I always find Karin Slaughter books a bit harder to review. I absolutely love her writing style and all the little details she puts into everything and especially how intricate and multilayered her stories and characters are. This one certainly had all that and more with such an intriguing and suspenseful plot that I was totally immersed in.

Now for my hesitancy - the length. I am unfortunately just not a fan of longer books and I find Slaughters are always pretty lengthly. Did this one work though? Totally! I was hooked immediately and really enjoyed it, I just find the length brings me down a few notches.

This is a sequel to Pieces of her and is the second instalment in the Andrea Oliver police procedural series! It’s told in alternating timelines and duel perspectives of Emily and Andrea. I must admit I didn’t care much for Andrea in the first one but felt Slaughter did a great job building her character and transforming her into a lead I wanted to route for!!

I found Emily’s POV the most interesting as we followed along piecing together “the”night and I also totally relished in the cult tie in! Add in a side of humour from Bible, Andrea’s partner, and this ends up being such a well rounded crime drama!

And in case you’re wondering, it definitely can be read as a standalone, I just usually find it for fun to follow along accordingly for backstory purposes!

Even though this is in a series, it can be read as a stand-alone. It is centered on the mystery of a young girl who was murdered in 1982 from a small town. Emily Vaughn was a senior in high school who was pregnant. Emily along with sever of her male friends went to a party and their teacher ended up driving her home since Emily was incoherent. When she gets home her grandmother sees Emily’s dress in inside out, and she has no underwear. But she arrives with the teacher so she must be okay.

Emily soon discovers she is pregnant and does not remember having sex and her male friends around her could have something to do with her pregnancy. Or her teacher? She tries to survive day-to-day but the night of her prom she is found dead!

40 years later, the crime has not been solved. Her parent was a judge and he is now received death threats. Andrea Oliver, who is the US Marshal has the judge and her husband relocated to another town for their protection. Andrea has her own worries as her dad Clayton Morrow is in prison for several crimes and is thought to have been the killer of Emily. Andre is also investigating another girls death which could be tied to the death of Emily.

Girl Forgotten (Andrea Oliver #2)
Karin Slaughter
This tale begins in Longbill Beach in 1982. Prom is usually the highlight of a teenage girl’s senior year, but not so for Emily Vaughn. Seventeen-year-old Emily is expecting a baby. Her world has come crashing down around her. She doesn’t know who the father of her baby is; she doesn’t remember having sex. She has been investigating Columbo style. She is about four months pregnant, and it is her prom night. Everyone seems to be making decisions for her without asking what she wants. She dons her prom dress, even though it doesn’t hide her baby bump and it is too tight for her swollen breast. She doesn’t bother with shoes. Emily walks to her prom and is ostracized by her fellow classmates. Even her so-called friends shun her. Someone is very angry with Emily perhaps because of her questions perhaps for another reason whoever it is bludgeons her to death.
The year is 2022, Andrea Oliver a newly qualified US Marshal has her first assignment, to protect Esther Vaughn, a Federal Judge, Emily Vaughn’s mother. She has a secondary assignment, find Emily’s murderer.
I was excited to read and review Girl Forgotten by author Karin Slaughter; I have read several of her books including the Will Trent series and the Grant County series. I have not read the first Andrea Oliver book but think I will have to remedy that. This tale kept me on the edge of my seat. It is told through two points of view, Emily Vaughn’s and Andrea Oliver’s. It smoothly moves back and forth through time. I found myself in tears as I listened to Emily’s story. Emily was a sweet girl but she surrounded herself with evil people: her “friends” Clay, Nardo, Blake, Ricky, a perverted teacher, Dean Wexler, her brilliant but neglectful mother, Esther, and her abusive father. Jack aka Cheese was her only true friend. US Marshal Andrea Oliver is a brilliant, driven heroine. This tale has it all even a cult. This is a thriller you won’t want to miss.

This is probably closer to a 3.5 star read for me. I love Karin Slaughter's writing style and her books always suck me in right from the start, as this one did. I think my lower review stems from the character of Andrea Oliver. I don't think I am in love with her as a main character like I am in the author's other series. She just isn't a stand out for me. I still enjoyed this book, especially the story of Emily and figuring out what happened to her. I did enjoy the narrator for this audiobook as she always provides an enjoyable listen.

This book was so good! I enjoyed the first Andrea Oliver book, but this one was even better! One of the things that made the first book so good was the dual timeline and I wasn’t sure how the author was going to manage that in this one, but she kept the dual timeline and it worked out perfectly! I loved the connections to the first book and to Andrea’s life while also being it’s own entire story. I’m really interested in the life’s and backstories of anyone that touches this character and her father now and I hope the author continues this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing an Advanced Listener’s Copy for review!

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This spoils book 1. I need to read that first

Girl, Forgotten begins with the brutal unsolved murder of a pregnant teen named Emily. Forty years later, in the same small town, dead girls are being found and there may be a link to the recent deaths and that of Emily. A US Marshall named Andrea Oliver is tasked with helping to solve these crimes and the reader flips from past to present as the puzzle pieces slip into place.

This is not a happy book. Karin Slaughter’s stories rarely are, if ever. So, I was expecting that going in, but think it’s fair to warn everyone who may want to read this. - Girl, Forgotten deals with some very heavy topics and very toxic characters. There is violence, suicide, and most of the story deals with the rape of a teen, her humiliation, and her tragic murder. There’s just a lot going on that many people will find hard to stomach, I know I did.

I personally have a difficult time with these types of storylines and can never fully love a book that focuses so heavily on rape, it’s too much for me. However, I was hooked to the mystery and investigation aspect and Slaughter is an excellent writer. The pace is good and the narrator for the audio is great so I was able to finish despite my aversion to aspects of it, and found that I could appreciated it as a whole.

BUT I wish I had read Pieces of Her, which was the first book in this series, prior to this. My bad. 🥴 I could tell there was a lot of background to the relationships between Andrea and her mom, info about her father, and insight on Andrea and Mike’s relationship that I was not privy to.

So, YES you can read and understand this well enough on its own BUT you probably shouldn’t skip Pieces of Her if you want the full picture even if it’s not 100% required.

Okay okay okay. This ones it. This ones the one. I’ve taken a back seat, been patiently waiting, and this is the Slaughter I loved. Ugh, I don’t even know where to start. I was INTO this book, the Slaughter level writing skill and storylines paired with the high school drama & cult fiction touch I love?! Yes freaking please.

I was truly obsessed with the main character Emily and honestly it was a very tough read at times. There’s strong trigger warnings most of the way through for sexual assault, and how the doctor/town/her friends talked to her after her pregnancy (not a spoiler it’s the whole premise of the book) was awful/so hard to read/totally a product and reality of the time. There were many times where I wanted to stop reading because I was frustrated or to get inside the book and give Emily a hug but honestly if a book is triggering those types of emotions for me then something has gone terribly right!!

I had 18 theories none of which were really right but the execution as always was fantastic by Slaughter. I was living for the interspersed referees to Pieces of Her and it totally made me want to reread it and fall in love with every version of Andrea we’ve been given.

Girl, Forgotten
By: Karin Slaughter
Releases August 23rd
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. This book was SO good. I was absolutely invested I could not stop reading!

So… I do have to admit I did not read Pieces of Her. I didn’t realize that this was a semi sequel. You can still read the book as a stand-alone but it will ruin the twist from the first book for you. Featuring some of the same characters from the first book, this story follows Andrea Oliver and Emily Vaughn’s POV. This is a dark multilayered mystery that had multiple twists and turns. My mouth legitimately fell open at times! It’s dark, twisty, and I COULD. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN. I just had to know what happened. This book hurt my heart and stomach at times. I just can not imagine what so many of these women and characters went through! I know a lot of what happens in the book is so common which makes this story all the more impactful and heartbreaking. Each character regardless of if you loved them (Andrea’s Partner - Catfish “Bible” or hated them (Legit almost everyone in that damn town), was written with so much depth. This story, while being dark and twisty is still so timely.

Speaking of the dark and twisty let me throw out some TW: rape, cults, physical abuse, anorexia, domestic violence, homophobia, gun violence, abortion, medical malpractice, and suicide.

I have to mention that I was able to listen to the audio book for my ARC and Kathleen Early did amazing! I can see another installment of the series to come! I will definitely be in line waiting for that when it comes out!

Thank you William Morrow & Company and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

CW: rape (not on page)

This book was fine. I didn’t love the first book in the series, and I wonder if a sequel was needed? Or maybe it was just written to piggyback off of the Netflix series? Maybe?

Overall, the book was good, it kept me guessing, but it really felt like it was dragging on. It was dual POV, jumping between the past (1981) and the present. I liked getting those two perspectives, it added a lot of information that would have been difficult for the person investigating in the present to have found out.

If you liked the first book in the series, you’ll probably like this one. It also is totally set up for another sequel.

Oh My Goodness, this was an amazing book! It can be read as a stand alone if you are worried you missed book one in the series. A mystery of a young girl murdered in Small town USA in Longbill Beach, 1982. I loved the time period and the nostalgia of time gone by. This was a difficult time for pregnant teens that were often ostracized in the community, especially for Emily Vaughn, a senior in High School.

Who killed Emily Vaughn? Still no answer to that question 40 years later. She was the daughter of the Judge who is now receiving death threats. Andrea Oliver, the US Marshal, has relocated to the town to offer protection for the judge and her husband.
Andrea's main interest is tied to her dad, Clayton Morrow, who is spending time in prison for several crimes and thought to be the culprit in the murder of Emily. When Emily was in high school, she was known for her clique she hung out with Clay, Blake, Nardo, and Ricky. Their teacher at the time was Dean Wexler, who took Emily home one night from a party where she was incoherent. Her grandmother, a sweet old soul, worried about her dress on the wrong side out, no panties and unconscious...plus being brought home by a teacher.
When Emily finds out she is pregnant later, she can't believe it when she has never had sex with anyone. The night of her prom she is found bludgeoned almost to death, but put on life support for her baby to survive. This is an emotional roller coaster told from Emily's POV and I loved her character and felt sorry for her.
When another girl is found dead of suicide and looks like she has been starved, Andrea begins to investigate it and finds a cult tied to the clique 40 years later. This is a heart-racing book that kept me on edge for a definite answer on who killed Emily. I felt so much pain for her and Andrea's desperate search for clues to her father's part in it.
The language is rough listening to it on an audio, but nonetheless one of my favorites for this year!
Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing- Audio for this title in exchange for my review.

Karin Slaughter is one of my auto-buy authors! I love her books! Girl, Forgotten is another fantastic crime thriller. While it does have characters that appeared in Pieces Of Her, it can be read as a stand-alone book. Andrea Oliver is a new US Marshall who has been assigned to guard a Federal judge in her criminal father’s hometown. While there she conducts her own side investigation into who killed Emily Vaughn forty years ago. Was her father the killer?!

I switched between listening to this book on audio and reading the physical @bookofthemonth copy. The narration of the audiobook was very well done and I could have listened to the whole audiobook if I did not already have a copy of the book.

Thank you @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my Girl, Forgotten, the sequel to Pieces of Her is just as good as the first.

Andrea Oliver (first introduced in Pieces of Her) has just graduated from the U.S. Marshall's and is heading to Longbill Beach for her first assignment. In Longbill, Andrea meets her new partner Bible (what a great character). Their assignment is to protect an 81 year old Federal Judge who is receiving death threats. Andrea has also been tasked with a “secret” assignment to find out if her father Clayton Morrow (currently in prison but possibly about to be released) murdered the Judge’s pregnant teenage daughter in 1982.

The story is told in alternating time periods and from two different points of view; Andrea’s perspective is present day while Emily Vaughn's is set in 1982. As with every Slaughter novel, there are some surprising twist and turns that leads to a captivating thriller.

This book is a must read.

Thank you NetGallery and Harper Collins UK for my advanced copy of this book.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks and Netgalley for this surprise aproval.

This is quite a difficult reading/listening couse of the long chapters. But it is nice to listen ro such a sofisticate thriller. I liked the present and the past. How it is connected and how it is not. Growing up is so difficult and prom can be a really to big step for someone. Unfortunately here happens the worse. Why I ask my self, people are ao cruel? But fortunately there are also brave people that give some justice to others even it is too late

Gah! That ending! I have long been a fan of Karin Slaughter, so expect gushing. Book two of the Andrea Oliver series is right up there with Slaughter's best. And as usual, she keeps you guessing. I found the culprit to be a complete surprise. This book is a perfect blend of plotting, prose, and whodunit.

Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow, and Blackstone Audio for the audiobook ARC.

Karin Slaughter is quickly becoming one of my new favorites for thrillers. When I got Girl, Forgotten, I didn't realize it was a sequel to Pieces of Her, but it functions fine as a standalone, too.

40 years after Emily Vaughn was brutally murdered on prom night, New U.S. Marshal Andrea Oliver begins investigating while on assignment in the small town where the murder took place.

I loved how well written the characters were. Even the ones that were absolutely the worst were realistic. I also loved how the dual timelines slowly unraveled the mystery of who killed Emily. I will say that the crime was not for everyone and was quite brutal.

Pub Date: 8/23/2022

Thank you to the author, publisher, and @Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

40 years after the death of their close friend, the click is still keeping secrets. Who's the father, who's the murderer? Lots of suspects to keep you guessing.

Nothing is more exciting to me than a new Karin Slaughter book!

Honestly, I didn’t really like Andrea in Pieces of Her. She was annoyingly helpless, and I didn’t find her POV as interesting as Jane’s. I was surprised to see that Karin was continuing her story, but she really grew on me in this book. Fresh out of the Marshall Academy, Andrea is rushed into her first case on special request of her uncle Jasper, with hopes of uncovering information to keep her father in prison for life. She’s no longer helpless–she is now a clever investigator, and much easier to root for!

I would recommend reading Pieces of Her first, because there’s a lot of important backstory about Andrea and her family that you’ll miss if you skip to this one. Girl, Forgotten will also give away the ending of Pieces of Her. If for some reason you don’t want to read it, though, Emily Vaughn’s story can carry itself!

Similar to my opinion of the first book in the series, I enjoyed the plot line set in the past more than the present. Emily’s case kept me hooked, and I really enjoyed figuring it out alongside Andrea and Bible.

I got a kick out of how Karin brought her love of memes to this book in the form of Mike's silly texts to Andrea. I’m interested to see where the slow progression of Mike and Andrea’s love story goes, too.

The very end of Girl, Forgotten leaves the reader with the impression that another book in the series will be coming soon, and I’m excited to read it!

Audio Review: Kathleen Early’s voice immediately brings me back to reading the beloved Will Trent series, and feels like coming home. I adore her narrations, and I always associate her with Karin’s books, even when I’m listening to something else she’s read! As always, this audiobook production was perfect.

Girl, Forgotten is the second book in the Andrea Oliver series by Karin Slaughter. I did not read the first book, but this was still good as a standalone. I had access to both the kindle and audiobook version.

In 1982, seventeen years old Emily Vaughn was shocked to learn that she was pregnant. She had never had intercourse with anyone, or so she thought, so she sought answers. Her curiosity and her secrets might have lost her life. Forty years later, Andrea Oliver, a now US Marshall, received her first assignment where she needed to go to Longblll Beach to protect a judge who had been receiving death threats. Andrea also has been preoccupied and haunted by the Emily Vaughn case since she learned about it. She took the chance to try to uncover the truth since no one ever got convicted.

This is the first Karin Slaughter book, and I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed listening to the book, but it was not as exciting or fast-paced as I had hoped. The pacing was a little janky too. There were plenty of big surprising moments, but some parts dragged. The dual timeline helped increase the suspense. Andrea grew on me as a character. I loved how confident and determined she was, and I was rooting for her to uncover the truth. The ending ended with room for more books which I am excited about.

I loved the narration by Kathleen Early. She did an excellent job with the variety of characters, and she kept the suspense going even at the slowest parts. There were a lot of raw emotions, and Kathleen captured those emotions perfectly too.

Thank you to NetGallery and to William Morrow Publishing and Blackstone Publishing for my copy of the book.

I’ve been a huge Karin Slaughter fan since “Pretty Girls” and “Girl, Forgotten” joins her showcase as another smashing criminal thriller. Karin sets the bar for complex, emotional, and sometimes disturbing thrillers that hook you from the first page.