Title: Evergreen
Author: Buck Turner
Publication: January 20, 2026
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA Fiction, Suspense, Paranormal
Pages: 304

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SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)

Welcome to Evergreen… Cole Mercer is a young man angry at the world…and for good reason. At sixteen-years-old, he’s forced to grow up fast when he loses his father in an air disaster that is front-page news for every paper in the country. To make matters worse, his mother informs him she is moving Cole and his younger sister from their home in Rochester, New York, to the small town of Evergreen, North Carolina. There, he struggles to keep his head above water in a sea of casseroles, bible-beaters, and southern drawls. Fortunately, Cole finds refuge in Amanda Davenport, the girl who lives in the house across the street. Recognizing Cole is a fish out of water, she befriends him and opens his eyes to life in a small town. But despite the beauty of his surroundings, Cole quickly realizes that lurking beneath the veneer of southern gentility is an unsolved triple homicide. And at the heart of it all is an enigmatic man of the mountain named Thaddeus Finch.

REVIEW:

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Having never read a Buck Turner book before, this sounded like a great YA romance, domestic suspense novel, but what I wasn’t expecting was the paranormal aspect! In hindsight, there were hints, but going into it, I was surprised.

The story follows Cole as he moves to a tiny town in North Carolina. He instantly meets Amanda and is then surrounded by people he probably wouldn’t hang out with on the regular. There is definitely a heavy religious vibe in this small town. With all that there is a triple homicide that is unsolved and Cole, of course, gets a little too close. This story was darker than I expected too. Cole needed some therapy for sure, and maybe more Amanda’s near him. She was a good influence. I liked her character as well, but she was a bit of an odd duck to me. I was supsicious of her for a long time and I’m not sure why. Her vibe was off for me.

I really liked watching Cole’s growth in this story. If you were to ask me what the real point of it was, it was that. Cole learning to cope with his feelings and doing things that were not selfish and destructive. I enjoyed seeing what caused him to backslide and what was good for him. I felt we saw him make a 180 in this story. While he still has a lot of work to do, that was my favorite part of this. There were also a lot of side characters that were hard to keep up with, but really added a lot to the story. Especially the town bullies! I did not like them at all.

Overall the story was good and it flowed pretty well. Not many dips, so it kept you interested. I wish I had known the paranormal aspect was coming. That part of the book almost lost me, but by the time I realized it, I was too deep in. I needed to know how it ended. I’m not a big fantasy fan, so had I known, I may not have picked up the book and then I would have missed out! So definitely check it out and let me know what you think!