I really loved this book, it kept me engaged throughout. A girl named Ellie goes missing several years prior and no one knows where she went or if she’s alive. A detective starts to notice a pattern with Ellie’s disappearance and other girls that have disappeared as well. Ellie comes back and it seems like something is off according to the detective and she’s working hard to figure out what Ellie is hiding.

I don’t read a lot of mysteries so this book was a little slow to start but once it did, it was a twisty page turner. I enjoyed the character development.

Special thanks to the author & @simonandschuster for my gifted copy!!!

Why was this book so good!!! Literally read it in a day and a half probably less because I couldn’t put it down. It’s so intense, engaging, and the twists OH THE TWISTS will have you on the edge of your seat. I just love how I didn’t see any of it coming.

You’d think Ellie disappearing then suddenly reappearing would be the highlight of the book but there is sooooo much more to it. When Detective Chelsey Calhoun took on the case Ellie wasn’t giving up any info on her whereabouts or who held her captive the past two years. I didn’t find it odd because she was still in a traumatized state and I really felt like it was the weird guy from the hotel that did it. But the way the author twisted all of this OMG it was so clever. When Ellie started talking with the therapist that’s when the truth gradually poured out.

The multiple perspectives, the manipulation and rawness of the kidnapping situation added so much depth to the story. Reliving what Ellie went through along with the other girls held captive was so sad and scary. Then the ABDUCTORS like that was such a jaw-dropping moment and Chelsey’s sister just wow.

Overall, I loved it it’s another fav of the year!!! The characters were well-developed and it’s so descriptive and well-written. If you’re looking for a page-turning thriller I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Simon Books for the gifted copy of this engrossing thriller! Engrossing and infuriating because so much of the crime depicted was rooted in misogyny and the reality that missing girls are often not given enough police resources to be found unless they are wealthy, well-connected, and white. The lead detective on the case was a Japanese transracial adoptee, but that was just one part of her identity and not the focus of the story, which I loved.

Honestly it's a bit hard to verbalize why this book was so enjoyable for me; I think the truth is simply that I had no idea where it was going the entire time I was reading it. It was so dark and so compelling and so well-plotted. I've already told a friend to read this book and I'll be continuing to recommend it to thriller fans!

Dear Kelly, you know that if you don't write down your thoughts within 4.7 seconds of finishing a book then...oh wait, there's a puppy.

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC .

I know that (1) I liked this book because I gave it 4⭐, and (2) it's a mystery.

Thank you.

Ellie Black has been missing for two years when she reappears in a forest. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is eager to investigate what happened, given that she hadn't solved the case to begin with. But Ellie's return is more mysterious than originally thought. Chelsey has to battle Ellie's trauma and her own demons to try and solve the case.

This is a well-developed book that explores the trauma women experience at the hands of men and the way society blames women for what happens.

Ellie Black has been missing for years. They say that the best chance of finding someone alive is in the first 48 hours. So, after two years, everyone has given up hope. But Ellie's parents didn't give up hope, and neither did the detective assigned to the case. It hit too close to home -the detective had lost her sister as a teenager.

When Ellie is found alive in the woods, it's a miracle. And while Ellie is excited to be home and her family is over the moon, she's changed. It's to be expected, but as Ellie and her loved ones try to adjust to a new normal, it's difficult.

The Return of Ellie Black is a masterfully written thriller with a couple of twists I didn't see coming. Definitely a book to add to your end of summer TBR list. The author is a debut author and I look forward to her next book.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review.

The Return of Ellie Black is the debut thriller from Emiko Jean with a lot of buzz this year.

"Ellie Black is found wandering off a trail in the forest after being missing for two years. She won't talk about where she's been or who took her. The lead detective, Chelsey Calhoun, feels like there's a lot that Ellie is not telling them. Why won't she talk? What is she afraid of?"

So much buzz for this book. There have been a lot of stories the last couple of years about missing girls showing up - but not like this one. There were a couple of times where I thought I knew which way the story was going but then EJ took it in an unexpected direction. One of those - "Wait,what?!?" moments. Twisty ending - so much was a surprise. EJ does a great job disguising what's coming.

Entertaining, quick-paced story from EJ.

The book begins with a missing girl returning to her family after two years, but it so much more. Ellie does not want to talk about her captors give any details concerning her kidnapping. The detective who is assigned to her case Is Chelsey Calhoun. As Ellie will not help, Chelsey begins to look into other kidnapping cases and begins to think that there were other girls taken by Ellie's abductors. The characters are very well written. I believe the ending will surprise you. This is one that you will not want to put down.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Shuster for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a bit dark for me. I struggled a lot with the pieces that involved younger kidnapping victims, as well as Ellie's recounting of the time she spent in isolation.

That said, the writing was excellent. It was very fast paced, in part because it was told in two timelines - the current one, where Ellie has been found and is speaking with law enforcement, and the recounting of her time with the kidnappers.

I didn't forsee the twist and thought the pacing was great. The resolution was believable too.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I shared this with a book group and purchased a copy for my library. I'll be looking for more from this author.

Emiko Jean is officially a must-read author of mine. I absolutely adored her Tokyo Ever After series and Mika lives in my heart forever, so it was very fun to see her enter the mystery and thriller genre. I could not put this book down and binged it in a day - so very good. I loved the plot, the characters, the twist, the social commentary, all of it. I really hope she drops a few more in this genre for us to devour.

If someone always remembers your name, speaks it out loud, you're never really gone.

A parents worst nightmare came true when the disappearance their daughter Ellie became their reality. She was taken without a trace and and returned in the State Park of Washington without any clue to where she was and who she was with.

Detective Chelsey Calhoun is called on the case to investigate what really happened to Ellie. Ellie is now withdrawn. She is not same girl that disappeared. Her parents are walking on egg shells not knowing what happened. The narration is key to brilliance of this read. To me the narration is done in 3 parts. One is Chelsey's story. Why she is detective, why she is drawn to this case. Her own experience drives the plot. Ellie's story is told in her return and what happened. You do not get the whole story but bits at a time. It helps you know Ellie in a deeper level and keeps you engaged. I was surprised by it and highly recommend.

A special thank you to Simon & Shuster and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I had a complex relationship with this one. On one hand, some of the themes gave me a lot of anxiety. On the other hand, it's probably one of the best thrillers I've read this year.

Ellie shows up two years after disappearing from a party as a teenager. Detective Chelsey Calhoun, who lost her own sister as a teenager and is investigating the death of a another teenage girl, is determined to find out what happened and bring Ellie justice but something seems off and Ellie doesn't want to help. When Chelsey realizes more girls may be in danger, she steps up the chase and the timeline.

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I definitely could not stop reading. I feel like Emiko Jean wrote well about trauma and how women are preyed upon, but that social class could mean they're treated differently by law-enforcement and our criminal justice system. I did not love everything about the book, but I loved the book as a whole!

Thank you to @Netgalley and @simonandschuster for an advanced copy!

Forewarning: I am in the minority with my opinion on this one.

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Ellie Black was a perfectly normal teenage girl - until she disappeared after walking out of a high school party, never to be seen or heard from again, until she suddenly reappears in the woods of Washington state roughly two years later.

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Detective Chelsey Calhoun, the only female detective in her precinct and the detective in charge of Ellie’s case believes Ellie’s unexpected return is not only a miracle, but a chance to crack a case involving a potentially large amount of taken and murdered young girls. Unfortunately, Chelsey is also forced to acknowledged that something is just not right about Ellie upon her return…

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I really enjoyed this one, as it is apparent that a vast majority of people on #bookstagram have based on their glowing #reviews. I will say, admittedly, I am not quite as obsessed with this one as everyone else appears to be. I thought it felt a little rushed at times (both the plot and character development), I did not find portions of the plot to be super believable (granted I’ll take thrill over plausibility any day, it is #fiction after all), and I just didn’t think it was worthy of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ or particularly extraordinary. Really good, but not incredible.

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Again, I did really enjoy it - I think maybe the level of hype on this one just made it hard to live up to!

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**3.5 rounded up**

The Return of Ellie Black pulled me in from the start. It's one of those thrillers where there's an underlying secret that you're dying to know, so you keep turning the pages until it's revealed.

In this book, we have two pain POVs: Detective Chelsey Calhoun who is the one to get the call when a girl who has been missing for two years has mysteriously turned up, and Ellie Black, the very girl who went missing. The dual POVs really works with this story. You're unraveling the events of Ellie's disappearance alongside Chelsea, and then uncovering Ellie's first-hand experiences in her chapters.

The ultimate mystery here is what happened to Ellie? Did she willingly disappear or was she taken against her will? What happened during the two years she was gone? Why did she suddenly return? And the problem is - Ellie is refusing to reveal much at all. It's up to Chelsea to get to the bottom of this increasingly bizarre mystery before something similar happens again.

I gave this book 3.5 stars and what brought it down 1.5 for me was the fact that it was character-driven rather than plot-driven. Typically, I wouldn't mind that if it was done well, but I felt like this story had what it took to be plot-driven, then flopped a bit in that department the deeper I got into the story. Not saying it's not worth the read - it definitely held my attention throughout.

This is a heartbreaking and engaging read. Every time I felt j knew what was going on, the author threw me for a loop. There was a good deal of education on trauma and how to changes the brain and also how the people we idolize aren't always the true heros we view them as. This is a book of growth, love, and healing.

Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister disappeared 20 years ago, in an apparent murder-suicide although her body was never found. The distress broke up her family and left Chelsey determined to become a detective and stop other families from going through the same thing. So when Ellie Black goes missing, it lands on her desk and she’s the one meeting with the family, talking to the parents, trying to suss out if there was anything fishy going on at home.

When Ellie Black reappears two years later, walking out of a forest and announcing herself to some startled hikers, her arrival is initially greeted with rejoicing. But Ellie herself is secretive, unwilling to really open up about her ordeal and others who may have been taken by the same man. She’s cagey with Courtney and wary around her parents, and while she opens up a bit to a counselor, it’s not much. The mystery continues to build, until Courtney is convinced that there’s much more to the story to discover. She has to figure out what Ellie’s hiding before the next girl go missing.

The Return of Ellie Black works on several levels. First of all, it’s a well-written and well-plotted story, a gripping read that you won’t want to put down. But it also touches on many other things; how society feels towards young women who go missing, where our loyalties lie, dealing with sexism and racism in the police force, and more. It’s an excellent book that will keep you guessing up till the final, satisfying page. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

This was on of those books that is so good that you decide you want to read every piece of work this author writes until the end of time.

This is the story of Ellie Black, a teen girl who suddenly returns 2 years after going missing, and Chelsey Calhoun, the detective on her case who has devoted her life to solving kidnapping cases ever since the death of her own teen sister years ago

As the book slowly unravels what happened in those 2 years, the story gets bigger and stranger (in a good way) as the stories of these two intermingle.

I do not want to give away too much, but suffice it to say it’s a twisty one!

I loved this book. It was gritty and suspenseful and I couldn't put it down. I loved the way Chelsey was written: she's flawed and emotionally invested while trying to fight her emotions. Just a great book that I would highly recommend to anyone.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean.

If you're a fan of thrillers, then I don't have to tell you that we get PLENTY of missing girl stories. However, this one is fresh, exciting, and compulsively readable. It's a small door that opens to a big world, and I LOVED how the stories of the missing girl, and the detective looking for her were linked up. You'll love this one!