Olivia Neal: "Blue Ridge Calling" (ARC Review)

Title: Blue Ridge Calling [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Olivia Neal [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary, Supernatural, Afterlife
Age: 14+
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Entrancing, quietly magical. Features relatable characters with authentic teen voice.
Cons: A bit of a slow burn. Leaves some questions unanswered. The open ending may not sit well with some readers.
WARNING! Death in the family, grief, depression, depiction of a broken body. Drinking and smoking (on page).
Will appeal to: Those who like heartfelt stories that combine magic, ghosts, found families, hurting and healing, and a coming-of-age arc.

Blurb: Two years ago, a car accident on a perilous mountain road sent a family into freefall, and none of them have been the same since. Sage used to have everything under control: perfect grades, record times on the swim team, and carefully medicated ADHD. But ever since her mom died, she’s just been going through the motions. Kora has known Sage’s family her whole life, so losing Sage’s mom was like losing her own. At the end of the summer, she’s supposed to abandon her beloved Blue Ridge mountains for a prestigious art school in New York, but leaving now feels wrong. And an unexpected romance with a new girl in town might complicate things. Then there’s Sam, Sage’s older brother. He’s spent the last two years traipsing through the mountains, trying to find evidence of local ghost stories. He said he would be back by now, but no one has heard from him. To find him, Kora and Sage will have to dig deeper into the myths and legends of the mountains they call home - before it’s too late. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Edelweiss. Thanks to Running Wild Publishing/RIZE Press for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

CURVE BALL

Reading this book was a strange experience. I requested it thinking it would be heavy on female friendship and ghost lore, and while it did, indeed, put the former on the forefront right from the start, at first it seemed more interested in introducing instant romance and what appeared to be a budding love triangle - involving a bisexual girl, her (male) ex and her new (female) flame - than in delivering on the ghost promise (as a matter of fact, ghosts didn't even make an appearance until past the halfway mark). Except what I feared would be a typical (if atmospheric and charmingly written) YA book ultimately evolved into something much more meaningful and emotive than I could imagine - among other things, a celebration of siblinghood and found family, identity and connection, and the strength it takes to leave the familiar path and steer into the unknown. The conflict I was bracing for fizzled out, the romance was fast but surprisingly healthy, and the apparently mismatched group at the center of the narrative - lifelong friends (and narrators) Sage and Kora, new girl Hunter, Kora's ex Connor, and Sam's secret friend Noah - ended up both striking a bond and winning my heart. By the time the ghosts were properly introduced (and what an introduction it was) and the supernatural aspect as a whole started threading into the story, I was hooked. [...]

LIFE SIZE

Though Sam's disappearance is the catalyst that set the story in motion, the characters are the real driving force who keeps it going - BRC is, at its core, more of a coming-of-age book than a mystery or action one. And the cast is refreshingly diverse in every possible way. Sage has ADHD and is clearly on the aro/ace spectrum; Kora is bisexual; Hunter is queer (either lesbian or bisexual), and it's implied that she's of Cherokee heritage; Noah has feelings for Sam, so he could either be gay or bi. All these aspects are woven into the narrative in an organic manner, and more often than not, without slapping a label on the characters. Also, Neal isn't afraid to let the reader brush against the rougher edges of these teens (and their families), and ultimately weaves a tale of grief, anger, resentment, confusion, but also tenderness, forgiveness (or acceptance at least) and camaraderie that feels authentic and refreshing.

MISSING PIECES

For all these positive aspects, BRC leaves a little to be desired when it comes to the aspects that should matter more. The story takes a bit to get going, and the ghost lore is a lot more tenuous than one would expect: there's a number of loose threads connected to the reason for Sam's disappearance (and even ahead of that, to his mom's incident and his researches) and to the magic system as a whole; last but not least, there's an open ending that - if fitting and poetical - will probably have some readers in arms...and to be honest, I for one would have liked for Sam's predicament to be explained and expanded upon (which might still happen, for all I know - there's no talk of a sequel yet, but no one has ruled it out so far). Then again, I found BRC to be a remarkable debut with an intriguing (if blurred) mystery, well-rounded characters and spot-on teen voices, and I'm looking forward to what the author has in store next.

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