Missing is set in Reeve’s End, a small town where kid’s are leaving as soon as they can. No one really take’s this as strange, that is until Winter finds an injured boy in the woods who say’s her childhood friend is missing. When he disappears as well, Winter, with the help of the mysterious boy’s brother, has to fight for her life and find out what’s happening.
Missing is full of intrigue, mystery and plot twists. The big overall question is who really is the villain? Have we met them? Is it obvious? As a complete page turner, I was reading long into the night trying to answer my questions. The plot is unpredictable and surprised me to the very end.
As with most YA books there is an underlying romance, although it’s not too in your face. Armstrong has wrote it as a very natural connection between characters rather than an instant love. This works a lot better than a lot of books. I hate having a romance subplot which completely overshadows the main story.
The main issues I had with this book was the ‘useless adults’ and ‘useless cops’ tropes. Although, I can see why it’s needed for the story, I really disliked how Reeve’s End sheriffs dept didn’t take any of the reports seriously. I’m not sure if this really happens in small towns in America? But in my experience, no adult is going to be that dumb, especially if they’re in charge of protecting the town. But this is a very small concern, and a common trope in books, the rest of the book was great.
There’s definitely a creepy ‘in the woods’ vibe from Missing. I’ve heard of Armstrong’s other books, which made me question if it was going to be a bit paranormal. But fortunately, it was solely a realistic thriller. As my first ever Kelley Armstrong book, Missing has left a good impression. From what I’ve heard she’s an amazing author, so I’ll definitely be getting my hands of some of her other books.
I received Missing* by Kelley Armstrong as an e-book from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.