Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia is a highly recommended character driven novel of suspense.

Maya Stark, 23, works as a speech therapist at the Congdon Psychiatric Facility in Duluth, Minnesota, but she is also a young woman with a past. Her mother, Jane, left home and abandoned her when Maya was 10. While her father did the best he could, Maya fell into a rough crowd after that. She also was a patient at Congdon at one time. But after that she pulled herself together, attended college, received her degree, and got her position at Congdon.

When 19-year-old Lucas Blackthorn is admitted to Congdon after a burglary attempt it makes the news because Lucas disappeared along with his father, Josiah, ten years ago while camping in the Boundary Waters area in Northern Minnesota and Canada. They were presumed dead, but here is Lucas, alive and well, although at the hospital because he is uncommunicative - until he meets Maya and seems to recognize her. Their first encounter is violent, but they eventually form a truce and begin to connect. She learns that Josiah is still alive, maybe, and Lucas was just trying to get him help. Lucas, however will not tell her where they were living.

While the narrative follows present day Maya and Lucas, it also reveals the backstory of Maya and Josiah, which makes for some very compelling intense reading. There are some similarities between Maya and Lucas's stories, but also many differences. You can see the motivation behind their actions and thought processes. They are both flawed characters; loners, wary, but also survivors. Maya is a brilliant but flawed character and I was fascinated by her even while I was thinking, "No, don't do that - bad choice!" Maya's background is much more troubled and brutal, but Lucas's survivalist background living alone with his father in the Boundary Waters through the brutal winters you know had to require determination, tenacity, and skill.

Mejia knows how to write an exceptional story and she has given us another very good suspense novel with Leave No Trace. The plot is taunt and riveting with enough action to keep the steady pace moving. The backstory and character development in Leave No Trace set it apart and makes the novel a riveting story. Yes, there are a few moments where you will question Maya's choices and others where you will have to suspend disbelief; but, setting that aside, I know I sat down to read Leave No Trace and finished it that night.

The setting in the Boundary Waters resonated with me because I actually was on a camping and canoeing trip there years ago. I could picture the maps of the area (or dig out my old one) and clearly see how someone could disappear in the area wilderness.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria/Emily Bestler Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/09/leave-no-trace.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2516384076
https://www.librarything.com/work/21661227/book/160031521
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1036309880607580160

Leave No Trace is an interesting enough story and maybe my definition of a thriller is different than the author's, but I didn't find one here. There is suspense and quite a lot of dangling carrots throughout that hint at answers, but the pacing is very slow and those answers take their sweet time coming. I realize this is fiction and certain allowances can be made, but this one requires more suspension of disbelief than what I would consider reasonable. To make matters worse, I didn't find Maya particularly interesting. She's rather bland as far as a protagonist goes, other than the sheer number of times she manages to be hurt by Lucas in his many attempts to escape. And that's just one thing that stretched the imagination. I can't imagine a speech therapist being left alone with a dangerous or violent patient even once, let alone repeatedly. The only saving grace in this one for me was Josiah. His chapters are very well done and are quite compelling, but about halfway through, I realized I was just plunging through hoping for another of his chapters. The author does have talent, but this one missed the mark for me.

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I just love the rhythm of her writing. Her words pull me in and the meter of those words keep me turning the pages.

Before I get into the actual characters of this story, I want to talk about the location. Although I’m from a suburban area and I’m just a handful of miles from the big city, growing up in Michigan I’ve been to plenty of rural areas…even “up north” all the way to Lake Superior. I found so many parallels between Minnesota and my beloved Michigan that I couldn’t help being enchanted by Maya’s surroundings, her dad’s job, her mom’s obsessions, etc. The bits and pieces the author reveals about the Boundary Waters has me fascinated and ready to take a canoe trip!

Maya hasn’t had an easy life. Not only did her mom leave when she was a young girl, but then she got into some trouble when she started acting out. Some of that trouble is one of the mysteries (to the reader anyway) that slowly unfolds as the book progresses. It’s obvious her dad loves her to pieces, he just doesn’t know what to do to make things okay for her. And as her father, that’s what he feels he needs to do. Maya just wants to be left to do the things that make her happy. So what if she doesn’t have a bunch of girlfriends to go out with and would rather spend time with her dog than her coworkers after work? That’s the life she likes. Socializing isn’t an easy thing for her and she doesn’t appreciate when anyone tries to force those situations upon her.

The other, bigger, mystery of this story is Lucas. He disappeared with his father 10 years before this story begins. When he reappears, there are way more questions than answers. Maya is put in charge of his case at the high security mental hospital where she works and there is an instant connection. There are possibly reasons for this connection, but neither Maya or Lucas are quite sure what those reasons may be.

As always, a mystery is very hard to review without spoilers. That means I won’t be saying much more. But I will say this is an alluring story with so many layers. What, if anything, was Lucas’ dad running from 10 years ago? Is Lucas telling Maya everything he knows? What is so terrible in Maya’s past that she avoids a whole city for fear of the memories? I loved pealing back the layers, one by one, and taking this journey Mindy Mejia laid out for her readers. I cannot recommend this one enough. It’s funny, when I reviewed Everything You Want Me to Be I said I hope they never make it into a movie. With this one, in the right hands and with the right cast, I think it would make a captivating film. The location shots alone would be a draw.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

I loved Mindy Mejia's last book, Everything You Want Me To Be, so of course, I was thrilled when asked to read and review her latest book, Leave No Trace. This was an author I was patiently waiting for to release a new book and I was psyched to have an early copy in my hands...and it did not disappoint!

Once again, Mindy Mejia thrills us with quite an addicting read, though I will say, this one does start off a little slower than the last one. But, once you get into the book, it is so worth the read. I liked that is very different, though, from her last book - this author proves that not only is she not a one-hit wonder, but she is also not a one trick pony. She totally changes things up here and the story is just as addicting and compelling as her previous book.

What I loved is that this story is filled with dynamic, complex characters that drive the story just as much as the plot does. But equally important is the setting - this book is completely reliant on the setting to help drive the story. The Boundary Waters were almost a character themselves. This book is definitely atmospheric in nature and the writing is so vivid in that respect that it speaks for itself.

The characters are all flawed and you end up becoming attached to them. I loved the way their history is slowly revealed. You start off not knowing a whole lot about either main character, Maya or Lucas, yet as the story progresses, you watch both of them come into themselves. The layers are unraveled and we learn quite a bit about each of them, unraveling not only who they are but why they are the way they are. This is a multilayered story, with not only a great mystery to it, but some history thrown in as well. The stories of the isolationists adds a nice depth to this already layered tale.

This was a thrilling, addictive read and I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author - she is definitely on my must-read list!

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I read another book by this author last year, Everything You Want Me To Be, and Loved it! So I was excited to see her next release up for review. This book was very different from her first novel but was still a good read. Maya as a character was dark and complicated and I liked learning about her character a little more through each piece of the book. Her relationship with Lucas was intense and the emotion of it really captivates the reader. Lucas himself was also an interesting character. The plot itself was ok, the major plot twist towards the end I didn’t see coming but after that the rest of the plot felt a little off to me for some reason. I did still really like the book though, just not s much as I liked her first novel I think. This was a good book and I’d recommend it!

Thank you Atria Books for gifting me with a copy of this book, in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I rate this book a 3 out of 5 Stars.

I was excited to get my hands on Meija's new book, and when the ARC came in the mail, I may have squealed a big, I absolutely loved her last book "Everything You Want Me To Be". I was so curious to see what she would write as her follow-up book.

It seems I may be in the minority here, but I wasn't in love with this book, I liked it, but I found the pacing to be very slow, and I just couldn't get this book to grab my attention. I did appreciate her details though, and her description of the Boundary Waters, it sounds like a place I'd love to see. I don't want to go in to too many details, but there are some nice plot twists in the book, and once those were occurring, I could not put the book down, and then the pace slowed again for me. Even with not loving the book, I believe Meija has fantastic writing skills, and I will continue to be first in line for her next book. I actually really did like that she wrote a completely different style of book than her first, these two books are polar opposite, and I believe many, many readers are going to enjoy this one.

This is my second book from this author. Both received rave reviews that I was seeing EVERYWHERE. While I enjoyed the first story, this book stood in a class all on its own.

It was a beautiful story about family, love, & perseverance in a creative way.

I really enjoyed this one!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I knew, when I saw the setting of this book was the Boundary Waters in my amazing state of Minnesota, that I had to get my hands on a copy of it. 🌲The author did not disappoint in setting up the setting with vivid details about this amazing gem. The Boundary Waters, in northern MN, is hundreds of miles of lakes and untouched forests. 🌲In Leave No Trace, a man and his son went camping in the wilderness and never returned. Their campsite was found ravaged but there was no trace of the pair. Now, 10 years have passed and the son is discovered ransacking an outfitter store. He is violent and refusing to communicate so he is sent to a psychiatric facility and placed under the care of the language therapist, Maya. She begins to build a bond of trust with Lucas as she tries to unravel where he has been for the last decade, what happened, and where his dad is. 🌲This novel has vivid setting details, a intricately woven plot, and a unique sub story involving Maya's Mother. This left me quickly turning pages until the exciting conclusion. For me, Leave No Trace was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars (rounded up from 4.5). Thank you @atriabooks for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review. 🌲

📖 Book Review 📖 I was thrilled to read this eARC of Mindy Mejia’s novel Leave No Trace. If you like psychological suspense with excellent characters and a dark, atmospheric setting, this is for you!

The story follows Maya, a 23-year-old speech pathologist working at an inpatient psychiatric facility when 19-year-old Lucas Blackthorn is brought in after attacking two people. He’s been living in the Boundary Waters wilderness area in northern Minnesota with his father for the past ten years, and all he wants is to get back to his father. Maya finds herself inexplicably drawn to Lucas as their lives, and their pasts, begin to intertwine.

Maya is a fantastic heroine—smart and edgy, a little antisocial. The plot unfurls at a slow but steady pace as we learn more about Lucas’ background and growing up with his father Josiah. Intertwined through all this is a deep love of the Boundary Waters and Minnesota in general—I loved experiencing a new-to-me part of the country. There’s also a mystery about Maya’s mother, a geologist who disappeared when Maya was a child, so we learn about rocks and geologic formations, which added a very cool touch. The chemistry between Maya and Lucas crackles on the page, and I found myself turning pages until late into the night to find out what happened.

Highly recommended! Thanks to Netgalley for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Mark your calendars, readers: this one releases September 4 and is going to be a hit!

Mindy Mejia’s newest book leaves the school grounds in favor of the Boundary waters of Minnesota, which is a fairly drastic change from her previous book, Everything you Want Me to Be.

In Leave No Trace, readers meet Maya Stark, a speech and language therapist at a mental hospital where she was once a patient. Maya has a shocking past. She was abandoned by her mother and is unable to form meaningful friendships. But why was she a patient in a mental hospital? This is just one of the mysteries of the story that will keep readers hungry to find out more.

Lucas, a new patient that has spent most of his life in the wilderness, has been assigned to Maya’s caseload. They end up forming a bond that brings her professional ethics into question and leads her to drastic measures in order to help him.

For the most part, this was a fast and exciting read, even though it bogged down a bit while the characters were in the hospital setting. I like an intense and satisfying ending and this book delivered on that count.

Any readers sensitive to depression and suicide need to be warned that it is a prominent subject throughout the book. There is also some violence.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for allowing me to read and review and advance copy and give an honest review.

Almost 4 stars. The book had its moments where it felt labored, but the twists at the end kept me hooked. The last 10-20 pages were gripping and made it all worth it.

I was borderline obsessed with Mindy’s other book, so when I saw this one, I basically jumped on it without reading the synopsis.

I loved Maya. She’s smart and resourceful and she’s got a lot of things going on. I loved the relationship she had with her dad and the dog might have been the best part. There are other characters, but I’m not going to say anything about them.

Plot wise, the pages were laced with tension pretty much from the start. There were a few things I didn’t see coming and I audibly gasped while reading. I enjoyed the layers being revealed and the deliciously slow build up.

Overall, it was a phenomenal read and I can’t wait to see what Mindy does next.

**Huge thanks to Atria Books for providing the arc free of charge**

Incredible story with an twisted, suspenseful plot and two very deep main characters. Ms Meija cast her line and I took the bait hook, line and sinker.
When Lucas Blackthorne resurfaces after years gone missing with his father, both thought dead in the wilds of the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, he's brought to the mental health facility where Maya works as a Speech Pathologist. She works under rate direction of the lead Psychiatrist there, a woman who knows Maya well, since Maya herself spent some time there some years ago.
Maya's history is as Lucas's at times. Maya is sent to work with Lucas, since he hasn't spoken since his admission and the Dr is trying to determine if he even speaks. Lucas is on a locked ward and in a locked room. Maya is well on her guard but it's at their first meeting where he tries to choke her to death and almost succeeds. These two connect in some unexpected way, and will continue to connect throughout this carefully unravelled story. Maya establishes a rapport with Lucas and also becomes a friend to him. She understands in some deep way where he's at. Meanwhile at home, her father who she still lodges with when he's not out trolling the waters of Lake Superior, happens to be at home and notices her injuries, he beefs- she shuts him down. Her mother left years ago. A geologist, she taught Maya all about the Basalt and the Boundary waters. The agate that forms within the Basalt.
Lucas gradually learns to cooperate after Maya tells him how things go there, that privileges are earned and his goal of course, is to get outside. He's been living in the wilds since he and his father disappeared. After several attempts to escape, he's once again back in the locked ward and Maya is pulled off his case. Maya had once promised to help Lucas and after a series of events it becomes apparent to her that she can and she does. Again we start down another twisted road of backstory and events that couldn't be seen coming. So carefully crafted and well told, these what these two people did for each other whatever the circumstance was perfectly written. I am purposely avoiding details and telling too much of the storyline. This is one book I think the reader should just step into and come up for air as needed. Epilogues were well done and a nice bonus. Stellar read, perfectly written right down to the last detail. She never missed a beat. Well done!!
4.5 stars

arc from NetGalley and publisher with many thanks for my honest review.

When Lucas Blackthorn was about nine years old, he and his father disappeared into the mysterious lakes region of the Boundary Waters, a series of glacial lakes and pristine forests separating Michigan and Canada. Lucas and his father were not seen again until Lucas was found, alone, breaking into the local outfitter’s store.

Twenty-three-year-old Maya Stark works as a speech therapist at the psychiatric hospital where Lucas has been taken. She is assigned the seemingly-impossible task of trying to get through to this violent and silent young man. Unexpectedly, they form an unlikely bond, and, through him, Maya learns of her own mother’s mysterious disappearance.

This well-crafted mystery is fast-paced and filled with unexpected twists and turns. Some may argue that the characters in this book are unrealistic. However, I believe that they are just human. This story reminds us that we do not always do what is right; sometimes we must do what needs to be done.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Leave No Trace is one of the best books I've read in a long time and is easily in my top five books of 2018. It's an outstanding psychological suspense novel that's packed full of twists I genuinely did not see coming and with an ending that's somehow uplifting yet a very real reminder of how far we will go in the name of what we see as justice.

And to top it all off, it's gorgeously written as well!

I want to avoid spoilers because this book is so good I think you should be as sucked in by the plot's twists and turns as I was but the basic premise is this: Lucas Blackthorn, who was last seen in the company of his father, vanished into Minnesota's Boundary Woods forest a decade ago. He is found breaking into a store near the edge of the woods, arrested for assaulting the owner, and, as he refuses to communicate, sent to Congdon, a psychiatric facility, in the hopes that he'll get enough treatment to be able to tell authorities what happened to him.

Maya Stark is a relatively new member of Congdon's staff, working as a speech therapist. She's also a former patient.

And she is assigned to work with Lucas.

From there, it's off and running and you might think you know what's going to happen...but trust me, you don't. I'm not usually surprised by suspense novels, but this one...wow! I actually gasped twice while reading this and I can't remember the last time that happened.

I would have finished this in a day except I had to work and sleep but every spare second I found I returned to this astonishing book.

Tldr: Leave No Trace is easily one of the best books of 2018. Read it! Seriously. Read. It.

Thank you for sending but I dnf'd. I do not leave reviews pr a star rating for books that I do not finish.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars because ... great location.

Lucas Blackthorn and his father disappeared into the Boundary Waters between Minnesota and Canada when Lucas was 9 years old. He is not seen again for 10 years, when he breaks into a wilderness outfitter and causes the death of the owner. He .is sent to a psychiatric facility where he is assigned to Maya, a speech therapist and former patient herself. Lucas and Maya make a connection and she eventually agrees to try to help him escape so that he can help his father, who was seriously ill when Lucas left him in the wilderness.

There were some things I really liked about this book. The idea of people living off the grid and the description of this wilderness was very interesting. But there were also some things that really bothered me. Some things were just not explained well. I also found the way we all forgot that Lucas starts the book by actually killing someone to be very off-putting. The author seems to imply that Lucas is in the psychiatric facility because he and his father chose to live outside society, but that's not the only issue--he did kill someone, after all. Maya's past is also complicated and hard to believe. How does a former mental patient with her particular history get licensed as a therapist? And what exactly is her father doing out on the lake? I never fully understood all the Bannockburn references; I kept expecting that to be relevant somehow to either Lucas's backstory or Maya's but it seemed to go nowhere. .

3.5.

Maya is a speech therapist in the same place she ended up interned after her mother left her. When the boy Lucas is found after ten years of his disappearance and assigned to her, she finds numerous connections she never thought they share. When Maya notices, she's putting everything on the line to help Lucas escape the clinic and save his father.

After loving Everything You Want Me to Be, I had super high expectations for Mejia's new work, so it was already impossible to satisfy me. The thing is that this book is also of a very different style. I remember EYWMTB to be more involving but also slightly superficial. This was definitely fixed here, all characters felt so real, I could guess their emotions because I'd also feel that way.

The book discusses mental health, readaptation and also suicide. It rang so true I'm torn whether to ask people who could feel triggered to stay away or if this could be the book for those. There is a life lesson, but it's not a very bright one in my opinion. The points raised were a punch in my stomach.

And with all that to approach, I think the story lacked in rhythm. I didn't feel that invested in knowing what happened to Lucas's father—especially considering how much time passes until you see people do something. But for that same reason, the book didn't encourage my reading, and I'd stop more than usual. I liked it but I wasn't curious over its whereabouts.

The characters may have been the reason too. Unlike in Mejia's previous work, though they were so much more real here, they didn't attract me.

As for conclusion, now I have to give it to Mejia. It was credible, it was rather shocking and above all it was beautiful. I didn't cry but it was because I felt touched beyond tears.

The story feels well researched, it gives you the pleasure of reading a good book, I just had my expectations too high to be met. It's still a great book nonetheless, and its topics have penetrated my mind in such a way, I'm sure I'll still be thinking of it all for a long time.

Honest review based on an ARC provided via Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

I read 47% of this book and I'm just not engaging with it. I'm not sure what the issue is. Honestly, I don't think it's a bad book, but I thought I'd enjoy it a lot more. We're just not clicking.

I have to admit that I'm leaving off in chapter 15. There has just been a big reveal and I should be super engaged. I think most people would be really excited to read the next chapter, but... I just don't have enough interest to keep picking it up and all my other reads are falling behind, so I have to say good bye to this one for now. I may try to pick it up again at a later date to see what happened, since I loved Mindy Mejia's previous work. This may just be a case of poor timing.

I fell in love with Mindy Mejia’s Everything You Want Me To Be and with Leave No Trace she solidifies her position as one of my go-to authors. Smart, sophisticated and with characters so real, I kept expecting Maya and Lucas to stroll out of the forest. This novel deserves the top-spot on your reading list!