YA contemporary at heart, though it dabbles a bit in fantasy, mystery, and fairy tale. A tiny island off the east coast of a continent that is implied but not stated to be North America, an island known only for a rare bird that nests there in the summer and that draws a small but fanatical crew of birdwatching visitors. The story of twin 17 year-old girls from a (gently, unobtrusively) witchy family that runs the island’s hotel, and various (gently) mysterious, (gently) fantastical, and (gently) creepy events over the final summer before they are supposed to leave the island to go to university. For most of the book, it leans hard into an intensely romanticized small-town wholesomeness tightly bound to unmarked whiteness – albeit a hip, liberal, 21st century wholesomeness where teen queerness and skinnydipping and smoking and drinking and sex don’t burst the bubble. I generally dislike this narrative use of small towns, as someone who grew up in one, though it bothered me less than usual in this book, which I generally liked. And it became clear that it was played as hard as it was to set things up for an initially gradual and then sharp shift in tone towards the end, the details of which deserve further discussion that, alas, would require straying into the realm of spoilers. I feel ambivalent about both the set-up and the shift, though as I said I still enjoyed the book overall…though if you are someone who is into content warnings, perhaps have a look around for a spoilery review before reading.
Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.