Book Summary and Reviews of Rainsong by Lila Riesen

Rainsong by Lila Riesen

Rainsong

by Lila Riesen

  • Publishes:
  • Jun 23, 2026, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In a small town haunted by unsolved disappearances, a teen with a secret ability must unravel a deadly mystery — before she becomes the next victim.

Mendocino is not the quaint coastal California town Zayn Pereira imagined. It's shrouded in a fog that never lets up. Posters of a missing teen girl are plastered everywhere, and just offshore is an island called Rainsong, rumored to be haunted.

At her new school, everyone is tense and suspicious of each other. So when charismatic Ollie takes Zayn under her wing, it's a relief -- but is her charm hiding something? People assume brooding Tiago, the missing girl's ex-boyfriend, is responsible for her disappearance...but Zayn can't keep her eyes off him. Is he really who everyone says he is?

Besides, Zayn has a secret of her own. And when Tiago is struck by a car one night, she is forced to reveal it to save him. In doing so, Zayn discovers her connection to a generations-old feud that still rages today. Can she break herself from the grip of Mendocino's past tragedy? Or will she become the next girl on the missing poster?

Filled with angsty romance, supernatural powers, murder, and vengeance, this is a chilling and propulsive read.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Cinematic settings, pulse-pounding pacing, and a distinctively rendered, culturally diverse cast propel a wholly original and fiercely character-driven tale that grapples with generational trauma and economic disparity." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The premise is compelling, and....deliciously terrifying." —Kirkus Reviews

"Fresh and atmospheric… unputdownable [through] the last breathless twist." —Jihyun Yun, bestselling author of And The River Drags Her Down.

This information about Rainsong was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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More Information

The daughter of Afghan and Australian immigrants, Lila Riesen was raised in the United States. Her undergraduate studies in English were completed at Indiana University and the Australian National University. In 2017, Lila graduated with a master's degree in English literature and linguistics from the University of Zurich in Switzerland. She is the author of Free Radicals, a YA novel, inspired by her cashew-coveting baba and all the Afghans fighting for peace, in the US and abroad.

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