A good idea but boy did it drag! It’s hard to put my finger on how it went wrong but the pacing was off and the “reveals” were not super satisfying.

I’m puzzled why it took place in 2015. That seemed strange to me since there is nothing special about that year plot-wise and it didn’t even give the author the bonus plot device of having characters be unreachable via cell phone or internet.

It was also tricky to remember the timeline for all of the characters.

Ruth Ann Baker is 26 years old. What we know about Ruth is that she is originally from Hoben, CT and is now living in New York City working as a bartender. She dropped out of college where she had been studying Forensics with the aspiration of becoming a Criminal Profiler after what she refers to as an “episode.” We also know that Ruth’s best friend was killed 19 years ago by Ethan Oswald and that Ruth has not been able to let her death rest, believing that Beth had not been Oswald’s only victim. When Ruth receives an Amber Alert regarding a missing young girl in her hometown of Hoben, Ct, she puts her criminal profiling skills to task as she Nancy Drew’s her way to finding evidence to support her claim that Oswald had other victims and to also prove that he may not have acted alone.

The book started off very slow and I did put it down a couple of times, actually completing two other thrillers in between reading this one. Not only was the pace slow, but it was challenging trying to understand exactly why the MC was making the choices she was making. Case in point, we keep hearing about this “episode” that Ruth experienced when she was 21, but it is unclear as to what actually happened to her. A lot is explained later in the book, but it would have helped to understand her better had we known her story at an earlier point in the book. I honestly had to go back and reread the book to gain a better insight into the character and the seemingly illogical choices she seemed to be making. What I discovered was a traumatized young girl with mental issues who had been seeing a therapist, which said therapist was temporarily unavailable to her. All of a sudden, the fact that Ruth was seeing and interacting with her best friend, who’d been dead for 19 years, along with other deceased girls, made more sense. Understanding the traumatic events that Ruth herself had experienced made it clear why a young woman would go traipsing across the world on a wild goose chase on nothing but circumstantial information and hearsay. Ruth was obsessed with finding closure for Beth, herself, and the other girls and that meant figuring out Ethan Oswald’s connection to this new missing girl.

I didn’t find the story nor the characters to be plausible. Although she had obvious mental issues, it just didn’t make sense for her to travel solo across the globe to meet people she knew nothing about and without anyone knowing where she was going and why. If you’re trying to find out about a serial killer and you believe they did not work alone, why would you meet up with people in their circle without finding out all that you could about the individuals, let people know where you’re going, take someone with you, or even hire a private investigator (she had the money to do so). Additionally, all the information that Ruth had uncovered seemed to come from online true crime communities that she belonged to or from the deceased girls. Having had some education into criminal profiling, she should have known that she didn’t have anything factual to connect Oswald, nor anything of substance to help solve the new case. But, understanding trauma and the drive behind Ruth’s search, it makes sense that she would persist until the ghosts of those girls are finally laid to rest.

I wasn’t a fan of the ending, as it leaves the reader with many unanswered questions and a feeling of having gone on a journey in vain.

I thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book and provide this review strictly voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advanced reader copy.

I enjoyed the first half of this book--it was compelling and the twist mid-way through was unexpected but satisfying. The second half of the book started to fall apart for me, especially as the details of the mystery unfolded. The connections between characters felt stretched at times (not quite believable that they would've been connected at all) and the last chapter left me confused rather than satisfied with how things turned out.

You couldn't have asked for a better book—I had never read anything like this that wasn't non-fiction. I hope this book catches on with social media and they blow it all the way up. A good suspense read for the fall and it could be read in a single sitting or weekend. Thanks NetGalley and Atria Books for the early copy of the book.

Leave the girls behind was beautifully written and an interesting take on an unreliable narrator. I loved how I was discovering the past along with the main character and the twists for both the character arcs and the plot were nicely done and set up well. Eloquently written thriller.

enjoyed this for the most part. I liked the storyline and Ruby’s quirky character. However, the story started to get confusing once the climax came to a head. I’m still not sure it felt resolved and I still don’t know if I understand what happened fully at the end. I don’t know. I’m still mulling it over in my mind.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria books for this advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Fast paced thriller about a woman who is haunted by the ghosts of several girls who were murdered in years past, including her best friend. Although the case of her best friend was solved and the killer brought to justice, Ruth feels there is more to the story and starts investigating the possibilities, including more victims that may not have been linked to him.

I really should've read the other reviews before I tried this one. Leave The Girls Behind reads more like a YA mystery.
I really liked Ruth's character, her dog and her job as a dive bar waitress.
Ruth's diving into the amateur detective business to investigate her friend's murder from 19 years earlier literally brings out the ghosts. The spirits of several murdered girls materialize to help Ruth with her investigation into a missing child. And that's when the story just felt weird to me. Bublitz brings in some unique and twisty detective work, but the ghosties were a bother.
Literally leave those girls behind and let Ruth play detective on her own.

This one had so much potential but it started really slow for me. I liked the story and where it was going but it had a lot of names and moving parts that was a little hard to keep up with. If you start this book and struggle I highly recommend pushing through to the ending. Not a spoiler but if seeing and talking to dead people interest you this book could be for you!!
Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!
This was more a 3 1/2 for me I am going to search for some more books from this author because I feel like maybe if I was more used to her writing style it might have been better for me.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz. I really expected to love this book, but unfortunately I struggled with feeling engaged with the story and the characters. I was initially intrigued by the serial killer aspect, but something was lacking for me.

Ruth is a young college dropout out turn amateur detective. Her best friend was killed by a serial killer when she was a child. When another girl is missing, Ruth believes that this killer may have had a hand in her friend’s death.

I feel like this book could’ve been really good. I liked the premise of her being able to see dead people to help solve crime, but for some reason it felt all over the place. And not just that- it failed to grab my attention. I am not really sure why- I can’t pinpoint what really went wrong here except the writing style. I feel like it could be edited or written differently to make it better, because it was a good premise.

Unfortunately this one was just not for me. I’ll be fair to say that I just read an AWESOME book right before this, so maybe this one following that one just made it seem worse.

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

An interesting premise as the ghosts of a serial killer’s other victims guided the main character’s search for the truth behind the death of her childhood friend 19 years earlier. Occasionally, the story was quite predictable. At other times, the twists and turns were surprising. Did the serial killer work alone? Was a recent child abduction connected to events almost 20 years ago? Sometimes it was difficult to follow the plot as it jumped around. Still, it was an enjoyable read

Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz was a book that took me by surprise - it wasn't what I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing!

Ruth-Ann Baker's friend from childhood was murdered by a suspected serial killer and as an adult, she still hasn't gotten over the murder. A new child abduction from their small town brings all of those memories to the forefront and evidence that suggests the killer, Ethan Oswald, didn't act alone makes Ruth resolved to find out who helped him then and is continuing the abduction/killings now.

In her investigation, she finds different women and one who may just have the answers she needs to find the missing girl and the resolution of what happened to her friend.

Ruth is haunted (literally) by her dead friend and other victims and this is the element that was a surprise to me - but one I didn't mind and thought was what sets this book apart from others in the genre. Ruth was tenacious, likeable, and I just kept hoping she would find the answers to give her peace. (Not spoiling that for you.)

Ms. Bublitz wrote a book that made me keep thinking about it after I was finished reading it, and I think that's a sign of a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in consideration of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Leave the Girls Behind.

This wasn't the right book for me, and that's because I misinterpreted the premise.

I thought this was a straight forward mystery or thriller, but it turned out to be a story about a young woman searching for answers to her own traumatic abduction when she was seven and the people who may have aided and abetted his felonious acts.

I respect the themes of the narrative; how families and social circles are greatly affected by the heinous acts committed by one person and remains a stigma attached to your identity forever.

There's also a not so subtle message at how people are misled, manipulated, and charmed by predators, but does that absolve them of their own complicity.

I didn't like or dislike Ruth-Ann; I thought it was courageous of her to pursue her leads and discover the truth of her abduction.

I also liked the supernatural element where the deceased victims visit her, but I wasn't sure what the point of it was. Survivors' guilt? To find justice for the victims because she lived?

But I wasn't able to connect with Ruth-Ann. I understand she's an unreliable narrator due to her youth when she was abducted but when that was revealed, it felt like a trick. Or maybe it was the way it was written.

As some readers noted, it wasn't easy keeping track of all the names of the women and how they were related to the perv abductor. And then the author throws in another name, Julie Jordan, to further stir the pot.

I soon forgot who was related to whom but I guess it didn't matter since I wasn't very sympathetic to any of them.

I'm still not sure what the ending was about.

The writing was good, and I loved Ressler, and Ruth-Ann's relationship with her uncle Joe, and his partner, Gideon.

I loved Before You Knew My Name, so was excited to read this next book by Jacqueline Bublitz. I was hooked right away by the story of Ruth-Ann Baer, who survives being kidnapped by a serial killer and keeps company with the ghosts of the girls who were his victims. The story lagged in the middle for me, because the details about the women who were close to the serial killer did not hold my interest as much as the girls. However, II enjoyed the ending twist, and will continue to read whatever Bublitz writes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Pub Date: Oct 29, 2024

#LeaveTheGirlsBehind
#NetGalley

Loved this one from the first page! Such a fun new thriller! I’d definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun binge worthy thriller

This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. I did love Ruth, and her dog. I thought this book had a lot of interesting commentary on what it’s like to love a bad man, whether he’s a husband, a son or a father, and know that you shouldn’t, but be helpless to stop the feeling. The commentary on true crime was interesting as well. However, I had the worst time keeping all the characters, and now they were related, and what terrible man they were related too, straight. I was still confused by the end of the book, especially because more relationships were revealed by the end of the book. This book dragged towards the end, and I felt it could have been wrapped up sooner than it was. The ending did not feel satisfying to me, something about it just felt off to me. Finally, there is a plot twist in this book that feels like a cheat, as it involves information about Ruth we should have had from the beginning, since we are spending so much time in her head. I think this book tried to do a lot of things, but the execution is flawed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC e-book. An interesting premise as the ghosts of a serial killer’s other victims guided the main character’s search for the truth behind the death of her childhood friend 19 years earlier. Occasionally, the story was quite predictable. At other times, the twists and turns were surprising. Did the serial killer work alone? Was a recent child abduction connected to events almost 20 years ago? Sometimes it was difficult to follow the plot as it jumped around. Still, it was an enjoyable read. I

My students are very fond of supernatural thrillers, of people feeling/being haunted by someone who was murdered. I think they will enjoy this one. It didn't really work for me, as that is not my preference as a storyline.