(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

A masked man with a gun enters a sandwich shop in broad daylight, and Meredith Oliver suddenly finds herself ordered to the filthy floor, where she cowers face to face with her nemesis, Lisa Bellow, the most popular girl in her eighth grade class. The minutes tick inexorably by, and Meredith lurches between comforting the sobbing Lisa and imagining her own impending death. Then the man orders Lisa Bellow to stand and come with him, leaving Meredith behind.
After Lisa’s abduction, Meredith spends most days in her room. As the community stages vigils and searches, Claire, Meredith’s mother, is torn between relief that her daughter is alive and helplessness over her inability to protect or even comfort her child. Her daughter is here, but not.

This is a really hard review to write. I was really looking forward to this book, had such high expectations for it. I mean, just look at that beautiful cover - doesn't that just scream "READ ME!!!!"?

I think the biggest problem I had with this book was that it seemed to have an identity problem. I couldn't work out what it was meant to be, what genre it fit into. Was it a book for young adults? Was it a women's fiction novel? Was it a contemporary mystery? At times, it was all of those things - but was never great at any of them. It was a real struggle to get any continuity to the story when the whole basis of the story was off-kilter (for me.)

The story started out as a thriller (with the hold-up and kidnapping - that was, ultimately, the most gripping part of this novel) then moved into YA as we learned about the issues Meredith was going through - and how she looked up to Lisa (secretly) and how she wished she could have done more to prevent it - and then on to women's fiction as Meredith's mother, Claire, gets in on the act and tells us all about how hard her life is, trying to protect her children (her son, Evan, lost an eye in a freak accident previously) and how she can't reach Meredith.

The characters were really annoying - Meredith started out quite well but not long after she became a whiny, pretentious teenager. And that sucked. I thought she was going to be smart and incisive with her reflections on what happened - but that wasn't to be. All I got from Claire was whining - how hard things were for her. I understand that her family had been through some tough times...but you would think that both of her kids were dead, the way she went on.

Overall, I just found this to be too much of a mess for me. I can imagine that lots of people will like it...it is one of those books that will appeal to those who love to read family drama stories...


Paul
ARH

At first I found the story to be a little slow but once I devoted my time to it I really found myself invested in these characters. There have been books such as this written before but this author is able to take a subject that has been used before and create something new and original. Nice writing and an amazing cover will guarantee this one to be a best seller.

‘Why? Why would a robber become a kidnapper?’

Two eighth-grade girls witness an armed robbery in a sandwich shop. One of the girls is kidnapped by the robber, the other girl is left behind. Why? Meredith Oliver is the girl left behind, and while she figures that Lisa Bellow was taken because she weighed less and was prettier and more popular, she really can’t move past Lisa’s abduction. What if they’d both been abducted? What if Lisa knew her abductor?

The Oliver family has had a traumatic year. Meredith’s older brother, Evan, a high school baseball star, had his left eye and eye socket crushed by a foul ball. He is still coming to terms with his injury, still trying to adjust. Meredith’s parents, Mark and Claire, are dentists who share a practice. This novel is about how the Oliver family deal with these events, from the perspectives of Meredith and Claire.

‘Grief and hope were cruel bedfellows, incompatible.’

Claire wants to protect her children; Mark realises that they need space. Meredith becomes obsessed with Lisa’s disappearance; Evan works on his own dreams. And what about Lisa Bellow’s mother? Can the Oliver family survive? How?

Reading this novel was like being an observer, unable to intervene in any meaningful way, in another family’s crisis. I felt for Meredith, as she moves between relief at being left behind and guilt at surviving. I could understand her freezing as the impact of events hit her, and then rebelling. How do parents handle this effectively, without adding to the trauma already experienced or alienating the child? But what about Lisa? I wanted answers which Ms Perabo has chosen not to give.

Did I enjoy this novel? No. Would I read more novels by this author? Absolutely. In this novel, Ms Perabo raises a number of uncomfortable issues, creates less than perfect (and completely human) characters. By focussing this novel on Meredith and her experiences, Ms Perabo reminds us that trauma is varied and complex and that sometimes, even in fiction, there are no satisfactory answers.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Book blurb...

What happens to the girl left behind?

A masked man with a gun enters a sandwich shop in broad daylight, and Meredith Oliver suddenly finds herself ordered to the filthy floor, where she cowers face to face with her nemesis, Lisa Bellow, the most popular girl in her eighth grade class. The minutes tick inexorably by, and Meredith lurches between comforting the sobbing Lisa and imagining her own impending death. Then the man orders Lisa Bellow to stand and come with him, leaving Meredith behind.

After Lisa’s abduction, Meredith spends most days in her room. As the community stages vigils and searches, Claire, Meredith’s mother, is torn between relief that her daughter is alive and helplessness over her inability to protect or even comfort her child. Her daughter is here, but not.

The Fall of Lisa Bellow is edgy and original, a hair-raising exploration of the ripple effects of an unthinkable crime.

My thoughts…

When I choose books to read I rely heavily on the blurb to ensure my choices are to my liking, and something I’m comfortable reviewing, before I start. That said, I was looking forward to reading The Fall of Lisa Bellow, until I got into the book. By page 100 I discovered the blurb and the book very different and not what I’d expected.

The story drills very deep into the psyche of a family, focusing on the daughter, Meredith, and her mother, Claire. I found the story to be telling and the writing style overly repetitive in places. I was often confused about the relevance of some sections and could not see how they advanced the story.

Then I had a light bulb moment. I realised this story was not really about an abduction and so I should stop relying on the blurb and enjoy the read. The plot is more about a young, troubled girl, Meredith, and her mother’s inability to deal with life and the situations she's found herself in.

I did not enjoy this story because it is not the style of book I like to read and it took much persistence to finish. I expected a twist or some great revelation at the end, but this novel is more literary in its structure and telling. It should be said, however, that the author has narrated the lives of this family in great depth and aside from my confusion and the connection to the blurb, the novel is clearly complex and the messages contained profound.

As I was interested to know more about this author and her publishing history, I did Google Susan Perabo and discovered she is highly regarded and an award-winning short story writer.

I will place this review on my blog at a later time.