I really liked this book especially once the pace started to pick up because I felt like the start of the start was too slow for my liking. I enjoyed the book being narrated by several different characters because it provided me a deeper understanding of their relationship with Zoe and how her death effected them individually. I also like how the characters first chapters felt like they were being introduced as suspects for example Lydia – The Mother, The Day After The Accident.

So this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I really could not stand Zoe as a character once I found how awful she was to others. She didn’t deserve to die for what she did but I also didn’t feel any sympathy for her. At times I really liked Lydia and I felt really sorry for her especially since I felt like she was hurting the most. But after awhile I got annoyed with her because she kept blaming others for what happened instead of blaming Zoe for her own actions. I felt bad for Jessie and Bernadette because they both got made to like Zoe’s death was their fault.

This book had a lot of mystery, suspense, twists and turns throughout which I think made the ending unpredictable for me which I liked.

I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

Zoe, a year 11 student, is on a school camping trip and goes missing. It's not long before she is found dead from a fall. What follows is the unraveling of details leading up to the tragedy. With voices from her mom, her best friend, her teacher and sister, you witness all kinds of heart ache. You also see the many sides of Zoe and uncover many secrets and lies.

As a parent, there is no greater heartache than that experienced when losing a child. This book exposes the effect of death, and life of those around us; however, I didn't feel deeply connected to anyone in the book. It was such a tragedy that impacted so many, I would have expected to feel my heart breaking as well.

3.5 stars

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so broken hearted right now! The Girl Who Never Came Home really moved me. It's told by everyone involved's perspective from the teacher in charge to the girls family and friends.

I think a lot can be learned from this story. Bullying can happen to anyone by anyone. I also think, that in this world of social media, bullying happens even more. Everyone needs to be able to speak out about being bullied and expect to be believed. More should be done to deter bullies and we should all foster the "in a world were you can be anything, BE KIND"

Beautiful. Poignant. Heart breaking. Stunning writing. I just could not put this book down. Felt for every single one of the characters. So well written. An exquisite triumph of a book. One that will stay with me for a long time. Please read this one.

A story of teenagers , social media and bullying . Well worth reading . A good story reflecting current life and times

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Girl Who Never Came Home’ by Nicole Trope in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A party of sixteen-year-olds are on a school camping trip in the bush when Zoe disappears during the night. After searching for nearly a day her body is discovered with head injuries. Has Zoe been deliberately pushed off the track or is it an unfortunate accident?

‘The Girl Who Never Came Home’ is the story of teenage angst, bullies and being bullied. Despite not liking the subject matter, the story had an interesting plot and characters but I thought Zoe was a very unpleasant person, spoilt and used to getting her own way, whereas I felt sorry for who was being bullied. I didn’t enjoy this novel although I’m sure I’ll be in the minority but this is my honest opinion.

I got, The Girl Who Never Came Home, by Nicole Trope, from NetGally for a fair and honest review.


The Girl Who Never Came Home is an emotional story of what happens when a young girl is found dead, after going missing from a school camp.

This is a novel that works on a number of different levels, form a simple mystery of what happened to the young girl, in addition to those who remain how individuals deal with grief.

The Grief in the book takes many forms not only the grief of the close family members of the young girl, but of friends and people who were involved on the school trip. It also examines how we can still be affected by the death of a loved one, can have repercussions many years into the future.

The book is written through the views of a number of people from, he mother Lydia, her sister Jessia as well as a friend and the teacher who was in charge of the school trip. Each person has their own chapter which means you know when the perspective changes.

However a weakness of the story is the changing perspective, as when they changed sometimes it was difficult to work out the relationship, with Zoe at the start of the book, even though the chapters had the persons name at the start, it would have been nice if it had the relationship to zoe, as well as the name.

One of the advantages of the way the book was laid out, was the way that it enhanced the mystery, as each person gradually revealed their connection with the causes of Zoe’s death and how they feel guilty about what they could have done differently.


Who would I recommend this book for? As well as people who like novels that are based on relationships and how our actions can have an affect on individuals, when added to the action of others. In addition it is for every parent to realize, even though we think that our children tell us everything, even though we never did it ourselves as children.


If any of the above are tropes you enjoy in a book or you just like having a puzzle to solve then you should read Nicole Trope’s latest book The Girl Who Never Came Home.

My Review:

I loved, loved, loved this book so much!!!!! I’ve read many of Nicole Trope’s books and this one was by far the best. I’m telling you this woman does not disappoint when she writes.

This book centers around Zoe and what happened at camp that caused her death. Zoe was only sixteen and what possibly could’ve happened to her on that trip. Did she commit suicide? Did she fall by accident? Or did someone just hate her enough to kill her? You find out this answers and do much more.

I’m a big fan of Nicole Trope and all her books. I don’t eat or sleep until it is finished. This one was no exception. I couldn’t put this down for the life of me. I had to find out what happened to poor Zoe and why. I can’t say enough good things about this book. What I really loved about this one was the alternating chapters of each character. You got different perspectives and got to feel what they felt. It was not one sided. I also loved the story line. Who doesn’t love a good murder mystery. That ending though is truly what made this book wonderful. It truly shocked me. I also loved the fact that this author wrapped up everything up in a neat little bow. No stone was left unturned. Nothing was left hanging. This book is definitely going to be in my top reads of the year.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

A good example of bullying! Told by different characters, this mystery is a puzzle until the reveal. Zoey is not a very likeable person but there are a lot of life lessons from her story.

This book is told from different perspectives and it was done so very eloquently and in a way that the reader understands each of the relationships. Zoe is a bright 16 yr old who has a bit of a mean streak in her. Her online accounts show a beautiful young girl full of life. One day Zoe attends a camping trip with her school and she never returns. Her body is found and this is where the true story comes out. We are given information from family, friends and teachers but the one who most stands out is Zoe’s mother. Her heartbreak is shattering. I have lost a son and I can honestly say that the writer hits the emotions perfectly. Each character puts a piece of the puzzle together and you will fully understand at the end how it all comes together. Was Zoe’s death an accident or was it because she was a bully? Somewhere along the way we learn that there might just be many reasons teenagers do the things they do.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

While away at a school camp, 16 year old Zoe goes missing and is later found dead.

Loved that it was told from multiple view points, that of her best friend, her mother, sister Jessie and one of the teachers so we get to know how each related to Zoe and what each really thought of her before she went missing, during the investigation and when the final outcome is revealed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it's a story of complex relationships, hidden secrets and a reminder of the danger that social media can play in people's lives.

The characters were realistic and believable, plenty of twists had me suspecting most of them at one time or another and a page turner from start to finish.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC for my honest review.

#TheGirlWhoNeverCameHome #NetGalley
Thanks NetGalley, Bookouture and Nicole Trope for an ARC to review.
Release date 4 Nov 2020.
Being a mother is one of the most difficult jobs ever yet the most rewarding. Being a teenager in this terrifying social media circus world is more difficult and horrible.
When 16 years old Zoe goes to a camping trip with the school her mother never thought it's the last time she will see her daughter alive. Nobody expected what happened that night even the ones who planned it.
As a mother this book was painful, it's a reminder to really connect with your kids and take the time to discover who they really are, what they are capable of, what are their dreams and fears, insecurities and hidden evils. It's a reminder to watch out for what is happening in their cyber lives, who do they connect with.
It's a reminder of how far bullying can damage several lives not only the bullied.
It's a reminder of how awful social media ignorant judgements could fatally hurt people's lives.
It's a reminder of how you are not just your job, that life is so much more and it ends only when your time on earth ends. As long as you have a purpose your life will keep going. You can be grieving but life goes on.
It's a reminder of forgiveness and second chances, that you have to forgive people and most importantly you have to forgive yourself to move on.
Engaging well written thriller though emotionally heavy.

This is an intriguing tale, with interesting and complex characters that are believable and easy to relate too.

Zoe is a beautiful vivacious girl, but she’s also a bully. When she goes away on a school camping trip, no one expects that to be the end, but when Zoe goes missing and is found dead, we are taken on a journey through the thoughts, fears, regrets, secrets and torturous guilt of all those who were there that night as well as those who were closest to her.

Nicole lays out the story in a very clever way, allowing us to slowly discover the truth through a whole host of characters.

Hearing their side of things, and seeing them struggle with what has happened, while also wrestling with their own sense of guilt and culpability.

There was not a single character that I felt wasn’t real, wasn’t really grieving or wrestling with their own involvement t or failure to act.

It also deals with some complex issues. In the modern age Bullying has gone beyond the playground, children can no longer escape to the safety of their home and gain a well needed reprieve. The bully’s are now able to follow them everywhere, attacking them night and day, in constant streams of endless abuse, torture and public humiliation, via social media and the internet.

But that’s not the only danger of the internet, complete strangers can become anyone, and what a young girl believes to be a handsome Boy, could actually be a dirty old man. Children are easy prey and despite parents and teacher best efforts to teach the youth of today, to be careful, to be smart, they often get swept away by kind words, sweet promises and clever deception.

Faced with all this how can today’s youth survive, do you know who your child is really talking too.

Nicole deals with this issues beautifully and shows just how easy it is for the internet to play a devastating part in destroying lives.

I was hooked from the first page to the last and would definitely like to read more by this author in the future.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Nicole Trope and her publisher for allowing me to read and advance copy of this wonderful book, in exchange for an honest review. I have truly loved it.

The Girl Who Never Came Home by Nicole Trope is another compelling and thought-provoking read from this author. I just love Ms Trope's writing, and her ability to create such fully fleshed out characters and well developed storylines that will hold you on the edge of your seat. If you haven't read her novels, update your TBR list immediately.

Zoe Bloom is on a school camping trip when she goes missing one night. Told from the multiple perspectives of Zoe's family, friends, and teachers, it becomes apparent that not everyone adores the popular and vivacious sixteen year old, contrary to how it appears on her Instagram posts. Is Zoe's fate the result of a terrible accident, or does someone close to her have a more sinister agenda?

This is an interesting story that goes far beyond the typical whodunit. It
explores not only the impact of social media, but also makes a strong statement about the ripple effect that alters lives far beyond a single horrific event.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

This book is written in the point of view of each character which I rather enjoyed. Each individual character would have some small clue that you would save for later and piece together throughout the book to come to the final conclusion. It is a classic example of a Who done it!
I on the other hand did not come to any conclusion remotely close to the truth until literally right before it was revealed. Which again makes it for a good mystery.
Although I did enjoy all the characters having their independent story line, it did get a little wordy at times and felt like an information dump that took Away from the momentum of the story.
The creativity of the writer was great and I will for sure check out more more of her books.

Your children… You always want to protect them and keep them safe, but when they grow older you have to let them go, little by little and let them live their own life.
Going away with friends or to parties… You still have a say there, but when they go on a school trip, you are reassured. They are in the capable hands of their teachers who will see to the safety of your precious ones. Until that devastating call and you feel like the world stopped turning. You keep on hoping and praying but then a parent’s worst nightmare is about to start…
High school. It should be the best time of your life, but very often for some it’s the worst. Bullying galore can make you miserable and maybe it’s time for the bully to be on the receiving end. It’s great when a plan comes together, but sometimes the outcome is an enormous disaster.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I liked the way the author gave us the chance to follow the story from different angles.
I had a feeling who was behind some of the events, but I never saw where it would take me. Shockingly good!
Never bully, never manipulate because revenge is around the corner. You just don’t know when it is going to hit you. 5 stars.

16 year old Zoe is The Girl Who Never Came Home. In this story, she went to a camp which the private school she attends hosts ever year. However, as the sun comes up on the 2nd day at camp, her mother, Lydia, gets that call every parent dreads: her daughter is missing. Frantic, Lydia races up to assist with the search, convinced that her daughter is just lost. But then Zoe's body is found. Lydia is convinced that something awful caused her daughter to leave camp and she needs to find out what it was.

This book was written from different perspectives. Lydia gets to tell her tale. So does Shayna, Zoe's best friend, Bernadette, the older teacher who was in charge of the camp and Jessie, Zoe's big sister. My favorite character would have to be Shayna just because of how strong her character was. I was not a fan of Bernadette.

The plot moved quickly and there were a lot of twists. At one point, I was convinced that everyone knew something about what happened with Zoe. Closer to the end though, I started to suspect who it was.

The author spoke a lot about mean girls and social media bullying, something every parent in this day and age is aware of. She also showed how little some parents know about their own children While very sweet at home, they can be awful at school. I would definitely try more books by this author.

Teens and adults can read this book. There was not much detail about her death but there are some themes throughout this book that are not suitable for children.

Unique presentation of a story. The beginning of the book sets the stage: Zoe goes on a school camping trip and disappears. Her body is found the morning after.

The rest of the book is like a back story, even though it takes place in the present. Various people in Zoe's life explain their relationship with Zoe and their impression of her. In each character you can sense that an important fact is being left out. At one point, it seems that everyone in Zoe's life might know something about her mysterious death. Everyone has secrets that they are holding back.

All of us are all viewed differently by people in our lives but when those views are put together they create the whole person. This is how we learn who Zoe was.

Zoe is a multi faceted character. She has a nice, sweet side but she also has a mean girl side.

Well written, very relevant to our times and culture. And, perhaps there is a lesson to be learned.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance readers copy.

I loved this book. It focuses on a sixteen year old girl, Zoe, who goes missing at a school camp. They find her body a few days later and everyone is devastated. How could a young girl die on a school trip? The answer has an impact on everyone. What really happened to Zoe?

This story is told from many characters point of view and the chapters name the person narrating that chapter. I loved this, especially at the beginning when I was learning everyone. The story is very complex because there are so many people involved but no so complex that it’s hard to follow. I can’t wait to read more books by this author!

What a great read and a brilliant story with interesting characters which I enjoyed from the beginning to the end.

I can thoroughly recommend this book and thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.