This Golden State

By: Marit Weisenberg

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Marit Weisenberg's This Golden State is a propulsive, breakout YA novel following a family on the run, a restless teenage daughter hungry for the truth, and the simple DNA test that threatens their carefully crafted world.

The Winslow family lives by five principles:

1. No one can know your real name.
2. Don’t stay in one place too long.
3. If you sense anything is wrong, go immediately to the meeting spot.
4. Keeping our family together is everything.
5. We wish we could tell you who we are, but we can’t. Please - do not ask.

Poppy doesn’t know why her family has been running her whole life, but she does know that there are dire consequences if they’re ever caught. Still, her curiosity grows each year, as does her desire for real friends and the chance to build on something, instead of leaving behind school projects, teams, and crushes at a moment’s notice.

When a move to California exposes a crack in her parents’ airtight planning, Poppy realizes how fragile her world is. Determined to find out the truth, she mails in a home DNA test. Just as she starts to settle into her new life and even begins opening up to a boy in her math class, the forgotten test results bring her crashing back to reality.

Unraveling the shocking truth of her parents’ real identities, Poppy realizes that the DNA test has undone decades of careful work to keep her family anonymous - and the past is dangerously close to catching up to them. Determined to protect her family but desperate for more, Poppy must ask: How much of herself does she owe her family? And is it a betrayal to find her own place in the world?

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

©2022 Marit Weisenberg (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

I love this book

I usually don’t really like to red but when my library teacher told me about this book I was questioning it but I am so glad I checked it out this book is SOO good and really makes you want to turn the page. I have never read a book that makes me what to read more than I have to for school. Normally I start a timer so I can’t finish at exactly 30min but there was no timer for this book. If you love romance, mystery, secrets, crime, thrillers, page turners and just a good read that READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Good but…

This was a good listen and the high school romance was everything you’d want it to be. Narration was good. I feel like the ending was abrupt. I had so many follow-up questions, and there was little resolve. The story is not really believable, but that’s not really a problem. How the main character interacts with her family and her thoughts…that was not really believable and my main criticism. I just feel like the author could have done a better job making her characters a little more real.

Great book dry ending

I loved the book so so much! It’s very relatable and can be very emotional also the love story between Poppy and Harry is beautiful but, the ending could’ve gave more information maybe an epilogue. (Really wanted to know what happens between her and Harry and if she gets into a college)

Very different kind of book then I usually read

I really enjoyed this book. It takes place where I live so it is fun to read about places I know. She changes street names but you know where she is talking about. Please keep writing more books. I liked this one but it was frustrating to not know what was really happening along with the children.

A bit thriller, a bit romance, all good.

Loved the mystery and romance. Kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happened next the whole ride.

Too much teenage romance, not enough suspense

The story was pretty predictable and I feel it focused too much on the teenage character and her romance with a classmate than on the family being on the run. I expected it to be more suspenseful than it was and contain a lot less romance type of stuff. It was just sort of disappointing for me based on the description of the book, but overall it wasn't a bad read.

Great Great Great

it had me from the beginning all the way to the end.
BRET COOKSEY Big Fan

Nobody is ever what they seem!

Couldn’t put the book down. The story line kept me glued. What would happen next? Where would the story go with 2 young people who found an unexpected connection in each other - when they both knew that you couldn’t trust anyone. Nobody is ever what they seem!