Published by Henry Holt and Co.
Released March 13, 2012
240 pages
Where I got it: E-galley received from publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Description (from Goodreads):

Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night. Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her, and she becomes obsessed with finding Kayla. She teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—and to find her before she is.

The Night She Disappeared was just okay for me. It didn’t wow me, but I still felt compelled to read on. I think part of the issue was that I went into the book expecting it to be a mystery. Kayla disappears, and I thought we were going to spend the book working toward finding out what happened to her. Instead, it’s revealed well before the end, which threw me off.

Overall, this book was very readable. The story is broken up by quick-to-read items like police interviews and transcriptions, which break up the plot when it’s in danger of slowing down. The subject matter also kept me interested. Something about reading about abducted girls, dragging water for bodies, and the possibility of more abductions really gets me going.

I think the best part about this book is looking at the way that tragedy affects people. Gabie has a very different reaction to Kayla’s disappearance than Pete’s, partly because she felt like it should have been her. I also thought the scenes with Kayla’s family were well done. At one point they enlist a psychic, which is something a lot of people do. It was a very realistic portrayal of the way a community reacts when something like this happens to them.

The Night She Disappeared will have broad appeal to people who want a realistic YA thriller.

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