What a captivating mystery. Great characters. We follow four girls, told by three, in current day and flashing back 25 years. It kept my guessing and was really well woven.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC opportunity!

This was just okay. It was pretty hard to follow at some parts and just didnt grab my attention.

The ending was fine too but also a little predictable when you think of the trauma and everything she went through.

This was a good book. It didn't pull me in quickly, however the pace was slow and steady and kept my interest. I am interested to see how this progresses into a series. I will definitely read the next book, though I would probably need to re-read this and then read the sequel.

Thanks NetGalley and brilliance publishing for this audiobook arc!

I first got this as an Amazon first reads pick for my kindle and shortly after got approved for this audiobook arc, so I listened and read together, one of my favorite things to do! Really helps you take in the book!

I thought it was great. Super twisty, multiple povs, dual timelines! I loved it! 😊

I really enjoyed this book, it was different than many of the other thrillers I read. It had me questioning if what I thought was going on was actually the real deal or if had me all mixed up. Keeping guessing and trying to figure out the puzzle is the best part of thrillers. Two thumbs up!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really wanted to love this book. The concept was great: three childhood best friends return home 25 years after their fourth friend, Caroline, disappeared on prom night, and suddenly bones are turning up? I love a good small-town mystery. I just knew it was about to be messy, and in some ways it was, but not in the way I hoped.

We get three POVs. Midge (now a cop), Kelly (a therapist), and Talia (the most emotionally wrecked of the group), and the story jumps between past and present. Which, in theory, is great. I’m usually here for a good multi-timeline structure. But meh… the transitions in this book? Not smooth. Half the time I had to stop and ask myself, Wait… who’s talking? Where are we? Is this the 90s again? It pulled me out of the story more than once, and that’s always a little disappointing when the core mystery is solid.

That said, I did enjoy these characters. They’re messy, flawed, and emotionally distant at times, but they felt real. Midge had the strongest presence for me (probably because she’s the most actively in the action), but Talia and Kelly each had moments where I felt for them too. The way they all carried the weight of what happened to Caroline in different ways was one of the most interesting parts of the story.

Genre-wise, though… It was VERY slow. Certainly not a fast-paced, twisty thriller. It’s more of a slow-burn mystery with heavy emotional undercurrents. Which is fine, but I struggled in those slower chapters. There’s a twist, sure, but if you’ve read a few thrillers, you’ll probably see it coming. I wasn’t mad about it, but I also wasn’t shocked at all. It felt more like the story was confirming what I’d already pieced together than dropping a bombshell.

Still, I stayed to find out what happened to Caroline. The atmosphere is solid, and the writing is clean.
This was my first time reading Wendy, and even though this book didn’t completely blow me away, I really enjoyed her style and the emotional tone she brought to the story. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, especially now that we know the past isn’t staying buried.
Thank you, Thomas & Mercer, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

2.5/5

Nothing much really happened in this book, so I'm kind of confused. I found the blurb to be quite misleading and I think that's where my problem came it. This is marketed as if it follows more of the actual events of the lives of these characters, but it doesn't. This more so follows the aftermath and their mental turmoil over it. How the traumatic events of their lives have mentally impacted them, their paranoia, anxiety, and fear. If that was made more clear in the blurb, my expectations would've been way different and I wouldn't feel so mislead.

I prefer my thrillers to be action-packed and always have me thinking, there wasn't really anything to think about (in that way where you are trying to figure out what's going on and why).

A lot of potential, sadly, not executed in the most captivating way. And a lot of questions were left unanswered and totally glossed over. And those things could've made this so much more exciting.

Sorry if this is vague, I don't want to spoil for anyone who may read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

The Fourth Girl by Wendy Corsi Staub marks the beginning of a new mystery thriller series, called Haven Cliff.
It features a dual timeline that shifts between four girls' teenage years and their reunion twenty five years later. The narrative combines suspense and deception after one goes missing, creating a compelling storyline.
The author does a fantastic job with character development, providing depth to them and their relationships.
I was immersed from start to finish and loved the narrator. Quite a few surprises folks…can’t wait for the next novel!!
Great quote “a secret is a secret and a promise is a promise…”
Thank you to the author/publisher for the opportunity to listen to this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Unfortunately this one isn’t for me. I found it very underwhelming and couldn’t finish it. :( so sad because I love a good thriller and was excited for this one. Just not for me.

🎧 Audiobook narrated by Alex Picard
📅 Released 1 April 2025
📚 Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Fourth Girl sets up a promising premise—a teen’s mysterious disappearance, a group of friends bound by a life-altering secret, and a deadly reunion 25 years later. With dual timelines and shifting perspectives, Wendy Corsi Staub paints a moody, suspenseful backdrop perfect for fans of slow-burn thrillers.

I appreciated the atmospheric setting of Haven Cliff and the way the author slowly unfurled the story across the past and present. The audiobook narration by Alex Picard was excellent—clear, expressive, and well-paced, helping to keep track of the multiple points of view.

That said, I did find the structure occasionally confusing. There were several moments where I had to rewind chapters to clarify the timeline or the narrator’s identity. The multiple perspectives, while adding depth, sometimes made the plot harder to follow, especially when transitions weren’t always clearly signposted.

There’s a lot to like here—secrets, lies, murder (or is it an accident?), and the ever-present sense that someone is watching. Some twists landed well, though others were a bit too predictable for my taste. I also found the prose at times overly wordy, which impacted the pacing and made it harder to stay engaged.

Overall, The Fourth Girl was okay. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t dislike it either. If you enjoy layered mysteries with a slow build and don’t mind keeping notes on timelines, this might be one for you.

#TheFourthGirl #WendyCorsiStaub #NetGalley #BrillancePublishing #Audiobook #ALC #MysteryThriller

3.5 stars for me.
I really enjoyed the premise of this book! I read it very quickly and it was a nice break from my usual romance book. I figured out what happened in the book and I will not write it here... I don't want to post a spoiler.
Told from 3 different perspectives this is a twisty tale of childhood friends who end up going their separate ways until they come together years later for something specific. I did like this as a quick thriller.
Plot well organized. The author did well with time jumps - it was refreshing to read someone who does that well.
Some of the characters needed a bit more development - or at least I wanted to know more.
Good solid quick read.
Thank you NetGalley for the book!

Wendy Corsi Staub's The Fourth Girl presents a dark and twisty premise, promising a suspenseful ride. However, the journey there proved somewhat bumpy. Initially, I found it difficult to become fully immersed in the narrative. The story's opening chapters felt a bit sluggish, and it took a while for the threads to truly coalesce into a compelling plot.
One of the book's primary drawbacks was the sheer number of perspectives. While multiple points of view can add depth and complexity, in this case, they felt overwhelming and fragmented the narrative. Keeping track of each character's inner thoughts and motivations became a chore, detracting from the overall suspense. It often felt like we were jumping between characters just as a moment of tension was building, which was frustrating.
Furthermore, The Fourth Girl felt about 50 pages too long. Certain plot points and character arcs could have been streamlined without sacrificing the core story. The pacing lagged at times, and some of the subplots felt unnecessary, adding to the sense of bloat. If you are a diehard fan of Staub's work, you might find something to enjoy here. However, for those seeking a tightly paced and streamlined thriller, The Fourth Girl may prove a bit of a slog.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BrilliancePublishing for the book #TheFourthGirl by #WendyCorsiStaub. This book is so good and I couldn’t wait to get to the big twist ending. Midge, Talia, Kelly and Caroline were the best of friends, they all even have matching bracelets that spelled out TICK. On Prom night, Caroline tells her friends she is disappearing but wouldn’t tell them why. Now, twenty five years later, someone is sending text messages and are watching Midge, Talia and Kelly. Could it be that Caroline is back?

3.5⭐️
I first got a copy of The Fourth Girl as an Amazon First Read and it sat in my kindle library to be eventually read. But as k was looking for an audiobook to pass the time it was available in NetGalley albeit after it was published so I requested it.

The story over all is ok. It is a bit wordy at times and all the POV and Time switches can leave the reader a bit perplexed as its execution is a bit lacking. However, consuming the audiobook helps in this area. It’s a case where I think had I read the ebook copy alone, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. The audio in tandem with the digital copy provided a better experience.

As far as the narrator, Alex Picard, she did a good job. She was easy to listen to and had a decent pace in the 1x speed. I did speed it up closer to my reading speed . I was able to get it to 2x and still be intelligible but at times needed to take a break and put it down to 1.5x which was much easier to listen to.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Brilliance Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Twisty and suspenseful with a strong emotional core

The Fourth Girl is a well-crafted thriller that kept me engaged from beginning to end. Wendy Corsi Staub does a great job weaving together mystery, emotion, and character development. The plot had some solid twists, and I appreciated how the story balanced psychological suspense with deeper themes around trauma and survival. A couple of moments felt a bit predictable, but overall, the writing was strong and the pacing kept things moving. A great pick for fans of suspenseful, character-driven thrillers.