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A review by sandrareilly513
She's Gone by David Bell
2.0
A quick read about a high school senior left without memories of what happened to him and his missing girlfriend after a fateful car crash the night of homecoming...
Hunter can't remember what caused the accident - or anything leading up to the accident - after he and his girlfriend, Chloe, left the homecoming dance. And with Chloe missing, that leaves Hunter as the prime suspect and the only one who may have answers as to what happened to her. The town doesn't trust him, the police don't trust him, and Hunter doesn't trust himself. He can't remember that night, and with friends telling him Chloe thought he'd be mad at her for some reason, the target on his back just gets bigger. But when another tragedy hits, Hunter starts wondering if there isn't a bigger plot behind what really happened to Chloe...
Thoughts: I appreciated that the chapters were short and the plot moved quickly. Reluctant teen readers will find this story easy to lose themselves in. I also appreciated that it was from the teen guy's POV, which is actually not that common in today's popular YA fiction. This realistic thriller may appeal to a wide variety of teens but for avid readers it may fall a bit short. Most of the plot was easy to surmise about halfway through, the ending was a bit far-fetched and soap opera-ish, and a lot of the chapters have foreshadowing that ends up being anticlimactic. But Hunter's sister Olivia was an amazing character that anyone would love to have on their side, and even his dad goes from the quintessential absentee parent YA trope to being the kind of parent Hunter needs as the story evolves. All in all, an interesting and quick read that may be just the thing for reluctant teen readers.
**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**
Hunter can't remember what caused the accident - or anything leading up to the accident - after he and his girlfriend, Chloe, left the homecoming dance. And with Chloe missing, that leaves Hunter as the prime suspect and the only one who may have answers as to what happened to her. The town doesn't trust him, the police don't trust him, and Hunter doesn't trust himself. He can't remember that night, and with friends telling him Chloe thought he'd be mad at her for some reason, the target on his back just gets bigger. But when another tragedy hits, Hunter starts wondering if there isn't a bigger plot behind what really happened to Chloe...
Thoughts: I appreciated that the chapters were short and the plot moved quickly. Reluctant teen readers will find this story easy to lose themselves in. I also appreciated that it was from the teen guy's POV, which is actually not that common in today's popular YA fiction. This realistic thriller may appeal to a wide variety of teens but for avid readers it may fall a bit short. Most of the plot was easy to surmise about halfway through, the ending was a bit far-fetched and soap opera-ish, and a lot of the chapters have foreshadowing that ends up being anticlimactic. But Hunter's sister Olivia was an amazing character that anyone would love to have on their side, and even his dad goes from the quintessential absentee parent YA trope to being the kind of parent Hunter needs as the story evolves. All in all, an interesting and quick read that may be just the thing for reluctant teen readers.
**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**