This book was such a page-turner. With a crazy Bonnie and Clyde-like on-the-run scenario. I stayed up all night reading as fast as I could waiting to see how it ended. The whole time I was rooting for poppie. I found myself feeling for her when she was nervous or scared I was nervous or scared for her.
Thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the premise of This Golden State and the book lived up to my expectations. Poppy's story is one that you can get behind. I could feel her emotions through the writing and I thought Weisenberg did a great job of mixing flashbacks with action and character building. I do wish there was some more depth to the relationships that build and I also wanted more at the end, but overall this was a solid read and I really enjoyed it.

Poppy's family is on the run. She doesn't know why, it's just the way it's always been. She's switched schools more often than some people switch shoes and it's all she's ever known, so why bother questioning it. But then she turns 18, discovers something she is REALLY good at, and someone she REALLY enjoys being around, and is on the cusp of making choices for herself, for imagining a future of her own. But at what cost?

I really, really enjoyed this book. I felt horribly for Poppy's dilemma. How do you choose between your family, the people who love you the most, and freedom, which those people are taking away from you? I flew through this book and absolutely adored it. 5 stars.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

There were some parts of this book that I enjoyed and others that I didn’t. Mainly, I love the writing of this story. I really enjoyed the way that things unfolded and the way it was presented. However, the story itself was not my favorite. I find parts of it to be pretty unrealistic and improbable. Overall, it was enjoyable to read.

Poppy's life has always been guided by her family's rules- moving at the drop of a hat, taking a new name, and never doing anything to stand out. She knows they're running, but she also knows she an't ask why, or anything else about her parent's pasts. But this new town is different, and Poppy's almost an adult, with a gaping future ahead of her. Now, she has to know the truth, and it seems closer tan ever.

This book does well with its tension. Family secrets are always fun, but the indoctrination into this way of life with little to no knowledge, including limiting outside information, makes it all so much more interesting. Seeing Poppy and understanding her priorities and beliefs even as you the reader can see more going on makes you far more invested.
And Poppy's a great character. She has strong loyalties and her worries are so realistic and relatable even if her situation isn't. This being the first time she's starting to put her foot down and the first time she's asking for something for herself in years, means that you get to see her grow in a really great way.

The reveal of the mystery is also done well, and feels satisfying since it isn't over the top or out of the blue. It's a more or less realistic reason to be on the run for so long and situation.

For me, my complaints are mostly about the way the story is told. There's a lot of repetition and soft reveals instead of making an emotional commitment. And I disliked the ending so much it almost ruined my over all experience.
I think both those things are at least in part because this book is stretched too long. Had it been a shorter book I think it would have succeeded further.

I think plenty of people will get easily invested in this story and this character.

This was much better than I thought it was going to be. Poppy is 17 years and is almost a legal adult. She is used to moving around with her family and does not know why until she gets a DNA test kit that will help give her answers. Why does her family have to move so much? Is her family hiding secrets from her? What secret can be that bad?

Yes, some of the pacing in this book is slower than I would like for a suspense book but it is worth it to get to the end! And the reveals are also worth it too! WOW!

Definitely recommending this, purchasing a kindle version for myself and telling everyone else to read this book! Looking forward to the author's next book if it is as good as this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, Marit Weisenberg, and Flatiron Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 3/1/22 NOW!

This Golden State had this reminiscent feel of We Were Liars and I’m honestly not entirely sure I enjoyed it. I especially didn’t like the main character.

I actually really enjoyed this book. Poppy was a likable character, and I wanted nothing more than for her to achieve her dreams. The plot was interesting; it reminded me of what happened to Patricia Hearst. It was a comfort read, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. It had just the right amount of mystery and a little bit of romance.

This book was full of twists and turns and literally had me guessing until the end. Highly recommend. A family that’s doesn’t stay in one place for long. But why? Absolutely loved this book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.5 STARS

Poppy's entire life has been a series of new homes, new faces, new identities.

Even though her parents won't tell her why they're on the run, she holds to their rules anyhow. After all, those rules are the only thing keeping her family together. Through every move, every sudden moment adrift and uprooted, the Winslows have each other.

Except now they've moved to California, the one place they've always refused to go, and the place Poppy's always dreamed of seeing. And this time, Poppy has a real opportunity: attend an advanced math class, not just another public school she'll ultimately vanish from. The doors are opening at last, a glimpse of the world she's never had.

But then a home DNA test kit changes everything. Long-buried answers lie within Poppy's reach at last, but to take hold of them, she'll have to decide if it's worth the risk it poses to her family. More than that, she'll have to decide if it's time to make her own choices, even if it's the thing that finally tears her family apart.


"You need to grab hold of these rare opportunities."

Easily the thing I enjoyed most about This Golden State is the way Poppy tries to balance her family and the new opportunities that rise to meet her in California. On the one hand, her family is all she's ever known. Risking their anonymity is nothing short of a betrayal, and worse, what if it cuts her off from her parents and her little sister for good? Whoever is pursuing the Winslows probably won't concern themselves with keeping the family together.

And yet, Poppy is seventeen. Running is all she's known, and when the chance to lay down roots presents itself, the pull is impossible to ignore. She uses her real name in class for the first time, breaking one of the oldest rules she knows. She finds herself standing out in class, to the point that the professor takes a genuine interest in helping her map out her future. Most importantly, though, she's beginning to put together her family history despite her parents' best efforts to keep it from her.

Poppy Winslow is lonely but cautious, anxious but curious, and her first hesitant steps into what normality might look like are so tender. For all the survival skills she has, this is a whole new world to navigate, one that has her somewhat out of her depths. She explores it all the same, though, and I love watching her decide what parts of her life are worth controlling, free of her parents' careful influence.


But This Golden State sometimes tiptoes around real impact, failing to lend all of Poppy's new relationships real weight.

Because Poppy tries so hard to keep her peers at arm's length, there's a distance throughout the book that's hard to shape. While I loved her journey toward becoming her own person, I couldn't help but feel some frustration. I want to root for this girl, want her to make a life she feels safe and secure in, but her connections are still so flimsy.

Sure, it makes sense. There's good reason for her to withhold trust from others. And yet I feel like this would have been so much more impactful with greater bonds. Not just with her love interest, who helps her fit together the pieces of her family history. I wish she'd been more willing to connect with her professor, who only wants to see her succeed, and some of the other kids in her class, who could provide friendship and support of different varieties. 

I suppose it frustrates me that the one to break down Poppy's walls is a love interest rather than multiple people. His support is a value first connection to the outside world, but it's only one single thread. I can't help but wonder about the aftermath of the book, if that thread will be strong enough to help keep Poppy afloat, or if it will snap from being the only source of support.


This is a book for lovers of a quiet mystery.

No murders, no gratuitous violence, no hardboiled detectives. It's just one girl caught up in a lifetime of secrets, at last getting a real glimpse of what the world could be like. It's a personal kind of mystery, but also one that reaches beyond Poppy's life in ways that may always be a little hard to fully understand. And while I may have felt as though some elements were missing, elements that would have crafted better tension and suspense, it's equally possible that perhaps this is just not my kind of mystery, and it will suit another reader without any trouble at all.

And if that reader is you, good news! This Golden State hit shelves at the beginning of March, so you can explore Poppy's story at your leisure.


CW: smoking, implied child abuse, loss of a loved one, violence (including gun violence), suicide, drug use

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 12pm EST on 3/21/22.]

I DNF after 20%

It seemed intriguing but the character development lacking, and the pace was very slow.

It was repetitive and was just a lot of info & wasn't much of a story.

This was an engaging and fast-paced thriller that I adored! Seventeen-year-old Poppy seems like your ordinary high school senior with little sister, Emma and two loving parents who just happen to move a lot. She is used to privacy as she's not allowed friends or social media and can't ask many questions. So when they eventually move to California, Poppy is delighted and finally crushes on a boy her age in summer school. But she discovers some inconsistencies and wonders about the secret veil of anonymity under which they live. When she discovers the truth about their lives, she is both horrified and unbelieving until she realizes she can deal with anything as her parents have loved and protected her long enough. This is a crazy-good book that can be read in a single sitting if you're willing to read long into the night--totally worth it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Poppy doesn’t know who she is or who her parents really are. All she knows is that she’s been on the run her entire life, staying in towns just long enough to care but not long enough to grow.

When a stroke of fate finds Poppy and her family back in a new but all too familiar place, she can’t help but wonder about mothers connection to their new town and the deep secrets it keeps.

I loved This Golden State - great for teens, a great thriller and interesting take of a family on the run. I really appreciated the way that Marit Weisenberg developed Poppy and the supporting casts of characters. My only critique - I wish the ending was longer!

Thanks to Flatiron Books, Marit Weisenberg and Net Galley for the ARC!

Can you truly love someone whose past and true identity are completely a secret? This is the question I grappled with while reading "This Golden State." Poppy's family seems really loving and loyal, but no one outside of their circle of four can ever know their true identities. If anyone becomes slightly suspicious, they uproot and go on the run again with a new look and new name. The only problem? Poppy has no idea why they are running at all. She doesn't even know her parents' real names. They say it's for her protection, but is she satisfied with this answer? Or better question, can she be satisfied with this existence? Then one day Poppy impulsively takes a DNA test and everything changes.

What I loved: This storyline was super intriguing, and Marit Weisenberg did a great job at pacing — giving you just enough information to keep you interested, but not too much that you figured everything out prematurely. I also appreciated how Weisenberg treated the complex nature of family — how you can disagree with their decisions and still love them deeply. And for the most part, I enjoyed Poppy and Harry's relationship. I wish they had spent more time talking than making out, but — how much can you talk when one person has to hide everything about their identity?

What could have been better: Weisenberg had the really difficult challenge of making "the mysterious thing" they are running from bad enough to justify their undercover existence but not bad enough that Poppy would instantly disown her family. Without giving any spoilers, I don't think the undercover thing was justified for lots of reasons that would spoil everything for you. But mostly, I think the parents were selfish and chose what was best for them over what was best for their children. But you should read it and let me know if you agree.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Big thank you to Net Galley and Flatiron books for an eARC of this book!

The potential for this book was large. Huge, in my opinion. I had looked forward to reading it, and was fully invested at the very start.

But there’s the rub: I was fully invested ONLY at the start.

After a rather suspenseful and exciting first quarter of the book, the book just slogged for me. It moved slowly and I found myself struggling to keep reading.

The last 20% of the book had me rallying a little, but by that point I wasn’t sure I even cared all that much about the fate of our main character and her family. Ultimately, I just felt ambivalent about it all in the end.

The book has a hazy, summer feel to it, and that fits. Like this family has one halcyon summer in California that’s going to turn their world upside down. Had it leaned into the suspense a little more, or at least picked up the pacing a bit throughout the middle section of the book, I feel it could’ve been so much better.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review. Due to the 3 star rating, this review will not be posted to me social media accounts.

This book was so good. Poppy is a normal 17 year old girl except for the fact that she’s been on the run with her parents and younger sister her entire life. Why are they on the run? She had no idea. One of the rules her family has is that they can’t know who their parents are so they don’t slip up and get them caught.

I loved the dynamic between Poppy and her family. These characters were fleshed out and felt real. Poppy was a great mix of street smart and naive. She’s a bit of a people pleaser and tries to be a good selfless daughter but at the same time is growing up.

I wanted to skip ahead so badly to find out what the parents had done for them to live the way they do. But it is worth the wait. At times the characters are frustrating and you might not agree with some choices but by the end you can’t help but feel for each of the characters throughout the book.

This is definitely one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.

Thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this fast-paced YA thriller. This was a solid read and I’d definitely read more by this author in the future!

Poppy finds herself and her family moving again. When Poppy finds they will be living in California, she is happy until she sees the house they will be living in. It is somewhat in need of work. Poppy gets lucky as she is allowed to take a special math class. As much as she looks forward to it, her parents remind her of the rules. Tell no one about them. Poppy says yes, of course. She just wants time to find out who she is. When Harry sits down next to Poppy, she becomes aware of the class looking at him. When they talk, it is not to talk about their own families. When a vendor drops off DNA tests for the next class both Harry and Poppy take a kit. Poppy longs to find out about who she is, why they are always moving and more. Poppy finds herself getting a crush on Harry. It is o nice to be able to talk to someone her own age. Will Poppy find out who she and other answers to her questions?

The novel is captivating and introspective. I found myself reading it every spare moment that I could. The novel changed as I read that included a crime thriller, a teen romance, a story about finding your place in your family and finding yourself — your identity. It is a YA novel that is amazing. The author has written a novel I won’t forget.

The Golden State is the perfect spring break read, with a bit of thriller and a bit of romance, this page turner will keep you at the edge of your seat.

The Golden State follow Poppy and her family who have been on the run her whole life, yet Poppy doesn’t know what she is running from, but after a DNA test, this all changes.

With a great writing style, strong lead character, and a fast paced plot Mark Weisenberg will not let you down in The Golden State.

This was a super fun read for me. It was a drama-filled story that kept me wanting to come back for more. I read it in one sitting – like I was watching a movie shoving popcorn in my face the entire time. Yeah, some parts weren’t as riveting as I had hoped for, but the writing is excellent and the characters were so well developed, it was worth every moment. With an ending such as this one, I’m hoping we get to hear more from this family in the future!