The excellent Leave No Trace works well as a look at mental health recovery, surviving in the wild and navigating a media frenzy. The maturation of Maya and Lucas enhances the story as Mejia delves into their backgrounds and provides an intense look at Josiah’s motives for disappearing ... A strong sense of place infuses Leave No Trace, especially the expansive Boundary Waters.
...[an] evocative new thriller ... This psychological thriller is a triumph on two fronts: its evocative northern Minnesota setting, and the forthright voice of Maya Stark, its narrator ... Along with the breathtaking descriptions of the Boundary Waters...Mejia also evokes Duluth, its people and the 'absolute reign of Superior' with humility and humor ... Maya is such a refreshing change from the trend of unreliable 'girls' in current thrillers.
Mindy Mejia knows how to build suspense, and has timed every twist and turn perfectly, constantly raising the stakes for her characters. Maya and Lucas are both mysterious and well-developed, and their chemistry is palpable ... Mindy Mejia kicks things up a notch, delivering another nail-biting page-turner that grabs you early and never lets go ... Leave No Trace is her best thriller yet.
This redemption story is a departure from the chilling Gone Girl–like tale of manipulation Mejia wove in Everything You Want Me to Be (2017), instead exploring familial love and offering an honest, compassionate take on mental-health issues. Here the author uses Lake Superior’s violent storms and the Boundary Waters’ forbidding wilderness to intensify the story’s emotional impact and heighten its exploration into the unpredictability of half-buried secrets.
Although overly plotted, especially with what feel like forced symmetries between Maya’s and Lucas’s backstories, the novel is saved by its arresting characters ... Mejia remains a writer to watch.
Bathed in shades of melancholy, Maya’s narration, woven in with Lucas and Josiah’s heartbreaking story, is a testament to resiliency, and when Maya reveals her secret—the event that led to her time in Congdon—it’s a shocker ... But it’s her ability to endure and thrive that makes her so fascinating ... Keep tissues handy for this one but be assured that, in the end, there is hope to be found ... Mejia’s (Everything You Want Me To Be, 2017) thrilling tale works both as an engaging mystery and a haunting meditation on grief, abandonment, and the lost places within ourselves. Brutal, devastating, and utterly riveting.
