After six years of feeling abandoned by her mother, Marta's mother appears at the door, then quickly leaves again. But this time, Marta intends to find answers to her questions. Lindsey Steffes' story of a young girl taking her first steps outside the community her father has constructed to keep her safe, while trying to figure out who is telling the truth, was a good read that I finished in an afternoon. Short story length but full of the emotions and challenges Marta would face, it is well worth your time to read and share.

Thank you to Netgalley for this free ARC. All views and opinions in this review are my own.

This book was a coming-of-age tale of Marta, a 13 year old trying to deal with the aftermath of her mother’s unexpected departure, and her fraught relationship with her father, her struggles in making friends and her dislike of her mother’s best friend.

I thought the author did a great job writing the point of view of a teenager, with all the accompanying angst and complicated feelings that come with growing up and trying to deal with a dysfunctional family. The focus on the tight-knit small town community and islands surrounding Lake Superior also highlighted the feeling of bleakness and isolation that one gets while reading the story.

I just wished the characters were written a little better so that I could feel more invested in the outcome of their stories, but perhaps the author intended to keep things up to the reader to interpret on their own.

Thank you, University of Massachusetts Press for the copy of Gichigami by Lidsey Steffes. I loved the promise of the premise. I’m not sure why, but the writing style kept me distant from the characters and never engaged me. I wanted to feel empathy for Marta, but never could. If you’re more concerned with the story than the characters, you might love this one. 3 stars

This book was a wild ride. It was confusing because you do not know if the mother actually appeared or not, and you don't know if the father is simply lying, or if our main character is losing her mind, or maybe both??? It has a lot of twists and turns, a lot of secrets and past issues are brought up, and there are themes of love, loss, family dynamics, and growth in this book

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!