ARC Review: YA Thriller

The Language of the Birds by K.A. Merson

Publication Date: May 13, 2025

Summary from NetGalley:

Seventeen-year-old Arizona’s favorite things include cryptography, geocaching, the writings of Jules Verne—and exploring the Sierra Nevadas on her Russian Ural motorcycle, with her dog Mojo riding shotgun in his sidecar.

She’s not, in other words, your average teenager.

So when she learns her mother’s been kidnapped and finds a cryptic test accompanying the ransom note, she’s not just horrified—but electrified. Solving puzzles and cracking codes are what she does best, and she knows exactly how to tackle the challenge the kidnappers are dangling in front of her.

What she doesn’t yet realize is that she’s been enlisted in a treasure hunt, on the trail of an occult, centuries-old secret her father supposedly took to his grave. And if the prize at the end is real, it could shake the world.

As Arizona chases the truth through fiendish puzzles and ancient texts, unearthing clues both buried underground and hiding in plain sight in the Western landscape, she’s forced to navigate the outside world in ways she never has before―and begins to forge connections she never dreamed she could.

Featuring an indomitable young heroine and a plot that ingeniously weaves together real facts into a treasure hunt of epic proportions, The Language of the Birds is an irresistibly quirky, endlessly surprising adventure that will leave readers wondering where the truth ends and fiction begins.

ARC provided by Random House Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

There were parts of this story that I very much enjoyed, but there were some things that really dragged down the overall feel of the book. I usually like books with puzzles and ciphers as part of the story, but this book paid a bit too much attention to the details of these and that really took away from the tension and sense of urgency in the story.

I really liked Arizona, a young girl who has just lost her dad. She is smart, loves puzzles and classic literature. Although it is never out right stated in the story, she is also neurodiverse. We see this mostly by how she interacts in the world and how certains noises and other things affect her. But she shows a tremendous amount of growth in this story, even when she is being single minded in her need to find her mother. I really liked her relationship with her parents and her dog, Mojo. Arizona learns to connect with people as she goes through her ordeal and to eventually trust them as well.

The main plot of the story was well thought out. I liked the parts about the alchemists and some sort of conspiracy involving President Hoover and Hoover Dam, as well as the treasure hunt feel of the story overall. The pacing for the most part was also nicely done. The characters are well done as is the descriptions of the real places in California where this mostly takes place. What really made this story less readable were the ciphers and puzzles that Arizona had to solve. The author went into far too much detail and repeated parts so often, that I eventually just started skimming over those parts to get to the solution. As this book is aimed at teens, I think many of them will give up on the book because of this. Which would be a shame as overall this is a nicely done story with a great heroine.

This story could very much be one that teens who are into codes and ciphers will enjoy. It is richly layered with history, natural sciences and has a very inspiring independent young woman at its heart. This is recommended to those who enjoy a slower paced adventure story, teens into cryptology, and kids who enjoy a reading about a singular young lady who overcomes her social awkwardness to save her mom.