"Saving Thornwood is a riveting YA novel with thoughtful characters who are navigating intense personal crises while also aching for friendship. There are some mysteries to solve, especially with Annie, who must find a way to prove that Mary was a Thornwood patient to help save the modern hospital. There are also the mechanics of their connection and how it works, which produce more than a few humorous moments. (Cellphones! Ice cream! Shorts and tank tops!) But just when readers think they have the story figured out, Rust and Surface throw in a plot curveball that took me completely by surprise and changes everything. The result is a thoroughly satisfying read with a well-earned ending. Kudos to both authors for tackling a difficult subject and not only handling it with great respect but providing a banger of a novel in the process.
"Julia Rust and David Surface deliver a gripping tale of courage and connection, where the haunting past of a crumbling asylum intertwines with the present, revealing the indomitable spirit of those who refuse to be forgotten in a system designed to silence them."
COLLEEN MONDOR -- LOCUS MAGAZINE - November 2025
"Saving Thornwood bridges the gap between gothic and wonder, the supernatural and sanity, heart and horror, casting its own mysterious web that not only tethers the centuries together, but fastens the reader to this spellbinding book. You'll never want to leave Thornwood once you're finished reading it."
--Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
"Across the centuries, two young women reach out to each other as they attempt to rescue their loved ones confined to a notorious mental institution. It is 1856, and young Mary Donovan is taken, with her young brother, Jamie, to Thornwood, a lunatic asylum in the Hudson River Valley, abandoned by family and forced to rescue themselves. The parallel story takes place in 2022, and fifteen-year-old Anne Blake is just realizing the truth about her eccentric father's mental illness when he is also committed to the same institution. The two girls use their powerful resources to get help and save their loved ones, but not without extreme cost to themselves. This is time travel at its most believable and most entertaining. The story, told in alternating viewpoints, also allows a fascinating look into the stigma of mental illness then and now. It's a real tribute to the power of young women across different eras to overcome helplessness and not only form their own futures but rescue those they care about."
--Mary Carroll Moore, best-selling and award-winning author.
"Atmospheric to the nines, gritty, gothic, and compelling, this YA tale of mental health stigma and friendship boasts two lead heroines who give Saving Thornwood its driving heartbeat. Julia Rust and David Surface create a vintage, moody, dual narrative across time that will appeal to modern teen readers. Highly recommend!"
--Gaby Triana, author of Moon Child, Wake the Hollow, and River of Bones
"Through the eyes of two engaging protagonists centuries apart, Saving Thornwood knits together a twisty historical mystery, time travel paradoxes, and adolescent angst in a poignant tale of sacrifice and courage. It's a captivating, compelling read."
--Lynda Rucker, author of Now It's Dark and The Moon Will Look Strange
