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A review by nikkihrose
Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia
4.0
Turning your life around is no easy feat, especially when everyone around you knows your secret.
Maya Stark used to be a patient as the mental health facility, Congdon, at which she currently works. She's been working her way up. She's made a name for herself. People trust her. She knows what she's doing.
But then a new patient is admitted, and he's also made the news. Lucas Blackthorn disappeared a decade ago with his father when they were last known to go camping in the forest, Boundary Waters. They were never seen again.
Not until Lucas showed up, robbed an outfitters store, and injured the two owners - ultimately killing one of them. He was committed to Congdon, but he won't speak to anyone.
He won't behave. He's violent and dangerous.
Maya is assigned to his case. She has a connection with Lucas that not even she can understand - but he's willing to talk to her. At least a little bit for now. He wants to get back to his father, Josiah. He's alive. They've been together all of these years. And all he wants is to get back to him.
Stretching herself thin, Maya tries to help Lucas while simultaneously trying to keep her job in line. Lucas won't lead anyone else to his father. They were running from something, but even Lucas is unsure as to what they're running from exactly.
Maya Stark has to decide what's most important: her job, or Lucas' family.
Maya feels drawn to Lucas. They share common ground. They both only have one parent left. And they've both been put in the mental health system because of it.
Ultimately deciding what's most important to her, Maya comes face to face with realities about her own past that she was unprepared to handle and never expected to learn.
Will she continue to walk the line between sane and insane, or will she eventually cross the threshold for a second time?
Mejia paints a story rooted in attachment - to people, to the forest, to rocks … ultimately to the earth. She makes her readers accept the good and the bad of each of her characters, and opens the minds of her readers, introducing them to reasons and explanations they could have never imagined on their own.
Maya Stark used to be a patient as the mental health facility, Congdon, at which she currently works. She's been working her way up. She's made a name for herself. People trust her. She knows what she's doing.
But then a new patient is admitted, and he's also made the news. Lucas Blackthorn disappeared a decade ago with his father when they were last known to go camping in the forest, Boundary Waters. They were never seen again.
Not until Lucas showed up, robbed an outfitters store, and injured the two owners - ultimately killing one of them. He was committed to Congdon, but he won't speak to anyone.
He won't behave. He's violent and dangerous.
Maya is assigned to his case. She has a connection with Lucas that not even she can understand - but he's willing to talk to her. At least a little bit for now. He wants to get back to his father, Josiah. He's alive. They've been together all of these years. And all he wants is to get back to him.
Stretching herself thin, Maya tries to help Lucas while simultaneously trying to keep her job in line. Lucas won't lead anyone else to his father. They were running from something, but even Lucas is unsure as to what they're running from exactly.
Maya Stark has to decide what's most important: her job, or Lucas' family.
Maya feels drawn to Lucas. They share common ground. They both only have one parent left. And they've both been put in the mental health system because of it.
Ultimately deciding what's most important to her, Maya comes face to face with realities about her own past that she was unprepared to handle and never expected to learn.
Will she continue to walk the line between sane and insane, or will she eventually cross the threshold for a second time?
Mejia paints a story rooted in attachment - to people, to the forest, to rocks … ultimately to the earth. She makes her readers accept the good and the bad of each of her characters, and opens the minds of her readers, introducing them to reasons and explanations they could have never imagined on their own.