Favorite Quotes:

I have a bit of a soft spot for Leeanne, for how awkward the poor girl is, with her perpetually hunched shoulders and the glasses that slip to the tip of her nose as soon as she moves her head, for how dreadful her skin is, for how she makes me see myself at sixteen. Leeanne is, as I was, the smartest girl in the year… I have often told her that as long as she sticks with her dream, she will one day be able to look back at her school years and see them as a growth opportunity rather than a trial to be endured.

I was incandescent with rage…

Guilt weighs me down, slows my steps, steals my sleep and my appetite. Guilt is the only emotion I deserve to feel.


My Review:

I argue that justice was not served by the end result as the punishment was too severe and not at all deserved, and I’m referencing the true victim in this piece - and just to be clear – I’m not talking about the dead girl. There were many victims in this tale as the recently deceased teen, Zoe, was quite the heinous little madam. Zoe was vile and vicious and a monster of her mother’s creation by a lifetime of overindulgence. I despised the bratty she-devil while I deeply resented her shortsighted mother, but I had overflowing buckets of empathy for everyone else.

The storylines were taut with tension, well-crafted intrigue, and tantalizingly slow revelations. I thoroughly enjoyed the insights reaped from the multiple points of view and although there appeared to be an unending plethora of fractured and wounded people to keep up with who had been brutalized in some manner by the cruelty or repercussions of Zoe’s selfish schemes and reprehensible behaviors, it was easily done once the characters were semi-established. I found it highly interesting how they all suffered from guilt by their limited knowledge of and inactions leading up to and during the main event. This was my second foray into the sly and artful deception and cunning word-stylings of Nicole Trope and I can only hope for many more such unscrupulous outings.

Liked this one a lot! Now, it did take me a little while to get into, but not too long, and once I did....WOW! Couldn't put it down! The story begins with Zoe going missing from a camping trip and turning up dead. This is told from 4 perspectives- Lydia, the missing girl's Mom, a sister, friend and a teacher. All characters are written very well and I enjoyed the character of Lydia the best. I feel the author did an excellent job of conveying her emotions and determination to not rest without knowing what happened to her daughter. I can't recommend this one enough and will look for more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicole Troupe and Bookouture for this ARC!

This emotionally charged thriller is written in chapters that alternated between four,vivid female characters Jessie (Zoe's sister) Lydia (Zoe's Mother) Shayna (one of Zoe's best friends) and Bernadette (the teacher who was in charge of the camp on the night that Zoe disappeared. Three of them were harbouring secrets and feelings of guilt about events on that fateful Friday night when Zoe disappeared, secrets that they were reluctant to reveal for their own personal reasons. The character I felt a lot of sympathy for was poor Jessie, she had lost her father at a young age,had just lost her sister and after she revealed her personal secret she received no support from Lydia, who just seemed to be wallowing in her own grief with no thought for how much Jessie and her step father Gabriel were also suffering. I understand that she had just lost her perfect, beautiful daughter (a daughter who was not the angel her mother thought she was) but I thought she was quite selfish and self absorbed at times but then,I suppose grief affects different people in different ways. I can't say that I liked Bernadette very much but I didnt think that the way that she was treated by the school was very fair considering the fact that she wasn't the only teacher at the camp,the word scapegoat sprang into my mind. They say that your school days are the best days of your life, I loved school, it got me away from my mother. Way back when I was at school, if you were bullied, once you got home,you could forget about the name calling and teasing until the next day. But now in the days of the internet and smart phones, victims can be bullied at any hour of the night or day and the bullying has reached a whole new level of nastiness and can even be degrading. It is far too easy for unscrupulous people to hid behind fake identities and victimize their chosen victim from behind the unanimity of their chosen screen. Interspersed throughout the book and written in italics were chapters that narrated by a character who definitely didn't like Zoe very much and had devised a plan to teach her a lesson but who was that person and why did they dislike Zoe so much. The teenage characters were a realistic mix of teenage angst,hormones, bullying, backstabbing,young love, disagreements, ghosting and support. But what had happened to Zoe on the fatal Friday night? Was her death an accident or murder? Did she get lost in the dark and fall to her death or is there a murderer hiding in plain sight?

This is a extremely well written, captivating story that causes the reader to experience a wide range of emotions, I was almost in tears at one point. I hooked into this enthralling story from the first page, drawn into the lives of the author's vivid character's and their fictional but realistic world. The twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing and frantically turning the pages, I would have read the whole book in one sitting if my brain and eyes had been cooperating.I absolutely loved this brilliant book, worth far more than five stars and very very highly recommended.

I was completely pulled into this one by the cover. It raised a lot of questions and made me completely intrigued and keen to pick it up and find out what happened to the girl who never came home.

Zoe was on a school trip when she went missing. She was staying in a cabin with her two best friends, Shayna and Becca, and another girl called Leanne as there was no other space for her in another cabin. They say no-one heard her leave the small cabin in the dead of night, but can they really be telling the truth?

Zoe is found dead around 24 hours later. The police do not know what happened to Zoe. They have to consider a number of options – murder, manslaughter, suicide or accidental death. In order for the police to find out, a number of secrets and lies will have to be uncovered…

I was totally gripped by this one. The characters are complex and it was interesting to hear from a few different perspectives, otherwise I think the narrative could have become overloaded because there were quite a few characters to get your head around.

Nothing is quite what it seems with this one and it quickly becomes clear that there are quite a few suspects as Zoe isn’t as well liked or popular as we first thought.

Nicole carefully and slowly reveals key plot points that put lots of suspects into the mix without fully giving anything away. The plot is carefully and cleverly engineered allowing the reader to be pulled in and make their own conclusions, before revealing what really happened to Zoe in a series of crazy twists!

A great domestic suspense fiction novel from another brilliant Bookouture author!

First, I want to thank Nicole Troupe, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Nicole Troupe brings you every parents worst nightmare to reality in The Girl Who Never Came Home. You trust your 16 year teenager at school camp to be protected and kept safe. Only to find out she went missing.

Immediately, Nicole dives right into this intense, powerful, drama filled and fast paced beginning. I was immediately drawn into the story and needed to know what happened to Zoe.

Nicole told the story from Zoe’s Mom and Stepdad’s angle to the story,
Her sister reminisced about the lack of bond they shared with one another. That she regretted not being closer. Plus, her friend's relationship with her too.

I loved seeing the human interest side that you don't get to see on the news or in the headlines.

There is a very interesting section all about guilt and being guilty in the book. It is very interesting on how it relates to this incident.

The investigation into what happened to Zoe was a very interesting part of the book.

Nicole picked out some out of the box creative character names that I adored.

This is every parent – and teacher’s – nightmare, when a teenager goes missing whilst on a school camping trip. Zoe Bloom is Lydia’s youngest daughter . . . . what made her leave the cabin she shared with three other girls? When Zoe’s body is found, Lydia is desperate to discover what happened to her but that search for the truth will prove very revealing and have so many surprise revelations along the way.

Zoe is seen through the eyes of her peers, her family, her teachers and friends in this moving story. She’s a bright, able and pretty sixteen year old, attractive, popular, somewhat spoiled, but she’s also mean, a bully and downright nasty when she doesn’t get her own way. Unsurprisingly, not everyone even likes her – but does someone hate her enough to kill her? Everyone connected to her seems to have secrets that are slowly revealed as the police investigation into her death continues and the tensions escalate between the potential suspects.

The story is told from multiple points of view, revealing the thoughts, actions and reactions of those who knew Zoe to the unfolding investigations and helping the reader get to know this multi-faceted young lady. This is a tragic but moving story that isn’t just a murder mystery or detective story. It also a story which shows the impact of such a tragedy on the lives of those who survive her, including her family, friends and teachers. It is a dark story with plenty of twists to keep you guessing and I didn’t want to put it down until I’d finished it and discovered what really happened to Zoe – and why. I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

The Girl Who Never Came Home by Nicole Trope is such an unputdownable book, full of suspense and, oh, such an emotional journey. A story that begins with the discovery of teenage Zoe's body after she went missing from a cabin on a school camping trip. What events happened to make Zoe get out of bed and never return? Her beloved mother is determined to discover what happened, no matter what!
I am a mother and although I can empathise, I can't truly know what Lydia is going through. I felt the emotions that the author managed to convey, and heart broken doesn't not do it justice, us mothers will defend our young to the death we have such strong, raw and powerful emotions around out children.This emotional story allows the suspense to slowly appear on the horizon, building with every different persons view of Zoe. Her best friend, her mum, her teacher and her sister all uncovering the different sides of Zoe and showing her to be as flawed as anyone can be. Is Lydia, her mum, ready for these pieces of the puzzle to be fitted together? Will this answer her questions about her youngest childs death?
Wow! I was wrung out of emotions by the time I got to the end of this book. I was just as eager as Lydia to know what happened to Zoe, resulting in an almost smoking Kindle! I read it that fast!
I cannot express how much the author managed to affect me with her writing throughout this story. Highly recommended read for me.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the copy of the book for my review today.

Zoe is the epitome of the teenaged girl you love to hate in high school... skinny, pretty, popular, and a total terror to those not in her inner circle, although she doesn't really treat anybody well at all. When she is found dead during a weekend camping trip with her school, everyone assumes she tried going to find the restroom and got lost in the dark, but it would not have been a good story if that was the end.
This book follows around all the people involved in the aftermath of this tragedy, her mom, stepdad, sister, her best friends, her teachers, her ex-boyfriend, and the girl who is usually the main target of her bullying. There is laughter, tears, and some suspense (not much by my standards), but overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable book. It did not take long to figure out who was involved and what happened that fateful night and after awhile, I started to see the good things about Zoe and why she was loved regardless of the character she portrayed. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to leave an honest review for this book.

16 year old Zoe goes on a school camping trip with her 2 best friends. When her mom, Lydia, gets a phone call that Zoe is missing is when everything starts unraveling in this book. Zoe is not a nice person and even bullies her own friends. Treats boys like crap and other teens seem to be afraid of her.
Lydia is out in the mountains calling her daughter's name with so many other rescue helpers. But when they find Zoe's body is when Lydia just can't cope. Lydia had lost her husband many years ago and she is now remarried to a wonderful guy, Gabrielle. She also has an older daughter who is also hiding things about that night.
I was thinking all kinds of things and thinking of different people who would want to hurt Zoe. This book opened up so much about Zoe that you know she didn't deserve to die but she did deserve to be punished for her behavior.

This story took a bit to hook me into the story. Once I was hooked I found it very difficult to put the book down. So many views and perspectives on one single night. It was an intriguing story and I did not figure out the mystery til almost the very end. I would definitely recommend this book.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and any opinions shared are my own.

The Girl Who Never Came Home by Nicole Trope

I Loved this book.

Zoe Bloom is a sixteen-year-old girl who goes on a camping trip with her class and goes missing. Unfortunately, she is not found alive.

Zoe’s death has a ripple effect that touches her family, friends and teaches and this book is told from their perspectives.

I am so glad that we find out what actually happened to Zoe and that we are not kept wondering

I was so happy to be get my hands on the latest Nicole Trope book, I have only read a few of Nicole’s books and I think they are wonderful, thought provoking and go straight to your heart. I love that Nicole Trope is an Australian author.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Lydia is determined to find out why her teenage daughter disappeared at a camping trip, especially due to the fact that her body was found after an extensive search. How could the school's organizers let a teen leave the campsite, and who is responsible for her daughter's death? Lydia wants answers and will not stop until she unravels things.

As things begin to unfold in this thrilling book, Lydia's search for answers come with heartbreak. There were things about her daughter Zoe, things that she was unaware of until her untimely death. I love that this book grabbed my attention early on, especially as twists and turns change the course of Lydia's thinking and emotions, leaving her even more bereft.

The way this story is told - Lydia's search for answers, and events leading up to Zoe's death - made this book very intriguing, and most certainly, quite sad. As a mother and a grandmother, it hurt to put myself in Lydia's shoes, so I credit Nicole Trope for the emotional devastation I felt while reading.

When I read I want to feel connected, and that is what this book did. While greatly saddened over Zoe's death, especially as things about her slowly came to light, my heart was with Lydia the entire time. This is my third book by this author, and just like the previous two books I read by her, this one was an excellent read.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Zoe is just sixteen when she went on a school camping trip, but she goes missing. She had had an argument with her two best friends the previous night and she's still not returned. A search party is formed and it's not long before they find her body. The police are trying to work out what had happened. Her mother is also wanting answers.

You can't help but feel for every single character in this beautifully written book. It's every parents worst nightmare, the 5hought of one of their children going missing. The story is told from multiple points of view. Zoe is your average popular teenager but she's mean and nasty too. Everyone, including Zoe, had secrets. The pace is steady as the suspense grows. There's plenty of twists in this heartbreaking story which covers some complex issues.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #Bookouture and the author #NicoleTrope for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the heartbreaking story of Zoe, who goes missing whilst on a school trip.

I enjoyed the story for the fact it was hard to put together what had happened, and the circumstances around her disappearance. There were so many theories that came to mind as the story unfolded and it was good how the author had weaved these stories to make you think you knew what had happened. The author actually makes you wait right until the end of the book so it keeps you guessing.

Although it was quite a good read, unfortunately it didn't grip me in the way that I thought it would. I didn't connect with any of the characters which was disappointing.

The book did flow well though and was was an easy book to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book.

I love a book that starts with a body, unfortunately this body is Zoe’s. Found by a member of the search party after she went missing from a cabin on a school camping trip.

We then learn of the impression Zoe formed on all the characters, which in turn gives a different view to the popular girl she seemed to be. Think of the plastics in Mean girls, seemingly sweet and charming but with a hidden cruelty towards others. As each character narrates you get the feeling they aren’t being completely truthful and that many secrets are at play.

Bullying is far from new and as a parent it is one of the most complicated issues to deal with, especially to discover your child was the bully. Nowadays with social media involvement it is a constant torment and added peer pressure makes the people who standby and do nothing as bad as the bully themselves.

My youngest daughter is the same age as Zoe and I thought that would make me connect with her mother Lydia but I started to get angry with her blame of others. As a parent it is your job/duty to raise your child to know right from wrong. Bullying is wrong and Zoe was a spoilt brat, no excuses. However the fact that this book provoked such strong emotions towards the characters was down to the pure quality of characterisation. Like life nothing is just black or white and although Zoe is a bully she is also loved. That is the pure heartbreak of this book.

This is a great whodunnit with layers of mystery and an emotional core.

They find her just as the sun is beginning to rise in the early morning mist. They had begun at dawn, the group of searchers keen to get going. A missing child spurred everyone on. In the end, it was a flash of colour, a bright neon pink that caught her eye. They had been looking for pink.

Nothing tests your faith like being a mother. The first time your children walk to school alone, their first sleepover, when they finally fly the nest. As a parent, you have to believe that everything will be OK.

It’s why, when Lydia’s sixteen-year-old daughter Zoe goes on a school camping trip, she has no idea of the horrors that will unfold. It’s why, when Lydia gets a call saying that her daughter has disappeared, she refuses to give up.

As she searches the mountains, her voice hoarse from calling Zoe’s name, she imagines finding her. She envisions being flooded with relief as she throws her arms around her child, saying, ‘you gave us such a scare’. She pictures her precious girl safely tucked in bed that evening.

It’s why, when they find Zoe’s body, Lydia can barely believe it. It is unthinkable. Her little girl has gone.

Something terrible happened, she is sure of it. Something made Zoe get out of her sleeping bag in the middle of the night, walk out of the warmth and safety of the cabin, into the darkness of the mountains. Driven by the memory of her youngest child, Lydia needs to find out the truth. What kind of mother would she be if she didn’t?

This book was an enjoyable read.
I loved how it was narrated by several different characters. Even though some of those characters were truly unlikeable.
There were lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing and it shows you how one persons actions can effect many lives.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

As a Mum this book is a seriously uncomfortable read. This is not a negative towards the author, this means that it is a book that’s written in exactly the right way.
Parents like to think we know our children and this book puts all of your worst fears in black and white.
When Lydia drops her 16 year old daughter, Zoe at camp the last words she said to her was that she was a bitch. What Lydia didn’t know was that her daughter was a vicious bully, quick to tease and taunt anyone outside of her couple of best friends and those are the last words she will ever say to her.
Zoe had secrets from her Mum and those secrets are only revealed slowly once Zoe’s body is found.
This book is an emotional rollercoaster ride and you should keep the tissues handy when you read it, which I absolutely recommend you do.

Thanks you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is not what you think it is as you begin to read it, it's better! Love, hate, bullying, deceit ...............you will never imagine where this leads. Well written with great characterization. You will not want to put this book down once you start reading. Enjoy!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Nicole Trope's compelling emotional domestic drama THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME.

Nicole Trope is one of my go-to authors and I was looking forward to devouring this tale and solving its mystery. I was not disappointed. THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME is a book that works on different scopes forming a mystery of what happens to a young girl, in addition to those who remain and how they deal with their grief. And that grief takes on many forms for not only the family but also that of friends and those who were in some way connected to the girl and her initial disappearance. It also examines how one can be affected by such a sudden and tragic death and the shadows of the memories they leave behind.

What begins as an exciting prospect for some and a lot of hard work for others, ends up in being every parent's and every ever teacher's nightmare. A teenager going missing whilst on a school camp. And if that wasn't bad enough, then nothing would prepare them for what was to come. While being a mother is one of the most difficult yet most rewarding job, being a teenager in this terrifying age of social media and constant presence is probably even worse. I'm so glad my teenage years were long over before the birth of social media.

When 16 year old Zoe Bloom goes on a school camping trip to the Blue Mountains with her year 11 class, her mother Lydia never thought it would be the last time she would see her beloved daughter alive. Not only that, her final words to her daughter were those calling her a bitch. How can they be her final words to her youngest child, whom had always been the light of her life? And as Lydia swims through the tidal wave of her grief, she longs to know what really happened to her beloved Zoe and why her life was tragically cut short.

On the first night of the camping trip, Zoe settles into the cabin she shares with her best friends Shayna and Becca. But as it is a four bed cabin with one spare, the teachers place another student with the three girls. Leeanne is one of Zoe's favourite people to taunt. But this time something is different. One of them stands up to Zoe...and no one does that.

So after lights out on the Friday night, Zoe creeps out of their cabin and disappears into the bush. Someone hears her leave, someone sees her walk away...but no one stops her. The following morning Zoe is not in her bed. The alarm is raised, a search party is organised and her mother is contacted. It is a parent's worst nightmare...but one that comes true when at 6am on Sunday morning, Zoe's body is found.

The journey the reader is then taken on is through one of grief, fear, regrets, secrets and the guilt of all those who were there that night as well as those closest to her. Through the eyes of Lydia (her mother), Shayna (her best friend), Jessie (her sister) and Bernadette (her teacher) we are privy to their thoughts and the complex emotions of their private pain as secrets are slowly revealed surrounding the daughter, friend, sister and student known as Zoe. Through them, we see the Zoe as they knew her...and it slowly comes to light that it wasn't always pretty.

Zoe was a beautiful vivacious girl, but she was also a vicious bully. She took inane pleasure in belittling others less popular, less attractive, less anything in her eyes. Her cruelty was as palpable as it was uncalled for. But that never stopped Zoe. She was the star that simply had to shine the brightest while others could only bask in her shadow, and if that meant putting others down to ensure that position, even her best friends, then that's what it would take. No one could outshine Zoe.

But to Lydia, Zoe was her baby girl. She would always remember Zoe as the adorable child she had been as well as the difficult teenager she became. And sadly, she would never get the chance to become an adult, a wife, a mother or anything besides the teenage bully she died as. For her, Zoe would be forever sixteen.

To Jessie, Zoe would remain an enigma and yet she would always be her little sister. She loved her and wished she had been a better sister but Zoe didn't always make it easy. She was mean and cruel but she could also be loving and sweet. Their six year age gap meant the sisters were often strangers with Jessie busy studying medicine and Zoe wrapped up in being a teenage girl. Never again would they have the chance to be sisters. Never again would Zoe have the chance to be anything but sixteen.

There are a plethora of complex issues in this compelling tale of the mystery surrounding a young girl's death. And in this modern day and age, bullying has gone beyond the playground following their victims home via social media. No longer can one escape to the safety of their home for a much needed reprieve from the bullies. Now they can follow them everywhere, night and day in a constant stream of abuse, shaming and humiliation for all the world to see.

But that's the only danger on the internet. Complete strangers can become anyone and what one young girl believes to be a gorgeous boy could in actual fact be a dirty old man. Children are vulnerable, easy prey and despite warnings and the best efforts to educate them to be careful, they often still get caught up in the kindness amidst the cruelty and the promises of clever deception.

Then when, after her death, Zoe was found to have been talking with a boy online, to the point of even dumping her boyfriend, questions begin to arise as to the identity of who it was she'd really been talking to. Who is Xavier? How she did they know each other? Did she meet up with him on that Friday night? Is that why she left her cabin in the middle of the night after everyone was asleep? And where is this Xavier now?

Compelling and addictive, THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME is a dark story that is emotional and heartbreaking. A perfect mix of contemporary fiction and mystery, Nicole Trope encapsulates each character that as a reader you are able to feel what they feel alongside them. She also deals with the issues facing the youth of today involving social media perfectly, showing how easy it is for the internet to play such a devastating part in destroying lives.

As with all of Nicole Trope's books, THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME is unforgettable, thrilling, emotionally charged and unputdownable. But keep the tissues handy, especially regarding Walter. I didn't shed a tear for Zoe but I bawled bucketloads for Walter.

As always, thoroughly recommended for those who love a touch of mystery to their contemporary fiction...or vice versa!

I would like to thank #NicoleTrope, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGirlWhoNeverCameHome in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this one a 3.5. It really reads more like a YA than literary fiction and the tag line of it being a "gripping page turner' might have been a bit of an oversell, but the overall story was good.

Sixteen-year-old Zoe (daughter of Lydia and baby sister to Jessie) goes away to a weekend at school camp and disappears sometime between lights out and breakfast. It doesn't take very long for searchers to find her body. While the police and school try to figure out what really happened, Lydia and Jessie struggle with their mourning, amplified by the earlier death of their husband/father after a cancer diagnosis.

I thought this read more like a YA book because of the underlying themes of bullying, teenage relationships -- both romantic and platonic, and secrecy/privacy in the teenagers' lives. I like YA, but I just didn't think that's what this was supposed to be.

I thought it was interesting how the author told Zoe's story, balancing her mother's ideological view of her personality with stories of her kindness to others as a child with the other students' views (including those of her best friends) who saw her as a mean bully. And, I thought Jessie's story as the older "perfect" sister was handled well.

However, I didn't think it was that hard to figure out why Zoe disappeared or who was responsible. With only so many characters in the book, it was easy to see who really didn't like Zoe and why, so I didn't find the conclusion very shocking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.