This was such a unique story filled with interesting characters and lots of mystery.

Once you lose your grip, you just seem to slip away.

And this one seemed to drop into a deep abyss for me.

Watch Me Disappear is the story of Billie Flanagan, wife and mother, who takes off unexpectantly on a backpacking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail in the Desolation Wilderness. Billie is hiking solo and hasn't given her family much of a heads-up. No explanation. No itinerary. No discussion. Full stop.

Jonathan, her husband, has been caught up in the weight of his job commitments and has hardly lifted his head to even gaze in the direction of his family. Olive, their sixteen year old daughter, attends a very pricey prep school and is overwhelmed with fitting in. But this complacency is soon shattered when Billie goes missing. Billie's car remains at the trailhead and all that the searchers find is one of Billie's boots.

Fast forward and the one year anniversary of Billie's disappearance is approaching. Jonathan is awaiting the court's renderence of a death certificate. But Olive is not fully buying into the idea that her mother must be dead. In fact, she's having strange visions of Billie trying to contact her. She takes it upon herself to search for the missing Billie. Eventually, she ropes in her father. What they find together leaves a trail of massive question marks.

Sounds like all the makings of a sensational novel. It was until it wasn't any longer. Watch Me Disappear seemed to be aimed more towards a YA audience. The situations and plot designs came off as contrived and forced. There was always an answer for everything and that same everything at the end was explained to the nth degree. Each character seemed to live in their own personal bubble. Denial was served morning, noon, and night.

Janelle Brown can write. She drew me in. Here's hoping that the next book will not be so caught up in tightly structured plot devices. There's talent here that needs to shine.

I received Watch Me Disappear through Net Galley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House and to Janelle Brown for the opportunity.

I really enjoyed this story! The characters are interesting and complex, with a great storyline and things happening to all characters that pushed me to keep reading. A woman is missing, presumed dead,although no body has been found. The story involves her husband,daughter and friends as they try to continue life without her. The stories told by old friends and things found on her computer surprise her husband ,while her daughter starts to 'see' her in little hallucinations, making the daughter,Olive, start to believe that she is psychic. There are many changes the family goes through, as many things about the mother,Sybilla, are found of which her husband and Olive had no idea. I was feeling good about the direction of the story as I came to the end, then BAM, the truth is told which saddened me quite a bit! The author does a nice job of keeping your interest and the story flowing. I would like to thank Netgalley, the author Janelle Brown, and publisher Random House for an ARC of this book enabling my review.

Watch Me Disappear is Janelle Brown's newest novel, due for release in July 2017. This is the first book I've read by this author and I definitely look forward to reading more.

Billie Flanagan, a Berkeley, California wife and mother, vanishes while out hiking alone. Nearly a year after her disappearance, her husband Jonathan and 15 year old daughter Olive both struggle to come to terms with her apparent death. Jonathan quits his job as a tech writer to begin a memoir about their marriage while Olive tries to get on with her life at private school. One day Olive is suddenly confronted with a vision of her mother urging her to come find her. Can it be she is still alive after all?

While this book started a bit slow, it picked up quickly and I soon became completely invested in Olive and Jonathan's search for answers. Billie's life turns out to be a multi-layered puzzle and I found myself turning the pages faster and faster to try to get to the end to learn what happened to her. I wasn't disappointed; loved the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau/Random House for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was mesmerized by this book and was so amazed with the entire story. The characters were so complex and unforgettable. Totally engrossing. Can't wait to read her other books.

Great read!
The story kept me engaged.
The characters are well developed.
There are always things that we do not know about our significant others.

Billie has an almost perfect life with her husband Jonathan and their daughter Olive. The problem is, Billie has always been a free-spirit and she is feeling trapped in her life. She goes hiking alone in Desolation Valley and never comes back down the mountain. The only thing searchers found was one of her hiking boots near the falls. Presumed dead, Jonathan is trying to carry the weight of being a single dad and sole provider for his teenage daughter. Then questions surface and doubts begin to creep in..... is Billie really dead or did she stage her disappearance to escape her confining life? This book will keep you guessing until the very end.

<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Watch-Me-Disappear-Janelle-Brown-ebook/dp/B01M3QQLFB/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1491332400&sr=8-1&keywords=watch+me+disappear&linkCode=li2&tag=best07b-20&linkId=ddfe7c5ecfd1fe95ae1041b435f0ac6e" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01M3QQLFB&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=best07b-20" ></a><img src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=best07b-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B01M3QQLFB" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

I really enjoyed this. For once, the plot twists were decent.

Review copy provided by publisher.

WATCH ME DISAPPEAR begins almost a year after the disappearance of Bille (Sibilla) Flannagan. Through the novel, the lives of her teenage daughter and husband weave the story of their current lives and life before Billie died. Her daughter, Olive, begins having visions of her mom. Her husband, Jonathan, struggles to write a memoir and keep the household together. He knew some details of his wife's past, but not quite enough. When Olive becomes confinces that her mother is still alive, the two, for varied reasons, together and separately, search for the what really happened after Billie hiked off alone for a weekend.

The story line twists and turns, threading into loose ends of their lives, of the present, and of the past. Are Olive's visions a psychic ability, or the result of a brain bruise? Did Jonathan really know his wife? by the end of the book, we know all this and more. Some of the twists were quite obvious, others not as much. All in all an entertaining read.

With thanks to the publisher, Spiegel & Grau, and the author, Janelle Brown, for the advanced Reader Copy.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect once I started reading. I felt it a little slow at the start and I had already read a book this year surrounding a widower dealing with his teenage daughter and what happened to wife & mom. However, this is one you don’t want to abandon. As I started reading more, Watch Me Disappear takes on a completely different tone than I was expecting. Did she? Didn’t she? Part Gone Girl, part I Liked My Life, Janelle Brown definitely keeps you guessing. And right when you think you know all the answers, she throws you a curveball. Once you get into the suspense of this book, you won’t be able to put it down. You will need to know what happened to Billie Flanagan.

This novel takes a little while to get going, but stick with it, it's worth it! Well defined characters, a strong plot with a few twists and turns and a mystery at its core made this a very good read.

Wonderful read that kept me guessing. I spent the weekend with this book and enjoyed every page!! Can't wait to read more from this author. Five stars!

I absolutely loved this book!! So many feelings come up while you are reading this book that it is scary! I loved it. I can't wait for more from Janelle

I tried and tried to get into this book but it just was not happening for me. The snail's pace made it utterly unenjoyable. Sorry but this was not a good pick for me. Did not finish.

Made it through 2 chapters and abandoned.
Boring story.

Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC of this book. This story asks the question: do we really know the people closest to us? Are there parts of ourselves that we keep hidden from those we love?

This author has a beautifully descriptive writing style. I found this book interesting and the characters deep and relatable. At times the plot seemed to drag for me, but in the end it was enjoyable and definitely worth the read!

A bit slow but full of twists and turns. Just when I thought I had it all figured out something would happen to prove me wrong. The ending was a complete surprise! Loved it!

Do we ever really know the people in our lives or do we see only what they want us to see? Jonathan and Olive are torn apart when Billie, wife and mother, respectively, disappears after she fails to come back from a weekend hike. Jonathan is writing a memoir about his loving marriage, but begins to see that Billie had some secrets that she kept from him. Meanwhile, Olive begins to see visions of Billie. Together, they find things about Billie that maybe would have been better undiscovered. Some of their queries are answered, but do they ever discover the whole truth? Or are they better off not knowing everything? Janelle Brown has told the story of one woman who is many different women, depending on the perceptions of the viewer.

The idea of this book is incredible, but it didn't pan out how it should have. I didn't enjoy the writing style at all.

I expected more from this book. Although the story took some twists and turns at the end, it seemed very slow in getting there. The characters were well rounded and I really liked Olive, a typical teen age girl. The present tense is used through out, whick is quite unusual. Not the kind of book that will keep you up all night.