Review: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (audio)

Title: All the Missing Girls

Author: Megan Miranda

Narrator: Rebekkah Ross

Published: June 2016, Simon & Schuster Audio / Simon & Schuster

Length: 10 hours 4 minutes / 384 pages

Source: Audio – Borrowed via Library / Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley via Publisher

Summary: 

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 thoughts: For someone who reads a lot of books in the suspense genre, I’m always looking for that one book that will stand out, that one book that will shake things up. Not that books that don’t aren’t good, but it’s always a breath of fresh air when a book stands out and this one certainly does! So what makes it do so – it’s told in reverse, and it’s done very well!

I will say, I was a bit apprehensive going into this book knowing how it was going to work – how would I keep track of what had happened and how would it all work – with the story being told in reverse? But I needn’t have worried. It starts in the present to set everything up, and then starts moving back from Day 15 to Day 1, slowly unraveling what has happened, and you ever so slowly get sucked into what is going on. And ever so slowly the suspense builds. It really is quite clever.

Nic has returned to Cooley Ridge because her father is ill. She left ten years ago after her friend, Corinne, disappeared. Now, ten years another girl has gone missing from the town – is it possible the cases are connected? Nic is convinced the cases are connected and is desperate to find out what happened. 

I loved the way this story is told. It draws you in and you really have to pay attention. Every character has secrets as you get to know them, so you aren’t sure who is behind the abductions and you are constantly changing your mind as to who you think might be the guilty party. It is such an addicting read and really gets under your skin the deeper you get into the story. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for it’s originality and suspense. It really kept me on my toes all the way through and the ending for sure shocked me – I definitely did not see that coming at all!

Audio thoughts: Rebekkah Ross did a great job with this narration. She was able to give each of the characters unique voices and her pacing and tone were spot on. I was not sure how this was book was going to translate in audio – but I shouldn’t have worried…it was a great performance and I really enjoyed listening to it. The story came alive on the audio, and while you do really need to pay attention to the days – Day 15, Day 14, etc, – once you get used to it, it really does work.