When NetGalley asks you why you requested a certain book, the options are something like: “title,” “cover,” “author,” “description,” and “I keep hearing about this book.” I requested this book for a highly specific and slightly silly reason: because I’m trying to read a queer book set in every state, and Arkansas was one of the states I still needed.

The book was engaging enough that I finished it in a week (which for me is neither particularly short nor particularly long; a very average amount of time), and it had a strong sense of setting, so it fulfilled my desire to check Arkansas off the list. Other than that, I’m not sure what to make of this book. I enjoyed it well enough, but didn’t feel strongly about it, and feel neither a strong yes nor a strong no about checking out the authors’ other/future work.

This is an odd book, and hard to categorize genre-wise. It feels contemporary at first, but it’s also a ghost story and has additional fabulist elements besides the ghosts. Normally this is exactly what I like in a book: I love when books are so weird that you don’t even know how to categorize them! But something about this book felt not entirely satisfying. Maybe it’s too weird to be a “normal” book, but not weird enough to be a weird book? (Or at least not weird enough to be satisfying as a weird book.) It felt strange to realize that I had reached the halfway mark of the book, because I felt like the plot had only just kicked off, and I still wasn’t entirely sure what the book was about.

There is something of a mystery element where certain plot threads eventually come together. I liked this but felt it didn’t quite stick the landing, like maybe some more rounds of revision would have made the revelations clearer and punchier. As it was, some of them felt a bit more nebulous than I would like. I don’t necessarily need a book to give clear-cut answers to everything, but I sort of get the feeling that this book thinks its answers are clearer than they actually are. But maybe this was my own failing as a reader.

Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves by Quinn Connor is a beautifully written ghost story with elements of magical realism. This book follows three main characters over the course of an Arkansas summer. Cassie is terrified of the water, but refuses to leave her lakeside hometown; Lark has come to her family's houseboat to pack it up after a traumatic event; June arrives unexpectedly in the middle of the night to stay with her aunt for a few weeks. There is also Bolt, Cassie's teenaged brother who is trying to navigate a tenuous friendship with the local trouble
makers.
I absolutely loved this book. It was ethereal and haunting, with a touch of mystery and magic. I enjoyed the multiple storylines, as each woman tries to navigate the mystery surrounding the lake they live on.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love this cover and tbh it was the reason that I was drawn to the book. It took me a while to get hooked on the book, I was a bit lost with the multiple pov, but eventually got the hang of it. I just couldn't connect all that much with the characters, but the story is intriguing and I wanted to know more. It has a touch of magical realism, which I like, but it's a bit darker than I'm used to.

I read a galley of this elsewhere and wanted to leave a review here too. I found this to be both intriguing and mystical. Southern gothic horror/mystery/suspense at its finest. I ate this up like cornbread.

This is a dark story about love, family and grief. The town of Prosper was flooded by a dam - drowning the people and it’s secrets. We follow three descendants as a mysterious box is pulled from the lake.
I appreciate the authors note at the beginning of this book. It shows that a lot of research and respect went into this book!
I wish the story was more magical but I liked that it was darker and more suspenseful. Some heavy topics are discussed and it did make me want to keep reading.
Overall I enjoyed it, but it isn’t the type of book I would read again. But I will definitely keep an eye on this author in the future!

This book ended up not being for me. I went into this thinking I was getting some semblance of s thriller and that really wasn’t the case. The story moved kinda slow and I got bored

Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves is a ghost story set in the American south that explores the dark history of towns being drowned out,

I was hoping this story would have more of an enchanting magical realism quality, so I was disappointed that it was dark and strange rather than whimsical.

The storyline itself was intriguing and there was enough suspense to keep me reading.

Overall I would have preferred more magic instead of the darker heavy topics that were explored.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.