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aguyton94's review against another edition
1.0
Started this March 10 and haven’t read it in over a month. So yes I have officially DNF’d my first book. Almost half way through the book and the interest is minimal. I so badly kept trying to push past but I can’t. Wouldn’t waste your time.
october_reads's review against another edition
5.0
This book kept choking me with panic, just a little bit each step. And I knew, but also I was never certain.
amandamonday's review against another edition
dark
tense
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
The FMC’s inner dialogue was unrealistic. How she was able to get in and out of crime scenes was unbelievable. And there were no good characters, no one to root for.
panaisbitt's review against another edition
1.75
Telling the story in reverse is a fun choice if you can do it well - unfortunately I don’t think that’s what happened here. I also think it’s a way to make people want to go back and revisit the earlier chapters (the later days) to see what they missed - however I have no desire to revisit any of this book… and I can tell you that if you read it in chronological order it would make a lot less sense given how much the characters either forgot or didn’t mention from the earlier days. No real character development also - just a lot of random decisions that were conveniently explained away
ronaldsayers's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tayohlfest's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amanda_reads89's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Dementia, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cancer, and Miscarriage
thepetitepunk's review against another edition
1.0
I'd like to start this by saying I am usually quite generous with my ratings and therefore very rarely give one star reviews. One star reviews are especially rare for me because if I am disliking a book enough that I think it will be one star, then I don't finish it, and I don't rate books I don't finish. So let me make it clear that the fact that I finished this book does say something. (I was also reading this book for a book club though, so perhaps that contributed to me pushing through...)
Anyway, let's get started: All the Missing Girls follows Nicolette "Nic" Farrell, an engaged woman who has reestablished a new life for herself outside of her hometown of Cooley Ridge. However, when Nic returns to Cooley Ridge to care for her ill father, she learns of the disturbing disappearance of Annaleise Carter, a peer from childhood, just ten years after Nic's best friend Corinne Prescott has disappeared. Adding to the suspense and mystery, the events surrounding Nic's attempts to solve these cases, which she believes are connected, are told backwards, starting at Day 15 and counting down to Day 1.
First, I thought the title was a bit misleading. I know this might seem like a minute detail, but I went into this book thinking I was reading about all the missing girls--not just two of them. Again, I know this seems like a small detail, but title just gave off an eerie, dramatic, wide-scale vibe that just wasn't followed through in the actual book. The whole time I was reading, I thought there were going to be more disappearances, or at least something more involved. But the entirety of the book revolves around two missing girls and a couple small-town characters that all know each other well. Despite feeling a bit mislead, I tried to neglect this factor while considering the content of the book.
But here's the thing: I kind of liked my idea of ~all~ the missing girls better. Listen, I think we should care about all missing people, so this seems rude to say, but I just did not care about what happened in Cooley Ridge. It's kind of hard to make someone not care about two cases of disappearance, so let me give one of the main reasons why this book was so insufferable: every character, expect the fiancé (who was horribly treated in my opinion), was a piece of garbage. I mean, seriously, every time Nic spoke, or thought, or breathed, I wanted to put the book down--and she's the main character, so just about all of the book is just her. I think it's justified to be emotionally unstable in circumstances like this, especially with a sick father and deceased mother, but Nic just had no redeemable qualities. None of the other characters were much better either. Just about everyone was astonishingly selfish, deceitful, angry, and dishonest, with next to no empathy. And despite Nic spending the whole book trying to solve the case of her "best friend", she sure did spend a lot of time talking trash. I love morally gray characters but there seemed to be nothing to balance out the characters' flaws.
My strong resentment towards this book may be due to the fact that I like character-driven stories. But oh my god, just writing about the characters is making me feel anger I've never felt towards a book before.
Alright. Let's say I ignore the terrible characters, especially the god-awful narrator. How about the plot? The unique backwards structure? The writing style? Well, again, I just didn't care much about the plot. And that leads into what I thought about the backwards structure--a creative idea, but ultimately so confusing due to the limited about of information provided to the reader that I just became bored. I felt like I was reading without comprehending anything until I got to the last quarter of the book. The writing style also wasn't very impressive to me, which again, left me bored. In fact, I felt bored most of the book until Day 3 (reminder: the book is told backwards so this is towards the end). You shouldn't feel bored while reading a thriller. I just felt like I was reading a mess that was trying to be more than it could realistically be.
So here's the big question: why did I finish this book when I hated it so much? According to my Libby app, I spent 9 hours reading this. That's a lot of time to spend on a book I didn't enjoy. But simply put, I kept reading because I was hoping the ending would be enough to turn my feelings around. I was hoping all the confusion and boredom and hatred would be for something. And well...I was surprised by the ending at least, although I'm pretty notorious for not being able to solve any mystery books--the clues just fly over my head. I was going to give All the Missing Girls a higher rating because of the ending, but after some thought, there was just nothing about this book I liked. Even though Megan Miranda was able to pull off a surprising twist ending, which is necessary for a mystery thriller, there was not a single aspect of this book that I found enjoyable. Too much confusion, no likable characters, and an icky feeling that stayed with me after I was finished.
I applaud Megan Miranda for taking such a unique, creative approach to crafting a mystery novel, but All the Missing Girls was just not for me.
Anyway, let's get started: All the Missing Girls follows Nicolette "Nic" Farrell, an engaged woman who has reestablished a new life for herself outside of her hometown of Cooley Ridge. However, when Nic returns to Cooley Ridge to care for her ill father, she learns of the disturbing disappearance of Annaleise Carter, a peer from childhood, just ten years after Nic's best friend Corinne Prescott has disappeared. Adding to the suspense and mystery, the events surrounding Nic's attempts to solve these cases, which she believes are connected, are told backwards, starting at Day 15 and counting down to Day 1.
First, I thought the title was a bit misleading. I know this might seem like a minute detail, but I went into this book thinking I was reading about all the missing girls--not just two of them. Again, I know this seems like a small detail, but title just gave off an eerie, dramatic, wide-scale vibe that just wasn't followed through in the actual book. The whole time I was reading, I thought there were going to be more disappearances, or at least something more involved. But the entirety of the book revolves around two missing girls and a couple small-town characters that all know each other well. Despite feeling a bit mislead, I tried to neglect this factor while considering the content of the book.
But here's the thing: I kind of liked my idea of ~all~ the missing girls better. Listen, I think we should care about all missing people, so this seems rude to say, but I just did not care about what happened in Cooley Ridge. It's kind of hard to make someone not care about two cases of disappearance, so let me give one of the main reasons why this book was so insufferable: every character, expect the fiancé (who was horribly treated in my opinion), was a piece of garbage. I mean, seriously, every time Nic spoke, or thought, or breathed, I wanted to put the book down--and she's the main character, so just about all of the book is just her. I think it's justified to be emotionally unstable in circumstances like this, especially with a sick father and deceased mother, but Nic just had no redeemable qualities. None of the other characters were much better either. Just about everyone was astonishingly selfish, deceitful, angry, and dishonest, with next to no empathy. And despite Nic spending the whole book trying to solve the case of her "best friend", she sure did spend a lot of time talking trash. I love morally gray characters but there seemed to be nothing to balance out the characters' flaws.
My strong resentment towards this book may be due to the fact that I like character-driven stories. But oh my god, just writing about the characters is making me feel anger I've never felt towards a book before.
Alright. Let's say I ignore the terrible characters, especially the god-awful narrator. How about the plot? The unique backwards structure? The writing style? Well, again, I just didn't care much about the plot. And that leads into what I thought about the backwards structure--a creative idea, but ultimately so confusing due to the limited about of information provided to the reader that I just became bored. I felt like I was reading without comprehending anything until I got to the last quarter of the book. The writing style also wasn't very impressive to me, which again, left me bored. In fact, I felt bored most of the book until Day 3 (reminder: the book is told backwards so this is towards the end). You shouldn't feel bored while reading a thriller. I just felt like I was reading a mess that was trying to be more than it could realistically be.
So here's the big question: why did I finish this book when I hated it so much? According to my Libby app, I spent 9 hours reading this. That's a lot of time to spend on a book I didn't enjoy. But simply put, I kept reading because I was hoping the ending would be enough to turn my feelings around. I was hoping all the confusion and boredom and hatred would be for something. And well...I was surprised by the ending at least, although I'm pretty notorious for not being able to solve any mystery books--the clues just fly over my head. I was going to give All the Missing Girls a higher rating because of the ending, but after some thought, there was just nothing about this book I liked. Even though Megan Miranda was able to pull off a surprising twist ending, which is necessary for a mystery thriller, there was not a single aspect of this book that I found enjoyable. Too much confusion, no likable characters, and an icky feeling that stayed with me after I was finished.
I applaud Megan Miranda for taking such a unique, creative approach to crafting a mystery novel, but All the Missing Girls was just not for me.
merinod's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0