This was one of those novels that seem simple but somehow finds its way deep into your thoughts. While this is a coming of age novel about Sally Holt and the aftermath of a terrible accident, there is much to consider about relationships and about the myriad ways we experience grief. I think what I appreciated most about this novel was how real the characters and their emotions felt to me as a reader. I loved the last chapter the most.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this. It was dark and sad but a beautiful story that describes grief and loss and brokenness in a poignant way.

Billy Barnes is swoon worthy and young Sally Holt loves listening to her older sister Kathy talk about him. Their fascination and secret devotion to Billy is a sweet and innocent part of their bond. As Sally prepares for eighth grade, Kathy begins dating Billy; a calm but memorable summer with long afternoons poolside ensues… until the morning Billy speeds down Main Street and slams into a tree to miss a deer. Billy is injured, Sally walks away unscathed, but Kathy dies instantly.
What follows is the touching story of life after the tragedy through Sally’s reflections - living with grief, regret, desire; emotions complicated by the large hole left behind by someone you love as you consider the trajectory of your life if only that one defining event hadn’t occurred.
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance could’ve easily been a dark and depressing story but I found it to be touching and genuine with moments of unexpected beauty and humor. It’s a slow burn but that works wonderfully here as you savor Sally’s coming of age story told with a candor I appreciated.
Huge thanks to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is scheduled for release on May 17, 2022.

Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance provides an in-depth look at how a single life event (in this case a death) can change the lives of many in profound and in a variety of ways. It delves into the grief experience and human response to loss. Humans experiences and deal with loss individually. Some at different times for the same event and others for different lengths of time. Some adjust eventually and others never do.

The story is narrated by Sally as she has conversations with her sister Kathy. Following Kathy’s death, Sally continues these conversations throughout the book. Narrated in this fashion, the story gets tedious, but a point needs to be made.

We follow Sally, her family and friends for many years as they deal with their loss. Billy is Kathy’s boyfriend and a significant player in the storyline. Sally and Billy have a shared experience that bonds them for life no matter how many times they each choose a different path. Thought provoking good read.

I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately I couldn’t get past 10% of the book. Nothing happened to catch my attention and draw me in. Too slow of a start. It was a did not finish for me.

Formulaic story that seems written more for young adults. Not a fan of the structure of the novel. Seems rambling. Unlike other reviewers, however, I do appreciate the second-person narrator. When used well, it's a narrative device that places reader IN the action.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I, like most of you, are easily influenced by the reviews on our "bookstagram" site. A tiny little space on instagram for all of us to share our love (and hate) for books. Well, I kept seeing Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, EVERYWHERE. So, in true "kori fashion", I could not let myself suffer from a case of "FOMO", so I put in my request for this incredible book.

I am SO grateful for bookstagram at the moment. Had I not have seen this book circulating, I would not have read it when I did.

This book is absolutely incredible. Mind blowing! Insane! Get the picture?

Also, look at this cover ! I was completely captivated and had to know what was inside.

I can not stop thinking about this book and I am sure it will stick with me for awhile. This is a true coming of age story that deals with grief, setbacks, tragedy, mystery and amongst all, family. Although this book is filled with heartbreak, there were also moments that I found myself giggling.

This is a book that can not go unread. Do not put it on your "to be read shelf" , just read the book.

You will thank me later....

Five Dazzling Stars!

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is narrated by Sally Holt, a middle schooler, who is enjoying her summer with her older sister Kathy. She looks up to her sister, and observes Kathy's blossoming relationship with Billy Barnes who works at the concession stand at the summer pool. Kathy and Billy's romance flourishes and Sally is fascinated by it. As the reader becomes more immersed in the family relationships, unexpected tragedy hits, upending everyone's life. How does Sally grieve? How do her parents go on? This book highlights the bonds that people share through living through trauma. It's an interesting coming of age story, showing how the absence of someone can be just as strong of a presence in one's journey. I will say, personally, the relationship in this story is a bit troubling for me, but I can see where the author was going with it.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Based on the title and cover, I was expecting a mystery/thriller and I was pleasantly surprised by this coming of age story. This story is about an average family navigating grief and loss. The title totally embodies what the book is about as Sally writes of her older sister Kathy's death, and the events leading up to it as well as what happened afterward. The characters were well developed and so relatable that I was rooting for all of them to pull through as a family. It was sad to read about but I also found myself laughing a lot at Sally’s dry, dark humor. I liked the writing style and it was a quick read for me even though it’s different than what I would usually read! I loved this book. I will read this author again.

Best described as a dark coming-of-age novel, "Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance" is as thought-provoking as it is poignant. Like many coming-of-age stories, it's much more character-driven than plot-driven, though there is still very much a central plot to the story.

For readers looking for a missing-persons thriller, be not deceived by this (still perfect, if you ask me) title, because this is not that. This is a commentary on grief, and one that's so beautifully done. Our main character unexpectedly loses her sister, and consequently is forced to grow up and navigate life without her at the epicenter of a normal family sliding into dysfunction and disconnection because of their grief.

Espach's prose is darkly realistic and darkly funny; this book is a free-fall into the introspective teenage mind of Sally Holt and what the gaping absence of her sister Kathy means for her life, past, present, and future. If you are someone going through a difficult grieving process, proceed with caution; Espach's characters are heart-wrenchingly human, and their attempts to assign meaning in their lives (or simply find it again) after Kathy's death is something I found almost uncomfortable to sit with at times.

Who are we when we lose an irreplaceable part of ourselves?
How do we go on (especially without guilt) when a loved one's grave beckons us to stay firmly planted in the throes of grief?

"Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance" attempts to answer these questions with Sally Holt as their vehicle, and for me, it was a triumph.

I loved this book, surprisingly. I loved Sally and Billy and I found their story and their chemistry charming and believable.

When the book begins, Kathy is crushing on Billy and she enlists her sister Sally to watch him and talk about him. They spend afternoons at the pool where Billy works and eventually, Billy and Sally become an item. He's a basketball star. They date for most of Billy's senior year, but then tragedy strikes. Suddenly, the future changes for everyone.

As sweet as the coming-of-age, teen romance story leading up to the tragedy was, the aftermath is so much more compelling. Everything has changed and their trajectories have just stopped. Billy, in particular, has had his life derailed. But Sally and her family are also irrevocably changed. Sally becomes obsessed with Billy, though she tries not to be, but Sally's family has declared Billy persona non grata.

After the tragedy, Sally is left to fend for herself, as her parents descend into a morass of grief, alcohol and recriminations. She suffers her own grief and heartbreak and grows closer to Billy, as a result.

I highly recommend this book.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the arc.

This novel is narrated by Sally whose sister Kathy is suddenly killed. Sally was 13 and Kathy was 16 at the time. We watch Sally and her family grieve through Sally’s eyes as she talks to Kathy in “notes”. Sally’s grief is shown in her narrative throughout the novel and it’s gut wrenching. Even more so because Sally grows close with Kathy’s boyfriend Billy who her family disapproves of. The story is centered around Sally’s life as she grows over the course of 15 years. Billy and Kathy are the survivors.
Sally’s notes were very engaging and each page made me want to know more and more. The story was very relatable. By the end I felt hopeful for the characters but needed a little more as I felt it ended abruptly and I have some unanswered questions. This was 4.5 * read for me. Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the EArc and the chance to review it!

Wow. I loved this! I went in thinking it would be a thriller (based on the title maybe?) but really it was a beautiful, heart-aching story about grief. Espach painted a beautiful picture of sisterhood and captured the complexity of family tragedy. I would keep the tissues close. This one really got me. I found myself thinking about this book for days after. I would strongly recommend this book!

Finally. A book that I finish and say "wow". It's been ages since I've had this feeling. The book hangover. The wish that a story could just go on and on...

This is a story about love and loss. It's a coming of age story. It's about the affects of grief on a family.

Sally is in 8th grade and her sister Kathy is in high school. They are close and share so much. The way that Sally looked up to kathy reminded me so much of when I was that age and how I looked up to older girls and wanted to be them. Things like admiring their long beautiful hair and the way they wore large earrings that made them look exotic.

The story (told in the first person) starts with their sister relationship. Their sharing secrets and their mutual crush on a boy named Billy. Then Kathy dies. The story covers the next 10 years. It covers the change in the family and the changes in Kathy - and Billy.

I just loved this book. I loved Sally so much. I loved Billy. I loved them all - even the grieving crazy mother. It was sad, it was sweet, it was funny. My only real complaint was that i wanted MORE. It ended almost perfectly - but I still wanted more. If the author had given me more, I probably would have complained about taking the easy way out, or being trite, but I still wanted more.

I will totally read another book by this author.

Thank you to the author - #AlisonEspach - the publisher and to #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

This was a really well-written tale of grief, told over a decade from Sally, the protagonist, to her older sister who died, Kathy. It was a great commentary on how grief can shift families and become a part of your own identity. Sally was the sister and daughter who survived, which comes with its own kind of guilt. Funny in moments, I really enjoyed this book.

I loved everything about this book (except how I read most of it in tears). It's perfectly written with characters that are so likable. I finished this book a few days ago and I keep thinking about it. Highly recommend this to everyone, but be prepared to cry.


I received a free copy of this ebook from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All expressed opinions are my own and do not reflect any stance or position held by the author or publisher. This did not affect my rating or review in any way.

Set over 15 years, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach is a letter from Sally to Kathy, her beloved older sister.

Following the lives of the Holt family both before and after they are shattered by the untimely death of Kathy, this story deals with grief in a way that many books have failed to do. Sally is left to pick up the pieces and to the survivor, to the one to lived. She's the child left over, the girl who survived. She's the one who her parents still talk to, the one in between, the one they sometimes forget about, the one they cry to, the one they yell at. Sally is also the one that Billy, Kathy's boyfriend, calls at night to talk to, to cry to.

Through the years, Sally and Billy grow closer and together they deal with their heartache and pain. It's both heartbreaking and somehow romantic.

I loved this book. I found Sally to be heartbreakingly familiar and the saddest of all. While her parents suffered outwardly with anger and alcohol, Sally still went to school and tried to carry on, living in the room she once shared with Kathy.

[My ONE comment - is the names Sally and Kathy seem out of date for the time period - however- that's my own thing as Kathy would have been just a year or two younger than me. ]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a coming of age story dealing with loss and grief. The story spans the time that Sally is in 8th grade and covers the next 15 years. We learn about Sally's close relationship with her older sister Kathy, Kathy's death, and then how Sally must grow up without her sister's guidance while her parents are emotionally unavailable due to their own grief. Touching and real.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sally and Kathy shared everything as sisters. When Kathy died, Sally's life, along with their parents, forever changed. Billy, Kathy's boyfriend, and the driver of the car in which she died, plays an important role in the family's healing.

Thank you so much netgalley for this ARC. This book had such a great story and was I was very immersed into the world of these characters. I did find myself a bit confused at times in regards the the timeline of things, but overall this was a great read.