Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I enjoyed the atmospheric writing style and the PNW setting which was simultaneously enchanting and spooky. I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters but overall a solid debut!

This story is based upon Elijah who is an aspiring writer. He left his small home town to pursue his dream of becoming an author, however his first published novel never reached successful sales numbers. He ends up coming back to his hometown feeling ashamed, and hoping to reconnect with an old flame. Things get messy as a murder takes place, and it is nearly identical to the one in Elijah’s book. It begs the question, did Elijah do it? Or was he framed?

The book description and the cover photo is what reeled me in. I will say the writing is well done, the descriptions are really beautiful. All the nature locations were written in a way to give a reader perfect imagery. That was akin to Where the Crawdad’s Sing (like it was suggested and I have to agree with that)! I really enjoyed the scenes. I did like the Epilogue and the very ending of that it was a great wrap up and reconnection to the beginning of the story. I liked how the title tied into the book.

Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me. I got about 80 pages in and then I was just getting tired of hearing the mundane day to day of Elijah and his homestead. I was under the assumption from the book description that the story focus would be on the mystery/murder but it turned out to be heavily focused on Elijah making a home for himself, reconnecting with Nakia and Chitto, and his struggles with his writing and his feelings of being ashamed. I kept craving for it to turn back to Jim and Jeremy POV because then I knew that the mystery side would progress.

I found Elijah mopey and needy. I grew to dislike him through his described interactions with Nakia because he kept trying to come onto her, rush her and it was really unfair given her circumstances and she communicated clearly to him she needs time while he kept ignoring her. She expresses needing to take it slow, yet tries to kiss her. When she is finally ready to kiss him, he immediately says wants to marry her (when she’s been a widow and dating for only ~ 5 months)? It didn’t make me root for them to be together based on Elijah’s continued disappointing actions.

Once the reveal happened on the whodunnit (which I knew), I didn’t feel invested to finish the story. Maybe it would have been better if it was a work backwards set up from courtroom to what happened before/reveal - being a reader unsure of who it was, Elijah or said person.

I thought it was an odd choice to make up a reservation and give it an imaginary name. As well, writing the story where Nakita lives on this reservation with her dad being a religious figure (Pastor) and stating they live in a huge “ski lodge” sized house. It is just a really questionable choice. At that point just make it a different location and don’t label it as a reservation because it wasn’t necessary and didn’t bring anything to the story. It was mainly used as a travel difference between locations, there was no world building or created culture behind it to make it a necessary addition.

I understand there is a disclosure at the beginning of the book under Author’s Note to say this book is a work of fiction and inspiration was taken from personal experiences with Indigenous people, but to start the book off with that was off putting. It made me not want to read the story to be honest so I think it might deter others as well. In Canada we are really sensitive to the wrongs in our history and the colonization that took place, with religious ties to the mistreatment and assimilation of Indigenous peoples. It just seems questionable for a white author to take creative liberties like this, it doesn’t read well - disclosure or not. I understand it is a work of fiction but creating a reservation for a story that doesn’t need it, and to not utilize it well to create a well thought out location or bring a sense of culture into it was a bit of a miss.

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for an eARC!

The writing was beautiful. I love a good mystery. This one was unique and I loved uncovering the truth with the characters.

It’s cunning and atmospheric. I love picking it up & returning to the story.

Sorry, this one was not enjoyable for me. I found the plot to be very slow-moving and it took a lot of effort to continue reading. Thank you to Netgalley, Sarah Crouch, and Atria for the opportunity to read this novel.

Middletide is a debut novel set in the Pacific Northwest about an author whose words come back to haunt him. Part mystery and part love story, we follow Elijah from high school to his adult life when he returns to his home town only to be accused of murder exactly as he wrote it in his novel.

The story has some lovely twists and turns and is well written. The book is a fast read too and I enjoyed it a lot! Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for this review!

I went into this book with low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. I was immediately invested in the story from early on. This book was fantastic! An easy 5 star read for me!

3.5 stars rounded down for pacing

Whew, now that is a slow, slow burn. I really enjoyed the story but it wasn't until 80% of the way through the book that I fell in love - brilliant twist! But I wanted to spend more time with that twist and at that point the rest of the story was too rushed.

A great debut from Sarah Crouch but would have preferred a more steady pace.

Recluse Elijah Leith has returned home after many years away after a failed attempt at becoming a writer. His debut novel is panned by a critic and never sells. Elijah begins to reconcile his first and only love Nakita, homestead his property, and work in an auto shop. Living alone is often lonely for Elijah, especially when he a dead body of the towns beautiful doctor turns up on his property and there is no alibi for a man living alone in the woods.
I really liked this mystery, it was written in a non linear timeline which met by the end.
Once you are past the 60% mark this book was full speed ahead, almost rushed, but I still didn’t mind.
My biggest grievance with the book was why would the author have many of the main characters be indigenous people but then make up their tribe?
I don’t understand what purpose that serves the reader.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book does give off Where the Crawdads Sing vibes with the small town mystery/murder setting.

It's a bit slow to start. But once the mystery start to unfold, it's becomes more interesting!

This book read like a lyrical thriller, and I was HERE FOR IT.

I loved the build, I loved the whodunnit, I loved all of it.

Can't wait for Sarah Crouch's next works!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The baseline of this book reminded me a lot of when I first read Where the Crawdads Sing. I found the book to a bit slow moving till about a 1/4 of the way through so I would’ve like to for it to pick up a little sooner than that. Overall a decent mystery with some quality writing

Thank you Net Galley, Sarah Crouch and Atria Books for this beautifully written mystery. I enjoyed that there was a romantic story line but it wasn’t focused only on that story line and there weren’t all these detailed spicy chapters describing the romantic interactions between characters. This was definitely a slow build that took some time to get into, with a good mystery and twist that I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed how the final moments of the story and the main character’s fate play out in the courtroom. This is a great spooky mystery that I almost wish I had saved for Fall and chillier weather to cozy up with. Definitely think any crime junkie, dateline, Where the Crawdads Sing and Gone Girl fans will enjoy this one as much as I did.

This book just wasn't for me. It reminded me a lot of Where the Crawdads Sing, which also wasn't for me. I later saw that other people shared they saw similarities which would have put me off this book to start with.

This book is slow-burn mystery. It took me a while to get into but the last 20% for the build-up to be worth it. I did think it was a little unbelievable but it kept me entertained.

This books packs a punch right in the beginning, with the death of the town's beautiful doctor. What follows is the search to find out what happened to her. The book is told from different perspectives, in different years. It's a little bit much to keep up with the different time periods, but all-in-all, it was a good read. The end was more than a bit predictable, but there was a "happy" ending, so all is good.

This review was also published on Goodreads.

This was overall a good mystery. I found it slightly predictable but I liked the character development and twists.

I am most impressed with this debut novel by Sarah Crouch. The story was plausible and I enjoyed it all the way through. My only complaint was how the story jumped between characters and years in the timeline. I had to backtrack several times to check the header of the chapter to see what year we were experiencing.
I especially enjoyed the happenings in the trial and Pastor Mills, he was a delight. This is a murder mystery with a twist. Comes in with 5 stars.
I thank Atria Books along with NetGalley for providing this Galley edition for no requirement other than my offer to provide an unbiased review.

Middletide is a great debut with an enticing plot that kept me invested throughout. I definitely look forward to more from the author!

The atmospheric vibes are *chef's kiss* SO GOOD! This debut was definitely a slow burn for me and was full of loss, grief, and mystery as well as very character driven.

This book becomes a mystery as an investigation ensues to determine if the doctor's death was a suicide or murder. When investigators learn that her death mirrors a homicide in Elijah's poorly selling book, eyes turn to him....

I really enjoyed this novel, until the ending.....the ending felt rushed to me.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was slow and too many details. The plot was bland characters boring and the murder was just ridiculous