Thank you to Harlequin, Heather Gudenkaur, and NetGalley for sending me the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was, unfortunately, not a fan of "Before She Was Found." I can usually tell from the very beginning of a novel if I'm going to enjoy the ride, and I could tell from the first couple of pages that that wasn't going to be the case here. I wasn't able to connect with the story, and I think that was because of the format of the story. I usually love dossier-style, but this time it just didn't work for me.

I'll still be recommending this for readers looking for mysteries.

I love all of Heather Gudenkauf's books, and Before She Was Found is no exception. It follows along the real-life story of the two girls who tried to kill their best friend because they believed Slenderman told them to. Cora is bullied and has no friends until the day Violet moves to her town. They become best friends, although a girl named Jordyn who has bullied Cora since they were kids tries to take that friendship away. One night the girls all go missing and two of them are found at the local train yard, one hurt badly and the other covered in blood carrying a knife. Where was the third girl? What really happened? And why do the two girl keep saying it was Joseph Wither, the young boy who was believed to kill girls many years ago and has become the town's urban legend? The truth is not what it seems.

Before She Was Found focuses on three young girls and a shocking crime that unsettles the citizens of a quiet little town in Iowa. Cora Landry wants to fit in with her friends, Violet and Jordyn, The 3 twelve-year-olds plan a sleepover that includes typical activities -- discussions of boys, movies, junk food, and a Ouija board.

But an urban myth -- is it? -- has taken hold of one of the girls, causing her to obsess about it. She daydreams and journals about it, convinced that it is true. And she manages to find others online who want to talk about it. One of the individuals she encounters in an online forum claims to be the person around whom the myth persists. Could it really be him? When the girls sneak out from their slumber party to an abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town there are tragic consequences. Cora Landry is found alone on the tracks with catastrophic, disfiguring injuries.

Author Heather Gudenkauf's gripping thriller is a cautionary tale deals with both traditional themes -- pre-teen and teen friendships, popularity, and acceptance -- and the heightened dangers that technology present. The little town in which everyone knows everyone else and socioeconomic delineations are clearly defined is rocked by the fear-inducing mystery. Who would want to hurt Cora? What could possibly motivate such an attack? Gudenkauf succeeds in making every one of her characters -- each of whom is fully developed and multi-dimensional -- into a suspect. She explores small-town allegiances, prepubescent angst, and familial loyalty with sensitivity, compassion, and gritty realism, making Before She Was Found a compelling and emotionally moving thriller.

While I didn't see the twist coming it wasn't quite as satisfying of a read as it could have been. Echoing recent cases like SlenderMan, Before She Was Found centers around three girls and their quest to find their town's legend, Joseph Wither.

This book was awesome!! It kept me guessing and the edge of my seat! if you want to read a great book about Urban Legends this is the book to read!!!!

5+ stars

WARNING!!!! Major book hangover!!

I have read and enjoyed, other books by this author but this one was phenomenal!

See my reviews of THESE THINGS HIDDEN (http://cmashlovestoread.com/2011/03/02/review-these-things-hidden-by-heather-gudenkauf/) and LITTLE MERCIES (http://cmashlovestoread.com/2014/08/29/review-little-mercies-by-heather-gudenkauf-2/)

In the small town of Pitch, Iowa a 12-year-old girl is brutally stabbed and injured and the suspect has not been apprehended. Could a Social Studies project about urban legends be the catalyst for this attempted murder?

Three twelve-year-old girls, Cora, Jordyn, and Violet decide their subject is going to be about Joseph Wither. Wither, a 17-year-old resident of Pitch in the 1940s was said to be that he killed and kidnapped young females.

During the research of their project, one night they sneak to the old train depot where the killings and kidnappings supposedly took place. The three girls enter the area but something spooks them. Jordyn runs one way, Cora is found stabbed and clinging to life and Violet walks out of the woods covered in blood.

What happened that night? Who stabbed Cora? Many of the residents are hiding facts and/or evidence and the police are no closer to finding the suspect days after the incident. It could be anyone. Everyone in Pitch is a suspect.

This book will pull you in and eat you alive! The suspense grabs the reader and doesn't let go until the frightful ending, which is when the reader finds out how this story comes to an end Or does it? The final pages will give you whiplash!!

I read this book in 2 sittings because I just couldn't put it down!! A bone-chilling read!!

To be posted on blog 06/11/19 http://cmashlovestoread.com/?p=20610

An OK overall read. At first the book seems like a fictional rehash of the Slenderman attempted murder case, but the ending is a twist (although not a particularly surprising twist). I did like the way that the book was laid out once I got used to it.. The story is told from several points of view, including parents of the children involved and the victim's journal leading up to the event. Speaking of the journal, the author did a good job of getting into the head of a suggestive, emotionally immature tween.

A riveting, quick read that kept me guessing. Three 12 year old girls are friends - or are they? A violent night near the train tracks leaves one scarred and damaged for life, another haunted, and the third in denial. What really happened that night? Was there a mysterious male in the fields luring them to do hurtful things?
Told through text messages, journals and psychologist notes - all which were very effective - I couldn't put this one down. The ending was a shocker, and if you are a fan of mysteries/thrillers I highly recommend this one.

<i>"I didn't die," she whispered, revealing the gaps in her teeth where her attacker had knocked them out. "I'm still here."</i>
A timely and relevant story. As a parent, this book made me cringe but also think. At times it was hard to get through the journals and email exchanges and descriptions. Cora, the little girl who is attacked as the book opens, and the girls she thinks are her friends, are close to my daughter's age. So the story gave my chills. It is amazing the differing world that our children are growing up in with technology at their fingertips. Bullying has changed. Communication has changed. Research as changed. As a story, it works every nerve and fear a parent could have, which makes a great thriller. It certainly kept me turning the pages. One night I stayed up until 2:30 just trying to make it to the end, even with the wind howling and the scratching of trees on window reminding me of Joseph Wither in the book. Alas, I fell asleep and had to read to the end in broad daylight.
I don't know if I'm fully satisfied with the ending, though. I'm torn. It almost feels like a cop-out, but maybe that's because there was so much anticipation built throughout the pages. But I did enjoy the book and would certainly recommend it.

Exceptional Storyteller!

A suspenseful and frightening story to be enjoyed but also maybe a wake-up call for many parents of young adolescents who believe they know and understand their children.

Three excited little twelve year old girls are having a sleepover and unknown to their parents, they are not planning on going to sleep on this night. They have made plans to go out to the old railway to seek answers about an urban legend which surrounds a seventeen year old boy who was suspected of killing his parents and then burning his house down before he ran away and has never been found. Several girls have gone missing over the years and the blame has been put on this handsome young man, although this tragic event took place in the 1950's, a couple of the little girls are gullible and naive and believe that Joseph may still be around and they want to make contact with him to see if the urban legend is true. There is so much more to this book, before during and afterward and I don't want to give anything away to the reader who might not have heard of a similar story. Just pick up this book and start reading today and be glad that this novel is fiction!

Heather Gudenkauf has written an exceptional book that vividly captures the thoughts, actions, fears and the naivete of the three girls in this story so that you feel as if they could live in your same neighborhood or even next door. I have always been enmeshed in the
"Slenderman" story that has been in the headlines for several years now, so I jumped at the chance to.read this heartbreaking and breathtaking novel. The characters are so real and believable that I forgot that I was reading a mystery thriller and I am so glad this was not a true story!

If you enjoy dark suspenseful stories, this is the book for you and I highly recommend picking it up today or adding it to your reading list!!

I want to thank the author Heather Gudenkauf, Netgally and the publisher Harlequin Trade Publishing (US and Canada) Park Row for the opportunity to read this excellent book!

4.1 - I'm biased because I like that Gudenkauf's books are set in Iowa... but an intriguing mystery, filled with red herrings; the e-galley was a little more complicated because the fonts weren't the same as in the printed version?

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and to Netgalley. I have read all of Heather Gudenkauf's books and I have rated all of them high...I would give this one 4.5 stars. There are so many twists and turns in this book, I had come up with about 6 possible endings while I was reading, but I was wrong on all of them. This book was fast paced and I really liked how a lot of the characters were developed. I highly recommend this book.

Gudenkauf's latest is a first purchase for most general adult collections, especially those where thrillers are popular. Has crossover appeal for HS collections as well.

I really enjoyed reading this one! Told from alternate points of view, including journal entries and social media posts, this story is unlike anything I have read before. Just when I thought I had it all figured out the author changes who is telling the story and you start to second guess your instincts. Heather Gudenkauf is a fantastic writer whose storytelling is mesmerizing. I am already looking forward to whatever she writes next!

Fantastic! Completely kept me guessing to the very end. When we depend on that unreliable narrator to keep things exciting, but not obvious, and it works, you're reading Gudenkauf.

In Heather Gudenkauf's Before She Was Found, this thriller will give you goosebumps on every page. It all started when they found 12-year-old Cora Landry's body at the tracks at the train yard in Pitch, Iowa. At the start of the investigation, everyone told their story from their POV and how life treated Cora Landry. It also told on how she tried to fit in with others and befriended Violet Crow, a new girl in town, and Jordan Petit, one of the mean girls. But when they were assigned an urban legend project together in a social studies class, they chose on the legend of Joseph Wither, who raped and kidnapped girls back in the olden days. From there, it all started like a fine idea when Cora went to find out the truth about Wither for the project. But that's when things get personal and scary for her when he had known personal stuff about her. She had planned to meet him there and run away since she's been teased and bullied in school and no one wants to be her friend. But as events led up to the discovery of her massive injuries, everyone remained a suspect and hit close to home for them in small-town Iowa. In the end, it leads to a shocking discovery that lead to the night of the attack with a mind-numbing conclusion.

I'm a Heather Gudenkauf fan and have read almost all of this fellow Iowan's books. This one was not one of my favorites. I thought I knew early on how it was going to end, but I was wrong. I felt it was written more as a young adult book, but did not see it described as a young adult book. I didn't care for the ending and how it wrapped up. She is still one of my favorite authors, but I just didn't care that much for this one. (less)

Before She Was Found is not a thriller. It is, however, an outstanding look at the complex emotional inner lives of preteen girls and how family dynamics play out in both private and public, and what part perception and socio-economic bias play in everyday life as well. It's absolutely worth checking out.

Twelve year old Cora, Violet, and Jordyn have a sleepover at Cora's house. By the next day, Jordyn is home but Cora and Violet are found by the train tracks, Cora severely injured, and Violet covered in blood. Both insist that they were hurt by Joseph Wither, a teenage boy who disappeared after his girlfriend was forced to break up with him decades ago and who, according to local lore, went on to kidnap and/or murder local teen girls every so often until he got so old he vanished.

It would have been really easy for Before She Was Found to veer into supernatural thriller territory at this point but, refreshingly, it doesn't. Instead by using text messages, diary transcripts, and switching pov between the families of the three girls, the book cleverly (and terrifyingly) illustrates how easy it is for what seems to be like friendship to not be, for how strong parental love can be, and for what seems to be perfect (or a big mess) on the outside can be something entirely different underneath. The real terror isn't in or from the supernatural here -- it is from the familiar. From ourselves.

Heather Gudenkauf writes about what it's like to be a girl in middle school with real emotional honesty. Although high school is traditionally counted as being the most difficult age/era, I actually believe that middle school -- the years between ages 12 to 14 -- are the hardest for girls. (Almost every woman I know has at least one horror story about a "friendship" from that time or remembers being bullied, etc.) This is definitely used in Before She Was Found, to chilling effect, and it is fascinating, terrifying, and so, so well done.

Before She Was Found is a wonderful and thought-provoking look at the lives of middle school girls, their families, and what can happen when a seemingly innocent event like a sleepover occurs. Sometimes the thing we have to fear most is what we can do, and sometimes the damage that we can create is more terrifying than anything we can imagine.

(Aside: the last chapter is utterly chilling and after reading it, my reaction was "Oh sh*t!" and a touch of goosebumps.)

Overall, Before She Was Found is fantastic, and I loved that instead of turning to supernatural elements, it instead shows what happens when even the best intentions (of parents for their children, of children for themselves) run smack into reality. Of what happens when someone is deeply troubled and their family can't or isn't there for them until it's too late. And how the aftershocks can change so many lives, and sometimes in unexpected and unpleasantly life changing ways.

Very, very highly recommended. (I was so absorbed by it that I bought a copy while reading the ARC!)

I enjoy Heather Gudenkauf's books quite a bit, and "Before She Was Found" was no exception. It kept me on the edge of the seat and I couldn't get through it fast enough-I had to know what happened!

Favorite Quote:

I’ve always hated the sound of trains— like an old woman screaming in a thunderstorm.


My Review:

I was on edge while reading this brilliantly plotted and well-crafted book, my shoulders were up in my ears and the knots in my neck have additional knots of their own. Heather Gudenkauf is an evil genius and has nimbly contrived a perfectly vexing conundrum that kept me riveted to my Kindle all day. Her word voodoo is strong! Her original and cunningly paced storylines were wickedly confounding and perceptively written from multiple points of view while racking up a multitude of suspects and all kinds of twisty turns and blind alleys.

Ms. Gudenkauf embedded her story in a small town in Iowa and devilishly cast her tale with realistically obnoxious teens, vulnerable and insecure tweens, bullies of all ages, mean girl middle school pettiness, oblivious adults, and a seventy-five year old urban legend that just wouldn’t die and was currently being used as bait for a cruel catfish scheme. Each character was uniquely drawn yet this shrewd and devious author is such a wily minx, she taunted and nettled me by never fully fleshing anyone out. Each new piece of information gleaned left me even more curious. I had postulated and cast aside a multitude of theories but only had a small inkling of the actual conclusion. And I must note, Do Pull Inn was truly a smirk-worthy name for a small-town motel.