All The Missing Girls

10 years ago Corinne went missing. Nicolette has moved away and changed her life however she is back to try and sort things out about her father who is bordering on senility. The past is raked up and when another woman goes missing the suspicion starts amongst a group of once close friends.This is a well written book and gives a lot of background before the main part of the story takes place, however this is in a good way and enjoyable. We get to know Nicolette a little and understand where she is coming from. Her relationships with her brother, boyfriend and father are to the forefront. Time frames move and we are taken on a journey. This is a book that keeps the grey matter moving and alive, a book you have to think about. A descriptive, enjoyable read.I voluntarily chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased

Well thought out thriller, told in an interesting way. I would recommend

Nicolette Farrell thought she had escaped her rural upbringing, and the secrets buried in her past, when she escaped from her small-town home and in to the big city. Her father's worsening dementia and the seeming resurfacing of the past soon bring her back, however. Reunited with a complicated brother and a childhood sweetheart it starts to feel like she never left, especially after the recent disappearance of a young girl, which bares a startling similarity to the disappearance of Nicolette's best friend, all those years ago...

I loved how gritty and twisting this narrative was. The reader never felt like they could approach any angle of this story on steady footing, as the basis of our understanding was ever shifting. With so many thrillers on the market, this constantly delivered something exciting and new for the reader to obsess over and sink into.

The non-chronological time-scale was part of the story as much as the events were, and was what dually distanced me from the story and yet what pulled me in and made me want to know more. My only problem with this is that it took me some time to realise that the time wasn't actually linear. I felt constantly confused and like I had missed some key information in the text. If I had realised that this was a narrative told backwards, this wouldn't have been the case, however. The ending was fast-paced and unguessable but, perhaps because of the shifting time-scale, I felt the events suddenly transgressed too quickly for me to fully comprehend.

I preferred the sections set in the past, as opposed to those set in the book's present, and would have favoured a larger portion of the book to dwell on the characters as they were in their youth. This, I believe would have garnered a greater understanding for the people they became, without having to spend an equally as long time viewing them as their future selves.

This is a unique and well-done thriller, which I did enjoy and did suck me into the tale. I didn't fully love all segments of this but it is a story I would recommend and am glad I have read.

“We were a town full of fear, searching for answers. But we were also a town full of liars.”

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda is one of the best books I have read in awhile. It has twists and turns, mystery, suspense, and has a unique way of telling a story in reverse.

“The past, boxed up and stacked out of sight. But never too far away”

It starts out with Nicolette (Nic) Farrell receiving a call from Daniel, her brother, in regards to her father’s failing health and to help sell the family home. Nic agrees to help and returns to her hometown of Cooley Ridge, North Carolina, a very small town where everybody knows your name, and your past.

“But here's the thing I've learned about leaving- you can't really go back. I don't know what to do with Cooley Ridge anymore, and Cooley Ridge doesn't know what to do with me, either. The distance only increases with the years. Most times, if I tried to shift it back into focus...all I'd see was a caricature of it in my mind: a miniature town set up on entryway tables around the holidays, everything frozen in time.”

Ten years ago Nic’s best friend, Corinne, disappeared and that’s when everyone’s lives change. Nic left her hometown, family, and friends to start a new life for herself. But now that she has returned home to Cooley Ridge, her past comes back to haunt her. Another girl in town, Annaleise, goes missing - stirring up old memories and secrets from the past.

Nic needs to find out what happened 10 years ago to Corinne, and to see if Annaleise’s disappearance is connected. Will all this affect her future? We will see, as her father, brother, and her ex-boyfriend are all under suspicion. With Annaleise missing now, all the old rumors come back and Corinne’s cold case reopens.

“If there's a feeling to home, it's this. A place where there are no secrets, where nothing stays buried; not the past and not yourself. Where you can be all the versions of you, see it all reflected back at you as you walk the same stairs, the same halls, the same rooms. Feel the ghost of your mother as you sit at the kitchen table, hear the words of your father circling round and round after dinner, and your brother stopping by, wishing you'd be a little better, a little stronger.... It's four walls echoing back everything you've ever been and everything you've ever done, and it's the people who stay despite it all. Through it all. For it all.”

Telling this story in reverse made it more intriguing to me, and I have to say, Megan Miranda did an excellent job in doing so - it was flawless.

I highly recommend!

*I want to thank NetGalley, Katherine MacPherson, and Atlantic Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I absolutely loved this book!

This story is about Nic who left her home town of Cooley Ridge ten years ago and has absolutely no desire to go back. She's managed to reinvent herself, obtained two degrees, has a great job that she loves, as well as a lovely fiancee. She's even managed to iron out her accent. But around the same time Nic left Cooley Ridge, her best friend Corrine went missing - and now her father says he's seen her on the porch of their old home. But her father is senile and in a care home - surely he's imagining it?

There are several reasons why I loved this book. Firstly, the characters are so well-drawn I felt I knew these people. They weren't entirely lovable, they all had very realistic flaws - for me, that was part of their appeal. Different aspects of their personalities were dripped into the story, a little at a time, so just when I thought I'd worked someone out, there was another twist to surprise me. And as I read an awful lot of crime fiction, it takes a lot to surprise me! Every character has a very plausible motive for wanting Corrine to disappear. I'd read one chapter and think 'Ha, he's the murderer!' and then in the next chapter I'd think it was someone else, and so on. I never did work it out!

The third reason I really enjoyed this books is that the story is told backwards. You have the beginning, where Nic receives the news about her father, and then the story skips to fifteen days later. The chapter after takes place fourteen days after Nic's arrival in Cooley Ridge, counting down to day one. It is a brilliantly clever way of telling the story; it hits the ground running and doesn't let up in tension until the very end. I did have to concentrate hard though! It's a bit like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle, have someone sweep all the pieces back in the box after an hour, and then having to start all over again!

I would definitely, definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves psychological suspense. With the claustrophobic setting and dysfunctional characters it reminded me of one of my favourite authors, Shirley Jackson. But, like Jackson, the author takes her time in letting the tension mount up and tighten into a stranglehold - which means that if you're the kind of person who devours fast-paced crime thrillers, you might find it a little slow - but I loved it!

Wow what a great psychological thriller, with lots of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is the first Megan Miranda book I have read, and it won't be the last, as I loved it so much. I've never read a book that is written backwards before, it made a nice change. I will be recommending this book to friends and family, I have written reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. My thanks to Atlantic Books and to Megan Miranda for the opportunity to read such a good book.

Great book. Excellent storyline and wonderful main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

This book had me gripped the whole way through. I like the way it worked backwards until the truth was finally revealed. The twists and turns in the plot are well written. The characters are well developed and believable. I would definitely recommend this book and would read another book by this author.

An interesting and unique way of writing - working backwards to find out the story of what happened to two girls. I liked the different way as a change from all the psychological thrillers i read but did find it confusing at time. A good story and a good twist.