Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in
The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.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.The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.
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.
Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.
MY REVIEW:
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda is a 2016 Simon & Schuster publication.
“It is quite true what philosophy says; that life must be understood backward. But then one forgets the other principle: that it must be lived forwards. – Soren Kierkegaard
‘All the Missing Girls’, is a crafty, twisty/bending mystery told in a very innovative way, backwards, like a countdown, leading up to the big climax.
When Nicolette Farrell gets a phone call from her brother, Daniel, regarding the health of their father and the need to sell the family home, Nic, reluctantly agrees to come home to Cooley Ridge.
A decade ago, Nic’s best friend disappeared, upending everyone’s lives forever. Nic is the only one of her friends to leave home, and forge a new life. But, now that she has returned, her past comes to roost in the present, when another young girl disappears, opening up old wounds, revealing stunning secrets, and churning up old memories, lost loves, jealousies, and hidden crimes.
Before Nic can move forward with her life, she must discover the truth about what happened ten years ago, and find out what happened to her young neighbor, Annaleise. In the meantime, she floats between the past and present, struggling with memory, nostalgia, angst, but most of all she’s afraid of how the past may affect her future, as her father, ex-boyfriend, Tyler, and her brother, are all under suspicion and every step she takes is being watched closely…
I loved the stylish presentation the author employed, which really challenged me and certainly staved off any hint of boredom. The story is told from Nicolette’s POV, who takes us on a moody, atmospheric journey into her past, which will throw turn her carefully planned future into complete disarray.
Nic was deeply affected by her friend’s disappearance for many reasons, stirring up feelings of guilt and remorse, while her feelings for Tyler remains unsettled. To top things off, she must cope with the drain of her father’s dementia, getting the house ready to sell, and the complicated relationship she has with her brother.
The new missing persons case, puts them all back on the old rumor mill, creating a renewed interest in the cold case.
All of this creates an aura of edgy suspense, and produces a creepy, heavy feeling of foreboding, that had me sitting on pins and needles. The characters are all secretive, complex, and even a little dangerous, which made me wonder what they knew, what lies they had told, and why. No one is above suspicion!
I can’t say I felt a ginormous sense of peace once all was said and done, nor do I know exactly how to feel about how everything turned out in the end, but I did find the story absorbing, and immensely satisfying in a dark and twisty sort of way.
I definitely get why this book is so popular and am thankful I finally got a copy, after months of waiting. However, it was definitely worth the long wait.
GET YOUR COPY HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/All-Missing-Girls-Megan-Miranda-ebook/dp/B0176M3UJW/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-the-missing-girls-ms-megan-miranda/1122885870
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Megan Miranda is the author of the young adult novels FRACTURE, HYSTERIA, VENGEANCE, and SOULPRINT. Her next young adult novel, THE SAFEST LIES, will be published by Crown BFYR/Random House on May 24th, 2016. Her first novel for adults, ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, will be published by Simon & Schuster on June 28th, 2016. Megan has a degree in Biology from MIT and currently lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and two children.
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