Heartbreaking and raw, a brilliant depiction on the loss of a loved one in a way that I have never experienced before. I adored this and still find myself thinking back to it, the true power of a beautiful book.

This book.. ouff.. this book!
It was emotional and heartbreaking to listen to. I think the flow and pacing was quite spot on and it really managed to intrigue me to look out for other similar titles and memoirs.
I was slightly thrown off by the audio format however, I would have preferred to read the print version of it as the audio recording quality was not the best, and although I appreciate a memoir read by the author as I feel it can convey emotions other voice actors may not be able to since they are not telling their own story, I think in this case the opposite is true.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity of listening to this audiobook. I recommend it and would definitely look up more works from the author in the future!

Narrated by the author and inspired by his own experience of his father's disappearance, this is a poignant, informative and thought-provoking exploration of the many circumstances in which people go missing, the system which exists to find them, their right to be forgotten, and what happens to the people left behind.

Thank you netgalley for a review copy for an honest review
What a roller coaster ride of emotions on an investigation into what its like to go missing and the feelings of losing a loved one
This book is not an easy listen but remains with you when the credits roll highly recommended

#IfYouWereThere #NetGalley

A moving, extremely well written and profound investigation into 'the missing' of the UK, drawing heavily on and incorporating Garcia's own experience of a missing person - his father. The text is very well researched, full of statistics and discussions with people at the heart of charities and organisations striving to help or find the missing, but full too of the descriptive, whole and imaginative writing of Garcia. There were sentences so smart and evocative I went back to listen to again.

The importance of the subject to the author is palpable in every sentence (intensified in the audiobook as Garcia himself narrates it and you can hear how much it means to him as he reads), and for such a moving and difficult subject, this is really effective. Care and time is afforded to every 'part' of the UK missing scene - from those caught up in addiction, those feared murdered or those that dedicate their lives to finding the missing or to accurately recording the state of the missing. It is a determined, passionate and painstaking account, one that is hugely important and covering a topic that feels vastly underrepresented in today's political sphere and mass media.

The content here is really interesting, both the author's experience with a family member going missing and also a journalistic piece about other people going missing. He touches on mental health and drug misuse in a way that never feels judgemental.

My main criticism really is with the audio format. I think using a professional narrator would have been the better option here. The reading is quite flat and often awkward. I could hear where sections had clearly been edited in at a later date. I would recommend this book, but in the print format.

If You Were There is part memoir, part non-fiction narrative on the missing person crisis in the UK. When Garcia was aged 7, his father disappeared, leaving behind his wife and son. Twenty years later, Garcia, now a journalist, begins researching the world of missing people to try to better understand his father’s actions, which opens up a world of complex factors that contribute to a person going missing and the support (or lack thereof) in place to help the most vulnerable in society.

This book exceeded all my expectations. I went into this audiobook with my own preconceived ideas about what ‘a missing person’ was – someone who has been essentially kidnapped or stolen from their loved ones – the same narrative used in mainstream media. I was completely unaware of the breadth that the term 'missing person' encompasses. The reasons behind someone being missing are multifaceted and range from the sinister associations often reported in the news, to someone wanting to get away and start afresh, to people losing contact with others after becoming homeless.

Garcia takes the reader (or listener in my case) on a journey across the UK as he tries to find out as much about missing people as he can. He consults with experts, charities, those who have gone missing previously and those who are left behind. The audiobook is narrated by Garcia himself, which I think added even more to the book.

There is a perfect combination of Garcia’s own experiences and factual information, which kept me invested throughout. This is incredibly eye opening and I really recommend it for anyone who enjoys non-fiction narratives or memoirs, and anyone interested in the work of emergency services, social media and support systems available in the UK, in relation to missing people.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the audioARC.

"If You Were There" is an interesting exploration of the impact the people who go missing leave behind. The book is extremely well written but due to personal reasons I found myself quite triggered by the subjects explored in this book. Nevertheless the book was extremely helpful to educate myself of the subject of missing people.

If You Were There takes the reader on a journey with Francisco Garcia as he searches for answers about his father, Christobal, who disappeared when Francisco was a child. As part of this journey Francisco speaks to charities, families of the missing, investigators and volunteers to consider how and why people go missing, and what it's like to be the one left behind.

This book was fairly different to what I expected. Though Christobal's disappearance provides a personal link as Garcia investigates the missing, I'd actually expected this particular case would make up the majority of the book, rather than the book being just a discussion about missing people in general. I didn't mind this at all - I found the interviews really interesting, particularly Garcia's discussion with UK charities. Though I've seen missing posters and news appeals, I've never really thought about the UK's missing before, and the book opened up a lot of interesting discussion about what support and societal change we can provide. I especially enjoyed the final chapter and Garcia's time in Spain, and his internal questioning about his identity and how disconnected he feels to his father's country.

In terms of content I'd give this book four stars, but my overall rating for the audiobook would have to be a 3.5. I think it's great that Garcia is the one to narrate - I think you need that, for a book so personal - but the narration is quite flat. His intonation seemed to change quite a lot too, so some sections do feel quite patchwork, almost like two recordings have been put together.

This book tells the details of the author's investigative journey into missing people. This is driven by the disappearance of his father.
This books looks at the support available for the missing and the left behind.
It also looks at the groups of people that go missing and what is done in the Uk to support them.
Told through contacts with services and individuals this is a fascinating look at this subject and will definitely offer learning and awareness around this subject.
Well written, well narrated and very interesting.
Thanks to author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to listen to in return for a review.

A moving and thought provoking look at what it means to be a missing person, the reasons why and how people go missing or find themselves in situations in life from which they choose to go missing, and the impact it has on those left behind. I loved learning about Garcia's own experiences with his father, and he brought up many things I'd never considered before - how do we define when to class someone as a missing person? Why might someone choose to leave, making themselves a missing person? And what about those who do not wished to be searched for, whose lives can be negatively impacted by the endless sharing on social media? I also thought it was particularly interesting as a British person to learn more about these issues based in the UK, the UK charities working to help the missing as well as those looking for the missing, and the role of British police within these issues.

I went into this read thinking it was all about Garcia’s reflections on his life, following the disappearance of his father at a young age. And whilst he does cover the deeply personal impacts, reflections and consequences of this, it’s more than that.

Garcia covers various aspects to ‘the missing’, including what it means to be missing - both from the family left behind, the statutory agencies searching, and the voluntary/community sector organisations that cover the gaps that reducing investment in public services has necessitated, and more crucially those who choose to go missing and some of the circumstances that can surround this.

And it is fascinating, heartbreaking and in some parts hopeful. It’s so sad as you hear the complicated loss and grief experienced by those left behind, particularly in those cases where there’s no conclusion. Not only does he draw on his own personal experience, he interviews friends who have been similarly affected, others who have been affected and also some of those who have returned. What was particularly poignant for me was the lack of support for those who do return, but had challenges in their life that they wanted to escape from, and when they come back they’re pretty much left to their own devices.

An engaging, heartbreaking and fascinating read/listen. Garcia is great narrating his own story. I liked how he chose that his own life will not be defined by his father’s disappearance, and surely that’s a healing step. Recommended

The audiobook failed to hold my attention. Author was narrating like he was reading the news. It was supposed to be a memoir but there were a lot of statistics and general facts sprinkled in there which made the book the opposite of personal.
Stopped at 15%

I found this book to be very emotional and thought provoking, you hear about people going missing all the time but you never think it will happen to you .. it was interesting to hear from someone who has had someone close to him go missing, because unless you’ve been through it I don’t think you really think about how you would feel.
Unfortunately for me the narrator (who is the author) just didn’t do any justice for the book for me, it didn’t sound very professional and I know it’s his own non fiction story but he sounded bored to me and it was quite irritating to listen to.
For the book I’d give it 4 stars but the narration let it down for me.

When he is seven years old Francisco Garcia's father Christobal leaves his family and is not heard from again. Twenty years later Francisco is ready to start the journey to search for answers about what really happened.

This was a deeply personal and emotional audiobook to listen to and as Francisco was the narrator it made a stronger emotional impact. His personal experience with having a loved one go missing as well as speaking to police officers, people who work to find the missing and other people who have experienced the same loss made this a beautiful but heart breaking must read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review

The story of missing people, what it means to be missing and the broad scope of that definition is all covered in this great piece of narrative non fiction. Probably because of Garcia’s background as a Vice reporter I found the investigative journalism element far more compelling than the memoir hook. The writing felt more natural and assured. That being said the pay off of the search for his missing father in the last chapter was pretty impressive, emotional and tied the book up nicely.
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I found this such an inspiring read. From the charity workers, who work tirelessly reconnecting the missing to families,to funeral directors who specialise in arranging funerals for the unidentified. It’s vital work that receives little coverage.

This is a mix of memoir and journalism: Garcia's starting point is the disappearance of his father when he was a boy and these sections were the most moving and emotive for me. The rest is an exploration of the world of the missing: the police, agencies, charities and people involved. I like that this is up to date with covid having an impacts on people's stresses and also the ability of charities to keep up their work as volunteers are suspended. But this also looks at structural problems: the cutting of all kinds of social care from the 2010 coalition 'austerity' government (the figures are shocking) to the cultural down-playing of mental well-being (are we finally coming out of the mental health closet?).

Garcia makes important connections that lead all the way back to Thatcher's policies including the selling-off of council and social housing, and the effects of homelessness or unstable homes subject to predatory landlords on people's well-being - and the way some, like his father, go missing through being unable to cope with so many pressures.

There are also stories here of those who are thrown out of their homes by parents who find their LGBT+ status impossible.

So a world of pain, pressure and rejection is kept under control by the cool, journalistic approach. But Garcia understands what it means to be one of the abandoned and his own search gives emotional ballast to the stories being told.

I swapped between the book and audio and would say that the book worked better for me: while I liked that Garcia himself reads his book and the connection this creates, unlike a professional reader the tone can be monotonous at times and the speech not always as clear as I'd have liked. So 4-stars for the story, 3-stars for the audio reading: 3.5 rounded up.

A sensitive and compelling exploration of missing people and the experiences of family members - a must-read for any true crime fan who wants to know more about the human cost beyond obsessions with real-life mysteries.

If You Were There is a moving exploration of living without a parent because they are missing. Francisco Garcia narrates this audiobook well. This book is not a memoir it is very much a non fiction about missing people which touches on his own experiences at times.

This audio book is sad and poignant, but so well told and touching. You felt the loss of the author, and it's hard to imagine, but also the marks left by his father. The narrator was great in pitch and speed. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher of this audio title in exchange for my honest review.