"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 yellow 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 ...
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"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 yellow 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"--Back cover.
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Add this copy of Where I Left Her to cart. $13.99, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2023 by Mira Books.
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When I Left Her sounded like a great (if creepy) premise - a girl goes missing without a trace, with the people who live in the house her mother last saw her go into not knowing who she is.
The book is all written in the perspective of mother Whitney, who is an extremely protective parent to Amelia. Although I'm sure we are supposed to have a lot of sympathy for her character, I actually found her to be quite annoying. She is a helicopter parent who, as the book progresses, we learn does not like to give her daughter privacy and is very controlling in her behaviour. This made it very hard for me to empathise with her and as the book is only from her perspective, this meant I found it a bit of a frustrating read. Whitney also comes across as an unreliable narrator from the outset, which ruined the twist slightly - a less heavy-handed approach would have helped to keep the suspense high and give the end twist a larger impact.
The book also jumps between present day narrative and flashbacks, but these are strangely done. Some of the flashbacks are entire chapters, some a few paragraphs and some even just a mysterious couple of lines. These felt a little like they were interrupting the flow of the story though and it didn't make for a seamless read. I think a bit of re-editing for these sections would have really helped the cohesiveness of the novel as a whole.
The plot was also a little strange and you have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy the ending. I think a lot of the choices were just done for the effect of the novel and we lost some of the realism along the way.
Overall, Where I Left Her is a frustrating story with an likeable main character, although it is an interesting premise. Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin - Mira for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
