Another slam dunk from Tarryn Fisher! You’ll be hooked from the beginning but also have no idea what you’re in for in the end.

Good Half Gone
Tarryn Fisher
Pub: 3/19/24
3.5☆

Synopsis:
Iris Walsh saw her twin sister, Piper, get kidnapped—so why does no one believe her?

Iris narrowly escaped her pretty, popular twin sister’s fate as a teen: kidnapped, trafficked and long gone before the cops agreed to investigate. With no evidence to go on but a few scattered memories, the case quickly goes cold.

Now an adult, Iris wants one thing—proof. And if the police still won’t help, she’ll just have to find it her own way; by interning at the isolated Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane, where secrets lurk in the shadows and are kept under lock and key. But Iris soon realizes that something even more sinister is simmering beneath the surface of the Shoal, and that the patients aren’t the only ones being observed…

My Thoughts:
If you’re in the mood for a slowwwww burn thriller this one might be for you. It was a little too slow and a bit all over the place for me. Once I hit 75% things really picked up and it sucked me in. So while I overall I enjoyed it, it was more of a like vs love for me.

What I liked;
▪︎ Past/Present Timelines
▪︎ Psychological Thriller
▪︎ Dark & Twisty
▪︎ Creepy Setting

For my fellow readers who enjoyed books like The Sanatorium, The Silent Patient, and The Clinic, you'll want to grab this one! It jumps from the past when Iris's twin Piper got kidnapped to present day when Iris gets a job at Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane. Her one goal is to try and figure out what exactly happened to her twin those many years ago and why. I loved the dual timeline and the slow build it gave us. I wasn't the biggest fan of the "answer" when all the puzzle pieces finally fit together, I wish it would've gone a different way, but I loved the suspense nonetheless.

I’ve found Tarryn’s books to be a bit hit and miss and Good Half Gone was no exception. The premise itself was very good and I was intrigued enough to keep pushing through but the story was slow and it was kind of hard to connect with Iris on any level.

This is my first Tarryn Fisher book and I really liked it. A missing twin sister and a spooky mental hospital on an island made this an immediate must read for me. I mean there are so many possibilities! I was so excited when I got approved for an ARC read on Net Galley and this book did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the story and all the twists and turns along the way. I loved the way she used the two timelines throughout the book to give us a more complete story of what was going on but still leaving out bits here and there to keep us guessing the entire time. I feel like there could have been a bit more suspense in the beginning but even without it I was hooked. I needed to know what happened. Love

This is my least favorite Tarryn Fisher, and that includes her collar with Colleen Hoover which I absolutely hated and didn't finish. I was hopeful this would turn around with a twist like her previous books, so I forced myself to finish. But wow it was just bad all the way through. I understand writing an unlikeable character, but in my opinion Iris was just too unlikeable to even care about the book.

Amazing!!! I have absolutely no idea what was going to happen. The twist blew my mind. This was a bit of a slow burn but also a page turner at the same time. This one is my favorite book of 2024 so far! Brilliantly written. This story is about a very relevant subject in today's world. It's a scary subject, but it has become a grimm reality for a lot of people in the world. Well done!!

I was really excited for this upcoming release, as I really enjoyed The Wives by Tarryn Fisher, but this one didn’t end up working for me. The premise was so intriguing, but I found it to have a really slow start and I wasn’t as intrigued by the story as I was hoping for.

𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍.....

Special thanks to @htpbooks @tarrynfisher and @netgalley for this #gifted eARC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was actually my first Tarryn Fisher novel, even though I own others on my kindle, I've never gotten around to reading them. This book was definitely a #bookstahype read for me, but it did not disappoint. I also didn't truly understand the title until you really read into the synopsis and beginning of the story, (which I always go in blind)🫣, but I will say I was immensely intrigued from page one!

I don't personally know any twins, but I think in general, if I saw this happen to my sibling (or even a friend) and no one believed me - I'd be devastated and just as he'll bent as she was to find the answers the police wouldn't even consider.

I do, however, think it's a little far to go down the path she followed to confront "him", but hey - this is fiction right?! Lol 👌🏼😆
Overall I definitely recommend this read!

PUB DAY:
Mar 19, 2024

QOTD❓️⁉️❓️ if you saw something bad happen and the police didn't believe you, what would you do?

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#goodhalfgone #tarrynfisher #tarrynfisherbooks #htpbooks #HarlequinBooks #netgalley #autoapproval #harlequininfluencer #thrilleraddict #bookaddict #bookcommunity #bookbuzz #tbr
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I was quickly drawn into Good Half Gone, as the story of Piper’s disappearance unfolds in alternating timelines between the past and present. The flashbacks describe Iris’ close relationship with her sister and Gran, and their tumultuous relationship with their mother. It was evident that the twins experienced a lot of childhood trauma, and that likely contributed to how Iris dealt with the loss of her sister.

However, the storyline was quickly bogged down with redundant details that slowed the pace. The writing felt choppy and often jumped to new scenes abruptly. Sometimes I went back pages or paragraphs to figure out if I had missed something. There was also a sense of contradiction in Iris' actions. For example, she hated detective Poley, then they were close friends in some scenes. The romance was a bit odd and unnecessary. It was odd that Iris just spilled her secrets to Leo right after they became close. The end delivered a fast-paced conclusion, and though I anticipated part of the big reveal, I was surprised by the ending. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but the writing could be improved to increase the clarity.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley. I am providing my honest review.

The basics:
At fifteen years old, Piper was snatched from a movie theatre. She disappeared into the night with three unknown men, leaving behind her grandmother and twin sister Iris. Iris has dedicated her life to finding out what happened to Piper. Now, at twenty four, Iris has gotten an exclusive internship at a hospital for the criminally insane. The only catch? Iris is convinced Piper’s killer is a resident.

My thoughts:
I am so beyond disappointed with this book. I have been looking forward to reading a Tarryn Fischer novel for so long, but this novel was just awful. There’s really no other way to put it.

The characters in this novel were so hollow, one dimensional, and utterly boring. I didn’t feel moved by Iris at all. Her motivations and actions didn’t add up. Piper felt empty. I didn’t feel for Gran or Cal at all. That heart wrenching scene where the cold case cop confesses to Iris that she named her daughter after Piper? I felt nothing but relief because the book was finally over.

In addition to the stale characters, the chapters were utterly grueling to get through. They were so long, so unnecessary, and so mundane. I really do not care that Iris led an art session. I don’t care what she ate for lunch in the mess hall. I don’t care that her coworkers take frequent smoke breaks. These mundane details added absolutely nothing to the story but excessive page length. The novel’s time skips were also disconnected and disjointed— it literally felt like this novel hasn’t been edited for consistency at all. I genuinely think this novel may have been a three star book for me if it had stayed mostly in past tense, then picked up in the present after Iris identified the killer.

Lastly, this novel was completely implausible. If Iris truly studied these inmates as much as she claims, I find it impossible to believe she wouldn’t have recognized them out and about on the island. I mean, how do you not recognize your own childhood youth pastor that you’ve spent a decade obsessing over? The ending made literally no sense and there was zero foreshadowing to make it plausible.

Overall, please do not read this book. Save yourself the time and money. I may give Tarryn Fischer another chance, but honestly this book was so awful, it won’t be anytime soon.

The book jumps between the past and the present which I enjoyed. There are several twists and surprises that the reader does not expect. Throughout the book, there were occasional times at which it felt like the reader missed information but the information was shared later, while at times this was annoying, it did keep the reader engaged. Once the book hit about 65% in, it was a true page turner that kept you engaged til the very end.

Iris cannot get through the day when she was fifteen, witnessing her twin sister Piper's kidnapping in front of a movie theater. The officers didn't want to believe her, thinking her sister had run away, but she never gave up on her. Nearly a decade later, she graduates from school to be an intern at Shoal Island Hospital because the monster who hurt her sister might be one of the violent patients there. But what if she's wrong? What if she's about to punish an innocent guy, or worse, put her life in danger to become the next prey of a very brutal man?
She finds herself developing a crush on Dr. Leo Grayson, who acts extra helpful and flirty around her. This might solve the problem of reaching the secluded unit where the monster gets treatment, but what if mixing her vendetta with her blooming romance puts more lives at risk? Could she finish the job she's planned for so long and bring justice for her sister by finding out what happened to her?
This is one of my fastest, extra riveting, and exciting reads that I devoured in one sitting. So much happens in a short time that I had a hard time absorbing each thrown curveball, but it was still a well-executed winner that I truly enjoyed.

I hate giving this two stars but sadly this one just didn’t work for me. I still love Tarryn and will read her next book. The timeline jump in this story felt very disjointed and almost like I was reading two different books. There’s so much about the procedures and lack of security at this hospital that weren’t believable in any way. It pains me to say I didn’t enjoy this one, but hopefully the next Fisher book will blow me away.

I wanted suspense and a brain teaser and that just wasn’t in the cards. As we reached the ending, I wanted to be shocked, I wanted to have the rug pulled out from under me, but I didn't, I'd kind of worked out the plot early on and knew where the author was going to lead us. So it wasn't a surprise what had happened.

Thank you for this ARC

When Iris is 15, her twin sister is kidnapped and trafficked. Eight years later, Iris goes to work at the Shoal Island Hospital to try and find out the fate of her presumed-dead sister.

This book was all over the place. It was pretty interesting, but I didn’t really think that the past and current storylines matched up that well. And it seemed like two separate books. I was invested in trying to find out what happened to Iris‘s twin.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Grayson House for an advanced copy of this book.

I simply love this book! It is a bit of a slow burn but you get enough of the present and the past in each chapter that keeps you wanting more.

Iris witnesses the kidnapping of her twin sister Piper when they are teenagers and now in her adult life, Iris has a plan to find out what really happened to her twin sister. The cops never fully believed that Piper was kidnapped, they thought she was just a runaway.

When you think you have it figured out, who kidnapped her, and what happened to her.....you don't.

Tarryn Fisher is a master at leaving unnoticed breadcrumbs and giving you an ending you didn't see coming.

Great book! A must read!

I haven't read a lot of thrillers since I do mainly read fantasy, so I was excited to give something different a read. The premise sounded very good, I was definitely turning page after page until it was done in a day.

I didn't like it as much as I was hoping. I predicted the end as soon as she started working at Shoal Island Hospital and when we got suspense going on it was just a few short pages. I really wanted more on why her sister was taken not just getting the answer to how she died. My appetite was not sated for all the answers I was seeking.

The beginning of the book we learn that Piper has been kidnapped and that Iris is having a hard time getting the police to believe her. pretty much that the case has ran cold and the situation is so very helpless. This brought the question to my head as to "why" was she kidnapped? How was it masterminded? Unfortunately I did not get the answer to that question. It was just kind of wrong place, wrong time vibes but not really because this was a predetermined attack. I feel like following the lead to why, how would have been a much better end to the story. Instead we are focusing on "who" killed her and the answer we got just wasn't satisfying to me. We spend so long of this book picking up the crumbs taking in the detail coming to our own guesses and theories, but then we are brought with just a few pages of resolution. Not even a mouthwatering resolution. I just felt like there was so much more to this story that wanted to be told, but it wasn't given its full life.

Another question that came up in my reading was how did she end up with a son because she was pretty young when her sister was kidnapped. My brain was processing all the possibilities, like did she get hurt because her full focus was on her sisters case and intimacy was the last thing on her mind. I will say that you do get the answer to this question.

As a starter into thriller I think this is okay, it's by no means perfect but it did keep me wanting to read the story. I was enthralled by the information we were getting. Maybe with how fast I cracked this case they should have hired me to solve her sisters case. We'd at least have answers without having to wait 9 years.

I was excited to start this book, and I did enjoy the beginning and the premise. But I didn’t follow the police ignoring the situation from the get-go, and the book continued to be outrageous. A fun, fast read but not as believable as I would prefer….but other readers may be totally happy with this. Very grateful to have received an advanced copy and I’ll definitely continue reading this author!

Good Half Gone by Tarryn Fisher - 3 stars

Unfortunately, Good Half Gone didn’t quite meet my expectations. I am a huge Tarryn fan, Good Half Gone just fell a little short.