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YA Book Review: Like Moonlight at Low Tide


Recently, I posted on Instagram, as part of the #authorschallenge2019, the opening lines from Nicole Quigley’s debut novel, “Like Moonlight at Low Tide.” (see post here)


This novel is not a new release (2012) but it has remained on my night table for over three years and has become a reference book of sorts. I have meant to review it for years, but somehow kept forgetting. Until now! When I pulled this dog-eared paperback from the pile, I was not only reminded of it's gripping hook, but of how masterful the entire story is written, from first lines to hope-filled conclusion.




What is it about:


In a unique flash forward introduction, you are immediately drawn into the high school years of Melissa (Missy) Keiser from Anna Maria Island. The setting is visceral and immediately thrusts you into the reality of muggy, middle-class Florida, complete with the brokenness of family life and Missy’s bully-ridden past. A journey of self-discovery begins during her junior year of high school when she returns to the island after three years away. Missy travels this path while navigating three relationships - her brother, her long-standing crush and a mysterious new friend – who all push her to reconsider her place on the island and where her priorities lie. Without giving too much away, just when you think her story is improving, she loses of one of these boys to suicide.