This started a little slow but quickly picked up pace and became the ideal thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed this thrilling thriller!

Not only is this book a dark and twisty thriller, but it also is extremely thought provoking. It's heart-wrenching and begs the question of just how far will we go for family. Filled with tons of shocking twists. The characters are well developed and the mystery well executed. I read this in one sitting it was that good. The ending was unexpected and satisfying as well as emotional. This will surely be a 2025 hit and one that is not to miss!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I could not put this book down. Ashley Flowers definitely improved from her first novel to this one. It showed in the storyline, the pacing and not trying to mash too many true crime inspirations together. This felt cleaner and more cohesive, from start to finish. I also think she listened to reader feedback from her first novel (which had a very open-ended ending) and smartly corrected how she wrapped this one up. There were plenty of twists and turns in this one, which I didn't see many of things coming. I raced through this so I could find out what what exactly was going on, both in the past and the present. I look forward to whatever Ashley writes next!

I’m so thrilled that I got pre-approved and took a chance on this book. Ashley is a new author to me, and she took me through all kinds of twists and turns along with shocking revelations. I could not stand Nic though! She was impulsive and immature. I can’t believe Jenna worked with Nic for as long as she did. There are a lot of things that I didn’t see coming and was truly shocked. The biggest twist at the end blew my mind. I just couldn’t believe all the mess Kacey and Nic made with absolutely no concern for anyone in mind except them. Jenna and Jules were never going to attract they needed to get justice. I loved this book!

The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers is an absolute page-turner! From the very first chapter, the storyline pulled me in and refused to let go. The suspense, the intricate character development, and the steady build-up of tension kept me riveted throughout. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, the unexpected twists at the end completely caught me off guard in the best way possible. Ashley Flowers has a knack for crafting gripping mysteries, and this book is no exception. Highly recommend for anyone who loves a thrilling, unpredictable read!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this early release. To be published May 6, 2025!

This book had me wondering what happened from the beginning! It was a slow start, but not so slow that I wasn't invested in Nic and her story. Once she and her new acquaintance start investing the link in their sister's death, things start moving quickly. Nic starts questioning those that she depends on most for answers and finds more than she expected. There were some interesting twists - some that I thought may be a possibility, but some that had my jaw on the floor!

Ashley Flowers is on her way to becoming a staple on everybody's book shelves. Having loved her previous book 'All Good People Here' I was excited to joump right in to read 'The Missing Half' and it did not disappoint and I could not put it down. The Missing Half is about Nicole 'Nic' Monroe and her life is not going as she planned. Having just gotten a DWI and still working her high school job, she has very little direction. Nic's sister Kasey went missing years prior, along with Jule's, who went missing not long before Kasey. When Jule's sister Jenna tracks Nic down, they start working together to find out what happened to their sisters. Searching sometimes leads you to the unexpected and gives you answers you probably wished you never discovered. This is a must read for lovers of Megan Miranda and Riley Sager. 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advanced copy of The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers in exchange for my honest review.

WOW! All the pieces of this thriller fit together so perfectly. After the dissapearance of their sisters, two women come together to solve this case that the police weren't able to. The secrets that unfold in this book are wild! I did not expect the ending of this book at all. I was so invested in both of these women and rooting for them to get to the bottom of this. What does the future hold for these two?

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for an ARC of this book in exhange for my honest review.

Book: The Missing Half
Author: Ashley Flowers
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine
Pub Date: May 6, 2025

I was beyond excited to get approval for an ARC of this book. I loved her first book All Good People Here and of course I listen to Crime Junkie and The Deck. I did give it four stars because I found I didn't love it as much as I loved her first book. This was a solid thriller but there were a few things I felt were a little unrealistic which led to the lower rating. I really like Ashley's writing style and she could totally give up podcasting and be a full time writer. It's a fast paced suspenseful thriller and would make a perfect beach read this summer.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is May 6, 2025.

1.5 stars

Seven years ago Kasey Monroe of Mishawaka, Indiana vanished over a hundred miles away from her home. Her car was found with the door open and her purse was on the passenger seat, money still inside. Jules Connor, another young woman, went missing in the same way two weeks before Kasey. The police assumed the crimes were related but never found any other information.

Kasey’s younger sister, Nic, 24, still lives there. She’s just gotten a DWI so she has no license at the moment and a court date is looming. She’s working a dead end job she only has because her dad is friends with the owner. One day Jules’s sister Jenna appears in Mishawaka and offers Nick some hope and the two try to find out what happened to their sisters.

Oh, wow. This was an OK book, nothing special. But then I came to the line that made me really dislike it. Readers will either read it and think, “nice twist” or their eyes will roll so hard that one of them will fall out. I’m holding one of my eyeballs up to the screen right now. Sad.

3.5 stars, rounded up

This was a twisty quick-read thriller, and while I liked the premise and enjoyed the story, I found the characters a little hard to connect to. It was a little predictable at times and required a good amount of suspension of disbelief, but still a decently fun ride!

After reading Ashley’s first book I was very skeptical to read this one because that freshman book was so bad….but she mostly redeemed herself.
I definitely think this one for her Crime Junkie listeners as it gives us a premise of a cold case and the two remaining sisters who are still looking for answers.

Nic Monroe whose sister Kasey went missing seven years ago is a mess and a half. She has a DWI, a crap job and really is just an overall screw up. One night Jenna Connor, whose sister Jules disappeared two weeks before Kasey uses the fight and reliance she’s built up and approaches Nic to try and figure out more clues as it’s believed the disappearances of the sisters are connected. They dive head first into the case and discover new clues and shocking revelations that put them closer to the truth.

The book was just under 300 pages so it read fast. The overall plot was really investing to me as well but some parts did drag just ever so slightly.

The twists in this book were really good and unexpected.

The thing I think Ashely and her co writers do all the ti is fumble the bag at the ending. While it was better than the first one.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Bantam books for this ARC.

Ashley Flowers writes directly to her Crime Junkie fans in her second fiction novel, The Missing Half. Appropriate in length for the depth of the story, this thriller gives readers just under 300 pages to learn about a seven-year-old cold case and follow it from start to finish. We follow the remaining siblings of two missing girls as they desperately cling to the mystery their sisters have left behind.
Certain plot points and word choices felt unnecessary, as if the writer was working to meet a word count. My biggest complaint is that, at many times throughout the novel, the narrator refers to the ages of herself and her sister, saying, "when I was five or six, and she was eight or nine," or "when I was three of four, and she was six or seven." There is no need to list off four ages all at once. Of course, if you are about five, your sister, who we have established is two years older than you, will be two years older than you. Additionally, many flourishing paragraphs were written back to back with stilted sentences, giving the impression that the styles of our coauthors did not necessarily flow.
While The Missing Half is not groundbreaking, it is certainly entertaining. An easy page-turner with cliff-hanging chapters is impossible to write off as formulaic because it will be perfect for its intended audience. Wrapped up with a twisted bow at the end, cozy thriller girlies will enjoy.

Kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book. Every time I thought I knew the direction this was going I turned out to be wrong. I have a very good knack of predicting the outcomes of mysteries and I am happy to say this book was very unpredictable. which I greatly enjoyed. Pretty dark book over all but I liked it and could not stop reading.

I shared my review on good reads, I will be posting a TikTok review as well soon. I absolutely loved this book. I was captivated the whole time.

I, like many people, primarily know Ashley Flowers from her podcasts. I haven't yet read All Good People Here, so I went into The Missing Half not entirely sure what to expect from the quality, writing style, etc. Was it a perfect thriller? No, not necessarily. Did I fly through it in a day and have an enjoyable time doing so? Yes.

The Missing Half follows Nic seven years after her sister Kasey's disappearance. Just days before Kasey disappeared, another young woman named Jules went missing in the same area. When Jules's older sister, Jenna, suggests that she and Nic team up to try to solve their sisters' cold cases, Nic is initially skeptical, unsure if she truly trusts Jenna or wants to delve back into the full breadth of emotions associated with the most difficult time of her life. She's eventually persuaded, however, and the two women work together to uncover new secrets and new suspects.

Nic was the type of main character I wanted to root for but also wanted to smack upside the head. She made poor choices, and while it wasn't exactly difficult to understand how she had ended up on the path she was on, it was frustrating to watch her self-sabotage. Like Nic, I didn't immediately trust Jenna, but I came around and found myself caring for her and enjoying the older sister energy she displayed toward Nic. I'm sure some of that was because I'm an older sister myself and could relate to Jenna in a lot of ways.

Throughout the book, there were several twists and reveals that I liked and didn't always anticipate in advance, but I found the final reveal at the end of the story a tad disappointing. I wouldn't say I outright disliked it, but it did feel somewhat predictable to me, and the delivery lacked the punch I wanted it to have. I love when a twist really knocks the air out of me, and this one didn't quite accomplish that.

Overall, I think this was a solid thriller and one I would recommend to others. It's a fast, compelling read with a strong focus on family dynamics, especially with respect to relationships between sisters. It's not life-changing, but it'll get the job done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Great read. I really was not expecting the twist at the end. This book had the right amount of balance between suspense and mystery to keep you interested and wanting more. I read it in one day, couldn't put it down . Thank you for sharing this ARC looking forward to more.

‘Two women haunted by their sisters’ unsolved disappearances band together in this captivating mystery from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All Good People Here and host of the #1 true crime podcast Crime Junkie.’

Sadly, for me, suspension of disbelief couldn't even begin to come into play here, what with all the heavy convolution and outright implausibility. The beginning started off so intriguing, but by the second half, the grip was completely, wholly lost on me. This wild sort of jacked-up blender effect, how this story scattered into absolutely every direction possible, I mean....ooof. It was just grossly over done imo.

Sorry.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for this arc in exchange for review. I am always grateful.

Pub date: 5.6.2025.

Nic Monroe's life has fallen apart. Her sister, Kasey disappeared seven years ago without a trace. Most in the town assume she's dead at a serial killer's hand. Kasey is one of the two missing girls. Jules Connor vanished before Kasey with no clues left behind. Nic has taken that pain and let it eat her. She got a DWI, works a minimum wage job, and scrapes by. When Jenna Connor, Jules' sister, approaches her to reevaluate the case, Nic falls headfirst back into the investigation that led her down this awful path. Two sisters searching for the ones they lost all those years ago. When their paths diverge, who will finally know the truth.

Ashley Flowers is a true crime pro. She takes a very realistic approach to the messy world of disappearances. Nic is a struggling characters who still suffers from her grief, while Jenna appears to have grown from the experience. That's the reality of crime. It effects each person differently. Ashley writes story that are very much real life yet captivating and plot driven. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

While it was a riveting story, it was too dark for my preference. I wasn’t a huge fan of the two main characters, and their relationship seemed pretty weird. I was mostly surprised by the twists, so that was well done, but in the end, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. There was also far too much profanity and generally immoral behavior for this to be a book I could recommend.