Member Reviews
I appreciate NetGalley for providing me with an early glimpse into this intriguing book.
At the heart of the story are two best friends, Willow and Amelia, who embark on an exciting road trip that promises to be the adventure of a lifetime. Their goal is to work on editing the book they've been collaborating on, but what should be a fun escape quickly spirals into chaos. Unbeknownst to Amelia, Willow has been living a secret life, one filled with complexities that threaten their friendship. When the trip takes a dark turn, Amelia returns alone—haunted by the events that transpired and burdened by the secrets she refuses to share.
As the plot unfolds, a mother fervently searches for her missing daughter, creating an atmosphere of desperation and tension. She finds herself clashing with another mother, whose priority is protecting her own child at all costs. The conflict between the two women intensifies as they grapple with their individual struggles, leading to an unraveling of relationships.
The friendship between Willow and Amelia is put under a microscope. Are they truly as inseparable as they once believed, or is there a deeper rift that has formed as they've grown older? With each passing day, their bond weakens, revealing the fractures caused by jealousy and secrets.
After a heated confrontation during the trip, only one friend makes it back home. The unanswered questions linger: What really happened between the girls on that fateful road trip? What secrets does Amelia choose to keep buried?
As the narrative progresses, it becomes clear that Willow's hidden life is catching up to her, and the façade she has built may be crumbling. The stakes rise dramatically, and the truth begins to emerge. The chilling question looms over the story: does this tangled web of secrets ultimately lead to murder? The tension builds as readers are drawn into a suspenseful exploration of trust, betrayal, and the dark complexities of friendship.
A great story about friendships and relationships. The second half the story really revs up! Lots of twists that keep you guessing and feeling multiple emotions for different characters at different times. The narrator took a while to get used to but didn’t take away from the story!
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the audio arc of My Missing Daughter.
Narrated by Patricia Rodriguez
The synopsis of this book grabbed me and I was very intrigued. Being a parent myself, it would be one of my worst nightmares to lose one of my own children. Ellery Kane got straight into the story, introducing us to the main character and parent, Tracy, who is looking forward to welcoming home her daughter. Willow has been on a trip with her bestie, but when the bus pulls up. Willow is nowhere to be seen.
I found My Missing Daughter easy to get into and it's told on a duel timeline. It's very speculative and interactive, leading you down different paths. I really enjoyed Ellery's writing style as its my first book from them. The pacing was good and I liked the subtle foreshadowing. The pacing is medium and I found that it was easy to keep engaged and wanting to keep reading to find out what happened.
A great speculative , psychological thriller with a great pay off at the end.
Patricia Rodriguez narrated My Missing Daughter and her voice really suited the pacing of the book. I did swap between listening and reading as I couldn't put the book down.
4 Stars
I loved all of the underlying stories that lead to the final reveal in this novel. The hashtags and online suspicion from random strangers makes this a very modern thriller and realistic for our world today.
Ellery Kane kept me guessing to the end and I am looking forward to reading more of their novels in the future.
Patricia Rodriguez did a great job narrating the two different points of view.
Was I supposed to care about these characters? I didn't. I don't know what is was, the story just didn't grab me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.. Best friends Willow and Ellie are out on a journey in their converted school bus as they vlog about their adventures to help promote a book that they are writing. When the school bus pulls up in front of Willow's mom's house, she is surprised to see that the trip was cut short until she sees it is not Willow or Ellie getting out of the bus. A young man who is a stranger to her, tells her that he was instructed and paid to drop the bus off at this location. Where are the girls and are they safe are the first thoughts that go through her mind as she frantically tries to locate her daughter. I liked this story but it gave me strong Gaby Petito vibes as it felt very similar to that tragic story so I struggled a bit with that. The ending was also not what I expected but you just never know what people with do,....Enjoy!!!
I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing throughout the whole story. I really showed just how toxic friendships can be and I was definitely kept interested the entire time. The twist at the end shocked me as I really did not see it coming. I will definitely read more from this author in the future.
I was super interested in the story line at first, but lost interest as I listened further along. Some of the dynamics between mom/daughter/friends/teacher were strange to me, either immature in nature or inappropriate and hard to believe. Overall I think I just lacked the engagement into the story the way I can with some other novels. Not totally a write off, but not my top favorite.
Thank you Netgalley for the early audiobook for review.
A suspenseful thriller with great twist and turn!
The story had a quick and gripping start and the pace dropped in the middle and then picked up again at the final part. I enjoyed the dual timelines and various POVs of the story. The secret revealed bit by bit which kept me hooked. The ending surprised me and which left the story to the most exciting part.
Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for my copy.
Pub date: Oct 8, 2024
This was a fast paced and fairly suspenseful thriller that presented slightly like a YA thriller due to the daughters POV and the involvement of social media. I did enjoy the mother's POV quite a bit. I wasn't overly surprised by how things played out but did enjoy the reveal and how things progressed overall. The characters needed a bit more development to have the impact that the author was going for but I did still enjoy this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This wasn’t what I was expecting. There are many twists and developments as the story progresses. The story seems to drag on some but I was invested enough to preserve to the end to see how things wrapped up.
Patricia Rodriguez’s narration of the audiobook is well paced but I didn’t particularly like the voice portrayals.
(2.5 rounded to 3/5)
Thank You to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version of this ARC.
My Missing Daughter is the first book by Ellery A. Kane that I have read and I will definitely be looking for more. In this book, 19 year old Willow and her best friend Amelia, are taking a trip in a refurbished bus to work in their novel. The final destination is Niagara Falls. When the bus is brought back to Chicago by someone working for task rabbit, without the girls, their mother’s, Tracy & Candice, are obviously concerned. Amelia shows up shortly after the bus, but has no idea where Willow is. Tracy is frantic, where is her daughter?
The story is told in the present and in flashbacks. As we learn about the girls journey, we see their relationship deteriorate, and some terrible decisions made along the way. It seems Amelia is not the quiet, shy, young woman that everyone believes she is. My heart was in my throat wondering what had happened to Willow and if Tracy would find her. As a mom, this would be my worst nightmare. I wasn't sure if the girls were reliable narrators, and it seems that Amelia was keeping a lot of secrets when she returned home. The ending was not what I was expecting at all, and seemed a bit rushed, but overall this was a suspenseful story with twists that had my emotions all over the place. I was able to do a read/listen which worked well for me. The narration was performed by Patricia Rodríguez and she does a nice job with the pacing and emotion. This is a book that would have done well with two narrators as the mother/daughter voices were a bit too similar for my taste.
My Missing Daughter
By Ellery A Kane
Narrated by Patricia Rodriguez
A twisty, drama, mystery told from two points of view.
Before: details the road trip of two best friends who are writing a book, their encounters, their different personalities and their secrets.
Now: is the mother of Willow, whose daughter goes missing.
The back and forth of each point of view adds more twists, as you try to piece together what has happened.
The narrator was good with conveying emotions of the characters , however the tone of trying to differentiate between the female characters was somewhat muddled and the girls were whining which was off putting at times.
Overall a thrilling read
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read and review
I thought this book was good, except there were no "good" characters. Everyone was corrupt in some way, the ending wasn't ideal either. But pretty good overall. Will read more from this author.
Ellery Kane's "My Missing Daughter" definitely kept me listening with all of the mysteries unfolding throughout! I think when you're writing a twisty thriller like this one, it's difficult to throw in a solid surprise ending without leaving loose ends, and Kane did a fantastic job of putting a bow on this story in a way that made sense. I really enjoyed tracking the girls' road trip in conjunction with the present-day tension building around Willow's disappearance. This one is a fun ride!
This is a high quality engaging audiobook. It's told over multiple timelines before and now. Two best friends writing a novel go on a road trip to finish it the bus comes back with out them and there is signs if a struggle. One friend turns up but the other is missing. It's then a tale of what actually happened up to the disapperance and what's happening now. This was engrossing as you were misdirected eith side stories and plots which gradually revealed themselves to be a key part of the story. I was really shocked when the truth was revealed at the end it was so unexpected and cleverly told it was like why didn't I see that. Really enjoyed this. The action and modern references to girl gone and hashtags gave it a feeling of thus could happen.
Thank you netgallery and publisher and author and narrator for this 4 star listen
The story in My Missing Daughter by Ellery Kane centers around a mother's worst fears upon realizing that her daughter is missing. With its twisty plot, heart-pounding suspense, and questionable characters, My Missing Daughter will have readers turning the pages in search of the truth.
Ellery Kane's newest novel delivers a gripping tale. A tale where best friends Willow and Amelia set off on a road trip to promote their book. But when only Amelia returns home, the burning question arises: What happened to Willow? This mystery propels Willow's mother, Tracy, into a desperate search for answers, leading her to explore various paths, including delving into the world of Instagram. The story unfolds with Tracy's relentless pursuit to uncover the truth behind her daughter's disappearance.
At first, the story unfolded at a leisurely pace, seemingly uneventful. However, throughout the story's progression, it gained momentum and intricacy. Before I knew it, I was utterly engrossed. My numerous speculations about Willow's disappearance all fell short of the mark. The revelation of the true architect behind her disappearance was nothing short of astonishing.
The story alternates between the periods before and after Willow's vanishing. Prior to the disappearance, the reader gets a glimpse into the dynamic between Willow and Amelia. Despite being best friends, their relationship is far from ideal, riddled with secrets. The trip becomes a turning point as they uncover unsettling truths about one another, leading to a significant rift in their bond.
Following Willow's mysterious disappearance, the story introduces a cast of unsavory characters, each harboring their own clandestine truths. Brace yourself for a series of startling disclosures as these hidden secrets come to light. Following such startling revelations, one might anticipate an equally or more shocking conclusion. Unfortunately, it seems expectations were set a bit too high. The ending felt hurried, leaving several secrets shrouded in mystery.
Listening to the audiobook while reading was a delightful experience, thanks to Patricia Rodriguez's narration. She infused the characters and the story with vitality. Although not every voice was distinct, as some characters had similar tones, her overall interpretation of the narrative and its characters was enjoyable.
I listened to this audio with interest but unable to give 5 stars. This audio had so many twists and unexpected turns that kept me hooked. Overall it was fast paced and enjoyable which held my attention
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookoutre
My Missing Daughter by Ellery A. Kane and narrated by Patricia Rodriguez was an excellent addictive audiobook/book, a great nail-biting psychological thriller with an unforgettable twist that will have you shocked!!! WoW this was so good, I found it hard to put it down, so glad I had the audiobook to listen to whilst I was renovating. I loved it.
A superb book I can not recommend it enough.......The narrator Patricia Rodriguez was excellent she drew you into the story.
Big Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.
This is really a crazy story! I suspected everyone at one point or another. Admittedly, I almost gave up on the book when I thought the story centered on the overused trope of forbidden love, but I'm glad I stuck with it because this story has twists and turns that will leave your mouth hanging. I think the author does a great job of tying up all the loose ends.
As the grieving mother, Tracy does everything in her power to bring attention to the fact that her daughter is missing. I found the detectives a bit lax on their investigation as the lead investigator appeared to move with no true urgency. I'm not sure I can accept that Candice, whose daughter, Tracy, returns whole and healthy, was so disinterested in finding out what happened to Willow. I think the most difficult part for me to believe was that these two moms whose daughters were as close as sisters growing up were so willing to turn on each other's daughters as if they did not know them at all. Overall, the turns the story takes in the second half of the book are worth the wait.