Review: Wait for Me by Sara Shepard

*We received this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Do you believe in reincarnation?

Sara Shepard asks readers to be open to the possibility.

Casey Rhodes already lives an unconventional life. At 17, she’s a sophomore at NYU and dating Marcus Coleman, one of the most eligible men in NYC. At an exclusive holiday party thrown by her boyfriend’s father, Casey hears a voice inside her head. One that makes her blood go cold.

She thought she just had too much champagne, but when she hears the voice again, she knows she has to get out of the city. Casey takes the train to Long Island to the small town of Avon Shores. Casey assures herself it’s just to study for finals. However, she feels like she’s been to the town before and has no idea why.

Nothing makes sense anymore. Not running into a psychic, who explains that Casey’s past life might be talking to her. Not Jack, the cute guy she has an instant connection with. Not the entire town and the voice in her head telling her something terrible happened the year Casey was born.

Something sinister has been going on for 17 years. Something that connects Casey to a girl named Becky, who died at 19 on her wedding day. But more people, including Jack, might have the answers Casey needs to know if she really is Becky reincarnated.

Wow, was Wait for Me an intense experience. We’ll start out by sharing that we love Shepard’s YA books. We’re huge Pretty Little Liars fans and believe her The Amateurs series is underrated. We were ecstatic to receive an ARC for Shepard’s latest thriller.

Shepard knocked it out of the park. She gave us something new and thought provoking. It also provided mental health representation when talking about Casey hearing a voice. While the point was to show that people in her life weren’t openminded, the book also talked about how getting mental health care is nothing to be ashamed of and more people should give equal focus to their mental and physical health.

We felt bad for Casey during the book, especially as she questioned what was true. Too be honest, we weren’t super invested in the love triangle. This book was more about Casey learning to love herself than it was about choosing between Jack and Marcus. Both of them play an important role in the mystery though.

Wait for Me is a plot-driven book. The story picks up quickly with a major plot twist in the middle. The story is separated by part one and part two. Part two starts slower, but really picks up again after a few chapters. The scenes where Casey met people who knew Becky became intense because the reader doesn’t know who hurt Becky 17 years ago and why she became a target.

The ending surprised us. There are some very intense moments and then everything goes black. When we reunite with the characters, everything has changed. Usually we don’t like when books are left too open ended, but we believe it worked in Wait for Me. The reason is because the mystery is solved and so is the reasoning behind the character’s actions. However, we’re not quite sure what will happen to Casey, Jack and Marcus next.

Overall, pick up Wait for Me on November 1st if you want a fast-paced thriller that questions the possibility of reincarnation.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐