Where I Left Her by Amber Garza #bookreview #thriller

Title: Where I Left Her

Author: Amber Garza

Publisher:  MIRA

Publication Date: August 24, 2021

Page Count:  248

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

From the author of When I Was You comes a spine-tingling new thriller about a mother’s worst nightmare come true, when her teenage daughter goes to a sleepover and doesn’t come back.

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 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. As Whitney searches for Amelia, she uncovers a trail of lies her daughter has told her—from the Finsta account to rumors of a secret relationship. Does she really even know this girl she’s raised? And Amelia’s not the only one with secrets. Could Whitney’s own demons have something to do with her daughter’s disappearance, and can Whitney find her before it’s too late?

Where I Left Her by Amber Garza is thriller that tackles a mother’s worst nightmare of a missing daughter. The story is told in the present time as the mother searches for her daughter and also has flashbacks to the past before that day.

Whitney had always, always done everything she can to keep her daughter, Amelia, safe. Whitney has been struggling with Amelia lately with almost every decision being questioned but that’s teenagers, right?

Whitney decided not to push when Amelia quit seeing her old friends and started hanging out with Lauren. Lauren seemed like a good kid so when Amelia asked to stay the night at Lauren’s house Whitney reluctantly agreed and dropped the girls off. The next day  when Amelia doesn’t respond Whitney goes looking for her daughter but finds herself at an older couple’s home instead so she knows something must be wrong.

Where I Left Her was the type of novel that definitely starts off strong and grabbed my attention right away. I found though that to me the middle of the book slowed down a bit in the pacing, not necessarily with the flashbacks but something made the intensity slow down. However, the end of this one was one that had that devious twist to it that I couldn’t help but enjoy although I did think there were a couple of unanswered things too. Overall, though this one was compelling to read despite my few nitpicky complaints.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon**

About the author:

**This is an Amazon affiliate link which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commision on any purchase made through the link of the products I share and that commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.