told from Molly’s, her mother Ann’s and Wade’s third person points of view WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS is a quick, heartfelt read that covers some important topics like substance abuse (mentioning more would be a spoiler).

I enjoyed Christie’s pleasant writing style. Including a parent point of view seemed unnecessary, though I understood Ann’s POV allowed another minor character to enter the plot. I would have preferred Ann’s and Wade’s POVs to be first person, his journals/letters made me feel most connected to the characters. All of the characters could have used more layers and personality.

WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS had parts that troubled me. The most glaring:
“But we call him Shady. You know, because he wears the sunglasses all the time and he’s black.” 😳I’m not comfortable with a white writer saying that about the only non-white character I’m the book. The lack of diversity is realistic for a rural PA setting, I grew up in an almost zero diversity similar town in the state. 

I was most uncomfortable with Wade’s persistence after Molly broke up with him. She’s a rape survivor. Not taking no for an answer to breaking up is NOT ROMANTIC. It’s creepy and should be a huge red flag to young women about control and dominance. To have a rape survivor pressured as romance is irresponsible.

Another complaint is the glaring lack of research. Even a small town sheriff should know better than guaranteeing a conviction and telling a former boyfriend that his ex was raped. The linear recoveries from surgery and addiction weren’t realistic.

WHAT THE VALLEY KNOWS is an enjoyable read with characters worth rooting for, though the drawback of Wade’s lack of respect for Molly’s boundaries prevents me from recommending.