Risa's Review Shop

•REVIEW 23: WHEN SHE WENT MISSING•

Genre: mystery/thriller
Author: LineksaPegado
Chapters read: five
Trigger warnings: drug use

A mini review
Star rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

°🌼°

Memories can never be buried too deep.

Risa's summary: a missing woman's last call digs up Leslie's past faster than Leslie could have ever imagined.
Leslie and Johanna Johnson were once friends, but a dirty secret brought this relationship to an end.
It's been five years now, and Johanna is missing.
Someone has done something.
And someone could be anyone.

This was such a sweet and cozy read. My curiosity was peeking out the window the entire time! Sadly, time forced me to pull the drapes.

Starting up, I wasn't a big fan of the prologue; to me, it was rather bland. Good thing I rode the wave, though; the sauce dripped right in as I moved and I absolutely enjoyed it.

Your use of time kept me on edge and I loved it! I was constantly waiting for something to happen. And with Leslie's lies and half-truths, I wasn't disappointed.

However, there were a few things which didn't sit right with me.
The first was: conveyance of their thoughts. It got a bit confusing because it was always switching up. There were parts where thoughts were italicized, parts where they were freely written, parts where they carried quotation marks and were akin to dialogue, parts where they were italicized and quoted.

In as much as I loved the time concept, I'd suggest a little more gap; in certain areas, it just didn't tally. Take for instance: the 4:03PM part on the 5th of July. How plausible is it that Leslie woke up at 4:03PM, moved to make coffee, heard the door after that, and had quite a lengthy interrogation session with the officers, all in the space of three minutes? This was implied when Officer Lionel heard them making their way back to him at 4:06PM. Still on the issue of time, at 6:09PM, 7th of July, the past was abruptly brought to the present. It came off this way because all along, dates were used to differentiate, but there, the past simply ran on with exposition from the present.

This story leans towards the plot-driven writing style, there's nothing wrong with that. However, it's important to establish balance. I barely saw any of the characters in a unique light. At least, in Dave's case, I was told he was smart, funny, caring, and all... but it seemed Leslie had no identity outside the trouble. Far as I read, at least.

Grammatical errors were evident, but nothing too strong to disrupt the story's flow. They can be easily fixed. There's room for more descriptions, though.
I found the book's cover nice, the summary, too long but quite catchy.

When She Went Missing is an unforgettable mystery sure to draw your interest and entertain your senses. I'd recommend this to anyone who'd be thrilled by a mysterious relationship between the past and the present.

🌼 Risa Quill 🖋️

LineksaPegado, please let me know what you think of this mini review.