Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: June 28, 2016
Source: Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review
Description:
Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.
It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.
The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.
Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.
Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.
My Take:
All the Missing Girls sounded like a fun read - similar enough to some other suspense books I've read recently that I was intrigued. When I got my NetGalley copy of the book, there was a note from the editor about how the book is told backwards - which really got me interested. Could the author really pull this off? How would I like the story told backwards? It just sounded too intriguing not to just give the first page or so a peek...Well, I read the whole book straight through and loved every minute of it!
I am not sure how to review the book without giving stuff away. The novel starts with Nic getting a phone call and then a letter - the call from her brother, the letter from her father. She has to return home. There is obviously a lot of stuff left unsaid in the set up, but Nic goes home and things are tense. So much history - - history that the reader has only vague clues about at this point. Then the book skips to two weeks later and begins to tell the story backwards. I appreciated that after each chapter there is a blank page with just The Day Before on it --- this helps to remind the reader that things are being revealed in reverse. Honestly, I didn't know if this whole idea would work -- but it totally did! I loved that the book kind of reads like a traditional suspense novel, but the actions actually happened the opposite of the usual way. I can't really explain it without revealing important things --- but the author manages to tell the story and then basically flip it on its head. I am looking forward to reading it again in the next day or so.
Needless to say, All the Missing Girls is at the top of my list of recommended books for this summer. I can't stop thinking about it or talking about it. It is definitely a fast-paced, page-turner of a book.
