Title: All The Missing Girls
Author: Megan Miranda
Publication Date: June 28, 2016
Format: Advanced Reading Copy
Rating:4 stars
It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.
Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago. (Goodreads)
Every thriller being published these days is being marketed as either the next Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train. Probably about half of the stack of ARCs I have to read this month mention one or both of those titles in the description of the novel. While I’m trying not to get sucked in by that hype – especially given my dislike of Girl on a Train, I can’t help but be curious. I’m always looking for a really good mystery thriller that actually does capture my attention and which I cannot put down. All the Missing Girls managed to succeed where so often novels fail.
The concept of this novel is fascinating. It starts out moving in a linear fashion, then jumps ahead two weeks and continues to tell the story in reverse, slowly unfolding each day then going to the day before. This sounded like nothing more than a gimmick to me at first, but in all honesty it works. Each day reveals just enough, with just enough foreshadowing that it keeps you turning the pages to find out what really happened. And not only are you interested in what is happening the “present” but you’re also piecing together details from what happened a decade earlier.
If I had a complaint about this book, it would be the lack of female characters, as the narrator is the only main female character in the book and is rarely seen interacting with other females. And if you really wanted to look at this novel through a feminist lens, there are probably several other things that you could really tear it apart for, but as I just wanted to read a page-turner mystery, I wasn’t willing to analyze it that completely.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it if you’re interested in suspense and “psychological thrillers.” Don’t be turned off by the hype or the comparison to Girl on a Train. This really was a good read.
All the Missing Girls was read as part of ARC August hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat. You can find more on the books I read during ARC August here.
Not Another Dumb Blonde 