BOOK REVIEW: Where I Left Her by Amber Garza

Publication Date: August 24, 2021 Format: ebook Genre:  Suspense

Publisher: MIRA Books  Length: 248 pages Buy:  Kindle | Paperback

Synopsis

From the author of When I Was You comes a spine-tingling new thriller about a mother’s worst nightmare come true, when her teenage daughter goes to a sleepover and doesn’t come back.

Whitney had some misgivings when she dropped her increasingly moody teenage daughter, Amelia, off at Lauren’s house. She’d never met the parents, and usually she’d go in, but Amelia clearly wasn’t going to let something so humiliating happen, so instead Whitney waved to her daughter before pulling away from the little house with the roses in front.

But when she goes back the next day, an elderly couple answers the door—Amelia and Lauren aren’t there, and this couple swears they never were, that she’s at the wrong house. As Whitney searches for Amelia, she uncovers a trail of lies her daughter has told her—from the Finsta account to rumors of a secret relationship. Does she really even know this girl she’s raised? And Amelia’s not the only one with secrets. Could Whitney’s own demons have something to do with her daughter’s disappearance, and can Whitney find her before it’s too late?

Review: 

I received a free copy of this book from Harlequin/MIRA through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Whitney is a helicopter mother, overprotective of her teenage daughter Amelia.  Amelia has started to act out and now she is missing. The story is mostly told from Whitney's perspective, who the more you read, you realize is an unreliable narrator. I found the story to be choppy and disjointed.  The flashbacks didn't make much sense in the beginning as I wasn't sure what they had to do with her daughter going missing. 

Amelia has a new friend Lauren who seems shady with a hidden agenda. When Amelia goes missing it is with Lauren. I don't want to give anything away and Lauren is shady but she has reason to be. 

I struggled through this book.  It was definitely suspenseful but so much didn't make sense to me and the ending really jumped the shark and I felt it was a bit of an easy way out and a let down for me. The book did move along at a rapid pace and there were things I really liked but I just can't say I loved it.  

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