📖 BOOK REVIEW

📱 NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE by Alison Espach
5 stars

Genre: literary fiction
Did I cry: no
Published in 2022
My Goodreads review: “the summer of Alison Espach”

💭: after making THE WEDDING PEOPLE my actual entire personality all summer since reading it, i knew i needed to read Alison’s backlist. Which led me to NOYSD which i had heard of & seen the cover but knew nothing about. And let me tell you, im also obsessed with this book.

I have a strong love for books told from a child’s POV especially over time as the child grows up and develops. There’s deep-set humor in reading from a kid’s perspective due to naïveté and lack of filter which I so greatly appreciate. The storyline of this book was super unique and fun to follow, combining some darker and more delicate themes with the humor that had me laughing out loud. I was invested in how the plot developed and the different challenges that came with the different ages of the main characters.

The characters in this book were also so special. The two sisters were so different from each other, which grew increasingly more glaring and apparent with age. But their bond was so genuine and realistic that it allowed for such a deeper connection to the story and to the characters. And i loved that the story was told from the younger sister’s POV before, during, and after the traumatic event she endured. It all portrayed real and raw human experiences and emotions told in such an engaging way I couldn’t help but absolutely adore this book. It’s so different than my usual read and i loved it so so much. I absolutely recommend!!

Alison Espach has become an auto buy author for me. Heavy topics and honestly, very sad but not exhausting and just a great exploration of the complicated emotions of loss

Book Review:
Title: Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance
Author: Alison Espach
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/3 stars

In the eyes of the younger sister, Sally, who idolized her older sister, Kathy, this story was heartbreaking as Sally tries to navigate her grief after her sister's death. Tragically, Kathy passed after a car accident with Sally and Kathy's boyfriend, Billy, in the vehicle. Sally was unhurt, which led to a tremendous amount of guilt on top of the loss. The title and cover might lead you to believe that it's a thriller/mystery but that it is not. This is more of a book on Sally's journey through self-discovery and navigating life's hardest moments.

Published: May 17th, 2022

Thank you, @netgalley and @henryholtbooks, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I pulled this one from the depths of my NetGalley shelf because it had a summery cover and since I'm a seasonal reader I knew if I didn't read it soon it would have to wait until next summer. So I started reading and before I was done I ordered myself a physical copy because I knew this was a book I would want to read again and again.

"The tree sat on our lawn, hunched and tangled, and I didn't like looking at it the way I didn't like seeing the bone spurs on Dad's feet when he took his sock off at the beach. Or the row of bottom yellow teeth that were visible only when Mom laughed really hard. It was death, I knew, waiting in the most unexpected places--inside Mom's laughter, at the end of Dad's toes, in the bright green leaves outside our bedroom window that couldn't have looked more alive."

Sally is in the car with her older sister Kathy and Kathy's boyfriend when Billy swerves to avoid a deer and hits a tree, killing Kathy on impact. Sally has to grow up without her older sister, dealing with the grief and empty hole Kathy has left and trying not to commiserate with the one person who understands her pain--Billy. This is SUCH a beautifully written story and I felt like there was truthbomb after truthbomb hidden in here--I could have highlighted the whole darn book--it was too good.

"We were teenagers now, and we preferred, when give the opportunity. to suffer."

I loved Sally and Billy. This is a gorgeous coming of age story told from the perspective a teen girl in the 90s and it really resonated with me. I am so glad I have a copy of Espach's newest novel in my tbr pile because I can't wait for more of her beautiful storytelling.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest opinion. I loved the cover, I loved the title, and I even loved the first part of the book...but after awhile, I started to question why I was still reading it...It felt like nothing was happening at all and maybe even like I was just reading someone's diary...Until about halfway through, I was going to give it four stars, and then when I felt like I was spending hours of my life I would never get back when nothing much was happening, I moved it to three stars....when I got to the ending, I was seriously going to give it two stars I was so angry at how it ended...but I will stick with three since it started out great for me.

Excellent beautiful writing. Couldn’t put down. Really enjoyed reading and read quickly. Excellent characters who made me think.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance was a quirky book that dealt with many heavy themes. The use of teenaged Sally as the narrator brings a little bit of distance from the tragedy central to the book--although she's dealing with the loss of her sister, she's also dealing with all of the things that come along with being a normal teenager. I enjoyed this book quite a lot and it offers a great opportunity for discussion.

Beautifully written story that I just read in one sitting on a flight. Loved the tone - sad but bits of humor too. A sister’s tragedy told retrospectively - a family story, a love story, and a story of grief over the years and how it morphs. I loved going in “cold” so don’t want to spoil anything. Really grateful to NetGalley for a copy - enjoyed thoroughly.

This was a really great family drama- and if you know me at all you know I love a good family drama. In the book, we follow multiple people as they navigate grief in their own ways following a tragic event they were all part of.

I will say, I thought it was really unique the way the timeline was written- as a reader, we move forward in timelines through advances in the world and world events and I thought that was a unique way to depict time moving forward, rather than just stating the specific year.

It was a tad long, but overall I thought this was a well thought out family drama that delivered many great themes.

This was such a sad book. Well written and interesting but left me feeling a bot lonesome for some reason. Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher

I for some reason felt like this story was going to be more of a thriller, but it was a heartfelt look at humanity, love and the pain of loss.

I greatly enjoyed this story. The way it was written was verify unique but easy to pick up on. A sister is narrating her life to her dead older sister who dies at 16 in a car crash.

We watch as the younger sister surpasses the year her older sister dies, goes on to experience more life but has an undeniable connection to Billy, the young man driving during the crash.
I absolutely loved the ending with the two of them standing together in the eye of the storm. For the novel to be centered around such human emotion, don’t expect much romance or poetical writing. It is more raw, real and unexplained as this family survives the death of a daughter and sister. It doesn’t offer answers, just it and I really enjoyed it.

i really wanted to like this but it just did not hold my interest! I really want to try again with one of the authors other books because I liked the writing of this, the plot just didn’t grip me for some reason.

Haunting and heartfelt, NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE is the latest from Alison Espach. This novel tells the story of Sally and Billy, told to Sally’s late sister Kathy. Through time jumps and covering heavy topics like grief and loss, depression and family and love, this story is unique, beautiful, and tragic.

I loved Espach’s writing - and while I didn’t fully know what I was reading when I started, mistakenly thinking this was a mystery story - I really enjoyed this novel. Her characters jump off the page and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times throughout. Sally is a delight and so is her story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance was an interesting story of two sisters and the progression of life and the pain that often coincides. I thought it was overall an interesting read, but started off slow and a bit disjointed. I think most of that came from the personality of the younger sister/ narrator.

A melancholy novel told from younger sister Sally's POV from her childhood looking up to her cooler older sister Kathy. We follow their family's daily life, typical sibling rivalry, and the sisters' falling in love with the brash Billy Barnes, and eventually him becoming Kathy's boyfriend - until an accident takes Kathy away from all of them.
We then follow how each member of the family, along with Billy through the lens of Sally, copes with the loss.
The reader should be prepared to be gutted. No spoilers, though I'm still processing the ending, and probably will be for a while, which is the hallmark of a impactful book. 4.5 stars rounded down.

Thank you to NetGalley, Holt publishing and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach


Two sisters, one deep fascination with senior Billy Barnes - a rising basketball star who also happens to work the concession stand at the local pool. At Summer’s end, Kathy, the older sister, becomes his girlfriend. Yet this young love ends in horrible tragedy. This story is told over the course of 15 years by Sally, the younger sister, as she tries to piece together the mystery that is her sister’s death. Through memories, incidents, and missed connections, she is positive that Billy is the only one that can answer the questions she must have answered about her sister.

Though initially interesting and engaging I found that the themes looked at within this novel did not feel original. I would have felt like I had read this book before had I not been reading an advanced reader’s copy. I had a hard time connecting to the characters, and felt that the handling of grief was odd, at best. The story seemed to go on and on without any strong resolution. I felt like the most interesting aspect of the story was that it was told by the younger sister trying to make sense of such a horrific tragedy.

Such a sad book, and the writing was so good you could feel that despair throughout the whole novel. If you want a happy read, this one isn't for you, but I would recommend it.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2023 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2023/01/2023-reading-list-announced-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I was really looking forward to this story. I want to thank NetGalley and the author/publishers for the copy in exchange for an honest review. I honestly went into this story blind. I thought it’d be a mystery/ thriller tale but was surprised to learn that it was a story about loss and grief between sisters. it made me feel so sad and honestly I called my own sister just to tell her how loved she is. Hands down would recommend to everyone who loves a slow, thoughtful, beautiful story. Check trigger warnings though.