The Jade Notebook

Zeeta and her mother Layla have moved to a new country every year for Zeeta's entire life. When they end up running cabanas in Mazunte, Mexico, Zeeta is determined to make it stick. After all, her beloved Wendell has an internship nearby and her long-lost father is supposedly from Mazunte. Of course, nothing can be that easy, especially when the cabanas where Zeeta lives are said to be cursed and someone is poaching the sea turtles' eggs.

This is the third book in a trilogy and I haven't read the first two, but author Laura Resau gives enough information of past plots that I was able to follow along easily. Fans of the Notebook trilogy won't be surprised to know that The Jade Notebook's plot is assisted by Wendell's visions of the future. Unfortunately, that was the aspect of the story that lost me. Resau has a gift for writing setting; I almost felt like I was in Mexico, tasting the food and meeting the locals. I've even done conservation work with sea turtles, and everything she wrote felt spot on. So when Wendell's clairvoyance arose, it was a sharp contrast to the authentic feeling of the rest of the book.

I found myself easily guessing the surprises and identifying the villains, but turning the pages anyway to read more of Laura Resau's beautiful descriptions.