The Shadows We Know by Heart

December 1, 2016
For years, Leah has stolen out at night to the forest abutting her East Texas home to set out apples on a tree stump, then hide and watch three giant, hairy Bigfoot lumber out and consume her offering; this time, the visitors include a human boy.Leah's kept her trips secret from her dysfunctional, all-white family: authoritarian preacher dad, secret-tippler mom, and older brother Matt. Each has nursed corrosive secrets in the decade since Matt's twin died in a horrific incident that also claimed the brother and father of Leah's best friend, Ashley (all also white). Their losses are a forbidden topic. Why her parents then moved next to the forest puzzles Leah, banned from setting foot in it herself. Blonde Leah attracts romantic attention from Matt's friend, but he's no match for the enchanting, mysterious green-eyed, bronze-skinned forest boy who's claimed Leah's heart and is equally smitten. In secret encounters that include the smallest Sasquatch, their relationship deepens. Meanwhile, Leah's parents head out nights, in camo hunting attire; excitement's replaced their customary hostility. As convoluted paths converge, long-hidden truths are revealed. Related by Leah in the present tense, her discoveries--of the boy, the Sasquatch, and their forest world at night--are intense and authentic, resonating with heady excitement. More mundane plot developments and explanations tidy loose narrative threads but strain credulity. Paradoxically, the Tarzan-esque fantasy rings truest. An appealing debut for romance fans and readers willing to suspend disbelief. (Romantic fantasy. 12-16)

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February 1, 2017

Gr 6 Up-Leah's life seems to be held together by secrets and lies, especially since her older brother was killed in the woods. After Sam's death, her preacher father became super strict and angry, her melancholy mother began to sip from a secret flask, and only Sam's twin, Matt, seems unchanged. Leah keeps the biggest secret of all, because she knows that a trio of Sasquatch live in the woods next door and that a wild boy, with whom she is infatuated, lives with them. Although she is forbidden to go into the woods, Leah is drawn into the handsome wild boy's world, risking punishment and danger to learn more about him. She keeps this friendship a secret even from her best friend, Ashley, who has lost her father and brother, and from her new boyfriend, the sheriff's son, on whom she has been crushing for years. As she relates her story, Leah frequently refers to the tragedy that killed Sam 10 years earlier, revealing small clues and memories of the event, and readers may be able to connect the dots of the mystery before Leah does. Peppered with romantic metaphors and flowery descriptions, Leah's first-person narration is dense and dramatic. The novel's most satisfying passages are at the conclusion, although many loose ends aren't entirely wrapped up.

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