The June Boys, by Court Stevens
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Series?: No
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Length: 368 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 4.5/5
The Gemini Thief could be anyone. Your father, your mother, your best friend’s crazy uncle. Some country music star’s deranged sister. Anyone.
The Gemini Thief is a serial kidnapper, who takes three boys and holds them captive from June 1st to June 30th of the following year. The June Boys endure thirteen months of being stolen, hidden, observed, and fed before they are released, unharmed, by their masked captor. The Thief is a pro, having eluded authorities for nearly a decade and taken at least twelve boys.
Now Thea Delacroix has reason to believe the Gemini Thief took a thirteenth victim: her cousin, Aulus McClaghen.
But the game changes when one of the kidnapped boys turns up dead. Together with her boyfriend Nick and her best friends, Thea is determined to find the Gemini Thief and the remaining boys before it’s too late. Only she’s beginning to wonder something sinister, something repulsive, something unbelievable, and yet, not impossible:
What if her father is the Gemini Thief?
If you are confused, just keep reading.
♥ Courtney Stevens is a beautiful writer. Four Three Two One was a big hit for me, and The Lies About Truth landed on my “best books I’ve ever read” Goodreads list back in 2015 before I even started blogging. I remember filling page after page with quotes from her gorgeous prose, and this book is full of more. There’s a flowy, almost dreamlike quality that her novels often take on while still staying firmly rooted in reality.
“They sigh precisely the same way and I miss Aul all over again. You need people in your life who breathe the same way you do.”
♥ I was so confused for a lot of the book, but because I enjoyed the writing and characters and because I trust the author, I just kept going. I haven’t seen many other reviews saying they had any issues, so maybe it was just me! I generally actively try not to figure out twists and answers to mysteries, and I didn’t for this one either. I was totally surprised by several things at the end! But there was one niggling detail that I just COULD NOT PLACE in my head concerning the character of Tank, and it was driving me crazy. I knew conceptually what the answer had to be but it just would not make sense in my brain until I got there in the book. But Court got us there! So if you, too, are confused–just keep reading! I promise the answer will present itself!
♥ This book is also about something that comes up a lot for me when I read–how well do we really know our parents, and the agonizing realization that they, too, are just people with their own motives and their own shortcomings. Thea stays calm while facing the question of the Gemini Thief, and if it really could be her father, thanks in part to her boyfriend Nick. He acts as a touchstone for her, a place to go and a person to trust when she begins to doubt many of the men who have acted as parental figures to her.
“Every man in my life sat on a throne of lies.”
Nick is tied tightly to things as well–Aulus is his best friend, and his sister is a detective on the Gemini Thief case. But he strives to stay neutral for Thea, even when it’s obvious he has an opinion on something, and tries hard to be there for her.
“Crazy doesn’t make him guilty. Build your case,” I say.
And Nick, knowing me, says, “I’d be angry at me too if I were you, but you’ll be angrier later if you don’t force yourself to do this. You can’t come this far and stop at the hard place.” Then, “It’s smarter for you to build the case.”
Favorite Quotes:
“I hope my goodbye nod means Thank you the way his means I’m here if you need me. Nodding can be the whole dictionary if you know the person.” All quotes are taken from an uncorrected proof of the book
TOUR SCHEDULE Follow along with the rest of the tour here! ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtney “Court” Stevens grew up among rivers, cornfields, churches, and gossip in the small town south. She is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, Olympic torchbearer and bookseller at Parnassus Books. These days she writes coming-of-truth fiction and is the Community Outreach Manager for Warren County Public Library. She has a pet whale named Herman, a bandsaw named Rex, and several novels with her name on the spine.
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