All the Missing Girls...a book review

It's been a while, a long while, since we've had one of these...almost a year; how did that happen?  As much as it saddens me to say, I really haven't been reading actual books lately - a fact I am trying to remedy.  I think the main reason for this is because I keep getting stuck in books that I don't really care for and in an effort to slog through, I find something else to do instead of just setting that book aside and finding another one.

I received this book as a Mother's Day present and was only able to finally get to it after putting off finishing another book that I didn't enjoy that much.

All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda.

This has been the book that I've been looking to pull me out of my reading slump.  I started it a few days ago and have spent the majority of this afternoon finishing it.  At one point, I was so engrossed in the story that instead of tossing the shells from the pistachios I had been snacking on into the trash can on my left, I dumped them in my drink!

According to the author's bio; this is her first novel for adults.

From the synopsis on the back of the book:

"It's been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left Cooley Ridge.  Ten years since she broke up with Tyler, the man she thought she'd marry.  Ten years since her best friend Corinne disappeared, never to  be heard from again.

When the call comes that her father is ailing.  Nic is living in Philadelphia-light years away from her younger self.  She drops everything to care for her dad, but within days of her return another girl goes missing and Nic experiences a terrifying sense of deja-vu.

As Nic works to unravel what happened to the missing girl, shocking truths emerge about her neighbors, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago."

What I did not initially realize was that the story was being told backwards.  Yes, if I'd initially paid attention to the chapter titles, this would have been clear from the start; but all my life I generally ignore the chapter titles in a rush to get on with the story.  Lesson learned?  Knowing me; probably not.

As mentioned above, this book was riveting the further I went (particularly after I figured out that the timeline was going backwards!).  Only one point seemed to be left unanswered to me, but it was a point that could be answered many different ways by the reader; maybe that's what the author intended.  Or perhaps I just missed the answer in all the details.

This could have been one of those stories where you could see the culprit from the start; it is not one of those types of stories.  You are constantly questioning each of the characters and pondering possible motives.

This one deserves to be included in the list of Books I Love Enough to Tell You About (PSST, you can find all my book reviews there at the third link on my header).  If you read it, let me know what you think.  I will definitely be looking for other titles from this author.