Quirky and fun at times. Problematic with stereotypes at others. The premise is so intriguing but unfortunately I didn’t connect well with Maya, and honestly, maybe that was the point. We’ve got a teenage girl that can read minds and literally believes she is God, not the most relatable character but a cool story nonetheless.

The writing style was fresh and I think it was well done even if it wasn’t for me.

Mysterious Ways is a rather unique read, especially in YA. Diving into the mind of Maya, it’s an exploration of our modern world and Maya’s life in her small town as she deals with reading the minds of everyone and dealing with “only evil continually”, feeling herself as a godlike being here to take on the weight of the world.

The concept of Maya being able to read minds because women have to be likable was really interesting, and made for a good setup. What goes on in people’s minds can be quite interesting and sometimes disturbing. And through these thoughts, she’s grown pessimistic of humanity, and believes that soon, the world will be flooded again to erase evil and wickedness, much like in the story of Noah’s Arc. This ability also leads her to landing in the psychiatric hospital when the story begins. After the first 10% of the story, things pick up for me. Most of the story is told in Maya’s POV as she’s trying to live a normal teen life, but we do get small bits from others in the community, giving us a greater scope of what’s going on. However, through her life experiences, Maya does change and grow, and it’s fitting to the tone of the story.

The book has a “hippie” energy, but it fits the story, as Maya’s parents own a record store and the worldview and narration of the story leans very progressive (at least in terms of US politics).

The humor was well placed and the mostly lighthearted tone to the prose helped the story from getting too dark. This book deals with just about all the dark/triggering topics you can in YA, including (but not limited to) mental health, self harm, suicide, sexual content (the chapter “Maximumlism” deals with a slightly spicy scene), and naming specific news/current events from the 1950’s to now (mostly the tragic kind). Then again, it’s about “only evil continually” for Maya. There’s plenty of profanity as well.

If you’re looking for something that might give you a little levity in a world that seems hopelessly dark, this might be for you.

Mysterious Ways is the story of Maya a 17 year old girl who we first meet in the Whispering Pines Psychiatric Facility. Maya believes she is God and has an uncanny ability to read peoples thoughts, emotions, and histories. The author introduces us to Maya's world view almost immediately. She strongly believes the world is falling apart and shares her opinion on who and what is responsible for that. The narrative felt confrontational and filled with stereotypes which were off putting, not healthy, and not productive.

The author included many social issues facing teenagers in the story and I feel like the book has a lot to offer in spite of the divisive start. There are many fun, light, and entertaining moments through out the story which helped make the story more palatable for me. I wanted to root for Maya but I never quite found my connection to her.

Overall, I can see that the story is well written and delivers the authors message clearly and cohesively. I think I would have liked the story more ultimately if Maya had more of a journey. I wanted to see her character grow.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced reader copy.

The premise of this book sounded so interesting! I had trouble following the story and the writing style. I am glad I stayed with it because I liked the ending.
This wasn’t the book for me but I hope the author finds her audience! There was some beautiful writing.

The premise of this book sounded really intriguing but I struggled with the writing style and found myself loosing interest in this story while reading it.

While this wasn't a great fit for me personally I hope that the author finds her intended audience.

Thank you to the author, Net Galley and publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you to the Publisher for my arc!


I really wanted to enjoy this but i found myself skimming the last 100 pages because I just didn't enjoy the writing style and was getting bored with the story.

Mysterious Ways is about a teenager who has the ability to read minds. She can't control it and now is trying to figure out a way to help others with her gift.
I didn't like this book. I don't know if it just wasn't interesting to me or if it was too young adult. I usually like young adult novels. I just couldn't get into this one. Maya literally thinks she is God and it's just annoying. Maya is like other teens with their feelings. For some reason it felt like she couldn't read her mom's thoughts as clearly as everyone else's. It made their relationship strained. Maya to me didn't have the character development that I needed.

Thank you to Wendy Wunder, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love the cover so much, and I wanted to love the story just as much, but unfortunately, I didn't.

I couldn't connect with Mia. I didn't like the writing. The author was trying too hard to sound like a teenager. It did not work for me at all. Maybe I am just too old to read this one.

I am sad that I have to DNF.
I only read the first few chapters and I lost interest in Maya and the story.
I couldn't get into this book. I couldn't connect with Maya.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This YA coming-of-age novel about a 17 year old girl deftly handles all the issues here, including mental health, first time sex, college applications, parental angst and others. Maya can hear everyone’s thoughts and feels overwhelmed by everything. Read this to find out how she gets help and realizes she is not alone. I enjoyed this very much and felt drawn to the characters. Wendy Wunder has done a great job developing the cast of characters and the dialogue feels contemporary.
Thanks to #netgalley, #wednesdaybooks and the author for this ARC ebook to read.

I didn't love the prologue but I'm glad I stuck with it because the rest of the book was a fresh and quirky read.

I enjoyed the concept and the characters, but I felt something was missing. The potential was there and i think so people will really enjoy it.

I absolutely devoured this book and have recommended it to so many people. It was incredible! Such a fun story.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Mysterious Ways" by Wendy Wunder is a fascinating exploration of teenage life, infused with humor, depth, and a touch of the extraordinary. The story centers around Maya, a teenager with a unique ability that allows her to hear the thoughts of others, which profoundly shapes her character and outlook on life. This book is set in the mind of a Gen Z teenager, which means that it is absolutely overflowing with teenage angst as well as (relatively) current slang. This is definitely a bold choice as some of the language/slang being used will be outdated in a few years and older readers may not really be able to connect with Maya and her perspective. As an older Gen Z person, I even thought some of the slang/humor in the book was a bit much, though it does feel relatively authentic for a young teenager. Maya is a 17-year-old, but she does think/act a bit younger than that, which is why I think this book would do well with younger YA readers, or even with a MG audience.

From the outset, the book captures the chaotic and often humorous nature of a teenage girl's mind. Wunder's portrayal of Maya is both amusing and authentic, making you feel as though you are experiencing the tumultuous world of adolescence firsthand. Maya's journey is both inspiring and complex. Her ability to hear thoughts gives her strong opinions, which sometimes verge on jadedness. This trait plays a crucial role in her development and interactions with others. I did appreciate Maya’s character growth throughout the book, specifically towards the end. Maya’s supernatural abilities were quite unique and made the story even more engaging and added some nice depth to the plot.

As stated earlier, older readers may not be able to connect as well with Maya as the portrayal of Gen Z characters seemed to be a bit overly stereotypical as well as lacking in nuance. There were times when I just had to take a break because I found Maya and her perspective to be a bit annoying and overwhelming. Despite these shortcomings, I did still enjoy the humor for the most part, which kept me invested throughout, especially with the ending. The ending of "Mysterious Ways" is unexpected and may not satisfy all readers, but it remains true to the complex and often unpredictable nature of life.

Overall, "Mysterious Ways" is a book that, despite its imperfections, provides a memorable and engaging read. Its blend of humor, real-life issues, and the supernatural makes it a unique addition to the genre of young adult fiction. It just wasn’t the right fit for me, though I’m sure younger YA readers would absolutely love this book.

Sadly I DNF’ed this about 15% in. It felt all over the place and I wasn’t connecting with the main character. Her quirks didn’t make her interesting enough and the chapter size/how they jumped around just made this too difficult to become invested in.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such an interesting delve into teenagers' minds. It was done in a really creative way. Seeing how Maya grew throughout the book was inspiring. It was an interesting reaction as she revealed her talent to people. It would have been better if there was a little more nuance and someone was reacting or guessing her talent. Overall, it was a downhearted view on humanity and the fate of the world with a bit of hope at the end. Just enough to keep going! I received this book from netgalley as an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I found this book to be a bit of a roller coaster. The main character, Maya, is a mind-reading teenager who has been committed to a mental hospital and is being released. She isn't looking forward to going back to high school and her parents are worried about her.

The book starts off with a lot of rambling to jam in various meandering political beliefs, beefs, and philosophies (what some angry reviewers on Goodreads called woke, but mostly seemed pussy hat progressive to me). Maya has a ton of knowledge about politics of the 70s and 80s that she seemed unlikely to possess; I just don't think even a kid who can hear other people's thoughts would be listening in to hear about Reagan and Phyllis Schlafly and the Moral Majority. It would have been more realistic to have her considering current events instead of thinking so insistently about other eras.

Maya can also beam thoughts into people's minds, though she hardly ever does this and almost never when it seems like she should. Her parents own a record store and every time she uses her mind control powers, she sets the thoughts she sends to some song from a previous era. I thought maybe there would be some sort of mix tape theme in the book but it kind of tapered off, though music did play a role at the end.

There were several overdone, stereotypical teen book bits (cool friend who's into fashion, hot boy who falls for main character, clueless dad, hippie mom) that made it feel like seven old manuscripts got put into a blender with a new plot and some "zany" dialogue. There was the boy who knows all of the 70s songs the girl knows because of course, and the friend who gets jealous when her divorced mom starts dating again. There were also a ton of characters and I had to keep searching to remember who was who when a name from several chapters ago was thrown in without warning.

Despite that, I did warm to Maya and her friend Lucy about halfway through, so I kept reading. The payoff didn't do much for me and I wouldn't necessarily seek out other books from the same author. This one could have benefited from some strong editing, especially cutting out some of the bit characters and long rambling paragraphs. I think this had the potential to be a fun read layered with some interesting aspects about mental health and teenage relationships, but sadly, it never ended up having a singular point of view.

A wonderfully quirky and heartwarming journey that's just the perfect blend of humor and life's big questions. Trust me, you'll love the whimsical ride and the unexpected twists!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Great book! I could not put the book down once I begun reading it. Excited for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!