Recent Reads: The Girl Who Was Taken
I love a good mystery book.
I’m a pretty big reader, but if you asked me what books I’ve read in the past year I’d probably have a hard time naming more than a few without physically looking through my bookshelf and Kindle. If I don’t immediately write down my thoughts about a book, it almost instantly goes out of my brain. See also: any new information, at all. I have watched more than one movie all the way through before realizing I have seen it before. And though I remember Kindergarten vividly, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you what I did last week. I’m convinced my memory card is almost full, and I’m not willing to kick out old memories to give space to new ones unless they’re really something else.
But that’s all fine and well because a good (enjoyable, but not life-changing) book is ephemeral to me, and I have found that I more often prefer reading good books one after another than savoring heavier reads at a slower pace. Not everything needs to be a religious experience to be enjoyable, and sometimes I just want a thrilling mystery or a sweet beach read, you know?
I recently borrowed a handful of books from my friend Samara and my sister’s mother-in-law Michelle, and I brought a few of them on our cruise. And before I forget about them, I want to give some quick thoughts about them from time to time. Book club…party of one? Unless anyone wants to start one with me? Please? Can we do that?
THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN
No spoilers, I promise. I read this in two short periods of downtime: curled up on a comfy sofa overlooking the ocean, and sitting in a plunge pool overlooking the ocean. I say this to set the scene because reading in a paradise setting may skew my perception. But overall, I was interested enough in this book to fly through it in hopes of finding out whodunnit and whether the girl who was taken would be recovered.
This book is about two girls, Megan and Nicole, who go missing on the same night. Megan escapes and is rescued a couple of weeks later, Nicole is still missing. Megan’s return has eclipsed the fact that Nicole is still missing, and her older sister seems to be the only one still searching for her.
The Girl Who Was Taken has several timejumps and is told from different perspectives, but it’s done very clearly without any confusion and I think it successfully contributes to the exciting pace of the story. I was hooked right in the beginning when you quickly realize (note: this is on the back of the book and happens within the first few pages) that the girl you thought escaped is not the one who did. Immediately, I wanted to know what the heck happened!
The time jumps back and forth keep things interesting as it gradually reveals more and more of the character backstories pre-abduction. I think that’s where it shines the most, in painting a portrait of a complicated victim and the confliction and coping of the main protagonists. I actually would have liked it to go a little deeper into how/why Nicole changed so much, or the relationship between Nicole and Megan pre-high school, but I also understand that it would have made for a much longer book.
Like any good thriller or mystery, there are several red herrings — but nothing felt like a cheap misdirection. Once the answer was revealed, however, I took note of the amount of pages left and wondered how he would wrap things up without rushing the ending. The answer? He wouldn’t. There are still unanswered questions — which is a little truer to real life, I suppose — but it felt very abrupt and dissatisfying to know that the story was over. Left open-ended without any definite conclusion, it felt like a perfect segue for a second book. I can think of multiple storylines to continue it and flesh out the story a bit more, so I was a bit bummed when I looked and there is no second book. Lots of unrelated books, but no follow-up. There were a few random things thrown in that felt unnecessary and awkward unless there was more to be added to the story, so I can’t help but think that it was meant to have a follow-up and it just never happened.
Overall, I’d recommend it for anyone who wants a quick mystery read but maybe we should convince the author to finish with a follow-up.
Have you read it? If so, what are your thoughts?