Even though there is a ferris wheel on the cover, All The Missing Girls is more reminiscent of a roller coaster ride – and just like a roller coaster ride it's impossible to get off once you're on it.
Ten years ago Nicolette's (Nic) best friend Corinne disappeared from Cooley Ridge, their small North Carolina hometown. Now, Nic is back in Cooley Ridge to help her brother fix up their old family home – and it does not take long until her past catches up with her and old wounds that she thought had long been healed start to itch again …especially when Annaleise, Nic's neighbor, disappears, in the middle of the night– just like Corinne did ten years ago.
Small towns and missing girls are hardly an original premise – but it's the way this story is told that makes it one of the most original books I've read in years, because author Megan Miranda is telling it backwards. That's right, after the set up the story jumps ahead 15 days and then counts down – day by day, until we reach the night in question and find out what really happened to All The Missing Girls.
My first thought was that this sounds like a really confusing concept, but Miranda uses this to her advantage, and the result is an extremely immersive reading experience that messes with the readers' minds in the best possible way: The confusion – and most importantly the distrust – that is haunting the narrators flies of the pages and makes you feel like you're actually right there in Cooley Ridge, trying to solve the case yourself instead of just reading about it.
All The Missing Girls hits the shelves on June 28, and is guaranteed to keep you up during those long summer nights – sleep is overrated anyway.
Peace, Love, and Lobsters
Laura
Advanced review copy provided by Net Galley
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