Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Book Review - Where I Left Her; Amber Garza

 

Where I Left Her; Amber Garza

Mira - 2021

Whitney is a divorced mother to a moody, disrespectful sixteen year-old named Amelia.  As the story begins Whitney is using her GPS to drive Amelia over to the home of Lauren, a newer friend that she is planning an overnight with.  Amelia, like many teens, has a way of making Whitney's life more than challenging lately, so Whitney is looking forward to kicking back and having an evening to herself.

The following morning after Whitney's calls to Amelia's phone go unanswered she drives over to the tract house neighborhood where she dropped her daughter off.  When an elderly couple answer the door and everyone seems surprised, Whitney thinks she could have the wrong house yet, she remembers the red door and rose bushes.  Confused and disoriented she rides around the the connecting neighborhood but ends up back at the home of the elderly couple.  Where is Amelia?

The story is clearly every parent's worst nightmare and it has a somewhat creepy feel at times.  The story backtracks to seven weeks earlier and progresses to the present and the reader gets to speculate about what has happened to Amelia and her friend.  There were also flashbacks to Whitney's own teenage years that makes the reader wonder where the story is headed but, after some unexpected curveballs, it all makes sense in the end - definitely different from anything I've read recently.  

Although I did not love this one as I did the author's previous book, When I Was You,  however, I was still happy I read this one.

Thanks go to Edelweiss and Mira for allowing my early access to the eGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Rating - 4/5 stars


24 comments:

  1. It sounds pretty interesting and has got me curious about the girls.

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    1. Yes, it held my interest and I didn't predict the way it would end.

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  2. It sounds like a good mystery, very odd about the house either being or not being where she dropped off her daughter.

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    1. Yes, very strange. It made me wonder about the friend and the meet up location.

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  3. That would be very scary, I'm wondering what happened to them.

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  4. This sounds intriguing! Will have to check it out.

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  5. I have this one on my list to read for the RIP Challenge so I am glad you liked it.

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  6. This sounds like the perfect book for me!

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    1. Yes, thriller lovers will appreciate this one for the most part.

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  7. I've noticed this one lately and was thinking about trying it. Good to know your thoughts, Diane.

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    1. Did you read her other book: Before I Was You? If not try that first.

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  8. This one appears to have quite a twisty and, as you say, creepy plot. A good Halloween read, perhaps?

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    1. It went in a direction I had not anticipated so in some ways that was good. I liked her previous book, Before I Was You - better though.

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  9. Seems like a nice, compelling mystery. Will take a look.

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    1. It was different. It held my attention and hadn't anticipated the outcome.

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  10. I'm glad to hear this one ended up being a winner for you and I will add it to my list. I read the intro you posted and it sounded very ominous so a perfect thriller for this season!

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  11. This sounds like it might be a good audiobook. Adding it to my list!

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    1. I never previewed the audio so I can't say but, yes not too many characters either.

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  12. I used to have nightmares about this kind of thing when my daughter was younger and having sleepovers with friends! Even though she's 24 I'm not sure I could read this quite yet though the premise does have me curious!

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    1. I was one of those moms who did not allow sleep overs as they were never allowed when I was a child either LOL

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