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bookishmillennial's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
Thank you to PRH Audio for the ALC. I am providing this review of my own accord.
This book follows 18-year-old Bel as she begins filming a documentary about her mom Rachel's disappearance when she was 2 years old. Her father only agreed to this because they desperately need the money, and they just haven't received any answer about Rachel's whereabouts in the last 16 years. They're hoping the money will help their family, as Bel's grandfather slips deeper into dementia, and that they can possibly find some answers regarding Rachel. However, all of a sudden, Rachel re-appears and havoc ensues, obviously! Her answers about where she has been do not make sense to Bel, and Bel refuses to be led astray, investigating her mom herself, with the help of a documentary staff member, Ash. She leaves her younger cousin Carter and aunt Sherry and uncle Jeff out of this though, as she doesn't want to upset her family, especially her dad.
The audiobook is 16 hours, so if you listen at 2x speed, then it's 8 hours. I loved the AGGGTM series, like it is one of my all-time favorite young adult thrillers/mysteries. I think the entire trilogy is genius!!! However, this book was too long! HAHAHA. My friends who read this review will laugh at me, because that's always my top criticism and I'm sorry! I feel this could have been 4 hours shorter, cutting out a lot of extra fluff, especially the romance betweenAsh and Bel, because I didn't particularly feel the same vibes I felt between Poppy & Sal in AGGGTM, but that's just me I guess?
Anyway, the actual mystery of:
Thank you to PRH Audio for the ALC. I am providing this review of my own accord.
This book follows 18-year-old Bel as she begins filming a documentary about her mom Rachel's disappearance when she was 2 years old. Her father only agreed to this because they desperately need the money, and they just haven't received any answer about Rachel's whereabouts in the last 16 years. They're hoping the money will help their family, as Bel's grandfather slips deeper into dementia, and that they can possibly find some answers regarding Rachel. However, all of a sudden, Rachel re-appears and havoc ensues, obviously! Her answers about where she has been do not make sense to Bel, and Bel refuses to be led astray, investigating her mom herself, with the help of a documentary staff member, Ash. She leaves her younger cousin Carter and aunt Sherry and uncle Jeff out of this though, as she doesn't want to upset her family, especially her dad.
The audiobook is 16 hours, so if you listen at 2x speed, then it's 8 hours. I loved the AGGGTM series, like it is one of my all-time favorite young adult thrillers/mysteries. I think the entire trilogy is genius!!! However, this book was too long! HAHAHA. My friends who read this review will laugh at me, because that's always my top criticism and I'm sorry! I feel this could have been 4 hours shorter, cutting out a lot of extra fluff, especially the romance between
Anyway, the actual mystery of:
- what happened to Rachel
- who took her
- how she escaped
- why she came back/at this time
- where Bel's dad went
was .... not what I was expecting, and yet.....
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, I only wish it was shorter & I had to suspend disbelief in the aunt/uncle's storylines because ... I find that almost wrapped up *too* nicely with a bow, but whatevs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Dementia, and Pregnancy
mqrek's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Where do I even start with this book, holy shit. It was an emotional rollercoaster. I was eager to read through the end, to the big mystery to be solved. At the beginning I thought that the protagonist was insufferable, at one point I even wanted to stop reading because of that. I think I saw through the gaslighting of her dad and was just waiting for Bel to finally catch up already! At the end EVERYTHING made sense and it left me with immense satisfaction.
This book is even better than AGGGTM and AGGGTM is already very good.
Holly Jackson, you've done it again! Cheers to the modern Agatha Christie!
This book is even better than AGGGTM and AGGGTM is already very good.
Holly Jackson, you've done it again! Cheers to the modern Agatha Christie!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Sexism
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