All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (2016)

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (2016)

A unique thriller told mostly in reverse.

Laura’s Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Plot: Nicolette left her small hometown ten years earlier after the disappearance of her best friend Corinne. Now she’s back to take care of her aging father and help her brother sell the house she grew up in. When another girl goes missing, Nicolette is plunged back into the investigation and scandal surrounding Corinne’s disappearance and may just finally find answers. After the first chapter, the rest of the story is told in reverse, counting the days backward over 2 weeks to get back to the present. 

Opinion: Okay so I like the unique structure of this book, but it is a little tricky to follow if you take breaks in between reading. I was invested in the story, but the amount of focus to keep track of everything disconnected me from it a bit.

Because the story is told in reverse, key facts are left out of chapters on say Day 10 or Day 14, even though the main character knew about these things on say Day 2 or Day 6. Obviously, this stuff was left out so that it could be revealed to the audience later, but there’s no way it wouldn’t have come up in Nicolette’s thoughts and interactions. So when secrets are uncovered, it feels frustrating rather than feeling like an interesting reveal. 

The small town atmosphere was well established and set the scene for the story. The characters were developed enough and had interesting relationships, although some details were left out (on purpose). None of the characters are super likable either, which makes it hard to enjoy reading.The story really slumped for me in the middle, but it got interesting again in the final quarter of the book.

Ultimately, I feel like there’s some loose ends and the backward structure doesn’t quite work. All the Missing Girls is an interesting idea for a book, but the execution just wasn’t all the way there.