buried doesn’t mean gone

Author : Megan Miranda
Title : All the missing Girls
Published : 03/08/2017
Pages : 384
Format : Paperback
Publisher : Atlantic Books     

    

     It's been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared without trace. Then a letter from her father arrives - 'I need to talk to you. That girl. I saw that girl.' Has her father's dementia worsened, or has he really seen Corinne? Returning home, Nicolette must finally face what happened on that terrible night all those years ago. Then, another young woman goes missing, almost to the day of the anniversary of when Corinne vanished. And like ten years ago, the whole town is a suspect.

    Imagine a crime book told in revers starting as all the dust is up in the air. This is what draw me to this book. I wondered how you could start at the end and not give everything away in the first chapter. Along side this you have a tale of a girl drawn home by her father with a cryptic note. What could such a warning mean.  We also get the duel stories of two missing girl separated by a decade. how are these two apparent stranger connected. All this should lead up to an interesting story of small towns and secrets that bring dark clouds to happy lives.

    Nicolette was a character I found difficult to get my head around. As much as I tried I couldn't really connect with her. I'm not sure she is a bad person maybe just caught in a difficult situation some of which is her own doing. As we progress through the story I started to realise just how unreliable she is at telling her story. This mostly stems from the secret she is holding onto. She shows she has a strange way of switching of from her actions in an attempt to over come and defend her self. These at times come across as very psychopathic but here's the thing.  She cares deeply for her farther and with him starting to lose his memory and with it his place in the world he draws a lot from his remaining family. I think it must be a difficult place to find your self in. When the very things that make up a person you care deeply for a slowly slipping away. In this aspect the author has ravelled with the most caring of touches how this can effect others. Its also works an interesting device when some one cant remember the things they are suppose to keep to them selves. How can you remember not to say aloud something that could bring this house of cards toppling down   Her brother tries to help her out any way he can. He is someone who is trying his best to protect his family and will go to any length to make sure no harm comes to them. Then we have Everett he ex who also happens to have been keeping an eye out for Nicolette's father in her absences. His love for her has not diminished in the time she has been gone. While he had moved on with his life to some degree since she's been gone I felt he was mostly just waiting for her to come back so he could try again. Once I got to the end I could understand the motives behind each of these peoples actions they made sense to a degree. Who wouldn't want to protect people you care for. I just found it a little disjointing in its execution. Kind of like hearing the punch line before the joke.

     While the idea of a story told in reverse isn't a bad one in it's self I kind of found it distracting. I was left trying to work out how they came to be in certain situations. And while the subsequent chapters would later explain these things at the time I felt ripped from the plot. The shame is that had I read the story in the other direction I think I would have found it much more agreeable. The bases for her plot about a tight-knit group of friends both drawn together then subsequently ripped apart by secrets was an interesting one. The twists and turns that run through out this book made me question who out of these people was actually a good person. I suppose ultimately there a just people and they do care for each other. The author shows us this by just how far they are willing to go across the line. I did enjoy her descriptions of small town life. This is something she does very well evoking images of a slower way of life and of teenage friendship there in. When taken as a whole after finish it is a dark and tense psychological thriller. About secrets and choices that you can never quiet shake off and ultimately about family, and how we chose to show our love for them. While I was not complete left satisfied with this book I will be checking out some of the authors other work. I know this sounds strange given my experience with this book but I don't feel she is a bad at what she does. Its just in this instants the style of story telling didn't work for my poor dyslexic mind.  And I hope that in my future encounters with this author i will have a less confusing time. It was a shame I real  wanted to enjoy this book but sadly it just didn't work out that way this time

   This was a difficult book for me to pick my way through As I said the story in of itself is an interesting one and the final conclusion was a brave choice on the part of the author. I just could not get over the story in reverse. I felt I was spending to much time going back and trying to put the pieces together to actually spend time enjoying the story given to me. I feel this my have more to do with me than the book itself so I hope if you chose to pick a copy of this up that you will be able to enjoy it the way the author intended.