A review by louisekf
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn

adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Perhaps it’s my fault for not reading the publisher’s blurb, but I was quite excited for a new Kate Clayborn book and I figured I didn’t need to do that. However… I probably should have. The set-up is that Jess has been acting a mother-substitute for her younger half-sister, Tegan, for ten years. Their mother ran off with a man who turned out to be a skilled con man, about whom a true-crime-style podcast was made. Now that Tegan is 18 and ready to leave for college in a few months, she contacts the podcast host and she and Jess (reluctantly, for Jess) wind up joining the podcast host, Salem, and her assistant, Adam, on a road trip to try to track down their missing mother and perhaps the con man she ran off with. There’s an instant attraction between Jess and Adam and they are both very wary about acting on it, so this is a slow burn romance. 

My take: I think there have been too many books focusing on podcasts lately; I guess that’s the latest “thing.” 

Weirdly, I had just finished another book that featured an older sibling being a caretaker (in that case, for both the disabled father and the younger sister), so it was a bit hard to keep the two stories separated in my mind. Not the author’s fault, just bad timing on my part.  

There was some excellent character development, particularly for Jess, as she finally begins to grapple with the impact of her mother abandoning her (twice). And for those who prefer to know these things, be aware that there are a couple of rather spicy, open door scenes, including one in a rather memorable location. 

On the whole, this wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t what I expected from this author. The love story was almost beside the point, with most of the book spent on the four of them tracking down clues to find their mother and/or the con man. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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