The Wonder State by Sara Flannery Murphy was a really great read!

I found this to be so fascinating! The story was fast paced with lots of twists and turns.
Brilliant plotting and pacing with characters who grabbed me from the very beginning.
I thought TWS was extremely entertaining!
Sara Flannery Murphy is a creative story-teller, and this is one of those books that was extremely hard to put down.
It was really unpredictable and kept me guessing until the very end.
An awesome follow-up to Girl One.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux & MCD for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

It's hard to describe how much I enjoyed this one. If I were a teenager when I read it, this book would probably have consumed me and become a part of my personality. It was the best kind of fever dream. Sara Flannery Murphy is quickly becoming a favorite author. I would love for this to be a movie.

Jay and her high school motley crew have been summoned back to their hometown in the Ozarks some 15 years after graduation, by their MISSING friend Brandi. The story is told via past and present timelines, unraveling the history of how the 5 friends came to be and how one summer of hunting for magic in the unassuming little town of Eternal Springs, dangerously connected them all for life.

I adored this squad of teens and their unbreakable bond. Meeting them as adults first, and then going back in time was so much fun. Every character was primo👍🏼

The magic and the mystery of the story was entirely unique and every chapter had me changing my predictions.

This was such a great time and an easy-peasy 5 star read. I can’t wait to see The Wonder State hit the shelves in July and also highly recommend her 2021 sci-fi thriller novel, Girl One.

I wasn't hooked by this story at all but I am so, so glad I kept reading.

Five friends each receive a letter from an old high school friend telling them to return to their home town. The sixth member of their old group is missing and it's up to them to figure out what happened. Simple, right? Been done before. Except this story involves magic! That's normally not my taste but this was done so well.

Supernatural. Mystery. Jealousy. Suspicion. Red herrings. So freaking good.

READ THIS BOOK! Oh my gosh, I just love love LOVED it!
If you love the storytelling of childhood and the element of fantasy of Stephen King this is a book for you.

Sara Flannery Murphy is the author of Girl One and she just hits it out of the park!

5 high school friends receive mysterious notes from an old friend asking them to return to their small hometown in Arkansas. The 6th friend, who had fallen upon hard times seems to be missing and they have no choice but to stay and get to the bottom of it. The past is dug up quickly and old jealousies, romances and suspicious arise.

Simple enough, but there's a special component to this book that only a fantastic author such as Flannery Murphy could pull off. Through flashbacks to over 15 years ago we begin to learn about the magic that the teenagers found and the experiences they had because of it.

Can the group work together to help Brandi? Does she need their help? And was there and is there magic in their town? If you love childhood odysseys, magic in everyday places, or just want to read the best book of 2023, The Wonder State is for you!
#FarrarStrausGiroux #TheWonderState #SaraFlanneryMurphy

Thanks ro Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It had magic and mystery. Most compelling is the author's ability to create terrific characters entwined in complex relationships.

The author is clearly familiar with Appalachian Arkansas. She paints a compelling picture of the beauty and the despair of living in a small town.

I highly recommend you read this book. I will be keeping an eye out for future books by this aurhor

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book was absolutely AMAZING. It vaguely gives me It vibes in the sense that it’s a supernatural book with a group of kids in a small town who meet up again more than a decade later, but I love It so I’m not complaining. I also loved the mystery of it that’s included - the signs to figure out what’s happening with the disappearance are there if we look for them! I loved reading this book, and I enjoyed it so, so much more than I thought I would. I honestly wasn’t going to request this book at first because I wasn’t sure I’d be into it, but the writing style was so engaging and I was so deeply invested in the story that whenever I wasn’t reading I wished I was.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.