After You Vanished is a heartfelt YA mystery about twin sisters--one vanished and the other searching. Izzy was an Olympics hopeful in swimming before she drowned in Bottomrock Lake late at night. The only witness is her best friend, Toby, whom she dared race her on foot as she swam. Unfortunately he didn't really see anything, but Izzy's surviving sister, Teddy, is determined to spend her summer at Bottomrock figuring out what exactly happened that night, even if it means teaming up with Toby to find out.

This was a compelling mystery for me. It's written almost like a letter to Izzy, which is an interesting stylistic choice, and kept me interested throughout Teddy's obsessive need to connect dots and find Izzy. Meanwhile, the novel is really about grief and learning to accept that there are some things you'll never know about your loved ones, even those you are closest to. Each person is to some extent a locked box, and this is what Teddy has to eventually learn through the course of the novel while still attempting to find her sister and come to terms with what happened to her.

There were a couple of things that struck me in the narrative that felt a little slapdash, and one moment at the end that felt weirdly comical and out of place, so I'm not giving this five stars, but I'm definitely going to be on the look out for this author again.

After You Vanished is a book about grief.
When Teddy's twin sister, Izzy, goes missing after meeting a friend at Bottomrock Lake, she can't accept that Izzy is dead. How could an Olympic level swimmer drown? This book is written from the POV of Teddy to Izzy as she investigates what happened in the months leading up to Izzy's disappearance.
With lots of twists, and well written characters, After You Vanished is a compelling read. I didn't want to put it down and read it in one day.

This is a great debut novel, and I'll be looking for more from this author. I recommend YA & mystery fans pick it up.
After You Vanished releases on August 29, 2023.

Thanks to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for an early copy for review.

Thanks Disney Hyperion and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I spent the whole day reading this book I couldn’t put it down! So many twists and turns! Teddy starts working for Bottomrock Lake again this summer, people find this slightly weird as her twin sister disappeared while at the lake only a year earlier. But Teddy’s trying to move forward, even though she doubts that her sister is gone, but then Toby begins working at the lake. He was with Izzy that night, probably the last person to see her. Teddy’s never believed his story and she’s determined to find out the truth. But will she like what she finds? Someone has to know something. What’s Toby hiding and will it more complicated if feelings start to develop between the two? The story is told from Teddy’s perspective to Izzy so it takes a little getting used to but adds to the intrigue! The story is enhanced by not just know what happened but not knowing where Izzy is! Every time I thought I had the book figured out another twist would happen, they keep happening up till the very end! I loved this mystery that dives deep into grief, truth, and love! I highly recommend this mystery! I can’t wait to read it again!

After You Vanished is a brilliantly written YA book about grief, love, and acceptance. It touches on other subjects too, but to mention those would be to spoil the mystery element of the story, and I definitely don’t want to do that. It’s best going into this book knowing as little as possible, like jumping into a lake not knowing what the water holds in its waves.

Teddy and Toby are equally fantastic main characters, both dealing with Teddy’s twin sister’s loss in the same, but also different, ways. They set out to unfold a mystery and to somehow shed light on a life gone too soon; they do all that and more, with the help of a beloved lake and a location that becomes a character all by itself.

I loved After You Vanished; I read it almost in one sitting, thoroughly engrossed and then sad to reach the end. I’ll definitely be looking forward to more from this author, and I really hope this debut novel finds a large audience who enjoy it as much as I did.

4.5/5.

Teddy's twin sister, Izzy disappeared last summer and few traces of her have been found. Apparently, Izzy met up at the lake with a friend and had a race to swim across it. As an Olympic-hopeful, this should have been easy for Izzy. But she disappeared. Teddy is reluctant to believe that Izzy is dead. Why haven't they found a body? Or anything significant? A book that deals with love and loss, and the hurt of grief that takes over your life when you lose someone close to you.