I'm sorry but I gave up on this one. It just failed to grip me and I lost interest quickly. I'm sure others will love it but it wasn't for me.

Billie Flanagan’s disappearance and presumed death on a solo backpacking trip a year earlier had kept her family in a painful holding pattern of pain and uncertainty. Husband Jonathan’s poignant eulogy at Billie’s memorial service led to a contract to write about their relationship, while 16 year old Olive struggled to find a place for herself that wasn’t defined by the fact that her mother was missing. As the anniversary of Billie’s disappearance drew nearer, Olive started having visions that made her believe Billie was still alive, and though Jonathan was skeptical, there were things he found in Billie’s computer that made him question everything about the woman he had loved for nearly twenty years.

Wow. Where do I start? Jonathan’s unquestioning loyalty to the memory of Billie was his major stumbling block in learning the truth, while Olive’s determination to know what happened takes her from Berkeley to Bakersfield, with detours to Santa Cruz, and even then, only snippets are revealed. Do we really know our spouses, or do we know only what they want us to see? How often do we rewrite our own history? Interesting concept and an excellent read.

This story takes place a year after Billie Flanagan went missing after a solo hike and the story follows her husband and daughter as they cope with her death. Olive, her daughter is grieving after her mother’s disappearance and begins having visions that lead her to believe her mother is still alive. Jonathon, Billie’s husband, wants to help his daughter accept that her mother isn’t coming back by cleaning out her things and he ends up finding evidence to suggest that his daughter may be right.

I loved this book. I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out what happened and I wasn’t disappointed. I would definitely recommend this book.

Great book with a plot to keep you guessing. I loved this boo and highly recommend to suspense lovers

Thank you to NetGallery, Publisher and author for the ARC to review. I hate to be a Debbie downer but I was a little disappointed with this book. I am an avid reader of all genres but this book was a little drawn out. It didn't really keep my attention. I like a page turner and this was not one of those. Storyline was good but I just felt it was missing something.

I was happy to receive an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. I thought the story had some good twists and some unusual situations that I found refreshing. I personally could never ever leave my children but Billie was an unusual character and I thought she was really interesting. How she managed to put aside her own strong feelings and needs to raise her daughter I don't know, but I guess that she took that on as her mission in life and once her daughter was growing away from her she felt it was time to move on. Overall I liked the book and would suggest it to others who like some my mystery and suspense in their books.

I'm having a hard time rating this one. I enjoyed much of this story. The writing was well done and it was an easy read. I was definitely drawn in to want to find out the details of what happened, but I was also frustrated with some of the story lines and pieces of information that I thought were either giveaways or unnecessary. There were developments that surprised me and others that didn't fully flesh out, but overall it was worth the read.

Thanks to netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishing for the ARC in exchange for this review. You guys rock!

Olive Flanagan's mom, Billie, disappear a year ago after a solo hike. Her father is in the process of having her legally declared dead. Olive starts having these waking dreams that her mom is still alive and wanting to be found. Olive's father starts questioning her daughter's stability but he too starts to have questions after digging into Billie's past. What happened to Billie? Could she be alive?

I was pleasantly surprised by this book by Janelle Brown. I typically cringe at high school main characters in books that are not young adult fiction because they can be too whiny, but Olive was just the right amount of teen and grown up. I was definitely surprised with all of the twists, which does not happen too often in this genre. Would definitely recommend!

About a year ago, Billie Flanagan disappears on a solo hike. Her husband Jonathan and daughter Olive struggle with her disappearance. Then, things start to happen that make both Jonathan and Olive wonder if in fact Billie did die, or if she has chosen to disappear from their lives.

This is a story about grief, moving on with pain, redefining one’s life, but also a story about secrets and discoveries, betrayals and trust. Honestly, I do not care for Billie. As the narrative progresses, the reader learns more about prior actions and behaviors that makes one question the genuineness of Billie towards her family and friends. I felt sympathy for Jonathan and Olive. Overall, the readers see the characters discover themselves and redefine their personalities; a great character building narrative. The narrative itself has a fine layer of suspense – not too suspenseful, but a few tense moments do appear. Some parts of the narrative I could see evolving, and others were a complete surprise. And, I found the end to be satisfying.

Recommended

Review posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing (links to review found with submission). Copy of review shared on Facebook via Goodreads on my private account (93 followers). Additional shortened review found on Litsy, @librarybelle

The voice of this book just didn't grab me. I love dark fiction and thrillers like Gillian Flynn but I couldn't get into the flow of this one.

What a hauntingly beautiful book. The authors wife vanishes while on a hike in the mountains. Did she die? Did she disappear? Was it willingly or a kidnap? The author gets a book contract to write about his wife's disappearance and their life together. He and his daughter go from one clue to the next to discover the truth, however painful it might be. And it is painful, then hopeful, then resolved. Or is It?

Good book with a twist. I thought I had it all figured out til I didn't.

DNF. Although I found the father's character to be interesting, the book moved to slowly and did not have a desire to finish.

I really loved this book. I will be back with my full review soon!

When a seemingly happy wife and mother disappears on a wilderness hike alone, every one presumes she died on the hike. After a year goes by the financial pressures are on Jonathon and he decides to seek a court declaration of death. However their teenage daughter Olive has been having visions that have convinced her that her mom is still alive. Together they investigate and begin to learn just how little they knew about Billie the mother..
This is a slow moving examination of a family coping with an unthinkable loss and about a 15-year-old girl growing up without her mother and struggling with her identity. I liked the book but could only give it 3 stars. Just a little to slow moving for me.
I would read another book by this author.

Janelle Brown has written another page turner. Complex characters with a complex storyline.
4 solid stars.

2.5 sad stars for Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown. I so wanted to like this book. The description hooked me right away and I couldn't wait to read it, but my excitement turned to disappointment.

I think Janelle Brown is a good writer, don't get me wrong. I just think she needed someone to really let her know that a book almost entirely plotted around red herrings won't please too many people.

The red herring is great, if used properly, but in Watch Me Disappear, that's literally all there was. All kinds of things pop up, only to find out that no, that was another dead end. Then you have poor Olive, having hallucinations, thinking that these are real visions of where her mother is or could be and Jonathan, drinking to try to escape his pain.

The characters of Olive and Jonathan were well rounded and I liked them as well as sympathized with them. As for the character of the mother, of course we don't know much about her, but what a selfish jerk.

I think I would read another book by this author although this one obviously wasn't the one for me. I'm not sure who she was writing for, maybe the YA or NA crowd?

Thanks go to Netgalley, the publisher and Ms. Brown for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. I just wish I had enjoyed it.

More than anything else, I think, this is a character study; what I KNOW is that it was riveting to watch the threads that hold together three close-knit characters - a father, a mother and a teenage daughter - begin to twist, unravel and, depending on what you read into it, come together again.

The story begins about a year after the disappearance of Billie Flanagan, who went for a solo hike in a California wilderness area and never came back. She left behind a loving, trusting husband, Jonathan, and their teenage daughter, Olive; because her body never turned up, their lives have been turned upside down. On one hand, they hold out the hope that she'll turn up - apparently, she's always been a bit of a "hippie" who disappears for a day or two on a whim. On the other, they want the whole thing to be over. Jonathan and his attorney have petitioned the court to declare Billie legally dead - partly to bring some measure of closure and partly so Jonathan can collect the somewhat hefty life insurance settlement. He quit a high-stress job to concentrate on writing, and he's already behind in tuition payments to his daughter's pricey all-girl private school.

He's also run through the advance he got from a publisher for rights to his as-yet-unfinished book detailing life with the offbeat (to say the least) Billie. This book is interspersed with bits and pieces of what he's written that reflect not only his feelings for her and their life together, but how those feelings evolve as new information comes to light.

Suddenly, for instance, Olive begins to "see" visions of her mother, who passes on cryptic messages that convince the girl that her mother is still alive. Jonathan, needless to say, thinks Olive is heading off the deep end - especially since the visions are interfering with her schoolwork and relationship with him. Still, his curiosity is piqued enough that he sets out to look for other clues as to what really happened (including digging into files hidden in Billie's laptop). As the story progresses, he learns - much to his dismay - that Billie has lied to him and Olive. But the question is, were those lies simply omissions of a past events that are too painful for Billie to share or to cover up a more insidious life that came before her husband and daughter?

Helping to console him is next-door neighbor Harmony, a caterer who was Billie's best friend. That complicates the situation by eliciting quite different emotions from Jonathan, who leans toward going with the flow, and Olive, who (quite understandably) resents the intrusion. Adding to her angst is that she's just beginning to come to terms with her own sexuality as awareness of what her mother really was about begins, for better or worse, to grow.

"Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are" is a tagline in the book's official description - and it's right on target. This is a don't-miss book that grabbed and held my attention from the start, and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for a review.

This book had great character development. It was however a bit contrived. Mom disappears on a solo trail walk. Daughter has " visions". Is she dead? Alive? Kidnapped? Husband finds out that his wife is not all that he thought, and there had been secrets. While I think the author can write, I just found this a bit too long and convoluted. Loved the very end though.

Thanks to the publisher Random House for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review via NetGalley.