This book attempted too much - ecology, entomology, coming of age romance, immigration and murder. I found it both jumbled and boring.

Julie Carrick Dalton’s first novel Waiting for the Night Song has so many incredibly profound layers it makes it difficult to know where to begin a review of this truly deep and haunting story.

Years ago two best friends Cadie Kessler and Daniela Garcia, both very young spent a summer picking blueberries and writing down promises they made to each other. But something happened to them during that season which both traumatized them and ended their friendship.

But all that is about to change. A body has been discovered, dead for many years near their New Hampshire homes and Daniela’s father is being questioned as a possible suspect.

So when Cadie, now an entomologist forest researcher looking into the correlation of certain beetles and imminent forest fires receives a phone call from Daniela whom she has not seen since that summer, imploring her to come home because what they know is about to be become common knowledge, Cadie goes back because she knows both their worlds will explode if their involvement ever comes out.

But what Daniela is unaware of is that Cadie knows much more than she had ever shared. She knows everything and has bared the brunt of that understanding her whole life trying to protect her best friend. Or so she thought. Within the secrets and promises they had shared with each other are some no one can ever knew.

Now Cadie must make the toughest decision of her life. She must either tell the truth of what she knows or betray her best friend who she feels she is befriending again. And now Daniela has a young daughter that Cadie must consider as well.

This is not just a murder mystery. Within the novel there are threads which are resonating in our lives today. The novel delves into climate control and what that could possibly mean for our forests. It touches on collegiate schools not wanting to rock the boat by going all in when it comes to the problem for fear of losing funding. And that is not all. The book also probes the issues of the rights of immigrants, some who are illegal but have been here for decades.

Waiting for the Night Song seemingly has it all. From a fast paced mystery thriller to compelling thought provoking issues tackled beautifully, this is a story which forces the reader to think outside the box.

Thank you #NetGalley #ForgeBooks #WaitingfortheNightSong #JulieCarrickDalton for the advanced copy.

How gorgeous is this cover? It is was initially what drew me into this one!

This book was so atmospheric and I really enjoyed that it read like a love letter to nature.

It was a powerful story that explores the difficult decisions that we are sometimes faced with and ultimately the cost of the sacrifices that we make.

With thrillers being my favourite genre of choice, I did enjoy the suspense & mystery aspect of this book but unfortunately it was just a little too much of a slow burn for me.

Part love letter to the earth and part heart-pounding suspense, "Waiting for the Night Song" satisfies all of the literary senses. Julie Carrick Dalton brings lyrical prose to a work that explores the relationship between humans and nature, racial divisions in a small town, and the corrosive power of secrets. A true page-turner.

Cadie Kessler is an entomologist, and it is her turn to protect the forest. New England is the “canary in the coal mine” with its problematic migrating vegetation and ever shifting habitats. The forests are being destroyed by beetles whose telltale blue fungus, the color of the autumn sky before sunset, stains wood everywhere. Even Bicknell’s Thrush, Cadie’s favorite the tiny songbird, has all but disappeared. Her findings describe the extent of the damage, and there could be ramifications if they are published because she went onto restricted federal lands to make observations and gather samples. As academia discusses what to do about her conclusions, a nearby wildfire rages through trees killed by the infestation.
Dalton places readers in the midst of New Hampshire geography with multi-sensory descriptions: the reedy flute of a distant hermit thrush, the wind stretching the clouds like raw cotton on a comb, the rusty tips of dead pine trees, the dull grays and browns of granite, streaks of silver and layers of radiant amber, and the brownie-batter mud.
A second story-line, a tragedy from the past, unfolds in alternating chapters. It is no longer possible to pretend that the long-ago summer never happened, and the past reaches into the present for a resolution. It is time for people to grow up and start over. If every action has an equal and opposite reaction, what is the opposite of covering up a murder? Does one moment define a person’s life, or is destiny determined by what one does after that?
“Waiting for the Night Song” balances environmental activism with a secret from the past that must be resolved. Oh yes, there is that fire with embers floating in the purple air like fireflies. I received a review copy of “Waiting for the Night Song” from Julie Carrick Dalton, Macmillan Publishing and Forge Books. It is not a book in my usual reading category, but it was a nice change; it is an enchanting story with an environmentally friendly message.
#WaitingForTheNightSong #JulieCarrickDalton #EnvironmentalActivism

I really liked this book, it was something out of the norm of what I usually read. I love how the storyline was framed around these beetles and forest fires, and climate change. It had so many different elements that were layered on top of each other which made for an intriguing and engaging read. Every once in a while it’s nice to read a book that just takes your breath away but its writing, intrigue, and plot lines.

Waiting for the Night Song is a literary novel that has an element of a thrilling crime, which is framed with immigrants and anti-immigrant sentiments and environmentalists and those who care about the environment. It really packed a punch. I really liked the mystery element to this, and the crime that was committed when Cadie and Daniela were kids and witnessed it, or what they thought they witnessed.

Dalton really captured nature and the wilderness in this novel. There were moments where I could vividly picture the woods, the lake, I could even smell everything mentioned, and hear the birds calling in the forest. I find that’s a sign or excellent writing, Dalton was really able to transport me.

Cadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn't she always know her secret would surface?
An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, now a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie's memory then all her other years combined.
This flips back and forth between timelines but I found it easy to keep track of when and what was going on.
These 2 friends haven't seen each other in years but their friendship seemed to take off from when they last saw each other.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Tor-Forge for the ARC to review,

This one wasn't really for me, but still a great story. I kept expecting a bit more from this one, and it didn't really deliver. Was still a good story, just wasn't for me.

This book is full of intrigue and I couldn't put it down! I wanted to know what happened to Daniela and Cadie and who was involved. The story alternates between the past and the present, but it keeps the reader interested in what happens next. There were several plot twists, but I was satisfied with the ending. It did get a little preachy about the forest environmental issues but it didn't overpower the story. The characters were relatable and so full of layers it kept things interesting. There is mention of physical abuse by cigarette burns, death by gunshot, and immigration issues if you are sensitive to those topics. I would recommend this book to readers that like a story about friendship, being haunted by the past, and moving forward in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela brings Cadie back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie's memory then all her other years combined.

The depth and finesse in which Waiting for the Night Song describes nature and Cadie's relationship with 'her forest' really reminded me of Where the Crawdads Sing. It's absolutely beautiful. And just like Crawdads, this one also has a murder mystery at the heart of its story and multiple timelines.

All in all a very pleasant read!

The premise was interesting, but overall this book was not for me. It felt like there were almost too many plot points and devastating events to keep track of.

“Waiting for the Night Song” is a murder mystery. It’s also a book about small town life, friendship, young love, secret pacts, betrayal and illegal immigration. AND WAIT—there’s more-—it’s about beetles. As in the ones that wreak havoc in nature and cause terrible forest fires. Oh yea, there’s a fire, too.

Yes, there’s a lot to unpack in this debut novel. But somehow Julie Carrick Dalton kept things moving quickly enough to keep my ADHD brain interested. Mostly. I may have enjoyed it even more with less pages and a bit less on the subject of entomology.

Special thanks to Forge Books for the advanced reader copy. I read the ebook while also listening to the purchased audiobook, which was well done by Macmillan Audio and the narrator Barrie Kreinik.

Tries to cover a lot of very big topics. Repetitive to a point that feels insulting to reader. Saw it compared to Where the Crawdads Sing ... sadly, not comparable. Won't be leaving a review anywhere else as I can't rave about it. Really couldn't feel invested - not in the characters or the mystery - fell short - hard to finish but plugged through.

Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Truth hides in fissures and hollows, in broken places and empty parts. It can be buried, crushed, or burnt, but the truth will always rise.

These opening lines of Julie Carrick Dalton's first novel promises the reader much, as she delivers a story that fulfills those promises. It’s a novel that takes you places that might be in your memory… the stolen yellow rowboat, the meandering lake. The two young girls in that rowboat picking blueberries, trying to discover things about a boy high up on a cliff. It’s a world where your best childhood dreams of danger, disobeying and taking risks come to life on the page.

In its opening, Waiting for the Night Song brings the reader to the mountains of New Hampshire where Cadence Kessler: Outlaw Entomologist, better known as Cadie, is examining the flora and fauna near Mount Steady. She is searching for evidence that a black beetle is killing the trees on the mountain side, thus creating combustible kindling in the already parched region—the areas future condemned to forest fires.

“The pea-sized creatures were killing off trees, leaving them as kindling in the parched woodlands. She stroked the delicate destruction with her finger. The beetles’ telltale blue fungus, the color of the autumn sky before sunset, stained the wood. The color meant death to the pine.” And thus we fall under the spell of Dalton’s writing, for in many ways this is a novel that is true to science, Dalton, a writer, an advocate for the environment has definitely done her homework.

The meat of the novel's plot begins when Cadie gets a text from her closest and dearest friend, Daniela, her partner in the yellow rowboat, the vessel for all her secrets and longings. The text reads: They are questioning my dad.

Cadie must climb down her mountain, rush to help her oldest friend as this is Cadie, loyal, competent, eager for adventure, but holding within her a childhood secret she hopes she will never have to face.

At the novel’s beginning, we see the future Outlaw Entomologist being formed by the push and pull of her choices: should she follow rules or ignore them; should she push ahead with all her dreams and imagined plans or pull back. Rarely sharing exploits with her parents, she is the girl-hero, steady and sure of her choices, charging ahead with her big heart and her often impetuous decisions. She actually hits a bear with her car, and is still able to arrive on time to an important meeting about the black beetle. In real life, maybe. 

Cadie is a female Huck Finn, an eternal friend with a huge heart and eager mind who pulls you in. She's a rule follower, her own rules —risking much to discover things about that boy at the top of the cliff; what his story is; and—after being pulled into a task she doesn't want to be a part of, an eternal secret keeper: who will never reveal to anyone about burying the body. Cadie is young, scared. She keeps her mouth shut, hoping she can spare the lives and the futures of others.

As the story builds, Carrick Dalton not only brings the reader into the world of environmental worries, global warming, but also the world of undocumented workers—another reason Carrick Dalton has created this character: Cadie again being, the Outlaw Entomologist. 

But she is also the epitome of the best friend, she and Daniela creating the Poachers Code, an eternal bond that sets the stage for more adventures to come.  

1. Keep one foot in the water. 2. Never take all the blueberries. 3.Don't kill bugs. 4. No witnesses. 5. Be kind to people who eat our berries. 6. No evidence. 7. Don't throw a rock if you can't see the target. 8. Lake water heals anything. 9. No matches in the woods. 10. Never tell.

If you think this is child stuff, it is, but it is also the platform for future events that will challenge lives, friendships and the trust we place in one another. The beauty of the Poachers Code is that Carrick Dalton's story, her unwinding plot, tests and advances every aspect of the code. Grown-up Cadie falls in love with Garret, the boy at the top of the cliff, requiring that everything she believes about him will be tested. So will the plot, as it careens into one challenge after another, some attempts to tidy all story lines feeling forced and overwritten.

But the true beauty of the story lies in the friendships of Cadie and Daniela--and the author even tells us that Cadie carries a copy of Huck Finn in her backpack, where she sometimes presses leaves she has gathered. Yes! Those passages are the beating heart of the novel, allowing us to wander through the childhood of the two girls. Yes there has to be danger and dramas, even Huck Finn dealt with that. But as a story teller, this is where Carrick Dalton's talent lies--probably emanating from her own experiences on lakes and mountains, her love of nature and the secrets that it holds. The challenge of writing about the future of our forests and that of undocumented peoples in our country is a big one. This novel has focussed on aspects of both, requiring story lines that twist and turn, at one point, causing Cadie to become super-human, dealing with a ripped leg, then getting stitches with no pain meds, but that's okay, because Cadie is immediately off to save someone else. 

The heart of this novel is its portrayal of a friendship, one that began in a yellow rowboat, two young girls off to pick blueberries in a place that must be theirs, as life is wide open, the sun is shining and when you have a Huck Finn heart, everything is an adventure. The novel might wish for every reader a friendship like that of Cadie and Daniela--I had one. I hope you did too. 

Thanks to Net Galley for a preview of this novel. And thanks to Julie. I had the privilege of reading part of her novel very early in its development. Thanks, Writer Friend.  Elizabeth A. Havey

Waiting for the Night Song brought me back to idyllic summer days as a child at the cottage. The descriptions of the forest, the lake and a childhood spent with your best friend and plenty of imagination drew me in. This story is told in a dual timeline weaving back and forth between “That Summer” and “The Present”.
During “That Summer”, Cadie and Daniella are enjoying their carefree summer days of sleepovers, blueberry picking and riding their bikes. In a boat that Cadie finds drifting in the lake, Cadie and Daniella take to the water themselves exploring sheltered coves on the look-out for blueberries, they make the acquaintance of “The Summer Kid”. With a turn of events their idyllic summer suddenly turns sinister when they witness something horrific.

In “The Present” Cadie is an entomologist tracking a beetle that is destroying the native pine trees in her hometown. Not having spoken with Daniella in years, Cadie receives a message that the secret they’ve hidden all these years may be coming to the surface and Daniella fears her father may face the blame for something he had nothing to do with.

When trying to think of a way to describe this wonderful book, it’s really hard to do because it touches on many different issues such as friendship, illegal immigration, climate change, there’s mystery and throw in some romance as well. The author blends them all so well to make a very well formed and flowing story. Julie Carrick Dalton’s use of language to describe nature is simply beautiful.

I am very grateful to NetGalley and Macmillan – Tor/Forge for an early copy of this great story in exchange for my honest review.

Cadie is an entomologist studying beetles in New England. A long lost friend, Daniela, sends her an urgent message. Cadie and Daniela now face a dark secret which they have both held close to their chests. Now they both have sacrifices to make.

The writing in this story is very unique and quite beautiful. But the story itself is a little too slow paced…for me. That being said…someone else may find it much more enjoyable. It is well written, it just did not grab me quite like I needed it to.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The cover of this book is beautiful.
This book definitely hits a lot of sensitive topics. I'm still a tad unsure of how I truly feel about this book. It seemed to be a LOT to fit into one book... It touched just the surface on some of the really DEEP topics when it should have dove deeper.
The writing style was good and easy to follow though.
Overall, I'd probably read another book by the author.

I'm not going to lie; I had trouble deciding on how to rate this genre bending novel. I enjoyed it a lot & found myself wishing I was lost in the woods somewhere. The ending was perfect, I didn't want to put it down & I felt an attachment to each character. I also really loved the alternating timelines between childhood & the present. & While I appreciated all of the different & important subjects this novel touched on (racism, immigration laws, environmental changes, romance, lifelong friendship, murder mystery...) it felt like A LOT packed into one book, so all of those important topics felt kind of surface level. It also seemed to drag at some points. I felt like some things could have been left out to add more detail to other areas.

I decided to give it a 3/5 - a solid like but didn't love. I would recommend this to friends who liked The Night Swim & Where the Crawdads Sing.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Julie Carrick Dalton & Tor/Forge for an ARC of Waiting for the Night Song in exchange for my honest review.

My review of this book suffers from two issues: 1) I just finished a book about a murder that pulled me in from the first page and didn't allow me to put it down until I was finished, and 2) I just really don't connect well with books that romanticize rural living, an upbringing that I have long been disenchanted with. I started out this book interested in the story as told by the cover blurb, but soon found that the framing and flashbacks were just not for me. I had a difficult time connecting with the characters and caring about their choices. I do enjoy the coming together of two old friends driven apart by both time and tragic circumstances, but everything else felt very predictable and did not grab me. I ended up putting this book down about halfway through - sure that I would like it even less if I had to trudge through to the end.

There is absolutely an audience for this story - I just don't think that I am it.

I wish that book publishers and their publicity teams would be more careful about comparisons between books. This book suffered by being compared to Where The Crawdads Sing.

Waiting for the Night Song has a good story, if a bit repetitive. There were some memorable characters -- especially Sal, the teenage daughter of one of the "best friends" at the heart of the story. It's interesting that Sal is the character I liked best, since the entire book had the feel of a YA novel to me.

I liked the fact that the issues of climate change and immigration were so passionately portrayed; but often it felt sort of didactic, as in "Let's fit in the academic foundation for this character's passion -- quick, so we don't lose the readers." If so, it wasn't always successful.

The murder mystery that had such a profound, damaging effect on the two families often seemed rehashed. All in all, I think a tighter editing and condensation would have elevated this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forge Books for anadvance readers copy.