Gr 9 Up--Sain's sophomore effort follows white 17-year-old Avril Vincent as she returns to Whisper Cove in Connecticut, the summer theater where her mother (and technically Avril, too) drowned 12 years ago. Avril is determined to use the opportunity to answer her questions about who her mother was and what happened to her; getting to perform in the play her mother's famous best friend Willa Culver wrote (especially in the lead role opposite Willa's brilliant, gorgeous son Cole) is icing on the cake. But Avril didn't count on falling in love with Cole or on how deeply buried the answers to her questions would be, and how some secrets don't want to be found. The main characters' slow-burn romance is believable and sweeter than Avril's witty cynicism would suggest; side characters are diverse, unique, and not overly numerous. Nocturnal wanderings and paranormal events add an extra layer of mystery to the twists and turns, and this atmospheric, thoroughly engrossing, and spooky tale is far from the average theater camp story. Content warning for self-harm, though gore and gruesome events are kept to a minimum. There is some cursing and smoking by characters as well. VERDICT An exploration of many different ways to be haunted wrapped in eerie, chilling suspense; highly recommended for many readers.--Allie Stevens

A teen returns to the site of her mother's drowning looking for clues and memories. Seventeen-year-old Avril is in Whisper Cove on the Long Island Sound for a prestigious one-month acting camp. It's no coincidence that she sought out this particular location, where her mother drowned 12 years ago and Avril herself nearly died. All she remembers is waking up in the hospital. Whisper Cove proves to be a place unlike any other, its thick fog enveloping the night and swirling through Avril's clouded memories of her past. When she meets Cole Culver, the son of her mother's college friend Willa, their connection is instant and electric. The pair become inseparable, eventually untangling the terrifying truth about what happened to Avril's mother. The atmosphere of Whisper Cove is palpable, the fog-laden shore haunting and heavy at night. Sain deftly writes Avril's confusion, desperation, and fear so that readers experience everything alongside her. Her friendships with fellow campers Val and Lex in particular are close in that way that only short-term shared experiences provide, and their connections are incredibly touching. What truly anchors the story, however, is the intense chemistry between Avril and Cole: Some of Sain's best writing comes from their charged interactions. Most characters are presumed White; some cast members are queer. Sorrowful, haunting, and romantic; a true page-turner. (Mystery. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this dreamy paranormal tale from Sain (Dark and Shallow Lies), 17-year-old Avril Vincent travels to Whisper Cove off the Long Island Sound to attend an acting boot camp run by reclusive playwright Willa Culver. But Avril isn't there just to study theater; she believes that Willa, once best friend to Avril's late mother, may have answers regarding her mother's mysterious drowning more than a decade prior. Avril only remembers waking up in a hospital the day her mother died, and her memories are cloudy, but upon arriving to town, she contends with hallucinations and traumatic flashbacks. Joined by her fellow campmates--including Willa's brooding and enigmatic son Cole, with whom Avril develops a deep romantic relationship--she begins piecing together the truth about her mother's past, and her own. With salient detail, Sain renders appropriately harrowing twists and reveals, and depicts a setting that reads as its own character, providing ethereal ambiance and a palpably unmoored feeling of anticipatory tension. The seething, surrealistic imagery is sure to stay lodged in readers' minds long after they've finished. Most characters read as white. Ages 14--up. (Sept.)

Twelve years ago, Avril's mother died at Whisper Cove, a theater camp in Connecticut. Just five years old at the time, Avril hardly remembers her. All Avril has left of the incident are hazy memories for which she has no explanations. She never believed the cause of death to be suicide or the local stories of ghost whispers calling people to the sea. Now, at 17, Avril returns to Whisper Cove in hopes of discovering more about her mother and the woman's death. Avril and her new friends spend four weeks learning from legendary playwright Willa Culver, once a close friend of Avril's mother. With Willa--and her attractive son, Cole--Avril uncovers more and more answers. She must piece her own memories back together from that tragic night if she's to discover the earth-shattering secret still lurking below the surface. Sain does a beautiful job of combining the paranormal with a page-turning mystery and intense romance, all set against a theater backdrop. A great coming-of-age tale.