Might have been my frame of mind, but I couldn't get into this book and abandoned it after 50 pages or so. Not for me.

Watch Me Disappear is a story about a father, Jonathan, and a daughter, Olive, trying to come to terms with the death of wife/mother, Billie. But as the one year anniversary of Billie's disappearance while hiking approaches, Olive starts having visions of her mom, which her dad initially writes off. But Jonathan and Olive start to both have their own suspicions that maybe Billie isn't dead after all as they start talking to Billie's old friends from her past life as a wild child/eco activist and after Jonathan finds some evidence of Billie's lies over the time before she died.

One of the previous reviews I read called this "the next Gone Girl" but while there are some twists, it doesn't quit have the suspense or the gasps of Gone Girl or Girl on a Train. I did enjoy the story and was curious to keep reading to see what happened with these characters and particularly, what happened to Billie.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Watch Me Disappear achieves a rare literary feat: it is both tedious and tantalizing, predictable and unexpected, brilliant and boring. These opposing descriptions have nothing to do with the book's length-Ms. Brown could have chopped off one third of the novel without altering the outcome-but rather how she takes a simple premise-the disappearance of a woman while on a solo mountain hike- then throws in so many twists and sub plots the original question of what happened to Billie Flanagan almost becomes an afterthought. You have to be patient to appreciate Watch Me Disappear-while the opening prologue is a dreamlike sequence of a happy family on the beach-there is a sense of doom just waiting to pop out. Unfortunately the plot drags for awhile and the momentum gets lost. It seems like Ms. Brown had several ideas as to how she wanted the story to proceed, but instead of picking one she tries to fit them all in-and the result is a dizzying ride that could have ended several times before it actually does. But the writing is superb, and Watch Me Disappear does keep you guessing until the very end. It just veers off in so many directions it's hard to keep the enthusiasm up for any of them.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Janelle Brown, Random House Publishing Group and Spiegel & Grau for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Turning to a new author, I wanted to see what Janelle Brown had to offer in this interesting story that explores the family unit and its dynamic when a significant piece is missing. After Sybilla 'Billie' Flanagan goes missing during a solo hike, her immediate family is left to wonder what happen, while never giving up hope. Billie's husband, Jonathan, is left to wonder about his wife, entering a state of numbness as he goes through the motions of a memorial when she is seemingly dead. Adding to his confusion, Jonathan must juggle his teenage daughter, Olive, who is determined not to shut the door on her mother, wondering if she will walk through the door at any moment. When Olive begins having some visions of her mother, she holds out that Billie is alive and just away from them, either by choice or having been kidnapped. This lights a fire under Jonathan, who has been filling his time writing a memoir of life with Billie Flanagan. When Billie finds some information about Billie on her computer, this opens new potential pathways that go back three decades and the breadcrumbs that Jonathan follows leads him to believe this might have been something orchestrated. However, there is nothing to substantiate any of this, save for a gut feeling and a daughter whose focussed seems stronger than ever. Where is Billie Flanagan and was her disappearance something that had been in the works long before that hiking adventure? Brown offers up an interesting spin on a much-used plot, allowing readers to weigh the strength of a family's determination to find what belongs to them. An interesting read for those seeking something more emotion-based than a thriller or crime story.

This is the first piece of Brown's work that I have tried, which has left me a little on the fence. I was expecting a high-powered mystery, with characters that sought truth and sifted through lies. Brown works hard to create these characters: the lost and drifting Jonathan, his eager and determined Olive who is suffering the loss and her teenage epiphany, and the ever-elusive Billie, who comes to life in the stories that are told and through the other two characters. Brown serves to deliver the Billie persona through the ever-winding memoir on which Jonathan has been working and the increasingly vivid images that Olive develops. With a story that could have delved deep into mystery, Brown presents something that is more worthy of an emotional journey and one in which all the characters find and lose themselves at the same time. I found myself begging to find something on which I could grasp during the first portion, but by the end, the twists had me highly impressed as the narrative took me in directions I was not sure I would have originally liked. A journey full of mystery after all!

Kudos, Madam Brown for an great book. I think I may come back to see what else you have to offer sooner than later.

Most of us are familiar with the ancient Vedic fable of the blind men and the elephant, each of whom touches a different part of the elephant and describes the elephants as being like a rope, a tree, or fan, depending on their perspective. When Billie, Jonathan’s wife and Olive’s mother, disappears and is presumed dead, they learn that she was much like that fabled elephant–a very different person depending on where you stand when looking at her. In Janelle Brown’s Watch Me Disappear, the idea that we never know anyone fully, our understanding shaped by our needs and desires, is explored by this husband and daughter who come to believe that perhaps Billie is still alive.

Billie disappeared while hiking alone. After a long search, her body has not been found though one boot was. Nonetheless, there is certainty she could not have survived. Jonathan is writing a memoir about his marriage to Billie after his eulogy at her funeral went viral. This gives him the opportunity to quit the job that consumed his life and put pressure on their marriage. Olive is experiencing what she believes are psychic communications from her mother asking her to look for her. The hearing that will declare Billie officially dead is looming and they are conflicted. Jonathan knows they need the money to keep afloat and Olive does not want to give up hope. Certain inconsistencies arise that leads Jonathan to think Olive may be right.

There are many secrets in Billie’s past, though none of them seem, in the end, a justification for abandoning her husband and daughter. In fact, there is a bit of much ado about not-so-much when we get down to it. If Billie disappeared, it’s because she did not have faith in those who loved her and did not trust their love to accommodate her secrets. I think it would be devastating to learn your mother or spouse did not believe your love was strong enough to accept a more complicated history. After all, if someone disappears on purpose, there has to be a reason…and so they search for reasons. Olive is not nearly so conflicted as Jonathan who cannot conceive of any reason for Billie to disappear unless she fell in love with someone else, a painful idea to contemplate.

Watch Me Disappear is an engaging mystery in many ways. The slow discovery of Billie’s secrets is well done and credible with one caveat. Given that Jonathan was a journalist for a tech magazine, he does seem strangely unaware of the possibilities of online investigation and has to rely on others to explain to him. That seems a bit strange and does not speak well for his professional competence, but it does make a more interesting story than a guy in front of a screen searching online databases. Brown does an excellent job of pacing the revelations. She also creates interesting characters, not just Jonathan and Olive, but Billie’s best friend Harmony, Olive’s friend Natalie are also interesting and complex characters.

Brown does push one of my personal buttons, referring to one of the characters as an ecoterrorist. Sabotage and vandalism are not terrorism. Somehow we cannot call white supremacists who slaughter people of color terrorists, even when they kill nine people in a church or attack three people on light-rail, but thoughtlessly call people who sabotage and vandalize property terrorists. This is a socio-political hypocrisy that Brown is not responsible for, but I am always disappointed when people whose work is all about words use them without thinking.

This is an interesting story and most of the time Brown avoids telling us what to think and how to feel. However, sometimes there is just too much self-awareness in our character’s thoughts. For example, Olive thinks how being psychic would make her special. That’s the kind of thing people may think subconsciously, but it sounds silly as conscious thought. At the end, too, Olive seems to be handing us the moral of the story, just like at the end of a fable. It made me roll my eyes. However, these are minor flaws in a well-paced and intriguing story.

Watch Me Disappear will be released July 11th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

I'm sorry but I gave up on this one. It just failed to grip me and I lost interest quickly. I'm sure others will love it but it wasn't for me.

Billie Flanagan’s disappearance and presumed death on a solo backpacking trip a year earlier had kept her family in a painful holding pattern of pain and uncertainty. Husband Jonathan’s poignant eulogy at Billie’s memorial service led to a contract to write about their relationship, while 16 year old Olive struggled to find a place for herself that wasn’t defined by the fact that her mother was missing. As the anniversary of Billie’s disappearance drew nearer, Olive started having visions that made her believe Billie was still alive, and though Jonathan was skeptical, there were things he found in Billie’s computer that made him question everything about the woman he had loved for nearly twenty years.

Wow. Where do I start? Jonathan’s unquestioning loyalty to the memory of Billie was his major stumbling block in learning the truth, while Olive’s determination to know what happened takes her from Berkeley to Bakersfield, with detours to Santa Cruz, and even then, only snippets are revealed. Do we really know our spouses, or do we know only what they want us to see? How often do we rewrite our own history? Interesting concept and an excellent read.

This story takes place a year after Billie Flanagan went missing after a solo hike and the story follows her husband and daughter as they cope with her death. Olive, her daughter is grieving after her mother’s disappearance and begins having visions that lead her to believe her mother is still alive. Jonathon, Billie’s husband, wants to help his daughter accept that her mother isn’t coming back by cleaning out her things and he ends up finding evidence to suggest that his daughter may be right.

I loved this book. I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out what happened and I wasn’t disappointed. I would definitely recommend this book.

Great book with a plot to keep you guessing. I loved this boo and highly recommend to suspense lovers

Thank you to NetGallery, Publisher and author for the ARC to review. I hate to be a Debbie downer but I was a little disappointed with this book. I am an avid reader of all genres but this book was a little drawn out. It didn't really keep my attention. I like a page turner and this was not one of those. Storyline was good but I just felt it was missing something.

I was happy to receive an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. I thought the story had some good twists and some unusual situations that I found refreshing. I personally could never ever leave my children but Billie was an unusual character and I thought she was really interesting. How she managed to put aside her own strong feelings and needs to raise her daughter I don't know, but I guess that she took that on as her mission in life and once her daughter was growing away from her she felt it was time to move on. Overall I liked the book and would suggest it to others who like some my mystery and suspense in their books.

I'm having a hard time rating this one. I enjoyed much of this story. The writing was well done and it was an easy read. I was definitely drawn in to want to find out the details of what happened, but I was also frustrated with some of the story lines and pieces of information that I thought were either giveaways or unnecessary. There were developments that surprised me and others that didn't fully flesh out, but overall it was worth the read.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishing for the ARC in exchange for this review. You guys rock!

Olive Flanagan's mom, Billie, disappear a year ago after a solo hike. Her father is in the process of having her legally declared dead. Olive starts having these waking dreams that her mom is still alive and wanting to be found. Olive's father starts questioning her daughter's stability but he too starts to have questions after digging into Billie's past. What happened to Billie? Could she be alive?

I was pleasantly surprised by this book by Janelle Brown. I typically cringe at high school main characters in books that are not young adult fiction because they can be too whiny, but Olive was just the right amount of teen and grown up. I was definitely surprised with all of the twists, which does not happen too often in this genre. Would definitely recommend!

About a year ago, Billie Flanagan disappears on a solo hike. Her husband Jonathan and daughter Olive struggle with her disappearance. Then, things start to happen that make both Jonathan and Olive wonder if in fact Billie did die, or if she has chosen to disappear from their lives.

This is a story about grief, moving on with pain, redefining one’s life, but also a story about secrets and discoveries, betrayals and trust. Honestly, I do not care for Billie. As the narrative progresses, the reader learns more about prior actions and behaviors that makes one question the genuineness of Billie towards her family and friends. I felt sympathy for Jonathan and Olive. Overall, the readers see the characters discover themselves and redefine their personalities; a great character building narrative. The narrative itself has a fine layer of suspense – not too suspenseful, but a few tense moments do appear. Some parts of the narrative I could see evolving, and others were a complete surprise. And, I found the end to be satisfying.

Recommended

Review posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing (links to review found with submission). Copy of review shared on Facebook via Goodreads on my private account (93 followers). Additional shortened review found on Litsy, @librarybelle

The voice of this book just didn't grab me. I love dark fiction and thrillers like Gillian Flynn but I couldn't get into the flow of this one.

What a hauntingly beautiful book. The authors wife vanishes while on a hike in the mountains. Did she die? Did she disappear? Was it willingly or a kidnap? The author gets a book contract to write about his wife's disappearance and their life together. He and his daughter go from one clue to the next to discover the truth, however painful it might be. And it is painful, then hopeful, then resolved. Or is It?

Good book with a twist. I thought I had it all figured out til I didn't.

DNF. Although I found the father's character to be interesting, the book moved to slowly and did not have a desire to finish.

I really loved this book. I will be back with my full review soon!