This book definitely had me hooked. There were lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing, Detective Chelsey Calhoun was an amazing character. I loved how focused she was on figuring out what happened to Ellie. I had no idea what would happen and was shocked with how things unfolded. This would make a great movie.

When a missing girl returns two years later, everyone is desperate to know what happened. A determined detective unearths clues that lead to a chilling surprise that will leave readers haunted.

I'm not familiar with Emiko Jeans work but thus novel makes me want to dive deeper. She's a gifted storyteller without overdoing it. I've said it before but, I like a multiperson point of view because it lends itself to a deeper storyline. The last 85% of the book with leave you biting your nails and crossing your fingers.

Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book drew me in from the beginning and I could it hard to put down. Ellie disappeared 2 years ago and was found guilty n the woods. She had a hard time adjusting to life again. Part of the story were flashbacks of her story when she was taken. The detective that is on her case has also had her sister missing for many years , so she is determined to find out what happened.
Definitely recommend!

Detective Chelsey Calhoun has a complicated personal history. A transracial adoptee (she’s Japanese) whose father was the police chief of a small, very white Washington town, Chelsey experienced racism growing up and felt isolated from her peers. She did, though, have a close relationship with her sister Lydia; close in age, they were almost like twins.

Then, tragedy: Lydia disappeared at age 15, believed to be the victim of a secret boyfriend (he was found dead, an apparent suicide, but Lydia’s body was never found). The crime fractured Chelsey’s family – her mother left and it was just Chelsey and her father, whose pre-existing anger issues were only exacerbated by Lydia’s murder.

In the present, Chelsey is married and working for the same police force that her father, now dead, was chief of. She gets a call that a local girl who has been missing for two years has been found alive, having emerged from the woods emaciated and injured.

Ellie Black is closed mouth on where she’s been and who abducted her. Chelsey is determined to uncover the truth and begins to tie Ellie’s disappearance to other missing girls in the area.

The story is told from multiple perspectives, chiefly Chelsey’s and Ellie’s. Chelsey is in some ways a tough heroine to warm up to – emotionally closed off and stubborn. But as the story unfolds she develops into a sympathetic protagonist.

The plot is rather byzantine, but both Chelsey and Ellie held my attention. There were several twists at the end, one that I didn’t see coming (partly because I’d missed a plot point earlier, to be honest) and one that I thought was maybe unnecessary in how it tied all the characters together. I gave The Return of Ellie Black a B.

When Ellie Black, a missing girl who disappeared two years earlier, walks out of the woods one night, Detective Chelsey Calhoun picks up the case that has been alluding her. But Ellie is quiet, and after a time, uncooperative. Chelsey is determined to get answers, even if she has to treat Ellie as a hostile witness. Because underneath it all, Chelsey is still reeling from her sister's disappearance 20 years ago.

Chelsey uncovers new clues, and follows up leads, all while fighting her own demons. Dark, and sometimes disturbing, the story kept me guessing, and on the edge of my seat. The twist in the tale gave me goosebumps. For an author whose only work I've read is her YA romances, this debut adult thriller is formidable.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I went in completely blind with this book not having any idea what it was about. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book! The pacing wa da bit slow in the beginning but eventually started going and I was here for it! A lot of heavy topics were addressed in this book but handled so well. The twists in this book were great that I did not see coming!

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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