By: Cynthia Ayala

Every year, it is the same. In October, bones break, skin scrapes and danger haunts every step. Every year Cara and her family become inexplicably accident-prone, and with each passing year, the season becomes one of obsession and fear. However, Cara has a haunting feeling that something else is connected, something that may connect to a missing friend. Are they connected or is the family obsession driving her mad?

Published August 18, 2015 by Corgi Childrens, The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle is a contemporary young adult paranormal mystery that follows young Cara as she and her family navigates growing up while surviving the curse that plagues their family every October.

This is a very clever novel because beyond all the mystery there is something incredibly deep between the lines. These are high school kids, juniors and seniors, and each of them is trying to figure out who they are and what relationships they are trying to define such as family, friendships and beyond. Moïra did just an amazing job because the story highlights all of that with the mystery and the spooky factor to make this an undeniably deep novel.

The Accident Season, while deep, is al a very spooky tale, a perfect read to the fall season. As the story begins, there is this creepy feeling to it when Cara begins to look very closely at some pictures she has. Elise, the girl she was once friends with, is in each one of them. So Cara gathers her best friend and step-brother to help her figure out what happened to Elise, the girl who has gone missing from their lives, a phantom that no one seems to remember clearly. However, during the accident season, their lives are in danger, and some years, the accidents can be deadly. But what does any of that have to do with a missing girl? Everything as Moïra reveals in a very frightening and tantalizing manner.

Moïra did such an amazing job with her story telling and if there is any way to make a debut into the world of fiction, this was certainly a perfect way to do it. She created the perfect ambiance that stayed constant throughout the novel, and it was executed perfectly to keep the reader unhinged and hook to the story. The ambiance also worked to snap together perfect scenes with just the right amount of scene specifics to send chills down the readers’ spine. Some images are just so perfectly constructed that they are simply haunting.

However, there is more to this novel than just the thrill/spook factor. As mentioned above, the writer plays with a scary ghost story in order to develop very real issues such as abuse and love and whether or not they are interchangeable. The maturity represented with the evolution of the issue throughout the novel reveals so much to all the readers. There is something going on between all the characters and the fundamental plot point is whether keeping the dark secrets to yourself are acceptable or dangerous. That plot point is woven into the fabric of the story effortlessly. That resonates throughout with such beauty because it reflects the characters and their narration making them each relatable.

While there are some scenes that should be read carefully, due a compilation of the state of mind of the protagonist and the fast pace, the reader will get lost in the story and spooked with every turn of a page. (★★★★☆ | A)