Wait for Me

by Sara Shepard

Overview

Who is Casey Rhodes?

Is she a no-nonsense realist or a hopeless romantic? A just-getting-by scholarship student or a sometimes Cinderella dating the cool, cultured heir to a media empire and New York City’s most eligible? At seventeen years old and already in her sophomore year at NYU, Casey sheds disguises effortlessly. It’s how she navigates school and avoids the second-guessing that’s plagued her since she and her boyfriend Marcus got together. 
 
But then Casey starts hearing voices that terrify her so badly she flees to the remote beach town of Avon Shores where she can sort through her thoughts and reset. But the voices only get more intense and are now accompanied by visions of places she’s never been and people she’s never met, like Jake who’s lived in Avon Shores his whole life. There’s no way Casey could know him, yet she feels an immediate connection. And stranger still: he feels it too. Together they search for answers, finding only questions—about their connection, Avon, Casey’s memories . . .

And whose voice is she hearing inside her head?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454945789
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Sara Shepard is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the 16-book Pretty Little Liars series, which has sold millions of copies worldwide, has been translated into more than twenty different languages, and became a popular TV show on Freeform. She’s also the author of The Perfectionists and The Lying Game, which also were TV series, as well as The Amateurs series, and several books for adults such as The Heiresses, Reputation, and The Elizas. She’s written more than thirty novels in total and is also active in the screenwriting and podcasting spaces.
 

Editorial Reviews

10/03/2022

Casey Rhodes’s life seems to be going well: despite only being 17, she’s already a sophomore student at NYU, gets along with her roommate Pippa, and recently started dating rich, charming Marcus. When Marcus sweeps her off her feet to a glitzy party and reveals he’s used his connections to land her a publishing internship, Casey feels like she’s living a Cinderella story, until she suddenly starts hearing an ominous voice and seeing violent visions. Convinced that school and family stress are catching up to her, she escapes to quiet beach town Avon Shores for a chance to clear her head. Once there, however, she’s plagued by an inexplicable and overwhelming sense of déjà vu. As the voice gets louder and the visions increase in frequency, she finds herself mysteriously drawn to a boy named Jake, who claims he remembers her—but as a girl named Becky. Shepard (the Pretty Little Liars series) employs brisk dialogue and suspenseful atmosphere—one’s never sure whether a kiss, a thrill, or a scare is around the corner—to keep the plot moving at a fast clip, crafting an immersive romantic mystery. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

An enjoyably twisty romantic puzzle.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Shepard (the Pretty Little Liars series) employs brisk dialogue and suspenseful atmosphere—one’s never sure whether a kiss, a thrill, or a scare is around the corner—to keep the plot moving at a fast clip, crafting an immersive romantic mystery." —Publishers Weekly

“This past-life romance has a little mystery and a little suspense and will appeal to fans of twisty tales.”—Booklist

“Romance, mystery, and a dose of the mystical intertwine to create a fast-paced, page-turning story.” —School Library Journal

“Never doubt the thriller aspect of this novel—Wait for Me totally delivers on that score—and plan your night accordingly. You won’t want to put it down until the final quite satisfying ending.” —Locus Magazine

“An absorbing romance.” —Popsugar

“As with any Shepard release, expect surprises at every corner.” —Apartment Therapy

“Shepard has proven herself a master of building suspenseful and tense atmospheres in her stories, and this is no different.” —Paste Magazine

“This is one of the winter books that you won’t be able to put down!” —Daily Mom
 

From the Publisher

01/01/2023

Gr 9 Up—Casey Rhodes has it all together. She accelerated through grades in school, graduated young, and now, at 17, she's a sophomore at NYU, has a rich boy pursuing her, a fun job, and lives in the dorm with her new best friend, Pippa. Things go awry when she begins hearing voices that accompany bursts of memories of things that she is sure never happened but seem real. Distraught, she heads out of town to be alone to sort things out. Jumping off the bus at a random stop, she lands in a town she's never been to before, but where people recognize her, and things seem familiar. When she runs into Jake, a boy her age who instantly recognizes her as the girl who disappeared from his life a few years earlier, she is more confused than ever. Hoping he holds the key to understanding the voices, and with help from a local psychic and Jake's mother, Casey and Jake begin the search to understand a past that could include murder. Romance, mystery, and a dose of the mystical intertwine to create a fast-paced, page-turning story. While some elements are difficult to believe, the mystery is compelling enough to move the story forward while bringing up questions about past lives, old souls, and love. There is no mention of race; characters are identified by their hair color (blond, chestnut, dark curly, etc.). VERDICT A quick-reading mystery that is entertaining enough to recommend to readers who like to keep guessing to the end.—Connie Williams

School Library Journal

2022-08-31
A precocious young woman with many faces is gripped by a mysterious voice.

Seventeen-year-old Casey seemingly has it good: She’s attending New York University on scholarship; she’s close with her roommate, Pippa; and she’s dating supernice, superrich Marcus. But something feels off. After a company holiday party where she meets Marcus’ CEO father, she is haunted by an insidious, whispering voice that makes her distrust Marcus. Is she being haunted by a forgotten memory, or is this a premonition? Deciding to spend some time alone and study for finals, she hops on the Long Island Rail Road and randomly heads to seaside town Avon Shores, where she inexplicably knows more than she should about a place she’s never been. Then she meets a boy named Jake who remembers her as Becky. All the while, Casey is inundated with disturbing visions, including a wedding gone wrong, a car crash, and a drowning. As the book is narrated from Casey’s first-person, present-tense perspective, readers closely follow her as she makes missteps and causes some of her own problems. What follows is a typical love triangle but with a surprise thrown in. There is a slow buildup to a fast-paced mystery in which each new piece of information casts what came before in a new light. Most characters default to White.

An enjoyably twisty romantic puzzle. (Mystery. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews