Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Other Side of Disappearing

This story follows two sisters (15 years age difference) as they travel with a popular true-crime podcaster and her producer to investigate the disappearance of their mother who was last seen with her con-artist boyfriend 10 years prior. The group travels to five different locations where postcards containing vague clues had been mailed from Charlotte (mom) to the sisters, Jess and Tegan. Along the way, the older sister, Jess, and the producer, Adam, become close—Adam (a former college football player) is able to break through Jess’s hard exterior and provides the first safe place for her in over a decade. Tegan, an 18yo headed to college soon, just wants to know why their mom left and what happened to her, while Jess just wants to protect Tegan’s heart from being destroyed. The podcaster, Salem, has been obsessed with finding the con man, Lyndon Baltimore, for the last 10 years and wants closure ever since he promised her one last interview then bailed.

This was a 5-star read for me, as most of Kate Clayborn’s books are! This is not a light-hearted rom-com… it’s an emotional rollercoaster that shows the trauma associated with abandonment and the difficulties in opening up yourself to love when you have done everything in your power to raise a sibling with as “normal” a life as possible. This book also goes into mental illness/bi-polar disorder/TBI, grifting, and terminal illness. But take heart! It is a happily ever after and if any two people deserve that, it’s Jess and Adam. Adam is patient, kind, protective, and just wants to be Jess’s person.

“I realize, with a startling sort of clarity, that I’d cut out my own heart before I treated hers carelessly.”

Jess is lonely, strong, selfless, and eventually learns to trust Adam and herself.

“I’m sorry,” I breathe against her neck. “I know I’m too—“
“You’re not too anything. You’ve never been too anything, for me.”

The story wraps up nicely although it could have gone into a little more podcast info at the end. I just always have a lot of questions when I’m done reading and I know I’ll think about this one for awhile!

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cheypreston's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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