Vikki Wakefield

Representation: N/A?
Trigger warnings: Death of a parent, grief and loss depiction
Score: Six points out of ten.

Looking back at this, when I read this long ago, I was expecting an intriguing read by an Australian author to boot, but unfortunately, this didn't live up to that, and I highly doubt that I would pick this up again. This author has written other books that I might enjoy. I liked this book at first until the main character became an empty shell, the plot dragged, and the mystery went nowhere. She did many reckless things like lying, skipping detention and counselling, and stealing. This novel left me feeling that it could've been better, and I'm surprised that it was shortlisted. Before that, she was just a heartless "prankster" who goes out of her way to ruin people's lives. I think it's part of a feud between two schools, but I don't know how it started. Maybe she was cold and heartless all along. In the last part of the book, there is a huge plot twist where Hannah Holt is alive, William Dean is framed, and Dominic is the killer! Wow! But the ending fizzled out, so I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but if you're looking for a book about grief or mystery, try Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley or Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks and both of them I enjoyed more than this.… (meer)

Abbie has always blamed herself for losing Sarah, but she has never stopped looking for her.

This novel has a very adventurous time structure, with frequent use of chapter headings BEFORE, NOW, and, sometimes AFTER. The story line jumps between time frames, allowing to the reader to put together a picture of the life Abbie led, and eventually, who took Sarah.

If you were Abbie, what would you do if someone offered you the unthinkable, to reunite you with the child you lost six years ago. What would you sacrifice?… (meer)

Thrillers are one of my most favourite genres to read so I was truly excited for this one. I am happy that I wasn’t left disappointed.

The story jumps between before and after the disappearance of Abbie’s daughter Sarah and how having no answers after six years of her being missing without answers still haunts her.

“It’s okay to be happy.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”

I had a miscarriage when I was seventeen years old and there were so many times when I would have to remind myself that it was okay to find happiness in moments in my life so this quote hit me really hard and I had to immediately highlight it.

It might be a silly thing to be happy about but the author is Australian and this story is set in Australia. It’s not often I see things being set there so it made me really happy to be able to read this and support a fellow Australian.

I was so invested in this story from start to finish. It kept me on the edge of my seat and left me anxious to see what happened next which is exactly what you want when it comes to stories like these. I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy thrillers!

Thank you to NetGallery and Text Publishing for providing me this arc!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.… (meer)