One Year Gone – ARC Book Review

A mother will risk everything to find her missing daughter in this twisty thriller from the author of Girl Gone Mad.

“Sometimes teenagers run away…Give her a few days. She’ll be back.”

That’s what the police tell Jessica Moore when her seventeen-year-old daughter, Wyn, vanishes. All signs point to this being true. But days become weeks. Weeks become months. And Jessica begins to fear the terrible truth—that she may never see her daughter again.

Then, one year later, when all hope seems lost, Jessica gets a flurry of text messages from Wyn that freeze her blood: mom. please help. i think he’s going to kill me. But Wyn’s terrified plea comes with a warning not to call the police. Her kidnapper wears a badge.

As Jessica’s fears are raised again, so are the stakes. Delving into the months leading up to Wyn’s disappearance, Jessica stumbles upon information that could put her own life in danger. With each revelation, the nightmare deepens. Now she must decide just how far she’ll go to bring her daughter home.

No. of pages:- 366 pages

Date published:- 10th August 2021

Publisher:- Lake Union

Genre:- Women’s Fiction

Rating:- 3.5/5

I thought this book literally made me cry. It’s not a thriller, but it’s about a mother who is searching for her daughter who went missing almost a year ago, on the day of the pep rally in school. After a year, Jessica gets a series of messages from her daughter, asking her to help her, worried that her abductor was going to kill her. Then Jessica enlist the help of her husband and the FBI agent to track down her daughter’s whereabouts.

OK, the story divides between the day of the prep rally leading to Bronwyn’s disappearance and the present day and is told from the perspectives of Jessica, the mother and Bronwyn, the daughter. The story was a bit slow at first but then gradually, I got hooked into the story by the middle of the story. I didn’t like the characters much–particularly the main character but in general, none of the characters appealed to me. What got me interested in this book was when Bronwyn sends the message to her mother, asking her to help her and from then, I really wanted to find out what really happened to Bronwyn. The ending to me was bit sad and emotional, wondering how mean and selfish people can really be, particularly in the small town. Overall, it was an OK book, to me, not too bad, but I wouldnt’ particularly call this book thrilling.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.