3.5 stars rounded up!!

I am a little torn on my overall enjoyment of this novel. It was a decent mystery that gave me the creeps with its eerie setting and paranormal vibes. A dark, wooded road known as the Devil's Corridor, where strange occurrences have been experienced. A lonely cabin in the woods. A group of stone altars that are believed to have been used for human sacrificial rituals. All the perfect compliments of a satisfyingly creepy thriller!! I quickly became invested in the story and in solving the mystery of Olivia's accident and the girls' disappearance....until I wasn't. The "big" reveal was clever and interesting, and I can see how some readers will love it, but I just didn't care for the ending at all. It was a fast read, but a tad bit slow in progression. Olivia got on my nerves. Countless times, I just wanted to smack some sense into her. This book could have potentially been a 5-star read for me if the ending was more exciting. I read in the acknowledgments that the text was heavily edited. Maybe it should have been left alone?

The Girls Who Disappeared is my first read by this author. Even though I didn't love it and disliked the ending, I did enjoy it for the most part and felt that it was worth the read. I will be looking for more of Claire's books to add to my TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, and the author for allowing me digital access in exchange for my honest opinion!

I really enjoyed this one. It was smart and set at a good pace. Twenty years three girls disappear after a car crash while the other girl in the group survived. No\w Jenna is making a podcast to highlight the missing girls. But people in the town don’t want Jenna there. I thought the characters were interesting. I did have trouble getting into this one. I would like to read more by th’is author though,

20 years is a long time for Olivia to get the answers of where her 3 friends went the night the 4 of them were in a terrible car crash. The book is a bit of a slow burn, and seemingly like it has too many threads. Keep with it, and they will all end up together in a beautiful bow at the finish.

It was fine, but a bit too slow. I never grew to love the characters either. I felt engaged enough to want to finish it, though, and the mystery was eerie too. The writing was good, it served the story well enough. I'd pick up more books from this author, especially if some premise catches my attention.

I'm a little torn on what to think about The Girls Who Disappeared. On one hand, it is an interesting set up with lots of twists and turns, but on the other, it feels a little convoluted and the ending didn't quite satisfy me. I will say that it's definitely not an easy twist to predict, but whether that's because it's well written or because it's just so confounding that you would need to have a full board of all of the character connections to fully uncover it before the story leads you there.

I also wish that I cared a bit more about the characters than I did. Jenna and Olivia are our main protagonists and then Stace comes in as a distant third, but I can't say I was really captivated by either of them and I didn't really feel that they had a lot of differences that set them apart from each other. I wish more time was spent on who they were and how they went about the world rather than the tacked on supernatural happenings that were maybe occurring. I also wish that we knew a bit more about Olivia's friends who disappeared because they're basically a footnote in their own mystery.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for this eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

👎🏻Way too much telling instead of showing. Bulk paragraphs of bland recollections or explanations that instead should have been shown to the reader instead of presented in that way.
👎🏻The writing didn't really make me feel invested. I didn't really care what happened because the story didn't pull me in properly. It started out strong but I quickly lost interest.
👎🏻 Jenna spent more time whining about her husband and kid than actually working on the podcast, and then suddenly 70% she doesn't mention either of them anymore?! As if she couldn't care less?! Pick a plotline.
👎🏻The author just threw the kitchen sink in at the end to try and wrap things up, but instead we were left with a ridiculous and convulted ending that still made no sense.
🤷🏻‍♀️ The prose itself was lukewarm for me. Whole chapters written completely in italics were NOT the vibe.
🤷🏻‍♀️ There were so many moments where I thought "oh okay THIS is where the story finally picks up!" And then... each time it didn't.
🤷🏻‍♀️ I really wish I counted how many hot beverages Jenna drank during this book because it had to be at least 50 cups and there is no need to mention so many cups of tea, coffee, and cocoa in a book.
👍🏻Short chapters.
👍🏻It was genuinely a good idea for a plotline.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

Claire Douglas is pretty much an auto-read for me. I honestly didn't even read the description before requesting an arc because I KNEW I needed to read it. And, as always, I was not disappointed.

This story follows journalist Jenna Halliday who is investigating a 20 year old cold case in which 4 girls were involved in a car crash on Devil's Corridor, but only one of the girls was found. The town, plus the girl found (Olivia) are not happy with Jenna's digging and someone is trying to push her out of town.

If you've read Claire Douglas before, you know that she has a great writing style to keep her stories gripping and fast paced. She makes it impossible for you not to be intrigued enough to keep flipping those pages!

Great atmospheric story for the spooky season - haunted woods, remote cabin, etc.

Great twists and turns, which you may or may not see coming depending on how your brain wheels turn.

I would definitely recommend it!

The Girls Who Disappeared was a fast paced thriller from the first page. A 20 year old mystery in a creepy town on a scary road was a recipe for a thriller. Olivia's 3 friends have seemingly vanished after a car accident in which she was severely injured. When Jenna comes to town to do podcast on the anniversary of the disappearance, new clues come to light almost immediately. This story line is interspersed with what seems like a unrelated flashback to a disastrous trip to Thailand be another group of young people. When the startling climax hit, I was totally unprepared where this story was leading too. This was fun read that I could not put down until I found out what happened to the "girls who disappeared ."

I will start by saying that I was so excited for this book, but was really let down in the end. I couldn't get into the story at all and I found all the characters really unlikable. :( The story dragged and was very uneventful. i am so grateful for the arc copy, but this just wasn't for me.

3.5 ⭐ rounded to 4 ⭐
First off as an American I was loving the English lingo in this book .
I enjoyed the dual timelines in this book & although I thought I had everything figured out .. I am in fact no Sherlock Holmes 🥺 that surprise at the end got me !!
I wouldn't say this book is scary but def has some creep factors & some brokedown palace vibes.
First book by this author but won't be my last. I very much enjoyed reading this one .
Thank you #netgalley for the eARC ❤️

Now I'm off to learn what a custard creme is .

Big thank you to Net Galley and Harper Perennial for this ARC! I throughly enjoyed this one until the very end. Claire is incredible at writing cliffhangers when you least expect them! This was my second read by her and she’s quickly becoming my favorite thriller author.

I was so intrigued by this story and it felt SO real. All of the characters linked together with the plot so perfectly. This book is set in the winter and will be a perfect chilling read when it comes out in January

One night Olivia is driving home with her friends. It's raining out and she spots a man in the middle of the road, she swerves to miss him but ends up in a terrible accident. When she wakes, she is the only one in the car and her three friends have gone missing. It's now twenty years later and Jenna, a journalist, is back to the scene and would like to do a podcast that focuses on the events that happened so long ago. Jenna soon finds out she's in for more than she bargained for, as she receives threatening letters. Will she learn what really happened to the girls so long ago?

This was an engaging, twisty read. I have been a long time fan of Claire Douglas and when I read the summary of this one, I knew this book was for me. THE GIRLS WHO DISAPPEARED had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out the mystery. I loved all of the alternating points of view and how everything came together for the final conclusion. This was an outstanding book and highly recommend getting a copy!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial Paperbacks for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be shared on my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Well..this one just didn’t work for me. the story was good, the writing was good, but the pace was SO slow. Painfully slow.

I thought it was well written with clever hints along the way, but it just took too long to get anywhere for me. I continually lost interest, unfortunately.

A great new thriller from the author of The Couple At No 9.

In beautiful, very rural, England, there is a stretch of road where a horrible car crash of four teenagers remains a mystery to this very day. 4 girls were in the car that night, but only one, Olivia, was found. Olivia is forever haunted to what happened to her friends and lives a very simple life still in the town.

Jenna is a writer whose life is in shambles. She has come to town to create a podcast about the teen crash mystery and finds herself immediately immersed in more secrets, stories, and murders. Although Jenna seems a bit weak in regards to her husband who has recently asked to separate, she is brave in the face of multiple obstacles keeping her from finding the truth. It's a great twisty story that is sure to keep you up at night! If you like thrillers, family secrets, and of course podcasters, The Girls Who Disappeared is for you!I #harperperrenial

Just finished this one, and it was a page turner, once I got past the first 40 or so pages. Diving into the meat of the story made a huge difference with this one.

The story centers around Jenna, a journalist who is newly separated from her husband and is working on a podcast about an accident 20 years ago. She goes to the town where it happened to interview the survivor of the accident, Olivia, and anyone else in town who will talk to her. The story takes place over five days and also alternates with an older timeline that goes in toward the end of the story.

This was an interesting take on the thriller narrative with a couple of twists and turns. I definitely suspected Wesley and Dale at coke points, and liked finding out the resolution even if it was horrific! This was a good thriller for a fall day.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Claire Douglas does a great job at creating an atmosphere in her novels and this one is no exception. I liked the spooky, foggy place of Devil's Corridor and the ancient legends and myths that surrounded it. The beginning pulled me in but inevitably I got a bit bored when I realized how the plot was going to conclude. I feel as if it was all a bit too forced and coincidental, yet stranger things have happened. It was a nice mystery, just not one of Douglas's favorites for me. #thegirlswhodisappeared #clairedouglas #netgalley #goodreads

"The Girls Who Disappeared" is another winner, winner, chicken dinner for author Claire Douglas. What a novel!

Thanks NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for this ARC!
Twenty years ago Olivia Rutherford and three of her girlfriends were coming home from a club after a girls night out. They made it back to Devils Corridor, a haunted road, and swerved to miss a figure in the road. They wreck and Olivia finally comes to and her three friends, Sally, Katie and Tamzin are missing.
Present day, Jenna Halliday, a podcaster is going there to investigate the case. Many secrets and lies are revealed. This was a very eerie, suspenseful read. Loved the surprise twist at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the eARC.
Jenna is commissioned by the BBC to do a podcast
on a 20-year old cold case: Olivia and her three friends were involved in a serious car accident, that caused Olivia to be trapped in the car. When she became conscious she discovered her three friends had disappeared, never to be seen again.
I enjoyed this book immensely and was dying to finish so I would get answers, but at the same time not wanting the story to end because it was so good!
Highly recommended.

3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an earc in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I enjoyed the book. There were a lot of positives about the book such as the atmosphere and the characters of the detective, Jenna and Olivia. I liked all three of them.

The mystery in this book is intriguing... Olivia's three good friends go missing after a car accident. 20 years later it's the anniversary and Jenna a reporter is stirring things up. We get a lot of good atmosphere in this book as well as chills. There are a bunch of possible suspects and I had a good time guessing if they were involved or not.

One of the parts I had problems with was the pacing. I felt some of the "past" was unnecessary. I don't think it lent anything to the book at all. There were some repetitive parts I was meh on as well. Jenna's family life I also felt was irrelevant and messed with the pace of the book.

I'm still not sure about the ending... I can't decide if I liked it or not. I thought it was interesting, but I'm not sure if it worked for me.

Overall I did enjoy this mystery book!