I don't read mystery books very often but I found this one quite enjoyable! The June Boys has left me intrigued to try other books by the author!

This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was really looking forward to this book but I struggled to always stay fully connected with the characters and the storyline. Yet, what helped are the narrators. They helped make this story come alive for me. If I had been reading it myself, I will admit that I probably would have stopped reading it. So when it came to this book, the audio version was better. In regards, to the ending was not a surprise to me as I did see it coming.

A very cool take on the kidnapped child genre. I find it a little odd that none of the boys ever got any inkling that it was a woman and/or one they might know because didn't Ruby know many community children from working a tthe center? unless I'm misremembering and the boys were mainly from out of town. Overall a great book that I would recommend to my patrons. Nice to see a main character with enough sense to be able to question her own father. Usually we see characters that blindly defend their family without seeing obvious signs

The June Boys by Court Stevens is a really interesting YA thriller/mystery. Each year three boys go missing in Tennesse (they are known as the June Boys) by the Gemini Theif and are returned the following year, seemingly unharmed. However, one year, that all changes. One of the captured June Boys is found drowned by the local police force and a murder investigation is opened. No one knows who the Gemini Theif is and speculation runs rife when the main characters (Thea Delacroix) dad is named as a suspect. Thea is adamant that she will find the thief, she has to find them because her cousin Aulus has been kidnapped, and she won't rest until he has been found, even if it means investigating her own dad.

I really enjoyed this story, it was well thought out and mysterious enough to keep me guessing. I listened to the studio and really enjoyed the narration. The story is told in different perspectives, using different formats. For instance, we have the story from Thea's perspective as well as letters written and read by Aulus (her kidnapped cousin). I would recommend to anyone who enjoys YA thrillers and mysteries.

Let me begin with saying that the storyline is absolutely brilliant. Each June the Gemini Thief kidnaps three boys and keeps them until the following June. They are then released completely unharmed.
The story follows Thea as she attempts to solve this mystery, this mystery that has now claimed her cousin, Aulus as a Gemini victim.
Thea is determined to solve this case with the help of her boyfriend, but unfortunately she starts to believe her father may have something to do with it.
If I have to be completely honest, I did struggle with this novel. The castle was such an interesting and awkward part of the story as with the sporadic letters from Aulus himself. The letters were difficult to place within the timeline.
I believe the author has potential, such brilliant ideas.

In Tennesse, the month of June is filled with fear for every parent of boys. The Gemini Thief takes three boys on June 1st and releases them on June 30th of the following year. The boys are never harmed and always returned. No one knows the identity of the Gemini Thief, it can be your neighbor, your teacher, or even your own family member.

Thea believes her cousin, Aulus is the newest victim of the Gemini Thief. Along with her best friends, Thea must navigate through the bandwagon mentally of her small town to find Aulus, the other victims, and the identity of the Gemini Thief.

Filled with twists and turns, this story takes the reader on a who done it journey where everyone has characteristics of the Gemini Thief. Every time I had a solid thought of who the thief was, another character is introduced that could also be the thief. The ending is one I did not see coming!

This book is written from the POV of Thea with the Elizabeth Letters written by Aulus. I thought the female narrator was fantastic and the male narrator of the Elizabeth letters was good. It was easy to follow.

This was a good book, but it’s tricky to review because it’s not quite YA mystery and not quite Christian fiction. I definitely loved the blend of the two genres, and LOVED that it was the kind of book that, once finished, just left me feeling content (likely because of the more unexpected epilogue).

I will say the one thing that really kept this book from being 5 stars for me was not the story itself, but it’s kind of confusing beginning. I just felt like certain details could have been a bit clearer before jumping into the plot -like I didn’t even know what age group the characters were for far too long.

Outside of that, I really loved the mystery, I loved the way that the signs were pointing in all these different directions, I loved Aulus’ letters (which were filled with so much highly appreciated wisdom), and I loved the incredibly subtle Christian undertones which I think made this book one that could be enjoyed by just about anyone.

As for the audiobook, it’s not that it was poorly done or that the voice didn’t necessarily fit the character, however, there were definitely moments where I found the readers tone and intensity didn’t match the story and did a bit of a disservice to the book. There were some scenes that I listened to that just had me thinking, “I would be so much more into this if I could read this situation on my own the way it’s coming across from the page.” It was still an enjoyable audiobook and was WAY better than some others that I have listened to, but it never quite scratched surface of excellence which is unfortunate.

Nonetheless, I think this was a good read that I would maybe consider reading again one day. So, thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I received the audiobook to review and I love mystery /thriller audio books . Unfortunately I found this one quite hard to follow? Unsure if it was the story or the actual narration but I lost the thread of the story line constantly and was baffled by the ending. You are following Thea whose cousin was kidnapped in June with others by someone who kidnaps people some years in June , then releases them a year later unharmed . At the beginning of the story one of the kidnapped kids has been killed and the story starts from there . We learn about the main characters family and sets up her dad as quite unreliable . After that I mainly got a bit confused. I am going to pick this up as a physical book once it’s released so I can make more sense of it .

I received this and as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan for giving me access.

The June Boys had me sitting on edge to find out who The Gemini Thief is. Stevens did a great job at keeping the kidnapper/murderer hidden the whole time, having you suspect Thea's father. I really enjoyed it and the suspense that I felt while listening to it.

While listening to the audio format was slightly confusing and difficult to follow at times, it was still a great listen.

I was pleasantly surprised when reading this book. I was intrigued when I read other reviews stating that this book had a YA crime feel to it and they were not wrong. Let me tell you that is not a disadvantage, I loved it! The Elizabeth letters were a perfect touch and my favorite part of the book. I can usually figure out the ending in books since I've read so many but this one had me guessing! I was not expecting the reveal of the gemini thief as well as the reveal from the Elizabeth letters. If you want a fast read/listen on a new take on crime fiction, get this book:)

I don’t want to give spoilers, but there is a theme in this book that ties everything together that is maddening to me. I thought this was a fun little mystery read, but was baffled by the last hour.

Closer to 4.5 stars!!!! I really enjoyed this book! Thee was a great character and she was just out of the loop enough that you were finding out all the twists at the same time as her. I will say that majority of the other characters weren't completely flushed out.

I only lowered the rating because I didn't like the way the love interest, Nick, talks to Thee sometimes. There were a few instances where he was subtly gaslighting her. Other than the two conversations, he was amazing.

The narrators did a great job holding my interest. They had different voices for every character but it never pulled me out of the story.

I read majority of this in 2 sittings because I got sucked in whenever I picked this up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for an advanced audiobook version of The June Boys.

I had high hopes for this one. The premise of having a serial kidnapper, the Gemini thief, who takes boys every June and keeps them for 13 months is an intriguing one. The blurb about the book tells you that Thea Delacroix suspects that her father is the kidnapper. That right there, told me it wasn't him. That would be way too obvious.

Unfortunately, this one was disappointing for me. The way the story is structured was a little confusing and I did not connect with any of the characters. Most of the characters are young people and they seem to be solving this case on their own. No one seems concerned by that. There were a number of things that seemed unrealistic.

There are letters throughout the book written by Aulus, Thea's cousin who goes missing. The good thing about these letters which are called the "Elizabeth Letters" is that they give insight into what is happening to the boys that are in captivity. Not until the end do we know why they are called the Elizabeth Letters and who they are written to. That connection also didn't make sense.

There are two narrators in the audiobook. The woman does a good job. A little upbeat for the subject matter, but it wasn't horrible. The male voice was supposed to be of a teenager and sounded like he was 40 - 50 years old so that seemed strange to me.

There is also a chapter at the end that makes this story seem like it might be based on a true story. I don't believe that it is, but it is a bit misleading. The book ends with an interview with one of the June Boys. The interview seemed to be mostly about how God is in his life and it was a bit preachy. I have no issue with spirituality and faith being part of someone's experience, but this could have been done way better. The publisher is a Christian publisher and it felt like, this had to be added in for the book to be published. The ending of the book could have had much more impact on the reader as a thriller.

Overall, I felt let down after I finished this.

Bookworm Rating: 🐛🐛

This is not a book for everyone, a difficult read, in which the main character is forced to ask the hard questions about everything and everyone she knows. Great mystery story.

Trigger warnings: death, abduction, attempt at suicide.

3.5 stars

If you like complex characters, an enticing plot with a solid mystery, and mind-blowing twists, well then, this is the book for you.

I won't say much about the plot as I really don't want to spoil anything, and it really is best to just go into this book with knowing only the bare minimum of what it's about. But, I'll mention why I gave this book a 3.5 star rating. At around the 50% mark, the story got weirdly religious, and I hated that, a lot. And it didn't really go away until the end of the book. And by "weirdly religious", I mean that it had something about God appearing in their sleep and telling them what to do. I know, it really is weird. But I'll also say that the mystery wasn't solved by God or whatever. And I'm glad about that. It really was a solid mystery, and it made this book a great thriller.

I listened to this book as an audiobook, and it was fine as such. But I didn't really like the narrator who read the letters, as the letters were written by a 17 year old boy, and the voice reading it sounded much older.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to all who love reading good thrillers.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t put this book down. I had to know what happened next!

I think I read this book in 2 days. I was drawn in by the premise of a serial kidnapper and I loved that I was surprised by the twists and turns, and especially, the ending.

Reader beware: this book isn’t afraid to get dark. Part of the story is told from the perspective of one of the kidnapped boys. It is as raw and painful as you could imagine. Still, it lended a lot of realism to the story.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced audiobook version of The June Boys from Netgally.

While it is not the most mysterious plot, I truly enjoyed the narrative from beginning to end. The storyline was very addictive and characters were well developed

I enjoyed this ebook, but I did have a few minor complaints about the reader/pacing. I would have given it one more star, but I deducted one for the weird last chapter/interview portion which I will get to at the end. I enjoyed the ebook, and I think it did a good job of telling the story and building the suspense. The female reader had a nice voice and for the most part I enjoyed her, but I do think that she read a little fast and upbeat in tone for the subject matter, I wish she would have slowed it down some and made some parts not a "perky" sounding. I also enjoyed the male reader and likes the switching back and forth between the two readers, it helped me to differentiate between the main story and the Elizabeth letter. I enjoyed the story, and while I suspected the read culprit fairly early, I do not think most readers will and will enjoy trying to figure out just who exactly is the kidnaper of the June boys, is it the main character's father, or someone else? Like I said I enjoyed the ebook and would have given it 4 stars except for the last chapter of the interview with one of the June Boys takes a very religious turn, suddenly you are thrust into a church sermon from someone trying to debate or explain god's role in our lives and suffering. I just did not care for it, and while the main story clearly had religious undertones, they were was subtle and thus fine. I did just did not expect the author to preach to me at the end of what I though was a suspense novel, and so it left a bad taste in my mouth for the whole ebook. I think the book needs to be re-branded as a Christian suspense novel.

For 9 years, 12 boys have been kidnapped in June, kept for an entire year, and then returned the following June ... until one turned up dead. Who is the Gemini Thief and why has he started killing?

A really captivating read! It pulled me in right away. The book is narrated by Thea but we also get to hear from Aulus, Thea’s cousin and one of the June Boys. There were a few confusing parts; however, I was listening to the audiobook so that could have played a factor. Overall, it was a really great read.

The June Boys was a tale of a serial kidnapper, where we followed the cousin of one of the kidnapped boys as she tries to find the kidnapper and prover her family's innocence. Through the story we get glimpses into the kidnapped boys perspective through letter that he wrote in the bunker (these letter are based on actual real letter found after saving a boy).

All of that together sounds really good, but I think the book fell a bit short. I am not totally sure where it can be brought back to but there was nothing pulling me into the story enough to care about what was going on. By the 35% mark I was tired of the repetitiveness of the writing and was so ready for the book to be over. The main character didn't bring much to the table, and couldn't care the story. I was tired of her blind trust in people who had wronged her in the past, and how quickly she seemed to be able to find clues and continue on the plot. I also hated how she used way too many adjectives to describe everything.

Beyond that the story wasn't bad. I enjoy reading a lot of mysterious around murders, so this was a nice change to be about a kidnapping instead. If you are a fan of crime podcasts this might be a good one for you to pick up, although I will have to say that JUST because you like crime podcasts does not mean you will like this book (see above complaints).

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.