Ballantine | Book Chatter

We Were Never Here
By Andrea Bartz
Ballantine Books, 9781984820464, August 2021, 320pp.

The Short of It:

Once I got into the story I couldn’t put it down.

The Rest of It:

Emily and Kristen are best friends. Kristen pushes Emily to do things that she would not normally do. Emily has fun with her and considers her more of a sister than anything else. Kristen, always up for adventure, convinces Emily to travel to another country. But while there, something goes terribly wrong and they are forever bound by their secrets.

After a year, Kristen decides it’s time for another vacation, this time to Chile. Emily hasn’t quite recovered from her last trip and this time, she has a boyfriend but Kristen, persistent as ever, convinces Emily to make the trip. Although Emily is loyal to Kristen, this trip doesn’t sit right with her and she begins to feel as if Kristen is pulling all the strings.

Well, as you can probably guess, something happens on this trip too! Emily cannot believe that she has gotten herself into this mess, again! And once again, Kristen is calling the shots and acting like nothing is wrong. How can that be normal? How can she not be bothered by what happened and what they’ve done? After a little digging, Emily discovers that Kristen is no stranger to tragedy and that she needs to find a way out of this relationship.

It took me a little while to get into this story. The characters are not all that likable, especially Kristen. And yes, if I am being honest the story seemed a little far-fetched but once I got into it, I was into it and flipping those pages to find out how it would end. Without giving anything away, I DO have some questions about the ending.

If you need a book to distract you from the every day routine, this is a fun one to pick up. Just give it a little bit of time to get going.

Recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

When the Stars Go Dark
By Paula McLain
Ballantine Books, 9780593237892, April 13, 2021, 384pp.

The Short of It:

A grieving detective flees her family for her old hometown and becomes enmeshed in a missing persons case.

The Rest of It:

Anna Hart’s experience as a missing persons detective comes in handy when she returns to her hometown only to find that a girl has gone missing. Anna left home after a tragic event shook her to the core. Trying to put some space between herself and what’s happened, she quickly agrees to help her friend Will when he shares his concern about the case he’s working on. He has no leads and with Anna’s help, he hopes to piece things together and put the suspect behind bars.

Anna’s ability to accurately read young people is a result of her time spent in the foster care system. She understands them better than most because she’s seen how abuse and emotional damage can play a role in how they view themselves and it’s this edge that allows her to focus on certain details that other detectives might overlook. As Anna and Will work together to find this missing girl, Anna can’t help but become obsessed with the case. She must find her and she must find her alive.

What I liked about When the Stars Go Dark, is that the author weaves in actual missing persons cases like Polly Klaas, which gives this story an edge and a realistic feel. I would have liked a little more of a lead-up to the suspect. The big reveal felt sudden and rushed. I was reading a review copy and it’s possible some paragraphs were left out because all of a sudden the suspect was identified. I actually went back a few pages to verify.

Anyway, I was immediately pulled into this story but felt like it could have gone a little deeper into Anna’s past to make it really compelling.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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