Claudia Castro is a wealthy and privileged party girl, but everything changes for her one night when she wakes up and realises that she has been raped. Unsure what to do or how to handle the situation, Claudia withdraws from her family and friends, finding support only from a fellow student that she barely knew previously.

Not a whodunnit so much as a revenge thriller, it's a gripping and timely story which deals with difficult subjects such as the apportioning of blame in rape cases, revenge porn, and what is reasonable punishment for sexual assaults - the whole argument that "you can't ruin a young man's whole life for one mistake" rearing its ugly head.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

From the blurb I assumed that this was going to be a straightforward thriller or crime novel. Actually it’s a much more nuanced and absorbing story about the aftermath of a crime. That might mean some people find the start quite slow, but taken as a whole I think it’s perfectly paced.

Claudia Castro has it all. A student at NYU from a wealthy family she has the money, looks and popularity to get whatever she wants. But, when she wakes up with no clear memories of the night before all the money in the world won’t give her, her peace of mind back.

Feeling like she can’t speak to her family or usual friends she finds comfort In the unassuming support of fellow student Trevor. That’s why it’s also Trevor she turns to when she’s sent a video of what happened that night. Now she knows what she’d previously only suspected, and as Claudia’s family desperately try to find her she plots revenge on the people who stole that night from her.

Claudia’s character is really well told, there’s a good sense of this young woman who has had all of the confidence which comes with privilege ripped from her in one night. The plot gives Claudia back a sense of power, but without ever diminishing the impact of what she went through. Trevor is also very honestly portrayed, he has a crush on Claudia, but never displays the sense of being ‘owed’ something from her which other men in the story demonstrate.

A really absorbing read which I definitely recommend.

Julia draws you in from the very beginning, I sat and read this book in a day as I just needed to know what happened to Claudia and to see justice.

This book is about dysfunctional families, sisterhood., power, brutality, friendship , good versus evil. Revenge. It has it all.

It is a book that I would buy and recommend to friends that like me are avid readers.

The missing hours is certainly missing nothing about a good Book. I thought I'd guessed the ended but was wrong.... Several times over! This book is fast paced. Its cleverly put together. And it keeps the reader guessing right up to the very last page.

Claudia Castro is a good time girl. The daughter of a nobody who became a god in the music business and a beautiful model heiress her life to date has been fun, easy, surrounded by wealth and comfort. She likes to party but so do all her friends. She has a sister, Edie whom she loves dearly as together they brought themselves up whilst their parents were travelling the world in their lives. Edie is newly married and expecting her first child. So things for Claudia are changing.

Staying on campus over the break she wakes up one morning with her face battered and bruised and feeling that all was not well the evening before - she blames herself initially for being out of it the evening before and finding blood in her underwear questions what had happened and suffers guilt for being out of control. She cannot remember how she got home, who she was with and what happened. And she is terrified. We then follow Claudia and her new friend Trevor plus her sister Edie as their stories entwine whilst Claudia tries to find out the truth is far darker and sinister than she believed.

You’d be fooled if your thought this book was all about a rape and the aftermath. It is so much more. It’s about power and taking back control in whichever way you can after money and the weakness of those who should do better take away the idealist view that the guilty will pay through the legal system. You find yourself not necessarily comfortable but understanding and wanting Claudia to come out victorious.

Wealthy NYU student Claudia Castro has missing hours where it’s clear a violent sexual assault takes place but she has no idea of the who, the where, the when, where or why. Trevor is a student further down the dorm hall who helps her. A few days later both are sent a short film of the rape and it’s obvious who the two men are as Claudia knows both of them and she vows they will pay for it.

This is a well written fairly short novel about a very difficult topic and some parts are not easy to read and nor are they meant to be. It’s very intense, it breaks your heart and makes you very angry on her behalf. It’s extremely powerful on the impact of the assault, you feel her emotions, her fear, disgust, loathing, shame and her inability to think logically initially which is very understandable as she is traumatised. The pacing is good and I like the short sharp chapters that match the events and this heightens the intensity and ramping up tension. You get a clear impression of the wealthy, privileged world that Claudia inhabits as both her parents are seriously rich as is one of the perpetrators. As the storyline progresses there are parts that make you so upset and furious for the way that victims lives are turned upside down and trampled all over. The novel makes very pertinent points about power, privilege and the law, what it’s possible to get away with versus those without cash or influence.

From about the half way point the novel becomes about revenge and consequences and though I can see why it takes this direction it’s not as powerful as the first part. I’m not totally convinced about the inclusion of the character of Trevor, although he does add a sympathetic ear he doesn’t know her before the assault and they’re not from the same social world. She’s like a major movie star and he’s a walk on for a downmarket soap, two worlds that don’t collide. I daresay he is meant to provide a contrast to her world of wealth and it does achieve that to an extent. His story ends up detracting from Claudia's and that’s where I’d like the focus to stay and with greater character development.

Overall, though this is well worth reading as it makes such valid points about victims of rape and their treatment and I’m glad to have read it.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Faber and Faber for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

What an amazing thriller this was! The assault of a young woman during her college days leads to a petrifying series of events that draws the reader in and doesn’t let go until the very end.

When NYU rich gal, trust-fund baby, and social-media queen Claudia Castro wakes up injured, missing both her phone and several hours of her night, it is apparent she has been sexually assaulted. But what happened in those missing hours? And who was responsible?

What I Liked:
- compelling throughout, well-paced, I read it in one sitting.
- felt like a big episode of SVU
- cathartic revenge story
- enjoyed the duality of the nice guy/'nice guy' friend, Trevor
- very much enjoyed the lens on the privilege that being both male and wealthy and well-connected brings (as rage-inducing as it was)

What I Didn't Love:
- honestly did I love or hate the inclusion of Trevor? A mystery.
- why was there just one random racial slur included???
- there was a bit too much cat-and-mouse, fell apart for a little bit in the middle
- I just wanted more for Claudia

Overall a very readable, well-paced, and infuriating look at the aftermath of sexual violence.

Big thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Faber & Faber for the e-ARC. This one's out on 4/11/21!

The Missing Hours was a very fun and past paced book that I read in one sitting! I really enjoyed the premise of the story and could not wait to find out what happened on the next page

Claudia Castro, a student at NYU, wakes up one morning knowing something happened to her the night before but is unable to remember it.
From different perspectives, the book tells us how both those directly involved and their families react to Claudia’s rape.
The truth is that I expected another type of novel, I lacked something in the characters that seem to me a little stereotyped and the secondary plot of the Subway slasher remains undeveloped. Despite that, this is a very pleasant reading.

Thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

I love when a book has the power to grasp me within the first fifty pages. This book has the power to grasp its readers. I wanted to know more about the characters. I wanted to know if the events that were taking place were true or if it was fragments of someone’s imagination.

I was invested in Trevor, though I was unsure if his actions could be justified, I was torn between seeking vengeance and leaving everything to law.

I wanted more for Claudia, I really did. I was angry and wanted justice but I also wish there was more depth added to Claudia so we could understand her position.

When you hate a character in the book, it shows that the author has done a great job. In this book, you will hate many characters, some are absolutely revolting and will make your skin crawl. Hats off to author Dahl for creating such characters as this reflects the world we live in well. My least favourite character without going into detail is Ridley.

I am glad this book had an ending that didn’t leave me frustrated, it wasn’t the ending one would hope for, but I am OK with that as we can’t get what we want all the time.

#TheMissingHours #NetGalley
Fantastic.
Claudia Castro has it all: the famous family, the trust fund, thousands of Instagram followers, and a spot in NYU’s freshman class. But then one drunken night, everything changes. Her memory hazy, Claudia cuts herself off from her family, seeking solace in a new friendship, but when the rest of school comes back from spring break, Claudia is nowhere to be found.
Read this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for giving me an advanced copy.