Title: Haze

Author: Rebecca Crunden

Pub. Date: August 6, 2018

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

When Eliza Owens gets a phone call in the middle of the night from a girl she’s never met, she doesn’t know what to think. The girl introduces herself as Paige, and says she used to date Erik Stern, Eliza’s fiancé. What’s more, she has something important to discuss.

Five years later, Erik returns to town after his father’s death. Old wounds quickly resurface, and with them several burning questions. None the least of which is: Who spoke to Eliza and Sam if it wasn’t Paige? And why?

This will be a spoiler free review. I was given a copy of the book by the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

This book pleasantly surprised me. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I’ve read my fair share of suspense/mystery/thrillers, thought it isn’t my preferred genre and honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from this. I definitely didn’t see the twist/reveal at the end, but overall it was enjoyable.

I do wish that the plot had been a little more drawn out. Everything happened so quickly, so fast and it felt like a whirlwind. The massive time jumps didn’t exactly help, but besides the fast pace of the plot, the book was overall enjoyable.

The mystery aspect of the book definitely intrigues you, as does the start of the book. Two kids trying to summon the dead? Um, yes please.

Yikes, that sounds bad, but what a way to drag the reader into the story. Then it just goes from there, and you’re drawn into Erik and Eliza’s world.

I actually kind of got Jennifer L. Armentrout vibes – kind of reminded me of her NA contemporaries, like Frigid or Till Death. The epic love story-ness that seemed to be Erik and Eliza’s relationship had me hooked and completely involved. I will say that I kind of wish we’d had more backstory, more time with the characters. While I rooted for them, felt for them, they did kind of feel a bit surface. This just ties into the quick paced plot.

I liked the cast of characters, and Miles is probably my favorite. I love protector, big brother types. Like, so much. His relationship with Eliza is pretty wholesome, and I loved that he would always answer the phone if she called.

With a little more time spent exploring the world, the characters, the mystery, this book would have been even better.

As it stands, it’s still really enjoyable and it makes for a pretty quick read – something I do enjoy from time to time. I binged this book in pretty much one sitting. I stayed in the hot tub until I finished the book. I refused to leave until I finished the book. I really didn’t see the plot twist at the end. It had me audibly go “what” to myself. It added a really interesting element to the story that I really liked, but I wish there had been more time to expand on it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I’m grateful Rebecca reached out to me. I don’t know if I would have stumbled upon it by myself. If you’re looking for a quick, suspense/mystery read, then you should pick this up!