Willow Roberts is renovating her family's beach house after leaving her husband and job. What she discovers makes her remember things she has put into the past and to re-examine the last summer of her stays there with her family. This was quite a page turner with alternate chapters in the present and the past, sometimes these can be clunky, but not in this book. Worth a read.

The Summer She Disappeared
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 2/28/23
Author: Carissa Ann Lynch
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 254
GR: 3.88

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Harper Collins and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This is my first book by Lynch. While it was not my favorite, I would pick up future (or past) books of her to give another try. I just had a really hard time connecting with the characters. This is not to say that someone else will not love this book, as we know, reading is very subjective. Willow finds something hidden in her closet and realizes someone wants her to see her past. This past connects with Kathy Jo when something tragic occurred 20 years ago. As the story progresses, she realizes nothing is as it seems.

The story is in a dual timeline POV, in a past and present tense. The heroines and the villains took the same course for me due to lack of connecting, however, this is not a bad thing. Overall, the story was fast paced and flowed very well. The characters were well developed, were mysterious, secretive, and engaging. The author’s writing was twisty, suspenseful, and gripping.

I loved the premise, the present with the past being fed as needed to make sense. The characters were the only road block for me, however, other readers will probably enjoy this story. I think it was just me on this one.

What a fantastic book. This is the first book I’ve read by this author but definitely won’t be the last. This book was a page turner. It grabbed you as soon as it starts and keeps you entertained till the very end. It is so well written I found myself lingering and trying to draw it out but at the same time wanting to see the progression.

This is going to be a pass for me. I just didn’t care about either character, dead or alive.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This is a fresh take on a very familiar concept: a female protagonist with a backstory fortuitously inherits a house and returns to her childhood haunts, only to be plunged into an unresolved mystery that casts threatening shadows over the past. The only things that generally vary in this concept are the protagonist’s specifics and the setting. In this novel, we get Willow and Kentucky respectively. It is not a bad novel, and I found myself rooting for Willow as she renovates the property she has inherited, so she can make some money, but her efforts to simultaneously try to solve the mysterious disappearance of her childhood friend Kathy Jo appeared a little contrived at times. The reader is presented with a dual timeline (a concept that usually works well in thrillers of this type) that switches between the late 1990s and the present time, but despite the authorial efforts to construct a compelling mystery, there were too many unresolved side stories and too little depth to the protagonist to grip my attention as much as other thrillers of this genre did. Nevertheless, I will look out for further novels by this author to see what she offers next, and I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for the free ARC that I was granted in exchange for an honest book review.

This is my first book by this author and for sure won't be my list!!! This was such a great book. It was addictive and I loved the two time lines. I thought they were done so well. This is one you won't want to put down.

Willow inherits a house in her hometown, which she hasn't visited in 20 years. It involves a mystery, good read.

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Collins UK and the author.
Slow burn mystery with dual timeline.
You leave your hometown to come back 20 years later when you inherit a home.
Should you come back?

An enjoyable mystery with a cast of memorable characters. Some intriguing ideas to put some extra spice into this thriller - is it a corpse or isn’t it? What yearly happened that summer? But as these were unravelled the story began to fall a bit flat and finally into the realms of overly-contrived scenarios which left me feeling cheated.

A moderately paced suspense with a few intriguing twists. The storyline alters from past to present while slowly revealing the past and unfolding disturbing truths. Lynch does an excellent job at creating a connection with the younger versions of the characters and all their tribulations. The most intriguing aspect though, was not knowing if the narrator was reliable. Very well done.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheSummerSheDisappeared which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and Carissa Ann Lynch for allowing me to read this ARC.
I enjoyed the dual timelines in this story.
I really liked the front cover and that drew me in.
I loved the lies, the tension, betrayal and manipulation.
So many twists and turns that you sometimes had no idea what was going on.
Had alot of trouble putting this down and found myself wanting to keep reading more, even when i should have been sleeping haha
This is my first book from this author but I will read more from this author in the future.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for a good mystery.
5/5 stars

Reading Between the Wines book review #30/115 for 2023:
Rating: 2 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: The Summer She Disappeared
Author: Carissa Ann Lynch
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: This story was just okay to me. It started off strong and was very intriguing. Once the storyline took a turn it lost me. I really was looking for more mystery and thrills. I enjoyed the reveal of what happened to Kathi Jo but once that was revealed the story fell flat. The first 65% was really good but the last bit was just meh.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley, @HarperCollinsUK and @OneMoreChapter for an advanced copy of @TheSummerSheDisappeared.

#TheSummerSheDisappeared #CarissaAnnLynch #HarperCollinsUK #OneMoreChapter #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

Carissa Ann Lynch has written another jaw dropping mystery/thriller. This book goes back in forth between the past and present life of Willow and her friend, Kathi Jo. Remodeling the lake house where she spent her summers brings back not only alot of nostalgia for Willow, but brings back the heart ache of never knowing what happened when Kathi Jo disappeared all those years ago. Someone doesn't want Willow back, and will do whatever it takes to get rid of her.
When you find out the truth of what happened the night Kathi Jo "ran away", you will not only be in shock, but your heart will break as well. Carissa Ann Lynch continues to prove that she is an excellent story teller that writes her stories with the right amount of shock value, but most of all her characters are easily people you feel for or relate to in some way. I highly recommend giving this book a read.

This was a good read. The dual timeline really made the story more suspenseful. The writing was great and the characters were well done. Very twisty with an ending I did not see coming.

The story is told in the past, twenty years ago, and the present-day format. I liked the authors style in writing this book. We are slowly drip fed the backstory leading up to the events taking place in the present day. The pace is steady.

I loved the fact that this was dual time line but, I did t connect with the characters at all. This book just didn’t work for me. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A murder mystery over two timeframes - today and twenty years ago - revisiting the unsolved mysterious disappearance of a young girl. Based in a small town comprising locals and tourists, Willow returns to her inherited family holiday home and unintentionally disturbs some past secrets about her friend’s disappearance. The story and the unfolding mystery is compelling but the characters were not particularly engaging or sympathetic.

With thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

This was an enjoyable read with an interesting time split from now back to 22 years earlier. The characters are quite well written but I did feel that they could have been developed a little more. The disappearance of a best friend and the thought of a possible murder is the premise and I did really want to find out what happened.

What a fantastic gripping book this was to read. Great characters that you easily got into and I am not normally a fan of books that jump back and forth with the timelines but in this instance it really did help the storyline.

This was an entertaining read that had me guessing until the end. The action takes place in a town by a lake. Willow Roberts is the main character and she has inherited the holiday house her family had by the lake. The story fluctuates between the present day and the events of roughly twenty years before, when Willow was there on holiday. Willow had a best friend called Kathi Jo, who lived next door. Kathi Jo disappeared one day and the story revolves around what happened and where she went to. This moved along at a good pace and there were a number of worrying issues that were brought up in the story. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.