Quinn Connor: "The Pecan Children" (ARC Review)

Title: The Pecan Children [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Quinn Connor [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary with a Twist, Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2024

Age: 16+ (I shelved it as Adult because of the characters' age, and it's indeed marketed to that demographic, but it can be read by mature teens. There are far more graphic YA books out there)

Stars: 5/5
Pros: Atmospheric, engrossing, spellbinding, inventive, ultimately hopeful.
Cons: Slow first half (if you prefer stories with more than a modicum of action). While the scope of the main twist (and its implications) will take readers completely by surprise, the authors dropped enough clues to have them figure out the basic truth early on. Some questions remain unanswered. The ending may be too open for certain readers.
WARNING! Fires/burns, wounds, near-drownings, some gore. Death of a parent (off-page). A couple of (tame) sex scenes.
Will appeal to: Those who like sibling narratives. Those who enjoy a mixture of cozy and unsettling, beauty and horror. Those who are in for a unique kind of haunting.

Blurb: In a small southern pecan town, the annual harvest is a time of both celebration and heartbreak. Even as families are forced to sell their orchards and move away, Lil Clearwater, keeper of a secret covenant with her land, swears she never will. When her twin Sasha returns to the dwindling town in hopes of reconnecting with the girl her heart never forgot, the sisters struggle to bridge their differences and share the immense burden of protecting their home from hungry forces intent on uprooting everything they love. But there is rot hiding deep beneath the surface. Ghostly fires light up the night, and troubling local folklore is revealed to be all too true. Confronted with the phantoms of their pasts and the devastating threat to their future, the sisters come to the stark realization that in the kudzu-choked South, nothing is ever as it appears. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: this title was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section). Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

The Pecan Children ended up going in a different direction than I had anticipated, and I mean it in the best possible sense. Based on the synopsis (which has all the reasons to be vague, since with books like this one, spoilers are just around the corner), I expected a contemporary story with a strong supernatural core - a troubled sibling relationship on the backdrop of a dilapidated town rife with secrets and malevolent forces. Now that I know what I know, I realise that the synopsis isn't meant to be misleading, and truth be told, it encapsulates the book fairly well...on a level. The fact is, The Pecan Children is SO. MUCH. MORE than its blurb lets on, and even if the authors start dropping a certain set of clues early in the story, I wasn't prepared for the scope and manner of the big reveal - and its implications. In hindsight, the twist is not only jaw-dropping and exciting, but it perfectly fits the claustrophobic, lethargic setting, and it's an equally perfect vehicle for the "allegory of decay in small-town America" the editorial notes promise. Also, in lieu of a supernatural mystery, this book turned out to be a strong specimen of the magical realism genre, though with elements that straddle the line between the two. Another pleasant surprise, since through the magical realism lens, the social commentary and sibling dynamic get to shine in a way that a mere supernatural context wouldn't have allowed. [...]

FALSELY FAMILIAR

If the magical realism angle is a win, the contemporary elements are just as poignant. Lil is the sister who stayed and became the family orchard's caretaker (though not by choice), not to mention, the keeper of a devastating secret - and "keeper" might be the key word here for more than one reason, since Lil seems to be the only thing that prevents the town from succumbing to decay...though even she doesn't realise to what extent. Sasha (Lil's twin, a lesbian and a photographer) is the sister who got away, only to return home temporarily in order to reconnect with her sibling and her past. Add to the mix Lil's old flame (whom she had a devastating breakup with when he asked her to leave with him) and Sasha's (apparently unrequited) teenhood crush, both back in town after a long while, and you have a complex web of relationships...where not everything is how it seems. Seriously, if these pairings (both sisterly and romantic) seem to walk a well-trodden path, you'll soon find out that there's a lot more to them that meets the eye, and you'll fall in love with these characters in the process (especially Autumn, Sasha's crush, baker exquisite and keeper of a huge piece of the narrative puzzle). I'm not going to say more about the characters (secondary ones included) because I would spoil basically everything if I did - but I will say that in the end, when the truth finally emerges and the last twist occurs, you'll have had your heart broken and repaired in multiple ways. Atmospheric, creepy and tender at the same time, harsh and sad but ultimately hopeful, inventive and mind-bending, The Pecan Children is a not-to-miss book for every (dark) magical realism lover out there who's looking for something off the beaten track - and a shower of emotions.

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