Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Alison Espach for the advanced listening copy of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance in exchange for my honest review.

I'll start by saying I appreciated how well-written Sally's inner monologues were. It's always fun for me to get to know a character from their honest, innermost thoughts.

Unfortunately that's about where my enjoyment of this one ended. I felt kinda yucked out by the major plot line. Additionally, I'm no prude, but the weirdly constant use of the word "tits" was just a complete sticking point for me. I could not get over it, and it did not feel like it added anything to the story at all.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance will be on bookshelves May 17.

I found the saddest book of 2022! And of course I devoured it. "Notes" is told from Sally Holt's viewpoint, a young girl in the 90s living in the shadow of her popular, carefree sister Kathy. Kathy dies in a tragic car accident while Sally and Kathy's boyfriend Billy survive. The story then spans decades as the Holt family and Billy grieve, desperately trying to latch onto Kathy's ephemeral presence in their home and in their lives. Kathy's mom turns to a psychic, her father becomes emotionally despondent, Billy turns to religion, and Sally to dating. The author dissects the inconsistencies of grief and the various coping mechanisms people seek out in the midst of tragedy. This book felt like a hybrid of "Ask Again Yes" and "Dear Edward:" it is unapologetically sad (I don't think there was one single funny scene) but in a way that creates connection, recognizing the slow, complex work of grief.

Notes on your sudden dissapearance by Alison Espach
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Kathy and sally are sisters. Like any other set of sisters, they are close. They love eachother, they fight . They annoy eachother but they always have eachothers backs .
One day, Billy Barnes; Kathys boyfriend drives the girls to school . . And it ends in a tragic accident . Caused by suddenly becoming stationary after speeding down main st . Sally and Billy emerge with non life threatening injuries. But Kathy , she died on impact .

This whole story is told by little sister Sally . Like a diary . She speaks of the life before . When kathy was full of life and had potential. She tells of the accident . And how it looked from the back seat . She explains the after math . The fear, the pain, the heart ache . The nothingness of loosing someone you love so suddenly and tragically. Sally goes deep inside to have you see how her family diminished painfully . How Billy; got away with murder . How Sally herself broke down .

This is a beautiful story of torment and reconciliation. Coming to terms and growing from the pain that no one could have imagined. Through all this the author still somehow gets you to laugh . After of course, having your heart punched .

This was a fictionalized memoir feel . The audio was the best part. I enjoyed the reading and how it was so full of different personalities and emotions

Trigger warnings must be applied . Theres alot of teens acting like adults . And gory details . Talk of suicide.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio

This is a beautiful story Sally, her sister Kathy and Kathy's boyfriend Billy. When Kathy has a terrible tragedy, it changes the trajectory of the lives of her parents, Sally and Billy. The story of how grief affects each person so differently and how it can get under your skin and never ever leave you. And how some people grow closer as a result while others are torn apart. There's no right way to grieve and no ways to choose what comes next. It's a beautiful coming of age story in the middle of unspeakable grief.

With gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

Sally and Kathy share a bedroom and are very close. Kathy dies in an accident and her family is grieving. The book is split into three parts, before Kathy dies, during, and afterwards. Story did not grab me.

Well done narration.

For me this book started out slow and a little all over the place. I’m glad I stuck with it because it got better and ended well. There were still a few times I was like “what” but overall a solid 4 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach.

Oh wow, I love books like this! Getting a bird's eye view into the world of a family over the span of decades. So good. Do not let the length scare you. It won't take too much time before you are swept away in this saga full of love, grief and forgiveness.

Sally lives a life that looks very similar to the lives of many middle class teens. Her parents are still married and she looks up to her big sister Kathy, who is constantly teaching Sally all about life and love. But Kathy's attention is now split between Sally, and Kathy's new boyfriend Billy, who is a shining star in both of their eyes.

But then tragedy happens, and Sally is left narrating this whole story to Kathy over the span of years. And in their own way, they continue through life as beloved sisters.

Like I said, so good. The author did such a good job fleshing out the complicated web of this family and what grief does to it. No one is the hero or villain, they are all just imperfect people dealing with their lives in the best way possible. I was honestly sad when this ended, I so enjoyed this story.

A beautiful coming of age story with a focus on grief and how the loss of someone effects a family. Told by Sally, parts of her life across the span of 15 years, to her older sister Kathy. When Sally and Kathy are teenagers they obsess over Billy Barnes and he eventually becomes Kathy’s boyfriend. Billy becomes an integral part of both girls lives and ends up playing a role in the death of Kathy. Sally and Billy end up forming a strong bond over their shared grief. Over the course of Sally’s narrative we explore Sally’s relationship with her sister, her parents and various love interests. The story is heavy on character development and though the topic is sadder, the book is full of light moments. Truly a beautiful story that will pull you in from the beginning.

I am left conflicted about this book. We follow the life of Sally Holt from when she was in 8th grade up until she is 28 yo. The book is told from her perspective, it is about her growing up, school and family drama, her first love, and navigating her teenage years. I will say that the book is dark, but Sally has a great sense of humor and some parts made me laugh out loud. It is a great balance between darkness and "life is going on", but be aware there are major TWs.

The audio format is amazing, the narration is perfect. I was able to hear all emotions and the tone, and the atmosphere and it was such a pleasure to listen to the narrator's voice. Audio gets 5 stars from me no doubt.

I had a hard time with the story itself. I've read the coming of age books before, and while they are not my preferred subgenre I usually enjoy them. This book got extremely boring to me at about 60% in, I feel very bad by saying this because the author did a very good job, her writing is complex and rich. The story just felt repetitive to me at points, we circled around and around for some time before moving forward. I loved it enough to keep listening, but if not for the audio format would have had a different experience.

To conclude, I would highly recommend an audio version of this book.

When I saw this book was recommended for fans of Ask Again, Yes, I knew I had to read it! Ask Again, Yes was one of my favorite reads last year and whoever made that comparison, definitely nailed it. It's hard for me to put a finger on exactly what it is about these very specific types of reads that I enjoy, but for some reason they just really resonate with me.

This book is set over a time period of 15 years and is told from the perspective of Sally Holt talking to her sister Kathy. This is a coming-of-age story in the middle of a family tragedy (if you want to know what the tragedy is, then read the synopsis). While this book dealt with a lot of heavy things, it somehow had me laughing quite a bit at the wittiness and curiosity of the main character.

While I really enjoyed this, I do think it may take a specific audience to appreciate it fully. Some parts did drag on for a little longer than was necessary in my opinion but I was very happy with the ending.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, I was able to listen to the audio version and Jesse Vilinsky was the absolute perfect choice for this story. I've listened to her read a few young adult books previously and was so excited when I realized she was the narrator.

5/5 on the narration. 4/5 on the story.

This will be available for purchase on May 17th!

First, Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this! Here is my review:
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, by Alison Espach
dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75

First, thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book! I absolutely LOVED this. I listened via audio AND read the ebook when I was unable to listen.

The narrator's voice was POINT on. It was on point with my assessment of the characters. This was a beautifully written yet harrowing and deeply sad story. I actually was able to relate to many of the feelings and thoughts Sally experienced, from the death of a sibling, to growing up with the pressures of school, fitting in, trying to take care of her parents. I felt liKe I was able to really get to know Sally and her deep, dark desires, thoughts and passions. She was truly a very unhappy character that just kept pushing through life. I loved watching the decline and sadness her parents experienced, especially her mother. How difficult that must have been for Sally . This showed how painful aging of parents can be not only for the parents but also for the children. The author did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. At first I was unsure how I felt about the quick ending, but looking back throughout the book, it was beautifully done and I felt like Sally was finally at peace and maybe able to at last achieve some sense of happiness and joy.
Bravo Alison Espach, looking forward to reading more of your novels!

Another case of not checking what the genre is before reading and assuming it was a thriller…
Thriller, is it NOT, which is my bad. But I really enjoyed this. It is unlike anything I have read before. It’s a story of sisterhood, familial bonds, love, tragedy, missed opportunities, and how differently we handle grief. Spanning from childhood to adulthood, I enjoyed the wide timeline and thought the story was laid out very well. So less thriller, more of a coming of age story laced with a love story as well.

Growing up Sally was full of questions and constantly looked to her older sister Kathy. Through everything, they had each other and bonded especially over their shared obsession with Billy Barnes. But as Kathy enters her teens, Sally pulls into herself and worries about no longer being close to her sister. When tragedy strikes her family, they are left raw and uncertain. Sally doesn’t know how to move forward or how her life will ever make sense again. We follow along as Sally processes the tragedy, how she views those around her that have also been affected, and how it has impacted her entire life even into adulthood.





*slight spoiler below stop reading if you haven’t read it*




I really loved how this was told as if Sally was talking to Kathy and filling her in on everything she’s been thinking and everything she has gone through as if Kathy isn’t actually gone. Really unique way of telling the story!

I really enjoyed this book. Written as an open note/dialogue to her deceased sister, Sally Holt depicts life before and after tragically losing her sister in an accident at a very young age.

Sally and Kathy were best friends. They literally did everything together including obsessing over the same boy- Billy Barnes. When Kathy passes, Sally has a hard time navigating relationships with her family and Billy and processing that her sister is gone.

I loved how raw and realistic the grieving process was depicted in this book. I didn’t want to put it down. The development in Sally was huge and it was interesting to see. I did think the Billy obsession post Kathy’s death was very odd and kind of rubbed me the wrong wad but overall I was happy with Sally’s character and the author included not just a great mc arc, but almost every side character also had immense growth!

Wowowow. I love this book. So much. Net Galley, you’re no longer my nemesis because you gave me the gift that is Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance. It is the best kind of sad, melancholy, meandering book. I want to read it again and again and again.

I typically hate when books use other books I really like as a comp, but this lived up to the hype. I am no longer mad that it was compared to Ask Again, Yes. Reserving a little spot on my favorites shelf for the real thing when it’s out in print in May.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – just what I want in a book.

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.

I thought the narrator was excellent, and her male voice didn’t feel forced. She captured the tone of middle school age Sally perfectly and changed her portrayal as Sally grew up. Well done.

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

I was pleasantly surprised on how much I enjoyed this book. I believe I had mixed this up with another story and went in thinking it was a thriller. This is not nor does it claim to be. It is a literary fiction that centers around the loss of Kathy. Her sister Sally narrates this tale as if she is telling this story to her sister both before ,during and after Kathy's death. I enjoyed the writing style aspect the most about this book as it can be easy to talk to those we have lost and hope they hear us.

Although much of the story is more contemporary and does not have a lot of action it continued to keep me intrigued. Also the fact the beginning of the book takes place in the 90s gave me lots of nostalgia as that was when I grew up too.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

I struggled to get interested in this book. The story seemed to meander. I popped on to Goodreads to read a few more detailed summaries and realized this book is too sad and depressing for me. Perhaps I just don't care for "grief novels."

Main character, Sally Holt, narrates this story about the summer that changed everything for herself and her sister Kathy. Sally tells the story of her life before and after Kathy’s death, looking back on the last summer of innocence before a hurricane disrupted the lives of Sally and her family forever. This book was a poignant and gentle story of loss. If you have a sister close in age, you’ll find this story particularly moving. Espach captures the love/hate dynamic that exists between all sisters and the special bond that can never be severed

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. The narrator's voice was easy to listen to.