Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my review based on my honest opinion.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I enjoyed the way this story was told and it kept me guessing right up to the end. I will definitely read more books by this author.

I was reading a lot this month, so I don’t know if I was just not in the right headspace for this book, but this wasn’t one of my favorites reads. This novel is a slow burning mystery, which personally I don’t enjoy. I prefer fast paced, action packed mysteries. So again, maybe this wasn’t the book for me. I was having a hard time getting into the story and felt like it was never going to end.

Having said that, I did enjoy the fact the Anna took it upon herself to investigate the disappearance of her sister, years later. She reminded me of me when I was younger, with all the spying she did as a kid. Even though, this might have not been the novel for me, I thought it was stunningly written, and was quite atmospheric.

There isn’t so much a twist at the end, there is a conclusion and that’s about it. Nothing extravagant. If you enjoy slow burning mysteries that are very well written, I have no doubt you will enjoy this book.

Anna Flores has had mystery surrounding her life since the disappearance of her older sister Gabriella. This had started a huge hole that has been growing, it includes Gabriella's disappearance, her father's death, and now her mother's death. She has returned to the small England town, hoping for a simple trip to finish packing up her mother belongings and shutting this chapter of her life. She gets more secrets than answers, but maybe this is what she needs to solve what happened to her sister.

This story is told by Anna but jumps between the present year and the year that Gabriella was taken in 1982. The characters are greatly developed and show a huge amount of growth. The story does start off on a slow note but eventually speeds up to the perfect speed. It includes lots of mystery and suspense and has a good amount of twists and turns along the way. 

Yes, I would recommend this book. The story is well written and thought out, it also contains many issues that we still see today, teenagers missing, family secrets, cover-ups, and lies. You can easily connect with Anna and see things from her point of view, but I truly believe that unless you have lost some close to you like Anna does, you can never fully grasp what the character is going through.

I have to say I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would when I began reading it. I had a real hard time getting through the first half of the book but once I made it to that 60 percent mark…I could not put it down!

 I think the author did an amazing job at feeding the reader just enough bread crumbs to make you think you have it all figured out and then throwing in one little twist after another to throw you off the trail, all the while having the answer hiding in plain sight. It seems like every time I thought I had it all figured out, Quintana hit me with another twist and another clue to make me rethink my imaginary detective career.  I honestly had no idea how it was going to play out. Although, if the reader was really paying close enough attention, I think that the very subtle use of foreshadowing in The Missing Girl gave enough clues to solve the mystery. I should have summoned my inner Nancy Drew for this one.

 Anna is an unreliable narrator. In both the present and past she is just all over the place and sometimes it is a bit awkward trying to follow her thoughts and make sense of her actions. Given the nature of the book, though, I think it works. Her mind is completely in a different world while she is sorting out what happened to Gabriella and her narration really shows how much her sister’s disappearance affected her from childhood all the way to her adult years.

 The Missing Girl is a book that you have to push through. The slow start is a bit off-putting and I found no real connection to any of the characters but it is really worth continuing on. The slow build really does set the stage for the final bang and once you hit the point of no return (60 percent for me, like I mentioned at the start) the pace picks up quite nicely to keep the reader’s attention.  I will be on the lookout for more books by this author and I’ll be wearing my Nancy Drew hat next time!!

This is a book I would most definitely recommend as a rainy day cottage read or just a relaxing Sunday afternoon pick.

As always, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book.

The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana is a mystery.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Pan MacMillan, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis:
In 1982 Anna Flores was only 12 when her beloved 15-year old sister Gabriella went missing. They had been close, and even when Gabriella started to become interested in boys, make-up, music and other friends, she made time for Anna. The exhaustive search for Gabriella took its toll on the family. Her dad died from a heart attack and her mother withdrew. Anna continued her search, but she was only a child. She left the village as soon as she could, traveled, and tried to move on. But thoughts of Gabriella were always near.

30 years later, when her mother passes away, Anna returns to the village. She must bury her mother, and sell her father’s store. But Anna’s grief has never left, and returning to the village only renews her interest in Gabriella’s disappearance. When looking through her mother’s possessions, she finds something that adds a new dimension to her search.

The story is told in two voices, both Anna.

12-year-old Anna is devastated at the loss of her sister, resentful of her mom and dad, who are keeping secrets from her, mad at Gabriella’s friend Martha, whose relationship with her sister she never understood, and angry at the town for giving up. She is determined to find her sister….alive. She is feeling very alone.

42-year-old Anna is still grieving the loss of her sister, still questioning the town, still angry at Martha, but not quite as livid. She still feels alone.

My Opinions:
This is a story about family, about grief, about secrets. It shows the impact the loss of a child has on each member of the family.

I loved how the author showed Anna at both ages, and although I didn’t really like 12-year-old Anna, I think the author got her right. Both the town itself, and its residents played a role in this mystery, and Quintana gave them both the depth that was needed.

The book seems to have a slow pace, but that seems to make it more emotionally gripping. It is still a fairly fast read, because you didn’t really want to put it down.

For a debut novel, this was good! I am looking forward to more from this Jenny Quintana.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Mantle and Netgalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book.

I want to take a quick moment to mention that I saw this book on NetGalley and requested a copy even though it came out over a year ago. The Missing Girl may not be an upcoming release, but the summary drew me in so much I just had to see what Jenny Quintana cooked up for her readers.

I won’t lie, The Missing Girl starts slowly. Main character Anna finds out her mother passed away, and she heads back to her hometown to deal with the aftermath. There is a lot of self-reflection (should I be back here? should I have come home sooner?) and a lot of meet-and-greets with characters that seem meaningless.

In addition, this book is situated in the UK and there are a loooooot of references I did not get. Siouxsie? I literally thought this was the family’s pet cat for half the book. At the same time, there are many references in my daily life I don’t get, so this didn’t phase me too much and I continued on.

At about twenty percent, the book starts to pick up pace and by forty percent your hands are clenched on the wheel because you’re screeching ahead. (Or on your Kindle, as it were.) What I particularly like about Quintana’s style is that Anna, as the “detective” in this story, does not run around town trying to collect clues in faux police mode. Nor does she magically trip over secret codes in old floorboards every other chapter. Instead, Anna uncovers the answer to her sister’s disappearance gradually and in a believable sequence. When she had her first revelation, everything she thought made ACTUAL SENSE and there was no illogical jumps in her thinking process. The whole time I was wide-eyed and needing to read more, even faster.

In terms of narrative style, Quintana splits the book into two time periods: the “present,” when Anna returns home after her mother’s death, and “1982,” starting a little before Gabriella went missing. Both time lines were equally interesting to read and played well off each other, particularly towards the end when you can see how events in 1982 tied into events happening in the present.

I love the originality in the whodunit reveal. My suspicions were proven incorrect and I love it. I found the reveal plausible, and enjoyable (I mean, to read, not for characters to go through).

Four stars because the beginning was a bit slow. Also, and this is obviously a personal thing, but the UK-related references sometimes made the story tough to follow. Impossible? Far from it. But just a touch more difficult. I would still read a Quintana book again in a heartbeat and recommend this book if you're craving a good mystery. Best I've read in a while!

Review to be posted on blog Oct. 1 2018 (bookprincessreviews.wordpress.com)
Review to be posted on Goodreads Oct. 1 2018 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2484714761)

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book.
Jenny Quintana is a new author for me, and I was excited to receive this based on the summary!
It was an easy book to get into, however I found it to be slow paced. It was ok. I didn’t love it....I was expecting a bit more.

The Missing Girl is Anna's sister, Gabriella. When Gabriella disappeared Anna's world changed forever. She starts a new life abroad and only returns home when her mother dies. Dealing with the aftermath of her mother's passing means dealing with the ongoing mystery around what happened to her sister. The story is a bit slow to get started but once the pace quickens so does the interest in the tale. Not quite as suspenseful as Claire Mackintosh or Ruth Ware but would be of interest to those who enjoy these authors.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is full of twists and turns, intense surprises await the reader. After the death of her mother, Anna Flores has returned to England from Athens where she has been living. She is home to sort through her mother's things and then return to her life as soon as possible.

She left home, leaving behind a broken family. Her sister disappeared on the way home from school 30 years ago, her father died soon after from a heart attack. Anna adored her big sister Gabriella, now she must confront the past, to figure out what truly happened to her sister. They never figured out what happened when she didn't show up at the House of Flores to meet Anna. They never found her body either. Now piecing together clues, she's following a trail that will lead to her sister.

I really enjoyed this story. It’s one of those thrillers you can’t put down. A real page turner!!