The Night She Disappeared by April Henry - Book Review/Rant

The Night She Disappeared by April Henry - 2 stars

SPOILER-FREE 

SYNOPSIS:

So this book starts out with some high school kids that work in a pizza place--none of them are too close, nor are they overly friendly to one another. Then, one night, a mysterious man calls in to order 3 pizzas and asks for the girl in the mini cooper, who happens to be our main character, Gabie. What this man doesn't realize, is that Gabie is not working that night, but instead, Kayla is working and making deliveries. She takes the 3 pizzas to a non-existent address. The next morning, everyone realizes she has disappeared.

As the story unfolds, we follow Gabie in her attempts to understand and come to terms with the fact that the order was meant for her, not Kayla. And with time running out, and an unhelpful (and slightly shady) police force leading the investigation, Gabie must use her intuition and her newfound friendship with co-worker Drew to find a way to save Kayla, or else.

SPOILERS AHEAD 

THE GOOD:

Mystery. The mysterious element of this book was just SO promising. I finished this book in a day because I was completely on the edge of my seat. The whole time, the readers are given tiny clues regarding what may or may not have happened to Kayla. We're set to believe that everyone is a suspect and no one is safe. Throughout the whole book, I kept waiting for this epic mystery to unveil into a spectacular ending, which I feel a bit cheated out of. To add to the mystery, we get glimpses into "John Robertson" (Kayla's kidnapper) and how he is viewing the situation. I was particularly intrigued in the mystery surrounding her kidnapping scene, which entailed: her car, her purse, the keys in the ignition, and a bloody rock. I was almost completely salivating at this, as it seemed like a promising setup for a sinister kidnapping, which it wasn't (but I'll get into that later). Overall, the mystery was the redeeming quality of this book. It was so entertaining and I breezed through this book quickly because of it. Unfortunately, that's where the good qualities begin and end.

Pictures/Newspaper Clippings/Evidence. I enjoyed that tiny aspect of the book. It was a small detail that made the kidnapping case feet a bit more immersive.

THE BAD:

Gabie and Drew. God. What is it about authors that makes them believe that every story needs a romance? I was particularly annoyed with Drew in the first few pages when he discussed how beautiful Kayla was, and how beautiful Gabie was. As a reader, I had no idea which girl he was interested in (because OBVIOUSLY he had to be interested in at least one of the girls). That's just a little minor problem compared to how the characters were actually written. Can we just take a moment to recognize that the narration for both characters was practically identical? I would sometimes catch myself in the middle of a chapter, and realize I was reading it as if it were from Gabie's point of view, instead of Drew's. There was no clear variation. I don't even understand why it was necessary to include Drew's narrative, as it was usually a re-telling of Gabie's. That's pretty much my number one pet peeve with dual-narrative novels. Even more irritating was Gabie's incessant rantings: "Poor me--it should have been me! Poor Kayla, but it should have been me!" It was so hard to stomach. I thought Gabie was the most irritating character for this reason. Even worse, she kept claiming that she could feel Kayla alive, even when no one else could. Um, WHAT?! They weren't even friends, nor were they even close (which she reminds us of, constantly), yet she "feels" Kayla is alive. Ugh. The idiocy was too much to handle.

Kidnapper. This was the most glaringly annoying facet of the story. It was actually what made me throw this book across the room upon completion. Throughout the whole story, we're basically led to believe the kidnapper knew Kayla or Gabie--we're led to think he must be someone close to them in proximity, if only just a regular in the Pizza shop. Which, he was. But when Kayla is kidnapped, about 1/3rd of the way into the plot, the kidnapper laments that she recognized him and smiled when he got out of his truck and went to meet her (she was parked by the river, due to the fake address she was trying to find). But then, when she's locked in his basement, her POV claims she has no idea who he is (Excuse me while I guffaw at this irritating inconsistency). What's even MORE irritating about this mysterious kidnapper, is that we literally never find out the motive for his kidnapping. NEVER. There's even a chapter where he is literally having an internal struggle: He wanted Gabie for his purpose, because she was perfect, but now he has Kayla, so he can mold her. Okay, so I was intrigued by this, and I assumed we would be told the motive at the end when he was (inevitably) caught. BUT NOPE! We learn NOTHING of his motive! WHAT?! That was the most irritating part of the entire book, because after 230 pages, we're literally left with a kidnapping story, completely devoid of a motive. Even worse, Kayla soon discovers that she is not the first girl the kidnapper has kidnapped. But do we ever find out why he was kidnapping girls....? OF COURSE NOT BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE SILLY. We only find out that he wants Kayla to address him as "Master." Hmm. Ok.

After I closed this book, I was so irritated at the lack of closure I felt. I was so annoyed, and irritated, and baffled, and just completely confused as to why the author just decided to add details, only to completely ignore them later in the novel.

"Gaby". Ohhhhh, yes. The author actually wrote, "Gaby" instead of "Gabie." Total hilarity. How do you even mess up your main protagonist's name? I almost laughed. 

OVERALL:

Well, I don't even know how to sum up this review. I was irritated by the characters, my questions were unanswered, there was no clarity of motive, and yet..... I still read it and enjoyed the fast pace the author so expertly adopted. There was a reason I read this one day: it was edgy, dramatic, chilling, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Perhaps if the ending had been better, or if the actual kidnapping had been explained, or the kidnapper's motive had been identified, maybe this would garner more stars. However, due to an unfulfilling ending and a largely unlikable cast of characters, my review rests at 2 stars.

END VOTE:

2 stars

★★

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – 5 stars

Note: I will start by warning all readers that there will be spoilers in this review! I will begin with a light synopsis, so as not to spoil the review for anyone who has yet to pick up this book, and then I will move into a more detailed review. Don't worry, I'll let you know when the spoilers are coming.

SPOILER-FREE 

Have you ever read a book, that you considered a borderline masterpiece, for reasons foreign to even yourself, but for some reason, you deemed it to be so? That is exactly how We Were Liars made me feel. Now, if you haven't read this book, it is recommended you go into the story without knowing anything other than this: You are about to meet a cast of characters that go to an Island every summer. They are the Liars. 

I know, I know. Cheap and simple synopsis. But believe me, it's best not knowing what you're getting yourself into. With most books, I understand the desire to seek out the plot before delving head-first into a potentially horrid story. But PLEASE refrain from doing so if you have any interest in picking this book up. It is just over 200 pages and a quick read, so even if you (for some strange, and ungodly reason) end up hating it, you can look back on the book knowing you didn't invest much. 

That being said, I too went into this book without knowing anything of the plot, characters, or the synopsis. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. All I can say in this spoiler-free section, is this: take a chance and read this book. It's mysterious and intriguing, and that's reason enough to give it a shot. 

SPOILERS AHEAD 

SYNOPSIS:

I'm trusting that if you scrolled past the spoiler warning, you've read this book. So let's just dive in at full speed. We Were Liars was a thrilling mystery, that you weren't even aware was a mystery, right? There's something about the name, the vague description, and the cover that just scream "contemporary summer read!" But then, about halfway through the book, you realize something's off. The side characters act strangely--walking around in the middle of the night, claiming one of the houses is haunted. And as a reader, you probably start feeling uneasy. This book focused on a group of friends, named "The Liars" who, despite school and outside life, re-connected on their family's island every summer. Our narrator is Cadence, who is going through what can only be described as a life-changing few years. The book brushes over a lengthy amount of time before we are able to get to the crux of the actual story, which was Cadence returning to her family's island after missing a summer and feeling disconnected and forgotten by her family friends. But when Cadence returns to the island, nothing is as it seems. Mirren, Johnny, and Gat are all acting differently, as though they don't want her to partake in their summer shenanigans, like cliff diving. The whole time, Cadence cannot figure out why they are being distant, or what has changed. All she can make sense of is that she has strong feelings for Gat, despite her grandfather's disapproval. Through the summer, her family fights over the estate, and essentially deals with what I've aptly defined as "rich people problems." It isn't until the other Liars start hinting to her that she needs to remember something, that we are introduced to the real story and the real conflict. We then follow Cadence on a journey to discover the tragedy that happened on the island, leaving Mirren, Johnny, Gat, and the family dogs dead in a fire. 

THE GOOD:

Mystery. I didn't even know I was picking up a contemporary novel riddled in mystery and intrigue! This was borderline shocking to me, because I went into this book with zero preconceived notions. The actual mystery was so masterfully constructed, it's almost hard to put into words what made it so perfect. While reading through the first hundred pages or so, I was thinking to myself, "Wow, this family is messed up, her friends are being less-than-kind, and there's no real plot here, just a lot of anecdotes about this money mongering clan." And I could see how many people would feel this way prior to about the halfway mark. Once you realize the mystery, and the revelation comes that Cadence is responsible for plotting a fire that killed The Liars, you are suddenly capable of looking back and noting that every little story and detail in the first half of the book was relevant--everything was a clue for what was to come. This was completely jarring to me, but in the best way possible.

Characters. E. Lockhart did an amazing job writing every character to near perfection. I absolutely hated every single person in this family, which was the point. After the mystery is solved, it becomes clear that we were absolutely meant to abhor every member of this wretched family. We were meant to find them awful and self-absorbed. We were meant to like the Liars and appreciate their own little world they built away from their otherwise horrid family. If the readers did not have a foundation for such feelings, there would have been no way to get the readers on Cadence's side when the fire plot was revealed. As readers, we needed to hate this family so that we could side with the Liars and understand why their revenge plot was necessary, even if poorly-planned. Upon completing the book, it becomes clear that all of this negative character-building was necessary. E. Lockhart did this masterfully.

THE BAD:

A minor plot hole. Overall, the book was pretty much devoid of anything that would seriously compromise my five-star rating. However, there were small plot holes that made me reflect and think, "Huh?" When the Liars made a mess around the house they were staying in, was it really there? One of the adults walked in and noted it, which makes me think the mess was indeed real. Which makes me wonder if Cadence made it on her own, a side effect of her clear mental illness. This was the only thing that bothered me when reflecting on my reading experience, because all I could think about was how the mess was there when Cadence walked in. Which leads me to question whether the Liars were real, or just a figment of her imagination. But then again, maybe this was Lockhart's intent?

Liars(?). This was such a minor detail that was never explained, which peeved me only slightly. We were never told why the group was called "The Liars," only that the adults had aptly named them that. Once I got to the end of the book, my first thought was that the term "Liars" made sense because they were all living a lie the whole summer. Maybe it was intended to be a foreshadowing term to describe their later actions? Or again, maybe all of this was Cadence's imagination. There's so much room for interpretation on this. 

OVERALL:

So far, this has been the best book I've read in 2015. To me, the mark of a good book is whether the characters and story have the ability to haunt you. If you can look back, months later, after reading numerous other books, and still remember the story, and still feel just as affected by it as you did the moment you closed the book--that's a good book. For me, this story was almost unbearably haunting. I wasn't expecting such a dark read when I picked this up. I was in the mood for light-hearted contemporary, and basically something that would just make me go, "Aww." While this book was none of those things, it was an amazing read. It was short, mysterious, dark, and haunting. I can honestly say I've never read anything like it. Because of all the mysterious details in the first half of the book, I am tempted to go back and re-read this story, so that I may be able to pick up on little bits of foreshadowing that I missed during my initial read. This was such a haunting read that I couldn't get out of my head even if I wanted to.

END VOTE:

5 stars

★★★★★