I tried so hard to get into this book, but it was a really slow start for me.
It picked up pace about halfway through but I found everything pretty predictable.
I just felt maybe the copious amount of switching between characters made it a little difficult to keep track of everything going on.

New series by Wendy Corsi Staub. I enjoyed this. I figured out the twist pretty early on but it was still a really good read. Looking forward to seeing the next Haven Cliff book. Curious where the author is going with it, as this 1st book could definitely be a stand-alone.

Thank you #netgalley and #thomasandmercer #apub for the eARC.

3.5⭐️ Staub is a hit or miss for me. Some titles are phenomenal and others good. I enjoyed The Fourth Girl, the timelines, while back and forth A LOT, flowed well and aligned with the story well. Love the friendship of the girls and the twist was great

I am such a fan of Wendi Corsi Staub’s books and have been reading them for years. I was excited to see this one come up. I loved the premise of four teenage girls at Leon all promising to be there for each other always. But now 25 years later, while Midge is investing a murder does the last come back. What happened to Caroline? This was suspenseful and kept me guessing. Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the arc.

I'm sorry to say, but I struggled with this one. I normally love a dual timeline narrative but this one threw me, and I just couldn't get into the story or mystery. I think less may have been more in this case. I note this is the first book in a series, so I'll be interested in what the author does next here.

I give this book 3.5 stars! I enjoyed it and liked the descriptions of the small town of Mulberry Bay. I especially liked all the references to the movies, songs, book and food of the late 90’s. Loved the girl group they all created but there were times when I was reading having a difficult time trying to figure out who was who and whose voice we were reading in. I wish each chapter was labeled with a name. I kind of figured out the plot midway through but still enjoyed it. I would recommend it!

3.5/5

Four friends go to an after prom party. Only three return. Promises are made, one is kept. Then 25 years later, a murder, someone close to the girls. Are the two related?

I went into this book knowing it was the first in a series, so I expected holes, unanswered questions. I wasn’t disappointed. For me, it was a good setup for the second book. The character development was well done, taking the friends from young girls to teenagers to adults. Multiple POVs and back and forth timelines, but I found all very easy to follow. It was fast paced enough to keep me interested. I’m looking forward to the second book, that will be a deciding factor if I continue with the series. I’m looking forward to reading this author’s previous stand-alone books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

I have read and enjoyed multiple books by this author but unfortunately this one I did not connect with. I enjoy her writing style so I will read more in the future.

I almost DNF this book but decided to power through in order to leave an honest review. While there were some bright spots where I was engaged and interested in this book, those moments were limited. I had a very hard time keeping the characters and timelines straight. It got to the point where I was so disengaged that I truly didn't have any interest in knowing what happened to Caroline or who killed Gordy. At some point the four girls (five if you count Mary Beth) seemed like a faceless unit of teenage girl (or adult depending on where we were in time) who I couldn't differentiate or even want to. Just not the book for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read in exchange for my honest review.

EXCERPT: Reaching the clearing, she sees the backhoe, the yawning hole in the ground surrounded by heaps of dirt, the workers standing around it like mourners at a grave.
A man in a hard hat spots them as they walk toward the edge of the pit.
Midge, so official in her uniform, shows her badge. "I understand you found . . ."
"A skeleton. Yeah. You want to take a look?"
Midge nods, turning to Kelly and Talia. "I'll look. You don't have to -"
"I need to see," Kelly says, moving to the edge.
Talia shakes her head, but her legs carry her forward. Her heart is pounding, even though whatever is down there - ancient human remains - has nothing to do with her.
In the bottom of the pit, chunks of white plaster are scattered across the dirt. A limb, a head - one of the missing statues.
Maybe it's Ceto, the primordial sea goddess. Caroline's statue.
Dread slips over her.
There's something else, poking out of the earth.
Something pink, and plastic, and she recognizes it, even all these years later.
She looks again at the white shards.
Those aren't broken pieces of what was once a statue.
A leg bone . . . a skull . . .
It's a skeleton.

ABOUT 'THE FOURTH GIRL': On the anniversary of a teen’s disappearance, three friends face a deadly hometown reunion.

On prom night, Caroline Winterfield walked away from the ruins of an abandoned mansion called Haven Cliff and into the woods…never to be seen again. Only her three best friends know what really happened. But a secret is a secret, and a promise is a promise—even when it shatters lifelong friendships.

On the twenty-fifth anniversary of that night, Midge, Kelly, and Talia reunite at Haven Cliff, now a gleaming architectural jewel. But they aren’t alone. Someone is watching. Someone who knows what really happened to Caroline—and to the man who now lies dead a stone’s throw from where she was last seen.

Police detective Midge knows she’s dealing with a murder the moment she sees the item clutched in his lifeless hand. Only three other people in the world would grasp its significance. That means Kelly and Talia are either involved or in danger, because Caroline is long gone…or is she?

MY THOUGHTS: I really tried to like The Fourth Girl as I enjoy this author's Lily Dale Mystery series, but I failed. For me, this was an average read.

There wasn't a character here that I wanted to root for. Not even the missing girl. Not her friends, the three left behind. I found both the characters and the plot to be bland. The constant toing and froing between timelines and different points of view became downright confusing and frustrating. There's a lot of not much happening and no character development to latch onto.

The Fourth Girl is a passable read, but only just. While I never felt like I wanted to abandon this, neither was I particularly enthusiastic about it. I should have read it in 2 or 3 days, instead it took me five. The plot had promise that the execution failed to live up to. There was zero suspense, and the book definitely doesn't fall into the thriller genre that it is being touted as.

I won't be continuing with this series.

⭐⭐.5

#TheFourthGirl #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for providing an e-ARC of The Fourth Girl (Haven Cliff #1) by Wendy Corsi Staub for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

"The Fourth Girl" is an engaging thriller. While I felt the book was a bit too long and could have used more editing, the story itself was interesting with a solid plot. The characters were well-developed, and the atmosphere was immaculate. I loved the setting of this book.

I did question the ending, but that didn't significantly affect my overall enjoyment. The language could have flowed better, which I believe is tied to the need for more editing. Despite these issues, it's a suspenseful thriller with many great scenes, a plot that kept me turning the pages, and characters that engaged me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
💧 dual timelines
💧 3rd person narrator
💧 double murder story
💧 slowwww burn
💧 teenage drama

I love Wendy Corsi-Staub so much! I am always so excited when a new book of hers comes out 💕
I always love a dual timelines thriller, because you get to slowly piece the story together getting small random details back and forth… and it’s so satisfying when the whole story comes together in the end!
Reading other reviews, I am very glad that I was not the only one confused by this story 🤪 The jumping back and forth with the timelines did get kind of confusing at times, and the story took way too long to get going. There were a few kind of large details that were never wrapped up, and that kind of made me feel like the story was incomplete. I needed more of the mystery part and less teenage drama. This was not my favourite from Wendi Corsi Staub.
Thank you so much to Wendi Corsi Staub and Thomas &Mercer for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review 💕

It didn’t grab me, but ended up being a good story, although I felt there were a lot of unanswered questions regarding the plot. Some good twists at the end.

The Fourth Girl by Wendy Corsi Staub was a little difficult to get into for me and then led nowhere, as far as I was concerned. It was a story of how foolish teenagers can be and how they can carry that with them for a lifetime. It takes place in two timelines, the first setting the stage for the second but parceled out as necessary. There were four girls: Talia, Kelly, Midge, and Caroline, and a disabled veteran, burdened with PTSD who wandered the streets of the town for years, never speaking. The girls were best friends. But as they reached their sixteenth birthday, one suddenly had a boyfriend, and that boyfriend was omni-present. Caroline: her parents were controlling and so, as it turns out, was the boyfriend. She announced to her friends that she was leaving on prom night. Could they help her? They were nervous. How would they know she was all right? So, they came up with something. Life went on. Everyone assumed she had drowned.

Twenty-five years later. A reunion of sorts. That is when things started to unravel. The characters were well-done. I could see each of them, especially as adults. But, they were confused. She texted. They set up a meet. But before that could happen, the boyfriend, now a happy family man, was murdered. Midge, following in family footsteps, is the police. How much of this was a police matter? Was one of her friends a murderer? Kelly now owned Caroline’s family mansion, the ones her parents had never owned. It was for Caroline. Talia had lied to her husband to come here. Now she realized that was a mistake. Full of possible themes: possible incest, possible murder, possible mental illness. What was it all. Well, it does mostly get answered. I, personally, prefer something more straightforward.

I was invited to read The Fourth Girl by Thomas & Mercer. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #ThomasAndMercer #WendyCorsiStaub #TheFourthGirl

The multiple perspectives give this story a depth it really needed. My favorite was Midge. And I loved that I was continuously questioning everyone's reliability. The story unfolds at a great pace that keeps you guessing and interested. While I did guess quite a bit, it didn't take away from the story. And there were still enough twists to surprise me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.
I feel like I have read at least three very similar books over the past months. This one was a tad slow and drawn out. The pace was just off for me and by the time I got to the end none of what I had learned mattered. It was ok.

I received a complementary ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and the publisher.
All in all I liked this book. The story was interesting and full of twists and turns. I was confused at certain parts as to what timeline we were in. I found the girls likeable and thought I knew the ending, but then I kept questioning if I was correct.

This novel does not start off with a clear explanation of the past. We readers come to know what happened 25 years ago little by little. I felt that made the present action have less of an impact for the first part of the book. The narrative does jump around as background material is given to help explain current events. That made the plot development feel a little disjointed. And I felt like I never did get the information I needed to understand what happened then and what was happening in the current time. The ending did not wrap up all the questions. Staub's writing style is good in that she is skilled at building suspense, weaving it into the plot. In the end, however, this was not a totally satisfying read.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

I enjoyed this book. I really liked the story and the concept of three friends keeping a secret to help a fourth friend, for their entire lives. I was really intrigued to see what was going to happen next and how the whole story was going to end.

While I enjoyed the book, I did feel like the changing between the friends and The Walking Man was a little confusing. I’m not sure I understand why that was done or why he was incorporated into the story. I also felt like there were certain events that never really had a conclusion, they are questions unanswered.

Overall, I liked the idea and the story, I just feel like there’s a lot of questions still.

Thank you to Wendy Corsi Staub, NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC for an honest review.

The setup feels very familiar: three friends have stayed silent for 25 years about the truth behind another girl's mysterious disappearance. Now the three return to the scene of the disappearance and are drawn into a murder investigation that will upend their lives. Staub brings freshness and suspense to a well-worn mystery trope and keeps the reader engaged. Readers who like stories that switch between the past and present will enjoy this.