An incredibly well written story of heartbreak as we follow the life of Sally from her early teens to mid 20's. Sally is a precocious and articulate middle class girl living the life in suburbia. She worships her sister Kathy and provides all of us with some much needed 80's nostalgia and insights. I too, spent many a day at the community pool, and remember watching and noting every move the cool older girls made.

This book of course, includes a tragedy, and we know before we start that Kathy will pass away. Alison Espach has created an indelible character that still impacts loved ones many years after her death.

I don't go out of my way to choose books with sad topics, but I am so glad I read this. Allison Espach has written such a lovely novel that you feel lucky that you had a chance to meet Kathy and Sally as children and there is a ribbon of hopefulness and happiness woven throughout the story. If you miss the 80's, love a beautifully written book or just love coming-of-age novels, then #NotesOnYourSuddenDisappearance is for you! #NetGalley #NetGalleyReads #HenryHolt

I loved this book for a couple of reasons. The characters were multidimensional and the story kept my interest. It is a story about how a tragedy ripples through the family and every member handles grief their own way. I highly recommend this well-written novel that touched my heart throughout the pages.

The first word that comes to mind is dark but it’s not really. It’s more sad than it is dark. It is a story of grief and coming of age. The author/narrator felt really and authentic and wasn’t too “fiction” like to follow along and relate in some parts, as it is about the aftermath of a loss and how one deals and lives with grief. I have recommended it to a few friends already and thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I couldn't put this one down. Each character is absorbing in their own right—especially Sally whose voice is the perfect blend of grief and humor—making it easy to follow along with her and her family, even at times when the story is too light on plot. And the sisters' relationship is so well-written, a mesmerizing and recognizable sibling dynamic that makes everything following Kathy's death strike deeper.

Sally narrates to her older sister beginning in the eight grade. She watches as Kathy falls in love and begins to grow up. Then tragedy strikes and Sally is never the same. Spanning fifteen years, Sally continues to narrate her life and grief to her sister.

This is a book that will stick with you for a while after reading it. It’s authentic and meaningful. I love a coming of age story, especially when there are some heavy hitting topics like grief. This was also a really compelling family story, which was heartbreaking but also at times genuinely funny.

“Billy understood that my real life was over, and that his real life was over, and now we were living in some alternate universe where nothing mattered except each other.”

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance comes out 5/17.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach is a coming-of-age story that is heartbreaking, emotional, smart, and not without humor. It is a story of grief and guilt. But it is also a love story.

Thirteen year old Sally and her older sister Kathy, share a mutual fascination with high school senior Billy Barnes that began in elementary school. Kathy has always been a wealth of knowledge to Sally; the older, brilliant sister to look up to. Then Kathy and Billy start dating which sets in motion the tragedy that results in Kathy’s death.

What is exceptional about this novel is its first person point of view narration from Sally as she talks to her sister before, during, and after her death. It is through Sally’s eyes that we explore the trauma, grief, guilt, and healing of her family. The storytelling through Sally’s voice that is directly addressing her sister is at times gut-wrenching. Such as when she explains her death to her and the reaction of her parents. But it is what makes the novel raw and real. Espach’s prose is just beautiful: “There is a dark hole inside of me, where you used to be; it’s the space where I live now. It’s soundless and windless and without gravity”.

I was captivated by these characters and Espach’s prose. I felt the end was strong and suited the characters and stayed true to their journey. However, I wasn’t quite ready to part with them and felt a little more time spent on explaining a few details for closure would strengthen the ending.

**4 1/2 stars**

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for approving my request.

This book was intensely captivating - it is a hard subject to write about, but the storytelling is incredibly well done. It was a subtle and beautiful portrayal of the many different ways that grief can affect people.

4.5 stars rounded up. I very well may buy the physical copy when it comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the chance to read this book!

When Emily St. John Mandel praises a book as "deeply moving, always excellent, and often unexpectedly funny," my expectations are going to be sky-high, so frankly I was a bit wary to read Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance - I didn't want to be disappointed if it didn't live up to the hype. Happily, and astonishingly, it exceeded it.

I absolutely loved this book. It's in that elusive sweet spot - strong plot, compelling characters, AND excellent writing. I felt so strongly for Sally - and, even though we never hear from them directly, for her mother, her father, and Billy, her sister Kathy's boyfriend when she died. Even though most of the book takes place in the aftermath of the accident that kills Kathy, she's such a vivid character, too. (I will note that plot-wise, it reminded me strongly of another ARC I've read recently, Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong. At a high level, they can be described quite similarly - girl loses beloved sister to a horrific accident, trauma-bonds with her left-behind partner, their relationship begins to transform...)

On reflection, it's fitting that Emily St. John Mandel wrote the review she did. She's described her recently adapted-for-TV book, Station Eleven, as a story not about the apocalypse, but about post-apocalyptic joy; Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is similar. Kathy's death is apocalyptic for Sally and her family - but, though their grief is endless, there's joy to be found, too. (Along those lines, while the ending may be controversial, I loved it.)

5+ stars. I'll be buying a copy to reread, and I've requested Alison Espach's first novel from the library.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It’s hard to write a captivating book about death and have it be uplifting but Alison Espach manages to do so. I was engaged and couldn’t put it down. The book describes the struggles when a young family member dies a tragic death—filled with the spirit and determination to still be “who one is” even after tragedy. Personally I recalled an event from elementary school when we still could be “crossing safetys” and tell kids when they could cross the street. A young girl who was the “safety” told her younger sister it was safe to cross and the young sister was hit and killed by a car. That family moved from the town and I hope somewhere had an okay if not all good life.

The primary characters were well developed and intriguing and the series of boyfriends of the surviving daughter gives subtle keys to her character. Some of the images in the book were outstanding especially the end when a hurricane comes that is named Kathy,the same as the deceased sister. As the hurricane passes over the reader sees healing occur. As a psychologist I found the book realistic, tender and thought-provoking. I recommend it highly.

This is the sort of book that grabs you by the short emotional hairs and holds on tight for the duration of the narrative. The fact that it is told in a sort of mirror reflection second person point of view makes the book that much more compelling and palpable.
(spoilers ahead)
Sally Holt tells the story in first person, but writing it as a sort of report to Kathy, her older sister who dies in a tragic car accident while still in high school. The fact of Kathy's sudden death (which occurs in the first 1/4 of the plot) and what it does to Sally, her parents, and Billy Barnes, the boy who adored Kathy but who had the bad luck to be driving the car that day, forms the backbone of an amazing story of personal growth from terrible, inexplicable tragedy.
By continuing to refer to her dead sister as "you" throughout the book, Sally tells us the unvarnished truth of how different people process grief and about how she and her parents deal with (or not, as the case may be) her (Kathy's) horrible death. She reports in on Billy, who heads into a self destructive spiral, which she knows at first because she and Billy strike up a late night into the early morning hours sort of phone therapy. Sally herself is a mess in a lot of ways but manages to eke out a semi-normal high school life in a small town where she has to drive by the site of the car crash every single day. Her bond with Billy grows but then disperses once she realizes that she can shake off some of her grief by simply leaving town to go to college, then spending a summer abroad, then moving to New York City where she meets and gets engaged to a perfectly nice man, a failed musician, now a lawyer, from Canada.
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is grindingly real, the grief of Kathy's family and boyfriend raw and throat scraping. But it's a testament to the author that for most of its sometimes hard-to-read passages, it is pure poetry.

Awesome book! When 14-year-old Sally, her 16-year-old sister Kathy and Kathys boyfriend Billy have a car wreck on the way to school, Sally and Billy are fine but Kathy dies.

The story is written as if Sally is writing to Kathy about what is happening. Sallys parents blame Billy and refuse to speak with him but Sally begins an online discussion with him. People grieve differently and Sally got comfort from talking about Kathy with Billy when it wasn’t discussed at home with her parents. I felt it was an interesting twist.

Very interesting. Kept me wanting to see what happens. Would definitely recommend. My thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for allowing me to read this book.

Add this one to your list (and a box or 4 of tissues), y’all.

This book was tear-jerking, sobering, laugh-out-loud-alone-in-my-room funny, and so good I could hardly put it down to sleep.

Written from the point of view of Sally Holt talking to her older sister, Kathy, in the time before, during, and after her death, this story shows you a dozen different colors of grief and how it changes with time (and changes us with it).

Sally and her sister Kathy - three years her senior and therefore by default the coolest person she knows - are an inseparable duo for most of their young lives. No matter what life has in store for them, the two lie in their shared room at night and talk about their days, their thoughts, and their dreams. As time goes by, one dream becomes a reality: Kathy’s longtime crush Billy Barnes, the high school basketball star who has been a local legend due to his fearlessness on and off the court, has noticed her back. But their romance is wild and short lived, as before the end of their first year together, Kathy is killed in a horrific accident that sends ripples of pain and shock through everyone’s lives.

Heartbroken, traumatized, and unable to communicate openly with anyone else about what happened, Sally finds herself desperately trying to find healing in any way she can - and ultimately finds again and again that the only person who really understands what she’s going through is Billy.

Over the course of fifteen years, we watch the ways that Kathy’s too-short life impacted those of everyone around her, in a gritty and raw coming-of-age tale that shows the winding and often unsatisfying truth of living with grief.

I have mixed feelings on this one - great writing that immerses you in the story, but I feel like this went the same way other similar books related to ‘dealing with grief’ go for me. there’s only so much you can do and so many places to go with a topic like this, and this one is split into 3 parts: before Kathy’s death, immediately after, and several (maybe 10? cant remember the exact timeline) years later. I was very invested in the first part and learning about the sisters’ relationship, but I felt like after the death occurs it just kinda meanders around.

There are moments in life that many of us will look back upon, recognizing them as more significant than we could have ever expected as they happened in real time. They were those tiny, innocuous choices. They were representative of our best and worst choices. They are the moments now that we wish we could change. We didn’t know what they were capable of becoming and they have poisoned us with regret.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a reflection on grief. The narrator, Sally, recalls fragments of her childhood in a before and after sequence. She brings the readers to the moment that stole an enormous piece of her. She tells us of the looming, impossible pain in the aftermath.

The story builds slowly as Sally reflects back upon her most memorable experiences with her sister, Kathy. We always know Kathy is going to die. We know it somehow pertains to her longtime crush and, eventually, boyfriend, but we don’t know what part he played until it happens. Once I reached that scene, this book completely clenched my heart and did not let go. I loved the melancholic, reflective tone from the start, but my adoration for the story increased as time went on.

While the topic explored is a sad one, this is not a dark, dreary tale. We see both the ache and the normalcy of Sally’s day to day life as she comes of age. The narrative voice felt authentic and I loved Sally’s sense-of-humor. The story simply demonstrated how grief becomes a part of who we are, how the process of grieving is permanent, how deeply we each long for a connection that will ease its lonely burden, and how differently it manifests in each person who has experienced the common loss.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance proved to be a well-crafted, insightful story that will easily resonate with anyone who has experienced significant loss. It’s rich in all that makes us human and I loved being found in it for a while.

I am immensely grateful to Henry Holt and Co. for my digital review copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance will be out on May 17, 2022.

This book was amazing! I devoured it all on one day. It was the perfect read a snowy Saturday.

The book starts with young tween Sally and her relationship with her older sister Kathy who she worshipped to the fall-out of her sister's sudden death.

Although the story flows Sally from age 12 through age 28 the book didn't have a YA aspect to it. I found it gripping and relatable even when Sally was still 12-13.

Highly recommend this book!

Thanks to the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time after you finish it. It's a coming of age story, and it's a story about the ways a family handles grief. It's also about the connections we make and how deep they run.

I devoured this book in a couple of days. The writing has such a nice flow and the story was so engaging. I really liked Sally and I was so invested in how things were going to develop and turn out for her after her sister Kathy dies. But for such a heavy subject, there were some lighter, more funny parts as well. I also enjoyed the style of narration, that had Sally writing to her sister. In some books that might not work, but it's perfect here.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC. I loved this one.

A gorgeous and dark coming of age story, Alison Espach’s “Notes on My Sudden Disappearance” is a novel that will grab you by the heart and not let you go. It's narrative is a young girl living in the shadow of a traumatic event involving her older sister and her boyfriend, Billy. As the sister who survives, Sally’s life goes on, largely shaped by her sister, Kathy’s absence, and her growing attachment to the one person who seems to understand the pain she continues to experience, Billy. The characters are engaging, and the story is beautifully written, and authentic.

This is the best book I have read so far this year. It deals beautifully with relationships and grief, how people live after trauma, guilt, and ultimately, how we forgive ourselves and go on living. Highly recommended. I read this book on Kindle but will be ordering a hardback copy.

Alison Espach never fails to write exactly how it feels to be a child coming of age in New England. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is no different, following Sally Holt as she learns what it takes to grieve and fall in love (and the middle ground between the two). Being a sister, daughter, twenty-something has been more accurately described in a single book. I will think of this book often, and call my sister to tell her I love her.

Sally's sister Kathy was killed in a car accident as a teenager. This is the story of their family before and after. Sally was a great character, funny and weird, and I really liked her friendship with Billy. I enjoyed this book a lot, favorite of the year so far. 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

Beautifully written heartbreaking a novel that drew me in kept me emotionally involved.aA young girl her sisters death her life growing up in the shadows of this tragedy.Will be recommending.#netgalley #henryholtt