Petals by Laurisa White Reyes

On Christmas Eve, a horrific car accident leaves Carly Perez without a mom. After a year of surgeries and counseling, Carly’s life is nearly back to normal—except for the monsters—vague, twisted images from the accident that plague her dreams. When her father insists on spending their first Christmas alone in Guatemala with a slew of relatives Carly has never met, she is far from thrilled, but she reluctantly boards the plane anyway.

That’s where she first spots the man with the scarred face. She could swear she has seen him before. But when? Where?

In Reu, the Guatemalan town where her father grew up, Carly meets Miguel, her attractive step-cousin, and thinks maybe vacation won’t be a total waste after all. Though she is drawn to him, Carly’s past holds her back—memories that refuse to be forgotten, and a secret about the accident that remains buried in her subconscious. And everywhere she turns, the man with the scarred face is there, driving that unwelcome secret to the surface.

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This book was not quite what I was expecting. It surprised me a bit- in a good way. I found the story and the setting very interesting. Carly is obviously struggling with a lot of residual emotional and physical damage from the car accident that took her mother's life. Nearly a year later, Carly's dad takes her to Guatemala to reconnect with his family-people Carly has never met- in the hopes of helping her and distracting her from the anniversary of what is coming.

Carly isn't always kind- on top of struggling mentally and emotionally, she is a typical teenager. That came shining through. Brought to a place completely foreign to her, she struggles with understanding the language and the customs. Luckily love is a universal language and Carly is surrounded by people who speak love to her daily. Her perspective begins to change and she begins to reflect love back.

The book takes on an almost desperate feel toward the end and I just couldn't put it down. It was emotional and engaging. I'll be looking for more books by this author to read.

Content: clean

- I received a copy of this book through Ebooks for Review. All opinions expressed are my own.