This book had me guessing and analyzing each character throughout the entire thing. Just when I thought it would go one way it went the other. Thankfully, it didn't seem as suspenseful reading it as I thought it would. In the end it all came together so well and I really enjoyed reading it.

As a fan of Laura Dave's previous novel, I was really looking forward to this book. However, I found that this one fell a little flat for me. I didn't really connect with the characters at all and I found the storyline not super interesting. I think I was expecting more of a thriller vibe and instead got a family drama, which I normally love, but I found this one to just be a little underdeveloped. I think there were too many characters who weren't developed enough, causing me to have to pause and remember who was who half the time. Definitely a slower read for me.

The characters in this novel are authentically drawn and well-crafted. Told mainly from Nora’s perspective, the story follows her reluctant involvement in unraveling the mystery of her father Liam’s death, prompted by her estranged younger brother, Sam. The narrative also weaves in moments from the 50-year relationship between Liam and his one true love, Cory. As the two storylines converge, the book delivers an unexpected and satisfying resolution. The dialogue is expertly written, and the characters emotions are clear. I loved the author's first book and this one did not disappoint.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for an advanced read copy of this book.

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave had me hooked from the first page in a similar way to The Last Thing He Told Me did. Dave is gifted in hooking the reader on the first page. After Nora's father's sudden and suspicious passing, she and her half brother, Sam, set off on a journey to seek out answers. What begins as an initial trip to his beloved California cliffside cottage (and the setting of his death) quickly escalates into larger puzzle to solve taking them on a journey of visiting many people that have been connected with their father's many compartmentalized lives.

Will Nora and Sam draw strength from their father's rich life while learning to not repeat his greatest flaws and mistakes all the while finding the answers surrounding his mysterious death at the place he loved the most?

This book was decent. I don't feel it was as good as the first one but still very enjoyable and I would still recommend to friends.

Just like her other novel, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I liked how the past and present chapters were woven together and the characters' development. If you like messy family issues and a good mystery, this is the book for you!

Overall this was a good read. There was nothing really mind blowing, but it did keep my interest. I would definitely recommend reading this. I would just advise that this isn’t very surprising or thrilling, that it’s more suspenseful than anything.

Again, it was good, detailed, and mysterious. It just wasn’t jaw dropping for me.

Honestly, while this is well-written and the first-person point-of-view is nicely fleshed out, it's not nearly as good as "The Last Thing He Told Me." I didn't really care much about the "who was she" mystery, nor did I sympathize with a 3-time married billionaire over the woman who wouldn't marry him. The ending was a shrug from me.

Laura Dave wrote another family drama novel that held my attention from the first page, right to the last page.

In "The Night We Lost Him," Laura Dave skillfully crafts a compelling narrative filled with family intrigue and suspense. Following the mysterious death of Liam Noone, his estranged children, Nora and Sam, come together to uncover the truth about their father’s life and the secrets he kept hidden for decades.

While authorities label Liam's death as an accident, Nora and Sam suspect otherwise, prompting them to delve into their father's shadowy history. Dave's narrative beautifully captures the intricate relationships within the family and the burdens of concealed truths, leading to a shocking revelation that will leave readers astounded.

With its rich emotional layers and suspenseful plot, "The Night We Lost Him" is a captivating exploration of familial bonds and loss. This book is sure to linger in the minds of readers long after they’ve finished it.

I really enjoyed "The Night We Lost Him". It's a book about family dynamics and uncovering what may have happened in the past. I loved the way this book was written and it had me hooked from the start.

Family drama at its finest. Interesting mystery and relationships. Excellent use of dual timelines. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This book was just okay. I had high hopes because I really enjoyed Dave's first book. The story fell flat and I wasn't interested.

A stunning and compelling novel that reminds us that our parents are people, with secrets and stories of their own. When their father's death is considered an accident, two siblings wonder if it's really believable that he would fall from a place where he had stood thousands of times, over many decades, for no reason at all. Finding their way past their own estrangement, they try to uncover their father's life, and who was in it that may have meant more than outwardly showed. Would someone have wanted him dead? A compelling novel that will be flying off the shelves.

I loved Laura Dave’s best-selling thriller, THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME. I even enjoyed the adaptation with Jennifer Garner on Apple TV. So, I was super excited to get a copy of her newest book. Unfortunately, life didn’t allow me as much reading time as I hoped and it took me a bit to get through it. But, I also noticed that this time, I wasn’t as compelled to keep reading as I was with her last book. I read THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME in two days and THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM in six weeks. I read a lot at the beginning learning the back story and the characters. Then, I read quickly at the end, knowing the conclusion and answer to what happened to Liam was looming closer. The middle was a bit of a slower-paced read for me.

As someone who has been grieving the loss of my dad this year, I found this quote to be so affirming. Nora is on the phone with Sam, hearing him say that he thinks they need to go to California and look into their dad’s death.

“I run my hands over my eyes, exhausted. Grief is exhausting. No one talks about that. Or, at least, no one told me. No one told me just how exhausting it feels to carry it around with you. And it uses the same muscle as love. Because with real love you have to show up and give. You have to show up and be given to. And it’s not so much that I’ve forgotten how. It’s that it’s all added up to be so heavy.”

Estranged siblings Nora, Sam, and Tommy are struggling with the grief of losing their father in a tragic accident on his property. When Sam calls Nora with the idea that it wasn’t an accident, the two of them join forces to find out what really happened that night on the cliff at his property, Windbreak.

“I don’t like that I’m thinking about the beginning. In my experience that usually happens when you are approaching an end you don’t want. Why are beginnings and endings so intricately linked? Maybe because they aren’t the opposite of each other—their DNA is the same. They are the two things we all try to fix.”

Liam, a hotel magnate, apparently kept a lot of secrets from his children. Even though both of his sons worked with him in the Noone Properties business, there was a lot that they didn’t know about. Nora wants nothing to do with her father’s business or his properties, but when she finds out he left her his cliffside home, she is confused, heartbroken over the lost time together, and struggling to find answers to her questions.

Even though there is a mystery about what happened to Liam looming throughout the story, I would be hard-pressed to call this more than that. A mystery. It didn’t feel suspenseful or thriller-like. I wasn’t anxious or white-knuckled while reading. To me, it felt more like a family drama where, over time, we get small pieces of the story that eventually will fall into place and reveal the puzzle we’ve been trying to put together.

“It feels like they’re all pushing their own agenda, like they’re sharing just a small piece of a puzzle that they don’t want us to solve.”

The story is told through short chapters, alternating between flashbacks in Liam’s life and the present day with Sam and Nora. There were several characters to get to know right away and one particular character has two names which you don’t realize until later on. I related to Nora in the story, coming to terms with her father’s death, with the possibility that it wasn’t an accident, and with some regrets over their relationship. Nora is also struggling in her relationship with her significant other, Jack, and what the future holds for them.

I really enjoyed Nora and watching her change and learn about herself in the story. Nora designs buildings, homes, etc, using neuroarchitecture. It’s a term I’ve never heard before involving spaces built specifically to benefit memory and mental stimulation, and to avoid stress. That sounds like someplace I would like to live.

If you are looking for a fast-paced thriller like Dave’s previous novel, you won’t find it here. Instead this slow burn, family drama, leads up to a conclusion that isn’t shocking but leaves you feeling like the characters are going to find a way through their grief and reach happiness on the other side. As a side note, there is a planned sequel for THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME publishing in 2025!

Suspense 3.5 stars.
Romance 4.25 stars.
Overall 4 stars.
Did I predict some things? Yes. Did I totally misread others? Also yes. Was the suspenseful conclusion kinda anti-climactic for me? Again yes. But the overarching love stories and engagement with the characters made this book so worth my time.

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave is a heartfelt family drama wrapped in a slow-burn mystery. Nora and her estranged half-brother, Sam, join forces to uncover the truth behind their father Liam’s death, which the police deemed an accident. As they dig into his hidden past, they discover secrets that challenge their perceptions of him and bring them closer as siblings.

This isn’t a fast-paced thriller; it’s more about family dynamics, loss, and healing. Dave’s characters feel authentic, and the evolving bond between Nora and Sam is both realistic and moving. While not full of twists, the story’s depth and Dave’s beautiful writing make it a rewarding read. Fans of The Last Thing He Told Me will find a similar emotional resonance here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element

The Night We Lost Him was such a great read and one of the books I have most enjoyed in 2024 so far. Laura Dave knows how to weave a spell from the first sentences and draw a reader in until they feel like they are in the scenes of the story themselves. The book centers around Liam, a self-made, highly successful man who falls or is maybe pushed from the cliffs of his beach house within the first chapter of the book. Thus begins his children's journey to reveal the truth about the night their father died as well as uncovering hidden truths about the man they had spent their whole lives trying to understand and know.
I really enjoyed the twist and turns of this book!

Big fan of Laura Dave's the Last Thing he told me. Her follow up, The Night We Lost him, tried to recapture some of her previous work's magic but fell a bit short. Nora's career is on the rise. So much so that she has to turn business away. Yet, she is able to drop everything and join the half brother she hasn't talked to in years on a seemingly wild goose chase to find out what happened to her estranged father, who by all accounts fell to his death in a tragic accident. Distancing herself from her fiancee while reconnecting with an old flame at the same time. Her father, Liam, is not at all likeable, having been married 3 different times, and fathering multiple children, all while carrying on an affair with his one true love. I was so excited to read the follow up, but it was a bit of a letdown.

The Night We Lost Him was my second novel by Laura Dave and I have given both novels 3 stars. I believe I just am not the right audience for her mysteries. (I would still try some of her previous works that were more straight fiction than mystery.) I found myself annoyed from the start of this book: The way the gather kept his children from different mothers separate, but apparently loved them all. Their attitudes toward interacting with one another also annoyed me, especially Nora's since there was no reason for her to hold ill-will toward her brothers as far as I could tell. In any case, I liked the book and the mystery. As the blurb said, the ending twist was a heartbreaking one. I would recommend The Night We Lost Him to people who liked The Last Thing He Told Me or to newer mystery readers who maybe don't have the expectations I do for being compelled through a book and having the characters behave in relatable ways.