This book surprised me. I’m not sure what exactly I was thinking it would be about, but it was an interesting combination of grief, love and heartache. I enjoyed the thought process of the main characters feelings after her sisters death. I can’t imagine being in a situation like that. I loved how the author portrayed the true roller coaster of grief and emotions after a loved one dies. It sucks! One minute everything is fine and then the next you are crying in a grocery store because you find a food the person used to love. The raw emotions were felt in this book! I struggled a little with the sister and boyfriend connection…that was the reason for my lower rating. I get the true connection, but I think it went a little too far at times.

✨Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance✨
By Alison Espach
🎧Audiobook🎧 @netgalley

Sally tells this story over the course of 15 years…before, during, and after her sister Kathy’s death. Sally loses her sister in a tragic accident during the summer of her eighth grade year. They were the typical sisters with a couple year age gap- Sally looked up to everything Kathy did, said, wore, etc. she idolized her sister. But then she was gone…what was Sally supposed to do now?

Sally works her way through life trying to live through the grief of losing her sister at a young age. She tries to console her parents who never imagined having a child die before they did. She tries to connect to the one person who loved and cared for Kathy just as much as she did, Kathy’s boyfriend, Billy Barnes.

This story was raw, emotional, and lovely all in one. It takes the readers (or listeners) through the ups and downs of grief and loss. There is no end to grief…you just get better at dealing with it at times. Other times it still knocks you off your feet.

I just reviewed Notes on Your Sudden Disapperabce by Alison Espach #netgalley

#notesonyoursuddendisappearance #netgalley #audiobooks #bookreview #bookreviewer #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #grief #loss #justkeepreading #audiobooksarebookstoo #booksbooksbooks #alisonespach

This may be one of the best books I've read this year. I really enjoyed the story as an exploration of grief. It was really beautifully written and I've thought a lot about this one since finishing it.

I couldn't get into this one and part of that may have been the way the book was marketed. It was marketed as more of a mystery, but it was a family drama. This led me to not liking what I was getting into because I was expecting something different. I tried to go back to it, but family dramas really aren't for me.

This was not really the story I was expecting from the description. This was much more of a character study or a coming of age story than a love story. The book dwells in the mundane moments, and branches off into a lot of tangents while telling the story. While I found the perspective and narrative voice interesting, I did not find the book very compelling and did not really want to keep picking it up. Later, the book jumps time periods with little context and you only find out deep into a chapter that years have passed by. And, the brief ending resolution is not really much compared to all that came before it. I wish it had been given more space.

The audiobook reader gave a great performance, skillfully modulating voices for different characters and bringing emotional weight to this tragic story. The pacing was a bit slow though.

I was very excited about this book and it just wasn't what I was hoping for. That being said, it is wonderfully written and still a very good book. It is sad and I would check the trigger warnings before diving into this one.

I loved everything about this coming-of-age, sad, sweet love story. The characters, the emotion, the timeline, the growth, the healing. Grief is such a personal journey and to see how so many deal with it and learn to move forward was a unique experience. I especially enjoyed listening to the audiobook and immediately had to get a hard copy to add to my favorites shelf.

This was a strong and powerful audiobook.
This was more in the literary fiction genre, and reminded me a lot of the style of 'Notes on an Execution by Danya Kapka, and not just the title!
I was gripped through the majority of the book, although I think the pace could have helped with being a little faster for my full and total enjoyment.
The writing was stunning, Sally's observations about life after her sister's death had me gasping with it's beautiful brutality- the depictions of grief are so accurate. How life goes on when your world has stopped turning.

NOTES ON YOUR SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE, by Alison Espach, is narrated by Sally before, during, and after her older sisters sudden death as a teenager. It spans about 15 years and Sally is saying all this like she’s keeping her sister informed of how things are going in her absence. How their parents are coping, what her friends have become, and whenever she runs into her sisters boyfriend over the years.

It’s touching to see how Sally feels conflicted about her milestones and accomplishments because her sister never got to do it herself. It’s understandable but still rather heartbreaking.

Thanks NetGalley and Harry Holt and Company for giving me this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook and the narrator had a pleasing voice and gave each person their own voice. 4 stars!

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a character-driven story through which the theme of grief is beautifully told. It helps you realize how differently every one grieves. Sally is young when her sister passes away suddenly in a tragic car accident. Her family's life is turned upside down. Over time she stays in touch with Billy, her sister's boyfriend and the driver of the car in which she is killed. Their relationship is pivotal to the story. Really enjoyed!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

I’m another person who didn’t read the synopsis and went into this book thinking it was a thriller. But even once I figured out it wasn’t, I still enjoyed it.

The story follows Sally who loses her big sister Kathy in a car accident. It’s a coming of age story about life, grief, survivor’s guilt, and love.

It was a little slow for me but it was enjoyable; therefore I’m giving it 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review

I’m struggling to describe how I feel about this book. It’s an incredibly sad story from the perspective of a girl who loses her sister in a tragic car accident that she survives. She experiences a loss at a young age and has parents that struggle to cope. I was waiting for something new or different to happen, but that was truly it. It was well written, but I was hoping that there was going to be something more to this story.

I’m so torn on this book. I loved the characters and the realistic depictions of loss. It just felt like listening to your friend tell her life story at happy hour. I was engrossed but not sure why she was telling it. I don’t know I think if the ending was more fulfilling it would have sat better with me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this narrator. She gave all the characters a unique voice that made them easy to differentiate.

This coming of age story captivated me from the very beginning. It was emotional and thought provoking. I enjoyed getting to know the characters through the story tellers perspective. I would recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan for allowing me access to this advanced copy.

Nothing quite pulls at my heartstrings like a good coming-of-age novel. Combine that with a heartfelt portrayal of love and loss, and I am sold, as is the case with Alison Espach’s new novel, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance. What a magnificent book! As someone who moves on to my next read quickly after finishing a book, I am happy to say that this nostalgic novel will stay with me for some time.

Told in the second person from Sally to her older sister Kathy, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance spans 15 years as Sally comes to terms with the events leading up to, and those that follow, Kathy’s untimely death. The story follows Sally and Kathy during their last summer together, young girls on the cusp of womanhood, who both only have eyes for Billy, the local heartthrob. Of course, Sally could never admit this to Kathy, who ends up dating Billy, but she finds herself quite fascinated with her sister’s boyfriend.

After Kathy dies, Sally and Billy gravitate toward each other, comforting one another in their shared grief. As Sally attempts to forge a new life for herself in a world that no longer holds her sister, Billy is there helping her keep Kathy’s memory alive. What we are left with is a frank and authentic account of what it is like to move forward in grief after losing the person who means the most to you, and how it shapes the people we become.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a book that you feel, a book that you experience, which makes it difficult to put into words. This novel is full of such longing and introspection, as a young girl grows into a woman in the wake of her effervescent older sister’s death. How do we go on after losing those who mean the world to us? As Sally shows us, in fits and starts, putting one foot in front of the other while also looking back longingly at everything we leave behind.

Espach’s masterpiece is a witty, resonant portrait of grief manifested in a teenage girl. A true coming-of-age story in the vein of the 1991 film My Girl, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is both haunting and candid, both ugly and beautiful, and is truly a book to behold.

I listened to an audiobook production of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, read by Jesse Vilinsky, who is one of my all-time favorite narrators. Vilinsky is excellent on every audiobook she narrates, and Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is no exception. She gives such voice to the young Sally, enveloping us in an intimate conversation between her and Kathy, as she shares her innermost thoughts with the sister who is no longer with her. I highly recommend this book on audio due to Vilinsky’s way of bringing characters to life and giving them depth and personality.

Melancholic yet captivating and hopeful. Teenage years interrupted by grief. A life shaped by overcoming loss. But mostly, a love letter to a sister.

Little sisters have a way of idolizing big sisters. Sally was only 3 years younger than Kathy, but those extra few years combined with Sally’s total adoration allowed Kathy to guide Sally as she matured. Or she did until Kathy suddenly died in a tragic accident. Without Kathy, Sally was left rudderless. Lost and adrift.

The book is narrated by Sally as she talks to Kathy, her internal dialogue laid bare detailing the depth of emotion that spans more than a decade as she grapples with the loss.

Espach masterfully utilized first person POV to vividly entrench me into Sally’s inner monologue. Every emotion she experienced was so vividly portrayed that I felt it alongside Sally. The conflict between being crippled by grief and living a full life was intense and wholly relatable. As the story progressed and Sally’s voice evolved, I became more deeply connected to her, fully invested in her life and her healing.

The slower pace of the story felt fitting to this intimate and raw exposition on grief. The journey was intricate in nature, showcasing the full arc of the stages and emotions. While much of the novel is drenched in sorrow, lighter moments and an overall sense of hope created balance.

While the symbolism in the story’s conclusion worked, the open-endedness of it left me wanting. After feeling so deeply connected with Sally, I was desperate for more. And yet maybe no ending could properly match the emotion the rest of the novel evoked.

This novel has sat deeply with me after my own recent experiences with loss. It was cathartic in a way I didn’t even know I needed.

I enjoyed the physical copy of this book most, but the audiobook narrated by Jesse Villinsky is excellently done and gave a distinct voice to Sally and her grief.

Thank you @henryholtbooks and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies.

A powerful coming-of-age story told by one girl to her sister over the course of 15 years.

What do you get when you have two sisters and one boy? A love triangle destined for tragedy. Told through the perspective of Sally, it felt like diving into someone's deepest secrets kept in their diary. We see Sally's viewpoint before, during, and after the tragic death of her sister and how grief can shape each person affected in very different ways. The one constant throughout is Billy Barnes, and he's the only one. who truly. understands Sally after her sister dies, but Sally is forbidden from talking to Billy.

I felt like the overall plot line was very well done, but I do feel that it sort of drug on at times. This could be due to the fact that I listened to the audiobook version and it was only one narrator so it became monotone at some points. Exploring and writing about grief from the viewpoint of a sibling was very interesting, especially since the entire book was told as if Sally were talking/writing notes directly to her sister. It was a one-sided dialogue to Heaven. I enjoyed this one overall, but I wish that there had been more than one narrator for the audiobook.

Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance is a first-person narrative of Sally Halt as she reflects on the before, during, and aftermath of her sister’s death.

On the surface, the plot explores a sad and depressing subject matter, which somehow feels a bit lighter through the lens of a teenager. We witness Sally navigate the awkward and sometimes mundane teenage years - she internally debates whether high school is only about sex. Often, I found myself chuckling through these scenes. But the mundane is compounded by the tragic loss of her sister, as Sally contemplates that her teenage brattiness may have contributed to Kathy’s death. This interlacing is where the book shines and creates a fascinating character study.

As for the deeper side of this novel, Espach expertly explores the profoundly emotional levels of grief. Sally witnesses the sinkhole of her sister’s death and tries to make sense of how people (mom, dad, Kathy’s boyfriend) around her are affected by Kathy’s death. Each journey is intensely different, showing that the healing process is rarely linear and acceptance elusive.

I liked the audiobook slightly better than the physical book as a first person narrative. Jess Vilinsky, our narrator, captures Sally’s quirkiness and adds to the realism, showing the deep permanence of grief but, with time, becomes manageable.

If you are looking for a heavier, coming-of-age, character-driven novel this summer after too many light and fluffy reads, I definitely recommend this one! Alison Espach’s writing is incredible.

Wow! This was incredible writing that made the characters shine through a book with a slower paced plot. I prefer character driven and this really the spot! Sally's dryness and the way we do through tedious everyday scenarios with her as she grieves gave me some vibes from the show the office if it was darker. You want to walk through each day and grow as Sally grows. You don't know that she even can and it feels hopeless. Then you see a glimmer of light and follow it and it leads to more hopelessness and then eventually another glimmer. I laughed throughout the book at her thought processes and will think about how the sisters had to put all of their curse words in bag for a long time! Truly loved this story and as someone about the same age as Sally, I also enjoyed the timeline details of what was going on outside of the family.

3.5 stars.

An introspective and nostalgic look at what grief looks like for a young adult. Grief stories are my bookish catnip and while I did enjoy this and I think it hits the mark on many occasions, it required undivided attention for what is an absolute slow burning character study.

I didn’t particular love the ending but that’s me.

I am glad that I circled back to finish this but I’m not sure it has staying power. Time will tell.

This coming of age story had my heart in my throat the whole time. It’s a bit of a slow burn and very well done.. It’s told thru the point of view of Sally, Kathy’s younger sister who dies in a tragic accident . We are taken thru the grieving process of the parents, the sister and of Billy, who was the boyfriend and driver. Such a sad story and yet full of happy moments between sisters. The narration gave it that extra touch of emotion. Fantastic.