The Summer She Went Missing was a fun, suspenseful YA read. I easily finished it in a weekend. For its subject material (rich kids, missing teenage girls), it had a surprisingly happy ending, and it turned out to be both a feel-good and satisfying novel from beginning to end. This is a great beach read, or a good choice to read on a cozy fall night in.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book. If I could change or improve one thing, I’d have liked to see just a little more character depth in Paige, Audrey, and Dylan.

Book:
THE SUMMER SHE WENT MISSING by Chelsea Ichaso out 3-5-24(thanks netgalley and Sourcebooks for the earc)

Review:
5 ⭐
First, let's talk about part one. I want to start by saying I loved the giddiness between Paige and Dylan (the flirtations, the nerves, etc.) And I didn't quite like how Audrey was dismissive and kind of rude toward Paige even though I knew that was leading up to the missing aspect of the book(and all along she had a great reason). That was my take away anyways. Not to mention the secrecy and drama and the lies. Like sign me up. This is great. THE SUMMER SHE WENT MISSING is everything I thought it would be and more. I didn't know what to expect(and all those twists and turns...I'm shocked.) Normally, a quarter of the way through or halfway through, I would have already came up with theories about what happened---changing them, going back to them, etc. Not this time. The mystery of THE SUMMER SHE WENT MISSING stumped me, and I'm so glad for that. (Who doesn't like mystery and suspense and being surprised?) Definitely going to read this again when it's published.

What I Liked About It:
*All of the suspense
*the twists and turns
*the storyline
*the flirtations
*the ending

I was lucky enough to read this story early , and unsurprisingly, it was great. The author deftly draws us into the story of Paige and Audrey, who spend every summer together. Only last summer, Audrey went missing. Now, Paige must team up with Audrey’s brother—whom she used to have a thing with—to follow the trail of clues Audrey left behind and fine out what really happened to her. This was a twisty and unexpected YA thriller with well-drawn characters, an interesting setting, and a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. Another great story from this author!

3.5 stars

I’ve recently read several YA novels whose plot depicts a girl gone missing, which is definitely impacting my reception of this book. I really enjoyed the romantic element with Paige and Dylan, as well as Paige’s friendship with Audrey. However, this book really didn’t stand apart from the others I read, and if anything, introduced too many characters into the plot without fleshing them out. I thought the use of the mysterious chapters depicting “The Girl” were cleverly done, but my emotional connection to the character was missing when her identity was revealed. I think the plot could have been tightened by focusing on a smaller friends’ group introduced from the start. Overall, this was still an engaging YA thriller and I was invested in the plot and satisfied with the conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for my arc!


So I think at this point that I will read literally anything Chelsaa Ichaso puts out after enjoying They're Watching You last year. However i do think that the missing best friend trope is a little played out. I would hate to read the same book over and over again but with a different storyline.

However I did enjoy The Summer She Went Missing, i loved the friendship between Paige and Audrey and the romance/ detective team with Dylan. It was pretty decent overall.