I read to the halfway point and gave up. This book reads like a long-winded messy story that an immature person would tell about all the drama they and their toxic friends create to entertain themselves. All they do is think of new ways to hurt each other and get revenge on each other.

The main characters are all in college but they do not behave like any college students I have ever known. Their lives revolve around emotionally manipulating each other with jealousy. They like to manufacturing problems to provoke resentment.

For instance, one character takes a photo of herself posing provocatively and sends the selfie to her best friend’s boyfriend with text implying that they slept together (even though they hadn’t). She does this because she knows her friend will check her boyfriend’s phone and she wants her friend to feel betrayed.

By the half way point, I really had lost my tolerance for these characters and their shenanigans, so I skimmed ahead to see if there was any redemption arc or growth. No, there wasn’t. It was just more of the same. It was so gossipy that it made me angry.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me a free digital copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
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Life long best friends are the focus of this book Cleo and Sarah. There friendship is not without hardships and yet when Sarah disappears Cleo will stop at nothing to fund out what happened.

This is a dual perspective book that takes place in present time with Cleo the narrator and in the past with Sarah the narrator. This one is middle of the road for me. It holds the elements you expect from a mystery, but it is slow paced and predictable.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, and it was definitely intriguing. The dual timelines between present-day Cleo and past Sarah, which starts 14 days prior to her going missing and then leads up to that day, were a little jarring at times, especially when I had to put the book down for a while and then try to remember what all was happening, but it was well done to where the scenes lined up between the two timelines and helped everything make sense along the way.

My biggest issue was that there was a lot of repetition that bogged down the plot in several places, and some of the "lesser" storylines with certain characters seemed to overwhelm the main one at times and take the focal point, so then when it got back to what happened to Sarah, it was like a sudden left turn.

All in all, I'd recommend this book to fans of the mystery thriller genre, and I look forward to seeing what else this author has in store for her readers.

3.5 stars

**I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and comments contained within are my own.**

This book is too slow. Pacing is horrible and despite my better intentions, the book never got better. It had so much potential.

I initially requested this one as I am a sucker for a YA thriller, and in the end, this one ended very middle of the road for me. It holds the elements you expect from such a book, and you are told the story from more than one perspective, which is something I love in this genre.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

One of Us is Gone is a YA mystery novel that has great elements on the dynamics of friendship, especially coming of age and into college. As you try to figure out what happened to Sarah, you learn more and more about the friend group, the original three of Sarah, Cleo and Milton, and college friends, Aubrey, Mika, & Max. Everything is not as it seems, and as you dive into the book, you learn that each character knows a different piece of Sarah’s story. I loved that I couldn’t quite figure out how or why Sarah went missing, let alone who was behind it!

I enjoyed seeing Cleo come into herself and explore college, and would have enjoyed learning more about her story - I feel like with many of the characters we only got bits and pieces. If the story was longer, I think we could have more fleshed out characters and made it easier to invest in them. 3.5/5 stars!
To Shauntel Anette, Net Galley and MDW Press, thanks so much for the opportunity to read this ARC!

One of Us Is Gone by Shauntel Anette was a phenomenal YA mystery.
Almost immediately I was drawn into the mystery and our characters.
I thought the writing was compelling and Anette had me hanging onto every word.
The twists and turns that this story took me on was amazing.
The book's suspenseful plot and well-crafted characters made for an intense and satisfying read.
A story full of secrets and lies. It’s one you won’t want to miss.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and MDW Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I went into this with pretty high hopes because it sounded like a tension filled and exciting mystery following two friends that have lost the third to their best friend trio as they try to solve the mystery of her disappearance. What I got was what felt like a bare bones first draft with little detail or foreshadowing. The characters were one dimensional, where their only personality traits were super bitchy or back stabbing. It felt like none of these people even really liked each other at all and there was never a real reason given that any of them became friends in the first place. The author kept alluding to everyone keeping secrets but I never learned enough about the characters to really care about the secrets they were keeping and when you did find out they weren’t ground breaking or life ruining secrets that really had anything to do with the story. It was just constant interpersonal drama that didn’t really make the search for Sarah feel more desperate.
This story felt undercooked overall. The characters had the emotional ranges of a teaspoon which was frustrating since I wasn’t able to connect emotionally to the search for Sarah since the characters were also very disconnected from the search. We were given so little information throughout the book beyond what was happening in the moment that I never had enough information to theorize on who the suspects were. There were things mentioned that were never followed up on and just left hanging.
The dual point of view with Cleo in the present and Sarah in the past was actually kind of annoying and if you took out Sarah’s POV completely, we would have never known what actually happened to Sarah. Things from Sarah’s point of view were never discovered or discussed from Cleo’s point of view, but were crucial to actually solving the mystery of Sarah’s disappearance. It was extremely frustrating while reading and it kind of killed the experience for me.
The ending really made me angry as a reader. The person responsible for Sarah’s disappearance was someone that wasn’t even framed as a suspect throughout the book. It wasn’t done well. There was zero foreshadowing throughout the book that this person had anything to do with Sarah’s disappearance. Throughout the book it felt like the author didn’t know who she wanted to make the bad guy so when it came down to it, it just felt like she drew a name out of a hat. Even throughout Sarah’s POV this character never did anything to threaten Sarah or anything like that. And then after all that, Cleo finds out who this person is and doesn’t do anything about it. We get zero closure on the story and everyone just moves on with their lives.
This book could have used a lot of editing for voice and content. It felt like I was reading a bare bones outline the entire time. There wasn’t much to keep me invested in the characters or the story and I never really learned anything through the first three quarters of this book. I was really disappointed in this one.

I really liked a lot of this book. I liked the main character. I disliked the side characters but let's be honest we weren't supposed to like them. I did enjoy disliking them. I like the reveal of the killer. The one think I hated is that she didn't report it or do anything. It doesn't feel like there was any component of him paying for it which was kind of a letdown.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest opinions.

Just could not get into this one. I was hyped to read this one but it just fell short for me.

To many other books out there that are so much better. Would not make my to be read list.

Sadly cannot recommend.

This was pitched as "They Wish They Were Us MEETS A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder," but it did not live up to that expectation. The plot was predictable and the characters weren't very interesting. No thanks.

"One Of Us Is Gone" follows a close-knit group of friends as they try to unravel the mystery of what happened to their friend that vanished without a trace. To find answers they'll have to sift through hidden secrets, lies and betrayal.

I'll definitely be recommending this book and look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you Shauntel Anette, Net Galley and MDW Press for providing me with an ARC of this book!

one of us is gone was a good book, I loved the idea and the character development. The premise of the book was good.

Childhood buddies Cleo, Sarah, and Milton enter Kensington University with a pact to stay inseparable. Suddenly, Sarah disappears, prompting Cleo to delve into her friend's mysterious double life. The story unfolds through the lens of three perspectives: new friends, Sarah, and the truth, revealing hidden grudges and the complexities of betrayal.

This book did not really give a lot of thrilling aspects to me. I never felt “on the edge of my seat” or the desire to read faster to figure out what is going on.

I did enjoy the tidbits of secrets from the characters that poured out in chapters here in there. I have seen a lot of comments from other reviewers regarding how the characters were annoying and not easy to connect with. While this is true, I do think the characters did fit the stereotypical toxic college friend group. I believe Shauntel did a good job of capturing that. I did have a hard time liking the characters. I never had a favorite character, I guess if I did.. it would have to be Cleo. They all stuck around in this friend group because of comfort. Even though they were all toxic and disrespected each other, that friend group was all they knew.

When I first started this book, specifically in the first 2-3 chapters. I instantly realized that it was kind of hard to follow along with what was going on. There wasn’t a lot of context for me to figure anything out. The structure of the character conversation just seemed a bit strewn around.

I was then put off by the amount of characters introduced in the first few chapters as well, it just seemed kind of overwhelming. Although, I guess it’s necessary to have quite a few characters introduced to give the mystery aspect.

I did not really like the reveal on who the murder was. I feel like that is what kept me going with this book and it was very anticlimactic for me.

I don’t think the writing style for this book was for me. I believe this would be a great beginner YA mystery.

Overall, this book has great potential and I congratulate Shauntel for writing this book and publishing it. That is a huge step. I would definitely read any future books she publishes in the future.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book to enjoy & review. All of what I said above are my own thoughts & opinions.

Cleo and her two best friends, Milton and Sarah, end up at the same college together. Everything is fine until Sarah disappears. As Cleo investigates, she realizes her friend had a lot of secrets hidden away.

I thought the story here was fine, but the writing style wasn't for me. It felt forced a lot of the time, like the author was trying to force suspense at times instead of naturally crafting it in.

More mystery than thriller, this YA novel was a quick read with short chapters which I really appreciated. Most of the characters were unlikeable, but I really appreciated in a story like this because it gives you more suspects and added to more of the mystery surrounding the plot.
Where this one fell a little short for me was at the beginning when Cleo as trying to get friend group together because their friend was missing and it was like no one cared. Then less than a week after Sarah disappeared no one at the college cared. It was quite unbelievable because even with crappy friends, I don't think authorities would write off a missing college student as no big deal.
I think this author is really promising; we had a good plot and lots of mystery, and with a little more depth in the characters there is so much promise in her writing.

Cleo, Sarah and Milton are best friends, attending Kensington University. One day, Sarah disappears without a trace. Cleo becomes obsessed with investigating her disappearance, with the help of their friend Milton.

I was under the impression that this was a YA thriller, but I’d rather classify it as a mystery as there really was nothing trilling in this novel. At no point throughout this novel did it feel like the investigation was dangerous, or that Cleo herself was in danger.

I was expecting falling in love with this book, but that sadly was not the case. The characters felt flat and were just annoying and I was really missing the drive to continue reading the story.

Despite this the overarching mystery of what really happened to Sarah kept me interested enough to keep going with my reading. I also enjoyed the little crumbs of secrets that were sprinkled throughout the story. The novel felt like a combination of Pretty Little Liars and John Green’s Looking for Alaska. Despite my low enjoyment of the novel, I think the author has some great potential and I’d love to read more from them in the future.

I’d recommend this novel for anyone new to the YA Mystery genre, as it’s a great introduction to the genre itself, but It’s a bit lacking if you’re an experienced YA Thriller reader.

Big thanks to Netgalley, MDW Press and the author Shauntel Anette for allowing me to read an E-Arc of this novel.

Let me start by saying I really wanted to love this book. As an adult woman I enjoy YA fiction, and read it quite often. However I feel this book was a little too young for me. The storyline was good. It follows dual timelines and two different POV’s between Cleo in present and Sarah in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. The book was well written but I feel, like others, that the ending was rushed and I wish the author would have taken some more time there. All in all I would recommend this book for younger teen readers. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book to read and review. All of these comments are my own.

I really wanted to like this one but I just couldn’t connect with the story. I think the writing was decent but the story just wasn’t up to par. I think the plot had great potential but needed more work and the characters needed to be improved. The cover and title gave me big “One of Us is Lying” vibes.

This was set in college but all of the characters were acting like a bunch of middle school/ high school kids with how immature they were by constantly bickering and pointing fingers. I honestly couldn’t relate or sympathize with any of them and I often found myself rolling my eyes at them. Cloe was the only one I somewhat liked and everyone was just awful to her even her supposed “best friend”.

I know this is an YA thriller but nothing felt thrilling to me. I’ve read a lot of YA thriller type books and also enjoy the thrilling aspects of their plots but this one just wasn’t for me. It was fast-pace which is great for “thrillers”, but the ending felt very rushed and incomplete to me, which was somewhat of a let down.

I think this would be a good book for beginner YA thriller readers. You’ll get a taste of how the genre can be but if you are a “seasoned” thriller reader, I’m just not sure this book would be for you.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.