3.5 rounded to 4
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
After absolutely loving "The Dead and the Dark" I was super excited to read Courtney Gould's next book! I absorbed this book; Gould's writing is a style I really enjoy and it's so easy to just keep reading. This book, similarly to her first, is in the horror/mystery/sci-fi overlapping genre area and all the moving pieces worked well together for the most part, though I did find myself confused as to what was happening some times. The town of Backravel and its history was intriguing and at some times I felt just as invested in figuring out what was going on as Beck did. The characters in this book sadly did not grip me in the way I wanted them to, however. Beck is a tough character, having had to step up and take care of her sister while her mother was ill and after her death, but I just couldn't bring myself to feel much for her other than sympathy and a little frustration at how she treated Riley. Overall though, I think this book is absolutely worth a read and will leave your head spinning at the end. A great second book and I can't wait to see where Gould goes next!

Courtney Gould drew me into the mysterious Arizona town she crafted, where nothing seems quite right. I hardly put the book down all day, eager to find out what Beck had gotten herself and Riley into in Backravel. But I think I enjoyed the build up more than the finale.

Enraptured as I was by this world, I had so many questions that haven’t quite been answered, although I guess that could be the point.

I also wish we heard more from Riley - she had some great moments, and I would’ve loved to get more of her perspective on their time in AZ.

That aside, I still was fully taken in by this book. Beck’s journey through grief, as pieces of her mom’s past in Backravel slowly come to light, (and a side of a sweet lil romance) kept me invested, even though I didn’t necessarily like Beck the whole time. I’m definitely adding the author’s other book to my TBR.

Holy f***!! I know I'm late to the party, but wow. I don't even know what to add, this was just such a crazy ride? I enjoyed every single part of it. Let's go gays!!

Where Echoes Die is all at once lyrical, atmospheric, horrifying, and heartbreaking. Set against the backdrop of the mysterious town of Backravel, Gould embarks on a raw exploration of the different effects of grief. This was such a vivid tale of loss, emotional abuse, and familial bonds. I just wish there had been a bit more wrap up and closure at the end. Sure to be one of the must read books of 2023!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Courtney Gould has an incredible talent for creating stories that feel claustrophobic and insular. Where Echoes Die is no exception. Her grasp of writing about oppressive small towns is unmatched. I just loved this book. It was spooky, mysterious, and exactly the type of book I love. It you’re a fan of Stephen King, Courtney Gould is the YA author for you!

This book covers the topic of grief wonderfully. It talks about how to let go and move on after losing someone, while keeping the mystery of the story at the forefront.

4 ⭐️

this was an excellent YA thriller and I was hooked!

I don't wanna give anything away but this book is literally so good. It has a arizona setting, sister bond, mystery, cool twists

Thankyou so much to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me access to read this one early

Where Echoes Die is the story of Beck, a girl haunted by the death of her mother, her younger sister traveling with her, and the tiny town of Backravel where their mother spent so much of her time before her death.

Courtney Gould spins another delicious dark and twisted story with enough turns that I couldn't seem to stop reading. The location is fantastic, and the characters are prickly and realistic, but it's the mystery behind Beck's mother, and the town itself that drew me in and kept me turning page after page.

It's a fast read, but not one I can sum up easily or simply...and I've been trying for a few weeks now. It revolves a lot around the bonds we share with people, the way grief can consume us, with memory and consent, and manipulation...and more to boot, all while weaving a gorgeously intricate story.

An intriguing mystery wrapped in a creepy town with a story that explores family dynamics, love, grief, memory and more.

Just phenomenal. Great queer representation, wonderful writing, a creepy, twisty story. In my opinion, this was even better than Gould's previous book. I'll recommend this to everyone upon its release.

2.5 stars

This was an ambitious book; lots happening, dual timelines and told from one perspective (Beck). Everyone else around Beck is kind of half drawn, which is a bummer bc I think more time spent outside of Becks head and in her interactions with Avery and Riley would flesh the story out and have more emotional resonance.

The main 'mysteries' do get resolved but not in a real fulfilling way. I still have like 20 questions that I need answered before I'd say ok, we explored all of this.

My biggest quibble though is they have a parent that seems to be steady, was in their lives and yet didn't pay child support? Why were they struggling so much? Yes this seems like a stupid plot point but the estrangement seemed to be more for the sake of the story than making actually any real sense.

Any time I get invested in a story I do tend to find these nitpicks which is why it's 2.5 and a recommended read for the YA crowd. It's got a lot of good elements and a nifty sci Fi plot, it just needs to tighten up a bit or be more than one book.

4.5 stars actually. I wasn't sure how I was going to fare with this one. There are elements of PNR and sci-fi - and those types of reads usually make me feel like I'm dumb and swimming upstream. As if there was something I'm supposed to take away that I'm just to slow to catch on to. However, Courtney Gould does an amazing job of making it perfectly alright. There's just enough given to let you know what's going on, wonder what the heck is going on, and still feel like you're not lost. There is a lot of action and intrigue and mystery that keeps you racing through the pages.

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould is about two siblings who are dealing with the aftermath of their mother's death, wherein the elder sister Beck decides to take her younger sister Riley to the town their mother had been obsessively investigating for years before her death. There is something eerie, something not quite right with the town, and soon Beck is drawn into unravelling its mystery in an attempt to get close to her mother and find a reason behind what drew her so inexorably back, again and again, to Backravel.

I love the name of the town, first off, and I love, too, the way that Gould writes her descriptions. You can really sink in and feel as though you're standing in the book yourself rather than just reading, and the pages fall away as the tension builds quicker and quicker. I really enjoy supernatural stories, and I was pleased that this book had not only that but also LGBT representation, which was a delightful surprise.

It's a really touching and poignant look at the heaviness of grief and how people deal with it in different ways.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I devoured this in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. Somewhat choppy, but still engaging, Where Echoes Die was an incredible read. I struggled with connecting with some of the characters, until the end. And as I sit here, winding down for bed, I find myself pondering just how far I’d go when it comes to grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Courtney Gould for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book was a journey definitely worth taking! Beck and her sister, Riley, travel to the town their deceased mother dedicated so much of her life to, looking for answers. Not only does this book cover their journey in relation to grief, it also adds excitement with elements of time warping, memory loss, deja vu and so much more. This book has it all!

I loved Courtney Gould's debut, The Dead and the Dark, so I had high hopes for Where Echoes Die and those were definitely met!

Gould tells a beautiful story of grief and longing wrapped in a fascinating mystery about how far we will go for the ones that we love. If you liked Gould's previous work, I high recommend reading her follow up.

3.75/5
I received this book as an ARC. This book will release in June 2023.
TL;DR:
An emotional, mysterious novel that deals with familial connections and trauma with queer representation. Definitely think will be great in audiobook format - easily digestible in writing style and with a fast-paced, atmospheric plot.


Wow. This book is very emotional, but not in a "I want to make you cry" kind of way, but in a way that makes you think.
This book follows two sisters who travel to a mysterious town in Arizona to hopefully find answers about their late mother who had an unhealthy obsession with said town. That's the basic gist of it, but it is truly complicated - no cars, no cemeteries, but most importantly, no memories.
This book battles with what it means to remember, and what we are willing to sacrifice for temporary happiness or perceived happiness. I started this book thinking that there would be a clear bad or good side for characters, but even the characters that I doubted in terms of being "good" had their reasons, which I am a huge fan of.

Now, for the cons, even though I really enjoyed this book. For probably about 75% of the book, I felt as though our main character, Beck, lacked a strong character background or development. She felt like a means to an end and only existed to take the story in a certain direction. It wasn't until that last quarter that I really started to feel I understood who Beck was as a person. While this may be intentional, sometimes I felt confused by her function: is she detail oriented? is she like her mother or not? It wasn't until the end that I felt I truly connected with her. Minorly, I felt this as well with the way Riley and Beck talked about their mother. Often, they use of the mother's real name - Ellery - within personal internal dialogue felt disconnected. We are introduced to Ellery as Ellery, not as "mom" or "mother". For a while, I assumed this suggested a separation from their mother and that they didn't have a huge connection with her. Of course, it is much more complicated than that, but it definitely led me in a certain way mentally.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book and really appreciated this read. I was very sick the week I read this and it was fast paced and interesting in a way that entertained me through sitting at home.

Thank you for providing me with this ARC!

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In essence, this is a story about grief and how far one will go to cope in all the wrong ways.
In practice, this narrative follows 17-year-old Beck and her younger sister, Riley, on a road trip to visit Backravel, a weird, isolated dessert town that holds plenty of secrets. The reason for this trip? Beck and Riley’s recently deceased mother used to visit the town, and in order to better understand their mother’s life and death, the sisters will first need to uncover the town’s secrets.
And Gould masterfully wove together the depth of grief and coming of age with the mysterious and engaging premise of the mind-bending town. I loved it!

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beck was a fantastic lead - savvy, caring, and just a little bit too curious for her own good. Riley played the little sister part well, both the role of needing help and being the one to help. I do wish we got a little more from her though.
An enigma at first, Avery ended up being an important and dynamic addition to the ensemble. Other characters kind of fell to the wayside, but I guess they weren’t totally necessary anyways.

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gould penned such a great story about mourning the loss of a loved one. She represented the dizzying, almost surreal feeling of grief in such literal ways. To write a novel equal parts viscerally real and fantastical is impressive.
I also commend Gould for creating such an interesting fictional town. The setting was described so clearly that I felt like I was trudging along in the middle of the dessert.

Recommended to fans of adult fiction novels about grief, coming of age, and/or weird little towns.

4.5/5 stars (I rounded up)

Let me start this review off by saying I LOVE this book. It’s really hard for me to say I love a book that isn’t fantasy, but this one is up there. I actually sat down and read the entire book in a couple of hours without taking a break (it was that good!). Let’s get into it!!

The story starts off with Beck, a seventeen year old girl, driving through Arizona with her fifteen year old sister, Riley, on a spontaneous road trip. They are grieving the recent loss of their mother, Ellery Birsching, who was a journalist obsessed with a place called Backravel, Arizona. Their parents are separated so this story takes place on a two week long “vacation” shortly after Ellery’s death but right before they move to Texas to be with their dad. Ellery Birsching was obsessed with Backravel to the point where it broke up her marriage and consumed her life. Beck wants to find out why.

I love the trigger warnings in the very beginning of this book. It means a lot to me for an author to openly warn the readers what they are going to get into without spoiling any of the book. The transparency really means a lot to me as someone who has been unpleasantly surprised by triggers in many books.

This story will pull you in from the beginning. I don’t want to say much (to avoid spoilers) but this story takes a look into grief in both an understanding and open way. There is sapphic romance in it that didn’t feel forced or weird! It was, dare I say, perfect?

The only reason this is not a 5/5 stars for me is because the ending fell only a little flat for me. I would have liked one or two more chapters to really get into what happened to feel some closure. That being said, I don’t dislike the ending at all. I think it did wrap up nicely, but I would’ve preferred a little more explanation.

I highly recommend this book and I’m glad to be starting off 2023 with such a strong read. Thank you to Courtney Gould, the publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book and express that all opinions are my own.

I love the cover on this and it will draw in the target reading group! We have a slow burn taking place in Arizona. Two sisters decide to take a trip here after their mother mentioned it numerous times before she died. A lot of genre mixing which is popular in the YA world and I think this will be a hit for teens.

2.25/5 stars! First of all, the cover of this book is stunning. This book felt like more of a story about the Backravel location than a story about the main characters and their needs. I just wasn't drawn in by the characters which made this book read slowly for me. The story works as a YA thriller mystery but could stand edits for future stories.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily