I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I've since purchased an ebook copy, as always all opinions are my own.

This was disturbing, and that was probably the author's intent. This follows Heather a 16 year old girl in smalltown USA in 1977. She is feeling disconnected from her two best friends as they are hanging out with boys, going to parties, and doing things that she isn't ready for. Heather's got alot going on at home with taking care of her younger sister and keeping and eye on her mom who rarely gets out of bed while her district attorney dad is at the office. She tries to connect with her friends by playing games in the tunnels under their town and playing in their all girl band. When Heather and her friend Brenda see something in the tunnels that they shouldn't things go downhill. There is already a girl missing in town, and when their friend Maureen turns up missing they don't want to be next. Heather decides to take things into her own hands to get answers about what is going on in her town when her world is turned upside down and she beings to question who the good guys are and right from wrong.

We also follow Beth, the first girl to go missing in the town. Her chapters are short, and awful in the sense that what she is going through is terrible. Beth is also a fighter and we see her fight with all she has against her terrible circumstances.

I had to suspend my disbelief that Heather would do all the things she did and be so naive, but then again humans do strange things in real life. The author's note mentions that this is supposed to read a bit like a true crime show, with this story being inspired by real events from Saint Cloud, Minnesota where the author grew up. In that respect, the author achieved her goal, this does give you that experience. You have crooked men in power doing awful things and covering it up to paint their own narrative. You have friendly neighbors that don't ask too many questions and pretend bad things don't happen in their town and when they do they ignore them.

Overall, I enjoyed this. This was a decent thriller, but there was no big reveal. Everyone was a villain for some reason or another, and the real villain was kind of evident from the beginning. There were almost too many "bad guys" and bad things happening to and around Heather all at once that took me out of the story. On the other hand this depicts some very real things that happen in society and they should make your skin crawl, so for that I give the author kudos! I had to put the book down a couple of times because of the way I was feeling about a scene or chapter.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer along with Netgalley for providing me an ARC of The Quarry Girls in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Quarry Girls is my first book by Jess Lourey and I really enjoyed it. When girls start to go missing in a small town, nobody thinks to look at the people in the community. Heather sees something that makes her see the people in her life in a different light. When her friend’s death was listed as suicide, she knows she has to find out who the murderer is.

Here we go again with one of my favorite genres - small towns and their creepy secrets. I love them.

It's summer 1977. Most teenagers are living it up, enjoying the carefree warm days and nights. But not Heather and Brenda. They have a secret, something they saw in the dark. Something that puts them in grave danger.

This was a fantastic read that kept me turning pages late into the night. Jess Lourey is absolutely on my auto-request list now!

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

It started off so strong & was engaging enough to fully read but sadly I was not a fan of that ending!

Joint review of Bloodline and The Quarry Girls:
           
I have previously read Litani by this author and like that book, both Bloodline and The Quarry Girls are set in small towns in Minnesota where the author grew up.

I thought the books were well written and in some places disturbing to read. It took me a while to finish reading both the books myself and I kept switching between the ebooks and audiobooks.

The idea that underneath the facade of a well respected and safe community (and in the case of The Quarry Girls a literal underground network of tunnels connecting homes), something evil, cultish and deplorable was brewing in these communities, victimising women and young girls/boys/children, without any repercussions was disturbing and chilling.

Both these books are based on true crimes that occurred in the author's hometown but while the books show some sort of closure/justice for the victims and comeuppance for the culprits, the actual crimes were never solved.

Rating for both books: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Thomas and Mercer and the author for the e-Arc of the books.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

It's no secret that I love Jess Lourey's books. This has everything Lourey's fans are looking for:
-coming of age story with female protagonists
-Minnesota setting
-missing children
-page turning pace

This time it is set in 1977 Minnesota, where two best friends have a dark secret. Heather and Brenda vowed never to tell a soul what they saw in the dark... but then their friend disappears.

It's a tense, heart-racing, edge of your seat read and there is a quality to Lourey's writing I adore. If you love coming-of-age stories (like The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry, The Body by Stephen King, The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson), this needs to be on your TBR.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for my honest review!! 4.5

Dark themes become even darker as the truth is exposed in this harrowing mystery. Jess Lourey brings the 1970’s alive as she tells the tale of Heather’s transition from innocent to all-too-knowing. The ending is extremely satisfying and well wrapped up, leaving no room for frustration over unjust resolution to the tale. I have enjoyed all of this author’s books but this one is perhaps the most sophisticated of her works, with the characters showing deep complexity and the core theme being one of incredible realism.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

This book was meh. The idea was good, but it was executed poorly - it could have been a lot shorter and tighter. 3 stars.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this at 20%. The story wasn't really grabbing me and I found my mind wondering a lot whilst reading. I think this is largely down to being a me problem as I have seen some great reviews for this one.

Thank you, Netgalley, Thomas and Mercer, and the author for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Horrifying stories, based on true crime, 1970's setting

Wow. This was disturbing. It dragged a lot, but the parts it didn't drag were good. It's a very slow read but worth it, in my opinion. It could have been cut down, and it would have read better.

This book was hard to put down, but unfortunately gave me my fair share of nightmares. If you love thrillers and suspense and can avoid it in your sleep then this book is for you.

A horrifying story that feels too true to be fiction- fair since the book is based on a series of murders in the 70s and 80s. I love that this is a common element in Jess Lourey's books, she writes books that seem like they are true crime and not just fiction.

After stumbling too far into a mess of kidnappings, death, drugs, child predators, and corruption, Heather sets off to uncover the truth that her small town is seemingly okay with covering up. One by one her friends go missing and later show up dead. The police are convinced it's a suicide pact but Heather knows something terrible has gone down.

With a slew of possible suspects, I was never certain of who I thought was the bad guy. The entire time I could feel the weight that our main character felt on her shoulders. Jess Lourey does a wonderful job of engulfing you with feelings and putting you right in the shoes of Heather. I felt every emotion, worry, fear, and devastation. I will be reading more of Lourey's work.

I loved this book! This story follows Heather and her 2 best friends through a 1970s summer - the story was crafted incredibly and at times, I felt like I could truly see the story based on the descriptions in the book. There are 2 parallel story lines that the reader knows are connected but I did feel like they could have been connected earlier in the book rather than so close to the end. I also felt that for as strong as the story and descriptions were, the ending was a little predictable. I would recommend this book to others though - it's a quick, easy read!

I typically love this authors books but this one was just ok for me. The mystery wasn’t totally there i feel like. It seemed a tad scattered and i feel like there were too many things going on in the end. It took me awhile to get into it. I liked the middle and it and lost interest again towards the end. I was also confused on the mom. And that whole situation

3,5 stars.
I wish the characters were older. I liked the "historical" setting. I appreciated the commentary and discussions.

I loved that this historical fiction setting was based on a real crime. I’ve read two other books with this premise, and they were all quite enjoyable. The story line was good, but it took a little to get to the point.

The Quarry Girls is based on or inspired by true crime events/serial killers in Minnesota during the late 1970’s. As I grew up in that time period, I was really looking forward to this book. I can honestly say it was just okay. There was just not very much of a mystery throughout the book. It was mostly sad, not thrilling at all. As usual, Lourey writes well but that's just not enough to warrant more than 3 stars.

In small town Minnesota in 1977, summertime for best friends Heather and Brenda means fun activities like going to the county fair, night swimming parties in the quarry and adventuring in the tunnels beneath the city. If this is shocking to you, you are not a child of the 70's. This is all accurate to my experience and more - there was no Life360 and our parents really didn't care that much. There were literally PSA commercials on tv at night to remind parents to check and see if we had made it home that night - It's 10 PM, do you know where your children are? It was a very different time. Anyway, Heather and Brenda saw something very scary in one of their tunnel adventures under the city and swore to keep it a secret. But when a friend disappears, the 2nd girl to vanish in a week, they start to worry the missing are related to what they saw. The authorities seem reluctant to investigate, so the girls look for answers on their own - what could possibly go wrong?

I really enjoyed reading this book. It held a real nostalgia for growing up in the 70's and captured the atmosphere of a very different time quite well. The author creates so much tension that it was almost unbearable at times - the tunnels were so creepy and reminded me of similar very stupid things that I did with my friends as a youth. We all think we're invincible until we rudely find out that we're not. This is captured with heart breaking accuracy in the characters. It's very dark, very twisty and I really couldn't put it down. Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.