The Accident Season by Mora Fowley-Doyle

Summary (from Goodreads):

It's the accident season, the same time every year. Bones break, skin tears, bruises bloom.

The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?

Review:

I really enjoyed this one. It had been a while since I read something so creepy. It’s the kind of paranormal YA I love. I knew there’d be a twist, and I had no idea what direction it would be coming from. This book is already being compared to How I Live Now and We Were Liars, two books that managed to shock me. So, I was waiting for that shock moment. It also felt like no one was safe. In the accident season, people have died. And this kept me on my toes the whole time.

My expectations were high with the two great books this one was compared to. And my expectations were met. Besides needing to know what the inevitable twist would be (which was still a surprise!), there’s the beautiful, lyrical language that reminded me very much of E. Lockhart. The writing style reminded me sometimes of classic mythology stories. The description was just so fluid and pretty.

Then there’s the unique setting: middle of nowhere Ireland! I loved getting to see some place different. I was jealous of the scenery, the trees, the river, and the walk home from school. My commute to high school, and teen years were absolutely nothing like Cara’s and I loved this. It was a nice, little window into the lives of teens in a different country.

The characters were neat too. I loved the big sister, Alice. I also loved the best friend Bea. Sam was cool too. And I see why it was compared to How I Live Now. There’s straight relationships, gay relationships, and forbidden relationships here. And while so much romance can sometimes irritate me and become too much romance, I loved it here. The whole Irish backdrop, the made up ghost stories, the fairy fantasies, and the hidden sadness just all melded together perfectly with all the romance. It was that kind of story.

This book was a lot more than I was expecting, and certainly it was a lot darker. Some seriously sad and intense subjects are covered. The relationships and friendships are amazing. The family history is fascinating. The setting is awesome. And I can’t really come up with anything negative to say. Except, I wish this came out in October, when the accident season takes place. This is the perfect book to curl up with on a rainy autumn afternoon. I read an ARC, but it comes out today (the 18^th). I give it a 10/10.