I love her books and found this one to be no different. It had interesting characters and a good twists and turns to the plot that keep you guessing till the ending. She always includes current events bin her novel.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

This is a very good read. This is my first Heather Gudenkauf and it will definitely no t be my last. It was very difficult to put down and the final few pages were full of suspense. I love mystery and this one did not disappoint. If Mean Girls and Slender Man had a child this book would be it! One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is how wrong I was throughout the book thinking I knew who the suspect was only to be thrown into an amazing twister! Still at the start of the year but I will definitely be adding this to my top reads of 2019.

Heather Gudenkauf is one of my favorite authors so I was thrilled to get a copy of her new book on netgalley. I always find her stories very current with what’s going on in the news. This book deals with many aspects of mental health. Bullying and social media played a major role in the story but it also deals with environment and social acceptance. Different family dynamics were also part of the story and how they shape our personalities. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am giving it 5 well deserved stars!

4 chilling stars for the newest thriller from Heather Gudenkauf! Three 12 years olds have a sleepover that ends with one of them bloody on the traintracks and clinging to life, one of them catatonic and in shock, the third unwilling to help the authorities. The story is told in multiple perspectives through journal entries, text messages, emails, doctors notes, and family members as they deal with this horrifying crime. This a gripping read that will have you suspecting everyone and utterly shocked at the ending! I read this in one sitting, completely caught up as this chilling story unraveled before me. For me, Before She Was Found was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @harlequinbooks for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Whoa!!! This YA mystery / thriller has exceeded my expectations! See ya, book slump!

Cora is a lonely 12 year old girl, her one and only best friend moved away months ago, so when a new girl, Violet, appears in her class she is over the moon with excitement and wants nothing more than to become friends with this mysterious new girl.

Unfortunately for Cora, Jordyn (the most popular girl in class and mean girl extraordinaire) is also interested in becoming Violets friend. For Cora this poses a huge problem ~ Jordyn makes her life a living hell at school by taunting and teasing her on a daily basis.

Now that they have Violet in common it appears that Jordyn has accepted Cora into her circle of friends. Cora arranges a sleepover at her house for just the three of them. After midnight these young ladies make a decision that will haunt them forever.

How did it come to be that Cora was found bleeding out and nearly dead on the train tracks? How did Violet become covered in blood while walking out from the woods in the distance? And where exactly is Jordyn? You'll have to read this to find out.

I was completely gripped in this mystery from the very first page but I will admit as I neared the end I thought "OH NO, DON'T LEAVE IT LIKE THIS" (I was ready to chuck my kindle into the wall) but as I turned those final pages I had my AHA moment. I see what you did there, Ms. Gudenkauf, and I applaud your cleverness. 4 *what the hell is going on* stars!

Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a totally captivating story of three pre-teen girls who are caught in a web of social media and peer pressure. Told with text messages, notes from a therapist, a journal and from the viewpoints of various characters, this story was portrayed realistically and in a way that kept me reading long into the night. The three friends are Cora, Jordyn and Violet who happen to decide to have a sleepover together. Before the night ends, one is horribly maimed, another is a psychological wreck and the third goes from being a goody-two-shoes to open defiance. Throughout the book, it was hard to tell who was lying and whose secrets were actually the truth. The conclusion was a real shocker to me; I never saw it coming at all! The ending was teased at but never fully revealed, making for a very satisfying and totally gripping read. Fans of Gudenkauf will not want to miss this one and fans of psychological thriller with a ton of twists will not want to miss out either. Seldom am I so fooled as I was by this book, and it was such a happy feeling when I got to the end that I wanted to read it again and again, just so I could watch for all the clues that I had missed the first time. A solid thriller with a lot of commentary about dangers for society’s pre-teens, dangers that are everywhere.

Heather has done it again. Before She Was Found is a powerful book dealing with the intricacies of friendships and families addressing social media and bullying. In this non stop suspenseful thriller we see what families do to protect their children. As soon as I figured out who I thought did it. Heather threw a new piece of the puzzle in that had me second guessing myself.

First, I want to thank Heather Gudenkauf, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Heather Gudenkauf is back to bring her fan this fast paced, gripping, intense, and thrilling psychological thriller in Before She Was Found. Heather will shock you to the very core in all the secrets in this book. You will be hugging your son, daughter, niece or nephew a little tighter guaranteed.

The cover of the book is totally spot on to the book. Kudos to the graphic designer who designed this.
Many times, in the book I had to keep reminding myself that these girls in the book were only 12 years old. So young to be dealing with adult situations like they were. Cora getting attacked and left for dead on the train tracks and her best friend Violet found nearby just in total shock! Heather did an incredible job when it came to the raw emotions the parents and siblings were feeling.

This book deals with such topics as bullying, pedophile, violence, death, underage drinking, Inappropriate behavior with a teacher to a teacher, revenge, etc.

Heather has a magnificent gift for creating very creative and twisted storylines that keep her readers on their toes. I love that about her.

I would love to see this book made into a big screen blockbuster movie!! I think would be a smash hit.

This book would be perfect for your next book club pick. Heather even has Questions for discussion at the end of the book for you to discuss at your book club.

You can also find a conversation with the author in the back of this book. There she answers questions like what was the inspiration of the book?

Wow....what an unexpected story! I always enjoy Heather Gudenkauf’s books, but this one was exceptionally well done.
So many twists and turns, each time I thought I had it figured out, I was quickly proven wrong.
The story follows Violet, Cora and Jordyn. They are friends, but I use that term loosely, in the way middle school girls change their mind and change their friends at the drop a hat.
The night of a sleepover at Cora’s house leaves all three out in the middle of the night, with Cora attacked and Jordyn and Violet not talking.
While the beginning of the book led me to believe the book would be based on The Slenderman urban legend and real life story of two girls attacking their friend, I found that wasn’t really the case. While it does involve an urban legend in the town, the story of Cora and her frenemies, as well as their respective families, goes much deeper than that.

I have been a fan of Heather Gudenkauf books since day one.
This book is full of suspense and keeps me guessing until the end.
Cora is kind of a loner but when violet moved to town they because quick friends until what I’d call the mean girl jordyn interveens. She is a bully and created a quick wedge between Cora and Violet. Then they all became friends or so we thought. Many twists and turns and surprises! Heather Gudenkauf does it again! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review this.
Keep reading you won’t be sorry you did!

This might be Gudenkauf's best work yet. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. And I have so many thoughts, yet so few words to describe everything I'm feeling right now.

We follow the story of Cora, Violet, and Jordyn. One girl is attacked at the train yard, and the other two walk away. Who did it, and why? This story was crazy, and I definitely did not guess that ending. Phenomenonal.

This book gave me the chills! Three 12-year-old girls get in way over their heads at a sleepover and one of them ends up almost dead, leaving the small town stunned. Who could do this? A thriller that kept me guessing until the end!

We have Cora, Violet, and Jordyn and a complicated friendship. Violet is new to town and trying to make friends. Cora is looking for a new best friend and Jordyn is the queen bee. There is some bullying and teen behavior that typifies middle-school girls. The girls’ parents get drawn into the aftermath of the tragedy and there are some interesting dynamics there! Some of the adults don’t exhibit model behavior, justified as protecting the ones they love. These characters seem like a powder keg just waiting to go off!

Gudenkauf uses some interest storytelling tools: text messages, psychologist notes, and some chapters from a diary that start to put the pieces together, but I was way off on my guesses for this one. I started to suspect everyone, and the author was so clever. This was my fourth Heather Gudenkauf book and she remains a consistent go-to author for a thriller that does not disappoint.

*my Goodreads review will be updated closer to publication date

Holy smokes! This one grabbed me by the throat on the first page and didn't let up until the last page. This was the kind of book I walked around my house reading while hoping no one needed anything.

Three 12 year old little girls, frenemies, by any definition, are having a sleepover. Why did they end up at the train tracks? Who attacked Cora so viciously and why? Why happened to Violet and Jordyn that night? Who's telling the truth? Which end is up? Help, I smell blue! The pressure built and built until the whole thing came roaring together and it was so surprisingly satisfying!!

Told from the POV of the girls, the psychiatrist, the parents, and the police reports in a way that was not remotely confusing is no small feat, yet Gudenkauf pulls it off seamlessly. This is five stars all day.

ALL OF THE STARS!! All OF THEM!

I loved it.

Thank you to Heather Gudenkauf, Harlequin, and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

An interesting look at bullying and small town life. Due to the way the story was told (multiple POVs and different formats), it was hard to get to know the characters. Also the resolution just didn’t work for me. There wasn’t enough of a Cora’s story to make the ending believable.

Thank you to Heather Gudenkauf, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Park Row for this ARC.

This book was great, and based off the real life horrors of the Slenderman assault. It was a quick read, and very entertaining. The twist in the last fifteen minutes or so of the book was definitely unexpected, and something the reader wouldn't expect.

I love all of Heather Gudenkauf's books, and this was a great one.

I have read all of this author's books. This book of course, did not disappoint. It made me wan to stay up late to find the outcome of this thrilling story. Present day problems of teens communicating on the internet and bullying were topics incorporated in this story of teens on a sleepover gone bad. I will definitely purchase this book for my library branch because I have many Gudenkauf fans.

An innocent sleepover between three 12-year-old girls turns to the worst when after sneaking out of the house, one is found atrociously injured, another is muted into shock, and the third has fled the scene—an abandoned rail yard.
The book grabbed me from page one, and it worked pretty good with me for the most part, but the ending didn’t live up to my expectations. Plus, it didn’t really make sense to me, even after I’d reread the first chapter. That aspect of the character hadn’t been brought up before. Overall I found some characters’ parts and actions hardly believable, and some aspects of the story were left unexplained—the painted message on the house, the anonymous phone calls to the grandpa, the blood on Jordyn’s jacket. Nevertheless, fans of the genre will devour this book and keep turning the pages to discover the stunning ending—if they want a twist, they’re in for one! I did enjoy reading it.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I am a huge fan of Heather Gudenkauf. And she definitely doesn't disappoint in her latest book, Before She Was Found. Heather introduces you to Cora and her friends Violet and Jordyn. They seem like girls from any normal town. But you quickly learn they are just like all the other girls and the impact of the internet and old dark secrets. You being to feel for Cora, she seems so lonely and in need of a true friend. I found myself wanting to yell at Cora so many times in this book, to walk away from a situation. Overall, Gudenkauf delivers a well planned, plot-twisting book that I couldn't stop thinking about. Just when you think you have it all figured out, guess again. I will definitely recommend this book to others. Special thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. #BeforeSheWasFound #NetGalley

I'm simply stunned at the ending to this 5 star book!! I can't believe it!! I stayed up late to finish it! I could not sleep until I knew how this book ended! This is my first time reading Heather Gudenkauf. Rest assured it will not be my last. She will now have a permanent place on my thriller list!! Unbelievably good thriller!!

An innocent sleepover turns deadly. A dark legend, three 12 year old girls, and the dangers facing our young community today. Told from numerous pov's, journal entries, and police reports I consumed this novel in 2 days. The moment I started the book the Slenderman case flashed in my head. But don't be fooled this story has twist and turns the reader won't see going. Gripping novel I will recommend to others. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC review copy