“Thirty years ago, Grace’s mom left her hometown of Hermitage, Florida and never looked back—which is exactly why Grace thinks it’s the safest place to spend her summer now. Since her mom died in a car crash, Grace has been desperate to get away from the memories and reminders of her loss. Spending the summer transcribing cassette tapes for the Hermitage Historical Society might be boring, but boring is just what Grace needs. Until she hears the voice of Jake Underwood—the boy who first recorded the cassette tapes back in 1992. When Grace realizes he can hear anything she records, despite thirty years of time between them, she strikes up an impossible conversation with Jake through the tapes. But the past isn’t any simpler than the present, and a mystery has haunted Hermitage through the generations. In the 1970’s, a hurricane made landfall and resulted in the tragic death of Jake’s uncle Charley. In a town as suffocatingly small as Hermitage, it’s impossible not to notice how no one talks about that storm, or Charley, and as the mystery unfurls, Grace can’t help but realize a worse truth: No one talks about Jake either. A beautifully written exploration of grief and what happens when untreated wounds bleed into future generations, The Underwood Tapes is the perfect read for anyone in need of a good, cathartic cry.” – Goodreads

What a creative premise! The Underwood Files had me giggling with excitement, turning pages as fast as possible, and truly rooting for the characters. This book had everything – a strong, emotional theme, interesting characters, an exciting plot, and plenty of suspense and mystery.

The Underwood Files seemed more focused on character development than plot, but the plot was still strong and compelling. There’s an element of suspense with Grace knowing something is wrong about the history of the town but slowly running out of tapes. The mystery was kind of predictable, but the goal was to push Jake and Grace together so they could help each other work through their grief, and the author definitely pulled that off.

The writing style was very descriptive and interesting. I was immersed in the story from beginning to end and related so much with the characters that I couldn’t stop reading. I rarely highlight/write down quotes unless I find something weird, but I saved multiple quotes from this book that were just so well written. DeWitt did an amazing job portraying grief and trauma. Grief is not always something that just sticks with you 24/7 – sometimes you’re fine for a while until something happens to set you off. That was the case for Grace. She would seem okay, and then someone would mention her mom and she would start to have a panic attack. I loved the representation there and the positive example in the plot of Grace slowly opening up to people and understanding how other’s felt more and more.

Grace was amazing. Despite the loss of her mother having really rocked her life, you could tell she had a strong personality and that she was more than what happened to her. She seemed shy and closed off at first, but I loved how helping other people and understanding them helped her to deal with her own grief. Her and Jake’s relationship was so refreshing after the cascade of basic YA I’ve been through recently. Neither of them were rushing to “have feelings” in some way. They remain friends throughout the whole story and never try to shift things into the romance category. Instead, their relationship was seemingly platonic and friendly in a genre that too often twists that beautiful relationship into love.

All the side characters in the book brought a lot to the story as well. Though most of them either didn’t get much screen time or just generally weren’t important, they all played a role in helping Grace deal with her trauma. Her uncle, for example, was more than just a reason for her to be in Hermitage. He had his own life and issues he was struggling through. Same thing with the friends she makes in town, her grandfather, and even the woman who takes care of her grandfather who is rarely onscreen. It really adds to the realism and the sense that the town is so small you can quickly get to know everyone.

The Underwood Files was a unique and beautiful exploration of grief and friendship that comes with a creative premise and compelling mystery. From the main character to the most irrelevant side character, every person is realistic and relatable and brings so much sonder to the story. As someone who has dealt with the loss of a loved one and experienced just the kind of pain that Grace experiences, I really appreciated the author’s ability to convey that well.