Review: Heartwood Box by Ann Aguirre

Author: Ann Aguirre
Publisher: Tor Teen
Date of publication: July 2019

A dark, romantic YA suspense novel with an SF edge and plenty of drama, layering the secrets we keep and how appearances can deceive, from the New York Times bestselling author.

In this tiny, terrifying town, the lost are never found. When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to live with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home, the plan is simple. She'll buckle down and get ready for college. Life won't be exciting, but she'll cope, right?

Wrong. From the start, things are very, very wrong. Her great-aunt still leaves food for the husband who went missing twenty years ago, and local businesses are plastered with MISSING posters. There are unexplained lights in the woods and a mysterious lab just beyond the city limits that the locals don't talk about. Ever. When she starts receiving mysterious letters that seem to be coming from the past, she suspects someone of pranking her or trying to drive her out of her mind. To solve these riddles and bring the lost home again, Araceli must delve into a truly diabolical conspiracy, but some secrets fight to stay buried... 

I didn't know much about Heartwood Box before going into it.  I ended up being pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  The book involves Araceli who is sent to live with her great-aunt for her last year of high school.  She has always traveled with her parents abroad, but this will help her get ready for college.  Her aunt's house and the town are very strange.  She starts to think everything is haunted.

The story was fun and creepy at the same time.  I wasn't expecting it to delve into the science fiction genre. There are some pretty creepy scenes. That first attic scene would be enough to make me nerver want to go back up there! There is a some time travel involved.  Normally, I'm not a fan of tame travel stories, but I didn't mind it in this one because it made sense to the story.  I enjoyed the characters.  They all had personality and I actually cared what happened to them.  The twist at the end was a nice touch.  

 I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was really good.  I do recommend trying this one out.  I think a good introduction to SciFi/paranormal for YA readers.