ARC Review- 4 ⭐
Publication Date- October 29, 2024

Overall I enjoyed this book--it was everything I look for in a good thriller--good characterization, twists, suspense! The one thing that bothered me regarding the book was how naïve the main character was at times when she was tromping around the world chasing breadcrumbs in my opinion. I understand she was trying to find answers, I just feel like not everyone would be able to do that--it didn't seem very realistic. I loved the major twist in the book though--VERY GOOD!! I would highly recommend this novel to anyone wanting a thriller or suspense book.

Oh boy. I’m really not sure where to start with this one. I guess maybe I should start with the caveat that I think this story really had a lot of potential, and that’s why I’m scoring it as high as I did. But I think the author did themselves a disservice by advertising this as an adult thriller. In my opinion, based on the tone and the pace of the story, this is far more like a young adult mystery. A bit of a slow burn, but it’s definitely more comfortable in that realm. Even though the MC is an adult, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was a teenager playing grown up. The pacing itself was so slow, it would have fit much better in the young adult category. Now personally, I don’t necessarily have an issue with slow books. But in a book labeled thriller, it’s a little hard to swallow. Also, the story kind of just meandered around and didn’t have a clear direction. Ruth just kept deciding to go places like it was a list of things to do. I think a little of that may have been a product of the mushy middle that never quite got worked out during editing. I think it also might be because Ruth didn’t have any solid motivations. Of course she wanted to find out who took the little girl, but it seems like her personal motivations were so fuzzy. It made it really hard to root for her. In the end, I did finish the book, but it felt like I did it out of obligation, not because I wanted to. I had no drive to continue it other than the promise to review, so it took me absolutely forever to get through. And once I actually did get to the ending, it was incredibly disappointing. Absolutely one of the most anticlimactic endings I’ve read. Again, I think this book had a lot of potential. If it were to be aged down, put back through a full developmental edit, and marketed as a young adult mystery, I think it would do far better in sales and reviews.

Huge thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

2.5 rounded up. I feel like Leave the Girls Behind had a lot of potential. I liked the premise of the story but in the end, it never quite caught my full attention. I felt the plot was a bit unorganized and I didn't fully feel invested in the characters. Just not for me!

Thank you Netgalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jacqueline is officially an auto buy author for me. She does an amazing job fusing mystery with paranormal elements. She also always tugs at your heart a little bit because she writes very compelling and emotionally charged storylines. This was amazing!

Leave The Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz is a psychological thriller about a young woman who is searching for the truth.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Atria/Emily Bestler Books, and the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

  
My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Ruth-Ann Baker  is from Hoben Connecticut, but now works as a bartender in New York, a job her uncle got for her.  She had planned to be a criminal profiler, but that changed.  She is still a true crime enthusiast.  She lives in an apartment owned by her uncle, and has a dog that was given to her to "look after".  These things all happened after her "episode". 

Almost 20 years ago,  7 1/2 year old Beth Lovely was kidnapped and murdered by Ethan Oswald.  Although Oswald died in prison, Ruth  is sure that he is responsible for a number of missing children, and she is determined to prove it.   She also thinks he may have had an accomplice.  Ruth is haunted by Beth, and other dead girls who have never gotten justice.

When another little girl goes missing from her hometown, Ruth's obsession goes into overdrive.  She finds herself travelling the world in search of three women who she hopes can shed some light on what really happened all those years ago, and maybe what is happening now.
 

My Opinions:
First, this one is going to stick with me for quite some time!  Definitely a thought-provoking thriller.

Character-wise I loved Ruth, and the people that helped her reach adulthood.  There were no other characters I trusted or liked.  Yes, I may have been proven wrong in a couple of cases, but most of them were despicable.  I occasionally had problems keeping the women and their families straight.

The book was about secrets and lies, and looked at obsession, mental health issues, childhood trauma, and psychopaths.

The plot was really good.  It kept you interested, and enthused.  There was  a major twist at the end, and while I didn't see it coming, it didn't really surprise me either.  I actually re-read the last chapter just to make sure I got it right.

 Overall, it was a rather dark and disturbing story, but one where you had someone to cheer for, so you hung on til the end.   I'll have to find this author's first book now....



For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Leave the Girls Behind is a complex and intriguing story. The main character is determined to get to the bottom of what happened to her, and the story explores they ways childhood trauma can impact a person into adulthood in a way you don’t see often in books.

There is a lot going on in this book and I’m sure reading it a second time would help pick up on even more of the plot. With so much going on, I’m still not 100% I completely understood the ended. I don’t feel as if the story is fully resolved.

Thank you to Atria Books for the ARC and opportunity to review!

#LeaveTheGirlsBehind:⁣
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Thank you @atriabooks #AtriaPartner @simon.audio for my gifted copies!⁣
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“Serial killers might be considered a type of celebrity these days, but their wives and families are seldom treated with the same reverence, I assure you.” ⁣
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Jacqueline Bublitz I was not aware of your amazing writing and I’m so glad I was able to snatch this one up. It was twisty it was turny, it kept me on my toes. ⁣
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It’s weird to say, I loved Ruth-Ann’s flawed character. She had this massive guilt of being alive while her friend is a ghost telling her to stay away from the case. Her grief and obsession with finding Coco turned unhealthy and I loved it. It’s not normal to be like “it’s fine!” and immune. She was clearly affected and I loved how she was portrayed. ⁣
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I really liked the audio. My only gripe is that I would get confused on which male was which and that’s just from not changing voices. But regardless, a sole narrator is so hard and this was done so well. Stephanie Cannon was so good!⁣
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Out Tuesday, this is the kind of mystery thriller I can get down with.⁣
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QOTD: What did you do this weekend? We went to a wedding!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
🔪 serial killer stories
🔪 podcast books
🔪 single POV
🔪 single timeline

This book started with my very favourite way to start a thriller! with the opening being at the very height of the action and excitement, and then goes backwards and builds up the book. I love this way of beginning a book because it makes it literally inpossible not to get sucked in right away. It makes me NEED to continue reading the story to see how it ends.
I really like books about podcasts. It’s almost like I get 2-in-1, and I just really enjoy the reading style.
There were definitely some tough topics in here, and people should check trigger warnings before diving in to this one.
This book made me very sad and was honestly a little hard to read at times having a little girl myself, but it definitely held my attention and I raced right through it in one day. I did not see the end coming! and that is something I very much appreciate in a mystery/thriller.

Leave the Girls Behind is a suspense novel. It has mystery, a self acclaimed detivie Ruth who lost her best friend 19 years ago to an alleged Serial Killer Ethan Oswald. So when another girl goes missing she can't help but think about Ethan Oswald.
She begins her detective work, pinning down 3 different woman who were victims of Ethan Oswald who got away.
Ruth has her own demons to fight. It's a great mystery, it's slow paced and there's a lot of inner monologues and it comes with the story. Some parts lagger on, and wish it was a bit fast paced. Other than that it was a good read.

This was a good, twisty thriller!!! This plot had a special element that I think would be best to go in blind. Ruth-Ann lost her best friend when she was a child. And the serial killer that was suspected is now dead. But a new little girl goes missing, and Ruth finds herself looking for answers. I did find the storyline to be appealing, it just didn't capture me the way I would've liked. All in all, I'm glad I finished it. Thank you to Netgalley the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions are my own.

Fans of true crime and thrillers are going to love this one!

Our main character, Ruth-Ann, steals the show as an amateur detective investigating a true crime case that haunts her from her childhood. The lengths that she was willing to go to were impressive! I loved how the author allowed readers to get this birds eye detective view that felt so connected and invested in the truth. My heart really hurt quite a few times as more and more reveals came to light in this book.

Bublitz has crafted a detailed and intricate story with Leave the Girls Behind. I’ll admit, there were a few times where I got characters mixed up, but once I was able to course correct, I was fine.

Anddd that’s all you get! I can’t risk giving something away, so just give it a try for yourself!

This one gives me a true crime vibe along with a bit of paranormal 👻

I love that Beth is like the conscience for ruth. But i understand Ruth's obsession - especially after the amber alert for coco. Someone is up to no good and she is the perfect (maybe not exactly) person to figure this out for the herself, her bestie and the missing girl.

I do think it's crazy how forth coming these women are about being with (in their own ways) a serial k!ller.

This one was a great audiobook, loved the cast and would highly recommend.!

I chose to read this based on my previous read of the author's book Before You Knew My Name, which was a superb and very empowering book. This book was a bit lackluster to me. However, I still enjoyed it. I was drawn in by the supernatural aspect but it just fell short for me.

Ruth-Ann is a bartender pseudo true crime detective. She is still looking for clues and answers from when her friend was murdered 19 years ago. She starts to find what could be new evidence and another missing girl from the same town sparks an urgency to finally find the truth.

A lot going on here, it wasn’t necessarily difficult to keep up with as much as it was difficult to believe. leave the Girls Behind was a solid story that came together in the end.

This was definitely a wild ride. I honestly wasn't sure where it was going most of the time. I really liked the paranormal aspect but I wish it had been more the focus of the book rather than an aside. The characters were likable but not developed enough in my opinion. I needed more from Ruth and Juno especially.

Ruth Ann sees dead people. Dead little girls to be exact. All were murdered. One of them is Beth Lovely, Ruth's friend as a child. With some underlying allegiance to Beth? Ruth goes searching for answers. Her journey takes her half way around the globe.

I enjoyed this book and the many tropes it had going. I'd say it was a bit confusing and at times I had trouble keeping the characters separate. I enjoyed the writing style and would read from this author. 3.5⭐️

This book had so much potential; the premise was chef’s kiss 👩‍🍳💋

Unfortunately this one didn’t meet my expectations.
I had such a hard time following all the characters and that left me confused more than ever.

Thank you to Netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

For those touched by crime, even when the perpetrator is arrested or dead, how can they move past it? That is the question at the heart of Leave the Girls Behind. Ruthie can't move past the the actions of a serial killer from her childhood, and her life is stalled. She sees the ghosts of his victims and wants justice for them, more than she believes they got. When a little girl goes missing in her home town, in a way that seems so similar to the events from that time, she wonders if it is all connected. In an investigation that takes her all around the globe, Ruthie tracks down women who knew or helped the killer from her youth, in an attempt to connect everything and uncover a conspiracy. What seems like a straightforward plot offers some genuine twists that turn the story around for the reader, though the ending is somewhat unsatisfying, it delivers on the promises it sets.

This one has so much potential with a woman seeing the ghosts of missing girls. With an unreliable narrator, it is hard to know what is true but I was so lost by the end of this. I did like the characters who were written well. Bublitz focuses on victims throughout and I think she did a good job highlighting their struggle. The jetsetting seemed to take a bit away from the overall story as I assumed more would be put into the newest missing child.

Ruth Ann is an interesting character with a traumatic backstory and a need to unravel it all. She can't let go of her murdered childhood best friend, or her murderer, who she is convinced is responsible for more unsolved murders. She travels down the rabbit hole of true crime so far, that it dominates her every thought. Her journey to solving the mystery of a potentially unknown accomplice is entertaining, as is her path to learning to move on from her dark past.