A missing person case is reopened after ten years when the body of the girl is finally found. Kate and her group of friends are dragged back into the investigation as they were supposedly the last to see her alive. All the while, Kate is struggling to get her business off the ground, move on from a bad break-up, and with visions of the dead girl sauntering back into her life.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. At some points it felt too predictable but Elliott was able to keep the story going with good narration. I thought a few times that this book was going to be quite similar to another one I recently read, but the ending of this one felt much more realistic and satisfying. I enjoyed the characters and their stories. Their actions and motives were understood and not just brushed off as "they're crazy." It is a strong debut novel for this author and I look forward to her future writings.

I enjoyed reading The French Girl. Like many other readers, I felt that the book began and ended well, but sections in the middle were a bit slow and felt unnecessary. I felt emotionally invested enough in the characters to keep reading through, and the pace did pick back up nicely. I enjoyed elements the mystery and suspense and felt the author did a great job of keeping me guessing who murdered Severine. Overall, a fun and exciting read!

From beginning to the end - superb! It has just the right amount of mystery to keep you reading just one more chapter. I would highly recommend to those who like a slow and very worthwhile reveal.

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott reminds me of a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie whodunit with a ghost thrown into the mix. This story is about 6 friends who vacationed together in France a decade ago. While on vacation a local girl disappeared and was never heard from again. Fast forward ten years and the girl's body has been discovered leading the group of now 5 friends to start suspecting each other. This book keeps you guessing right up to the satisfying conclusion. Read and enjoy!

So it turns out that I must not really be a suspense reader. I get roped in with the publisher's descriptions, but always end up unsatisfied. This book was no exception. Must read books about people with feelings.

But if YOU like suspenseful books, this is a reasonably good mystery about a group of university friends and the mysterious disappearance of a french girl. Maybe you'll like it.

I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I have had an ARC of The French Girl from both NetGalley and Penguin First to Read for a while now, and for some reason, I was never in the right reading mood for it. Once that mood hit, I had a hard time stopping and finished The French Girl in less than 24 hours.

The French Girl is narrated by a 31-year-old professional named Kate who has just started her own business and is living her best life in London when she receives news that turns her life upside down. Ten years earlier, Kate and five of her friends spent a week in the French countryside and met a mysterious young French girl named Severine. The friends turned out to be the last people to see Severine alive, and the investigation into her disappearance has been reopened upon the discovery of her body in a well on the property where they stayed. Only five of the friends remain, and when a French investigator arrives in London to begin questioning them all about the events of that week, Kate begins learning new details about that week that lead her to question what she thought happened on their last night there, all the while seeing Severine everywhere she goes.

From the very beginning of the book, I felt connected to Kate, the narrator, and empathized with the issues she faces. Before receiving the news of the discovery of Severine's body, Kate was already experiencing the pressure of running a new business in a competitive field. Instead of glossing over those issues as a minor feature of the plot, Lexie Elliot allows readers to fully grasp them. Kate spends a lot of time staring at the spreadsheet that shows the financial trouble her company faces, worrying over her star employee Paul and the likelihood of him leaving for a position elsewhere, and arranging meetings with potential clients whose contracts could save her company. These details contribute to the slow burn of the book and made me feel more invested in Kate's character and her outcome. Although most of those details are not connected to the primary plot, they still serve an important purpose by helping readers understand Kate's character and what is at stake for her, once the investigation begins turning a focused eye on her.

Kate is not the only character with a lot at stake, however. As readers are introduced to Lara, Tom, Caro, Seb, and Theo, they see them through Kate's eyes and begin to understand what they all stand to lose as a result of the investigation and the secrets it has the potential to uncover. What secret does Tom seem to be keeping? Why is Caro focusing so much attention on Seb, and why do she and Kate seem to harbor such negative feelings toward one another? What exactly happened with Seb and Severine on the last night in France? And is it possible that Theo could have had anything to do with Severine's death? As Kate begins to question each of their actions on their last night in France, readers do as well, and once Kate begins to understand that the things she always believed about what happened to Severine may not be the truth, The French Girl grabs readers in a firm grip and doesn't let go until the end.

Some other reviews of The French Girl focus on the slow-moving action throughout the beginning of the book and the anticlimactic ending; however, both of these elements were things that actually made me enjoy the book more. Instead of filling the book with tons of action and twists and turns, by choosing to focus more on Kate's character, Lexie Elliot allowed me to form the connection with her that made me genuinely concerned for her as her mental and physical state began to deteriorate from the stress of the investigation. As for the ending, there isn't much I can say without revealing spoilers, but I will say this--not all suspenseful novels have to end with a shocking twist or doom for the main characters. As much as I enjoy books like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, I also enjoy books that allow me to believe that sometimes people ARE exactly as they seem.

A sign of a good book is when you have trouble putting it down and this certainly applied with The French Girl. The characters became real and the story has three important components, crime, suspence and romance. Highly recommend.

When they graduated from college, they went on a vacation to celebrate. Celebrate they did and some of them hooked up in relationships, but it would come back to haunt them later in life. Finding a dead body in a well will do that for you...

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published February 20th.

This was a very interesting read. It looks back at the personalities of the students, the things they wanted in the past, and how much they want to save what they have at the present time. They've changed. Some for the better, some for the worst. But if the French girl never left, who was on the video camera footage wearing her clothes? And if a stranger didn't kill her, it must have been one of the group.

There's a real chameleon in the batch. It is determined to get all it wants no matter who gets hurt on the way. It's hard to realize that someone would kill for that. It's even harder when you are looking at all your friends and trying to figure out who could have done it.

Add in the ghost of the dead girl who happens to be haunting Kate and it gets even more interesting.

I had no clue who it was until it was almost too late. What's worse is that the killer can't be convicted. There's not enough proof. But, not to worry. Karma comes around and justice prevails.

This story is haunting me a bit but at least I don't see ghosts...

I loved the premise of The French Girl., in a physiological thriller reunion, six characters must face the ramifications of their irresponsible college actions 10 years later. With a likable underdog protagonist, an interesting mystery is revealed if you're patient enough to stick with it. Sadly, some readers may find that his thriller just isn't thrilling enough to keep their attention.

While on vacation in France, six college friends are the last ones to see the title character alive. Ten years later, the cold case is reopened, and their lives are thrown into turmoil. The mystery is easy to follow but still satisfying and the main character is easy to root for. Very enjoyable.

3.5ish
I've been a in a reading slump for awhile, concentrating mostly on non-fiction to fill the void until something grabbed me.
This book did grab me and kept me reading. It's a well-written, cold case murder mystery with 6 suspects and no clear front runner for the guilty party.
The only place it fell down was at the end where I was expecting more of a bang up finish to match the quality of the writing and plotting throughout. Instead it ended with more of a soft thud, not sure what happened to have the author ease off the throttle.

Another book that is getting lots of praise and high ratings is The French Girl by Lexie Elliot. I’ll be reading this one soon but wanted to mention it so you can pick up and start reading! I cannot wait to sit and read this book, so much about the premise has me intrigued.

For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group’s loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can’t forgive, and there are some people you can’t forget, like Severine, who was never seen again.

Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine’s body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she’s worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free.

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A real page turner - I couldn't stop until I knew what happened. I found myself drawn into the story and really getting angry at some of the characters and the way they tried to navigate this discovery.

This one was ok - pretty average in this genre. I thought it had a bit of a pat ending, but I did enjoy reading it. It moved quickly and would be a good vacation read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

It always puzzles me when I love a book that lots of others just hate. I understand varying degrees of liking or disliking a book and some books are such that many dislike them. This book was one where I just don't get it. It makes me wonder if somehow my perception is flawed; made me wait a day for further reflection. So here I am still not knowing. I was immediately grabbed by the book. I found it readable and never boring. The mystery took twists and turns....for indeed this is a mystery....and pretty much kept me guessing. Tracing relationships from 10 years ago into the present was interesting because they mainly did not change. The characters are not particularly likable but yet they drew me in. I found it worth a couple of nights of my time. I hope others give it a try.

Six friends from Oxford University spend a week at a French farmhouse ten years ago. Severine, the girl next door, disappears. When her body is found ten years later, the investigation is re-opened and Kate is suspected along with her friends. Secrets, lies and friendship. This novel keeps unfolding until the very last page, I couldn't put it down!

My Thoughts: 
Transparency is very important to me when it comes to reviews... and this was my least favorite read of 2017. I didn't like anything about it, and I am not afraid to tell you that regardless of this being an ARC or not. I feel as if the characters didn't develop at all, and they were all unlikable, the setting was boring, as well as the actual story line... There was nothing redeeming about this novel for me.

Cons: 
The Characters: The characters in this novel were SO boring. There was absolutely no character development, they were all unlikable (which would be ok if they weren't boring.), and they just didn't do it for me. I didn't care what happened because the characters were just so boring. The main character especially, I just wasn't a fan. 

The Plot: I was very excited to receive a review copy of The French Girl because it sounded good, but then I read it. The execution was way below par, and I feel like an interesting plot was made boring. 

The Execution: This is kind of similar to the plot, but I had to touch on it. I don't think that anything was done necessarily well within this book... this is opinion, but I personally just didn't get it. 

The Ending: The ending is what solidified this being my least favorite read of the year. It was such a let down... I was hoping it would maybe gain some of the lost ground the rest of the book made, but I was mistaken. It was predictable, poorly executed, and just plain dumb. 

The Romances: AHHH, I hated everything about the relationships and romance in this book. The relationships seemed unhealthy, the crushes felt forced, and I just couldn't cheer for any of them. It felt as if the author wanted to include them solely to have romance.

A decent murder mystery but nothing new. Several old friends are thrown together again regarding the discovery of the body of a neighboring French girl who disappeared 10 years ago. The police start to suspect them and they start to suspect one another. The characters are okay and the plot pretty basic. I did not find the French investigator’s romance very plausible or the ending very satisfying.

The French Girl
by Lexie Elliott
Feb 20, 2018
3- 1/2 stars

My favorite character in this whole book was Severine, our murdered French girl, who appears to follow Kate Channing around, one of the main suspects in her murder. To me, this made the book interesting.

Ten years ago six friends take a trip to the French countryside to celebrate the finish of college. They meet Severine, our French girl from next door. Apparently, Severine throws a wrench into the personal relationships of our group of friends, and as the week passes friendships are tested. Ten years later the police from France show up to investigate the murder of Severine.
This is a slow paced mystery - thriller with a satisfying ending.

I loved the book even though I didn't find Kate, the main character, a believable suspect. I was hooked through the writer's development of her characters. Very well written novel. I highly recommend it.