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.

Wow! Where to start... First of all, I did not know this was based on a true story until the epilogue and real interview that was added to the audiobook, and that adds a whole other layer to this book. This was a somber story about kidnapping, friendship, grief, not knowing who to trust, and mental health. It was difficult at times, but wonderfully written. If you can't handle reading about kids having to survive a neglecting kidnapper (which has some graphic elements) then I would give it a pass, but if you can- I highly recommend you pick up this book! I also highly recommend the audiobook- it has an interview with one of the survivors at the end that is really fascinating and inspiring! 

It is a powerful story and one that I am sure will be talked about for years!

This was an interesting, exciting mystery.  The characters were interesting. I really liked Thea. I felt like she was a strong lead that was willing to do what it takes to figure things out. It had some nice twists and turns that I didn't see coming, which I enjoyed.

I listened to the audio of this, and I have to say that while I really enjoyed the narrator for Thea, I could NOT get passed the 50-year-old-sounding narrator for the teenage boy. It was just so unbelievable. You know Sam Elliott, that's who I pictured narrating those parts. It just did not fit, and I honestly couldn't get over it.

Other than that, I do think this is a good book for readers that enjoy YA and mystery!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This one sucked me right in starting in with a bang. I loved the narrator right away and you could immediately sense Thea's character coming through her voice. She also did  great job with the other character. Overall I enjoyed the story but it was a little too dark for me and honestly having a little boy made this story a bit scarier for me. That being said I tried not to let that effect my rating of the story. I did find some parts to be a bit confusing. I really had to focus on the story. I do think it was a unique way of doing a YA thriller and I look forward to reading or listening to future works by this author.

Wow, just WOW! This was an emotional book!

For the last 10 years the Gemini Thief has been taking boys in June, holding them for a year and releasing them. no one knows who the thief is, the boys are always returned alive, except for this year. the story takes up almost a year after the last abduction when a body of a young "June Boy" is found dead along side the road.

The ending was unexpected, and kept itself full of surprises as we got later and later passed the June Boy's release date.

VERDICT: recommended anywhere that thrillers or mysteries are well circulated

non-linear storytelling made it impossible to understand the story

besides it there was many weird stuff going on which didn’t understand and I still don’t understand if that’s because of the non-linear storytelling or is it because book is weird

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting what I got, and I loved it.  For some reason I had it in my head that this was going to be a fantasy.  So i was really surprised when it was a modern day kidnapping and the mystery of where did they go and who took them.  Them is the June Boys.  On June 1 every few years, 3 boys are taken.  They are released a year later.  Then the next year, sometimes the year after, 3 more are taken.  There is no real rhyme or reason to who gets taken, they vary by age, skin color, etc.  Our story starts in 2010.  Thea and her friends have been trying to solve the Gemini Thief (June Boys) case for a year.  Her cousin was taken (they think).  Because of crazy family secrets, Thea’s dad becomes a major suspect and the story grows from there.  

An interesting thing about this story is the Elizabeth letters.  We get both sides.  We see Thea’s side of what is going on, and the side of the missing June boys.  One of the boys, writes the “elizabeth letters.”  some of these could make you cry, so be warned.  I really enjoyed this book. I loved finding out who Elizabeth way.  However, on the audiobook, there are 2 extra things.  The first is with one of the survivors 10 years later and the second was an interview with the author.  I wish I hadn’t listened to them, as they took away from the story instead of enhancing it.  This was a great mystery that kep me entertained over a few days.  It would be enjoyable by teens and adults alike.

The narration of this audiobook was amazing and I really appreciate it. However, I did not enjoy the story on its whole.
I had high expectations for this book, as the premise seemed very interesting, but the book felt flat, the twist was meh, and honestly, it feels forgettable. I'm very disappointed with the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this audiobook, I listened mostly on my way to and from work, as well as doing things around the house which helped me finish it quickly. Overall this was an intriguing mystery.

Also, I feel there was a sneakiness the author did by putting religion in the way she did. It felt, kinda crappy honestly the way religion was slammed into this book around 40% or so - things that were not because of God suddenly were because of God. Now I'm not saying I have a problem with religion in a book, I actually enjoyed the preacher in this, but then it went a bit too far in that everything was about God. Characters that didn't even mention God or religion until virtually halfway through the book were suddenly devout. This is why I say it was sneaky - it kind of felt like the author was trying to hook readers into the story, then drop this religion bomb on us. It did calm down eventually, and it went back to being enjoyable for me, but for that middle part it was, to be honest, just kind of annoying. This is the second book I've read that did this, I'm not sure if this is a "normal" tactic for religious writers or if it is a coincidence. I don't normally read books with heavy religion in it so when it's just sprung on me it puts a bad taste in my mouth.

Aside from that, I really did enjoy this book and the mystery. I enjoyed how "normal" people can make accusations and the consequences of those actions. The true identity of the Gemini thief did keep me guessing and changing all book long which I really enjoyed - and when I found out who it was, when I thought back there were nuggets hidden there who told us who it was. I also liked that the Elizabeth letters were included - it gave us an insight into what life was like for the Gemini boys.

The premise was interesting but the book dragged too much. If this wasn't an audiobook I wouldn't have gotten through with this book. The audiobook narrators were great but the story want as rewarding as I thought it would be.

The June Boys by Court Stevens was an intense harrowing ride. I didn’t want to stop listening to it. I selected it on a whim and was hooked. The story follows Thea, whose cousin was kidnapped by the Gemini thief: someone in a welder mask who kidnapped boys in June and returned them one year later. Thea and her friends are on the trail, trying to find the kidnapper and bring her cousin back home. But when the trail leads to her father, what should she do? How does one react to the idea that your father may be stealing children, especially when one of those children dies? Intriguing, suspenseful, and well written, the book focuses on the nature of humans and the power of family and the dynamics of love. Well worth the read. Or the listen in this case. I’d highly recommend it! Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to hear the story!