ARC REVIEW: The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers and Alex Kiester
📚📚📚📚 (4/5 Stars)
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Release Date: March 6, 2025
Publisher: Bantam/Random House
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller/ Suspense
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I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of The Half from NetGalley, and WOW—I was SO excited! I've been a long time fan of Ashley Flowers and her podcast, Crime Junkies, so when this NetGalley approval came through, I may have done a little happy dance.
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What I Loved:
✅ Gripping Plot – From the very first pages, I was hooked on a really exciting storyline. The story follows two missing women from towns next door to each other. The surviving sisters decide to come together to fill in the missing pieces in their cases.
✅ Quick Pacing - I love when a book has a good pacing, even better if it sucks me in and I don't realize how long I'm actually reading
✅Jaw-Dropping Twists - There were some good twists that I definitely didn't see coming, which is awesome. I feel like it was a more believable twists than some other thrillers I've read recently.

Minor Critiques:
❌Errors - Since this was an ARC, I did identify minor typos, grammar errors, and formatting issues, but nothing that took away from my enjoyment. Hopefully, those will be polished in the final version!
❌Flat Characters - The character never really felt like they moved beyond more than their status of "missing" or "sister". I would have liked to see a little bit more depth.

Final Thoughts:
✨If you love thrilling, chilling, and suspenseful domestic reads, I think this would be a great option for you. Normally, it takes me a long while to finish Epub format books for whatever reason, but I really flew through this one. I did not find myself pining and loving Flowers' first book so much, but this was a vast improvement and I really really enjoyed this one. More of this style please!
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Thank you to NetGalley, Ashley Flowers, Alex Kiester, and Bantam Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Nicole Monroe and Jenna Connor have tragedy in common: Both of their sisters disappeared without a trace seven years ago, just weeks a part. When Jenna recruits Nic to start their own investigation into their sisters’ disappearances, Nic is forced to question everything she thought she knew about that night—and the sister she thought she knew better than herself.
 
This is the perfect read to get you out of a rut. A true page-turner, it grabbed my attention from the beginning and held it in a vice-like grip throughout. Nic is frustrating as a main character, someone who can’t seem to learn from her mistakes and get out of her own way, but this makes her both believable and relatable. I trusted her immediately because she was so honest about her faults. Her hesitation to open old wounds felt extremely realistic, especially given how much damage the loss of her sister has already inflicted on her life. And I couldn’t help but feel the same spark of hope she did when Jenna enters the picture, determined to solve this mystery once and for all. Their camaraderie was natural and even fun at times, lending a lighter air to a dark story. I enjoyed watching them unravel the clues, and I rooted for them to discover the truth. Author Ashley Flowers paced the story perfectly, revealing each new piece of the puzzle at exactly the right time. The shorter chapters made it so that the story never slowed, and I found myself desperate to know the truth. As someone who loves a good murder mystery and prides herself on collecting the clues, I can genuinely say I didn’t see this ending coming. And yet, by the time I set the book down, I couldn’t picture any other way this story could conclude. However, I do wish we got an epilogue, just a small look down the road at what's next for these characters. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys Megan Miranda, and I can’t wait to see what Flowers writes next.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for granting me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Couldn’t put this book down!!!!

Nic and Jenna have one thing in common. Their sisters went missing two weeks apart one summer. Jenna approaches Nic under false pretenses to start diving deeper into their sister’s disappearances. The two learn so much. There are so many twists and turns. The ending is so good.

This is the first book I have read by Ashley Flowers but it is not going to be the last. I loved this book. It had just enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. Just when I thought 1 had it figured out I was wrong.

Calling all crime sleuths! I have a fantastic whodunnit mystery for you to solve.

Two girls go missing and after several years, the case is still unsolved. The missing girls’ sisters decide to band together and solve the case themselves since the police aren’t much of any help. Can they find the real killer before the killer finds them first?

Packed with a handful of suspicious characters, the twists and turns kept coming. This was a super quick read. Definitely going to be a favorite among people who like true crime podcasts.

This was my first to read from this author. It was intriguing, though a bit slow at times, and I felt it just dropped off at the end and could have used, at minimum, an epilogue. Seven years ago, when Nic lost her sister, she lost herself as well as her parents and has just been going through the motions, numbing herself along the way. When Jenna reaches out to her with the same situation, they make a pact to try and solve the cold case of the two missing girls. Unfortunately, there is so much that is not as it seems. It is told in Nic's POV throughout, with the exception of a flashback.

This is a fun and engaging book. Nic and Jenna are strong dynamic characters who create an unlikely friendship over both their sisters, a mysterious disappearance years ago. This book has a Frida McFadden style in the fact that I didn’t see where this book was going at all and that is just so lovely. This book is fast paced and will keep the reader engaged. Everything in this book happens for a reason, and the pieces fall into place perfectly.
Thank you so much to Random House publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

This is about two pairs of teenaged sisters in which the older of each pair looks after the younger. The older of each pair disappears without a trace in spite of an extensive search and police investigation. Seven years later, the younger sisters team up to resume the search for the older. Each time they have a good lead, a twist removes it. The final discovery of ‘who done it’ is very unexpected.I don’t usually read mysteries, but this kept me up all night.

Ashley Flower's sophomore novel was so full of everything I love in a thriller!

Nic's life is a mess and she can track it all back to when her older sister, Kasey, went missing. Kasey wasn't the first missing girl from their area, two week earlier Jules Connor went missing as well and while it wasn't proven, many believed their disappearances were linked. When Jules' older sister, Jenna, tracks Nic down to try to reinvestigate their sisters' case - Nic is drawn back into past that she's been trying to run from.

I love an messy narrator and Nic is just that. Life's a mess, she's constantly trying to recover from bad decisions, while still making them. As Nic and Jenna lay out all the evidence, the reader can start to try to piece it together in a hopes of figuring it out with them (something that we all know Ashley does VERY well!) The story had so many twists and none of them eye-rolling. The ending, total surprise and so good.

I loved Ashley's first novel, and this one also did not disappoint. So good!!!

As requested - review on Goodreads will be delayed until 2 weeks from publication, 4/22/25.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine | Bantam for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.

I had a great time reading this. It was fast paced and full of twists and turns with out being too much. It kept me engaged and there were a few times I thought I figured things out and ended up being wrong, which I love.

The ending was surprising and tense - just how I like it. And while I would have loved a little epilogue I think it ended where it should

Overall really enjoyable!!!

Nic Monroe is a bit of a mess. She got a DWI - can't drive, is stuck waitressing at a local play place for children's birthday parties, and is working on her community service and AA meeting requirements. She still drinks, and her life has been in a tailspin since her older sister, Kasey, disappeared in a mysterious manner 7 years ago from their small town in Indiana. One night after work, she is approached by a woman named Jenna - who older sister disappeared a few weeks before Kasey - in the same area. The two women decide to band together to try and figure out what happened to their sisters. While investigating the crimes, more secrets are unburied, and several red herrings are tossed out for the reader. This is a fast, twisty read and I did not see the end coming. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy.

This is a rich and emotionally charged story that raises the question: How far would you go to save someone you love?

Ashley Flowers’ The Missing Half is a gripping tale about Nic Monroe and Jenna Connor, sisters of the missing Mishawaka girls who vanished seven years ago. Now, they join forces to unravel the secrets behind their sisters’ cases and their abductor.

The story is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.

4.5⭐️

I loved this book! "The Missing Half" is a bingeworthy and gripping thriller. I've had "All Good People Here" on my TBR forever, so I was really excited to get this ARC. I dropped everything I was doing to read it, and it did not disappoint. I was in desperate need of a good thriller, and this definitely fit the bill. The story moves quickly with its intriguing characters, short chapters, and clever plot. The twists were well-executed, and I did not see them coming. I'll admit that I'm not quite sure how to feel about the ending, but my jaw is still on the floor. This was such a quick and easy read that I binged it in a few sittings. I was so lost in the story that I couldn't believe it when it was already over. Such a great thriller, and I can't wait to read more from Ashley Flowers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really good book!! It was so eerie and mysterious and I felt very confused in a good way. I liked the flow of this story as well, and I enjoyed reading it. I think the overall story was well written, and I enjoyed the way the characters were developed and written

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Seven years ago, two women went missing in similar circumstances within a few weeks of each other. Now, the sisters of the missing women come together to uncover what really happened.

Seeing as I read this book in less than 24 hours, I'd say it was good. One moment even made me clap my hand to my mouth- what a twist, but it worked so well! It's a quick, thrilling read.

Whaaaaat!!! This was so crazy!!! There were constant twists and so many suspects in the abductions of Jules and Kasey. The short chapters kept me hooked because it was so easy to ~ just read one more~. Wow. I’m so shook and all turned around right now because I just devoured The Missing Half in two sittings.

I picked this up because I love Crime Junkie and The Deck, and I want to support Queen Ashley Flowers in everything she does. I don’t really read mysteries or thrillers, so I don’t have much to compare it to. I thought this was superb!! Ashley is such a gifted story teller.

Overall: this is definitely worth a read. Especially if you want a quick thriller that’ll suck you in. And especially especially if you like tales about sisterhood!

My only con at all was that I wanted a little bit more on the outside world or more from some of the side characters. This story is 100% about Jenna and Nic’s search for their sisters. Their investigation starts on like page 6. There is nothing else at all that happens in this and there is no world building at all. I wanted a bit more on Nic’s dad and Jenna’s mom. I wanted a bit more on their town - is it a close knit place? A city size comparison would be helpful.

Nic has made a delicate sort of peace with the fact that she’ll never see her sister Kasey, who disappeared seven years ago, seemingly into thin air, again. But when she is approached by Jenna Connor, whose sister Jules, disappeared under similar circumstances around the same time as Kasey, Nic agrees to take another look at their cases, and soon becomes obsessed. But what if the truth is more painful than not knowing?

I read the author’s first book and loved it, so I was ready for some good reading. And while I didn’t quite adore this book as much as the first, I throughly enjoyed this one as well.

The main character was really interesting and I took to her right away. She finds herself at a crossroads and can’t decide whether to decide whether to fight for a better future or just give up and accept that she doesn’t want to have anything better than the hollow existence she has now. Seeing that push and pull throughout the book as she works through her sister’s case is fascinating.

There’s a lot of twists and turns throughout the novel that kept me guessing. There’s a lot going on, and the author really kept the suspense level high as the book goes on. Each new revelation opens new possibilities and that kept me interested and excited for what was coming next.

The resolution of the mystery is quite…interesting, thats all I’ll say. This is another where I’ll give my caveat to read all the way to the very end, so as not to miss anything.

Overall, this was a great sophomore work by Ashley Flowers, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

This was a good thriller, with some unexpected twists. I enjoyed her writing style and the story kept me interested throughout. I enjoyed following the characters and did not guess the ending. The pacing was great and flowed well. I will be sure to read more from this author, Thank you Net Galley and Ballantine for the Advanced Readers Copy.
4 star

Another hit from out favorite Crime Junkie!? This book hooked me from the beginning I read 50% in one sitting and could not put it down.