This book was nowhere near my radar. I discovered it coincidentally while scrolling on Marketplace, as one does while peeing. Turns out a crazy lady in my neighborhood was selling 20 books for $20. Most were by Jodi Picoult so I couldn’t resist making the purchase. But the book that caught my eye was Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin. So I sat down, opened the book and didn’t get up until I finished.
“Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots. I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can’t bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago.
If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw’s whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact… I’ve spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look, the right circumstances. Until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow. Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn’t been another girl. And now there is.“
Goodreads
What I Liked about Girl Last Seen
Most books in this genre have many twists and most come at the end. This book has one close to the beginning! Nothing is better than starting a book and having something unexpected happen while you’re still getting into it. This made me instantly hooked and it became the third book I finished in one day this past long weekend. This quarantine is really turning me into a nerdy bookworm.
Another thing I really liked is that the protagonist and the other main characters weren’t typical. Once you’ve read book after book, especially in the same genre, the protagonists tend to blend together. They all have the same personalities, fears, thought-processes, etc. To me, Lainey stood out and it looks like a lot of other people on Goodreads were impressed with the author’s ability with characters.
There’s Nothing I Didn’t Like *shrugs*
This is normally where I talk about what I didn’t like. Maybe I was in a certain kind of mood on day three of a relaxing long weekend, but I honestly couldn’t find anything to complain about. I liked the author’s writing, which some people on Goodreads criticized or at least weren’t too impressed with.
Some other negative Nancies complained that the plot wasn’t exciting enough. A few reviewers said that they didn’t want to pick it up again after putting it down. So maybe the fact that I read the entire thing in one sitting made a difference. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it and I think that anyone who likes a good story about a kidnapping will love this. I feel like even if I had lost interested halfway through, the twists at the end would have made up for it.
You can grab a copy of Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin on Amazon using this link. I am currently waiting for payday to splurge on this author’s other books including What My Sister Knew, The Starter Wife and the one I’m most excited about: A Woman Alone.
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Great review! You’re really good at giving a snapshot of books without giving too much away.
Great post 😁