This book is fantastic! I was unable to put it down. I found the way the author weaves the tale to be engaging, and the story to be bone chilling. It's been a while since I have read a book by the author, but I am now going to go back and pick up more of her novels. This one was absolutely spellbinding!

Great plot, interesting characters and lots of twists. I was sucked into the story right away, it starts with a bang! I liked the multiple perspectives (multiple narrators, journal entries, text messages and different time frames). I normally would get lost in all the shuffling but the writing handled these transitions quite deftly.

There are plenty of characters and many possible “suspects” to choose from. After the opening scene there is not a lot of action, more character focused and it did start to drag out a bit too long as I was 3/4 done still with no answers. After that though the story starts to unravel with some good surprises. Then the reveal and all the fallout - WOW - didn’t see that one coming. Yeah, it was good!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and HARLEQUIN - Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) for a copy in exchange for a review.

I have been very fortunate to have read several REALLY good books in a row here lately.....BUT this one knocks it out of the park!!! Absolutely chilling! The plot could be taken from today's headlines, definitely, but with a twist you don't see coming. The story is told through police interviews, journal entries and real time with several different POV's. I was switching alliances at each chapter, then switching back and back again, only to find out I was totally wrong! No spoilers, so I just want to say THANK YOU, #HeatherGudenkauf and #NetGalley for this amazing ARC!!!

First book I've read by this author. I was hooked from the beginning and had to know how it was going to end. Creepy, twisted, unexpected .... Definitely recommend.

Thank you #netgalley and #HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing for the eARC.

This is a very well written mystery with complex characters and a dark plot.
Lots of surprises and some interesting food for thought, highly recommended

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC, all opinions are mine.

Nobody does Midwest small town drama like Heather Gudenkauf! Before She Was Found is no exception! Cora, Jordyn, and Violet live in Pitch, Iowa. They are 12 year old girls who are best friends...or are they? The 3 girls go to an abandoned train depot one late night. One is viciously attacked with a knife and beaten badly. Did the other 2 girls do it? Was it someone else? Just when you think you have this one figured out, you are proven wrong. I very much enjoyed the way this book was written. It is told in alternating viewpoints, journal entries, text messages, and website posts. Do not miss this riveting tale! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The ARC I received was so poor, almost impossible to follow the story, let alone feel as if I could figure it out. I was to busy figuring out where the paragraphs actually fit in order for it to be comprehensive, and mentally correcting the characters name as they were often mixed up within a paragraph I get the book hasn't had final edit yet, but this was crazy.
I will not post a review since could not possibly be fair to the novel.

I love everything Gudenkauf writes, but this is one of my new favorites. It’s dark, it’s twisty, it’s fascinating, and I like the varying perspectives throughout the novel. I couldn’t put it down!

I loved all Gudenkauf’s books and this one did not disappoint. Part urban legend part ghost story keeps this edge of your seat thriller interesting from the beginning to end.

When I began reading this book, I kept experiencing déjà vu. Knowing this was a new book and that there’s no way I could have read it before, I finally realized that the early chapters of the book are eerily similar to the 2018 Lifetime movie Terror In The Woods. Three young girls, an urban legend, social media, and mental illness are all central to this book and to the movie.
A note from the author at the end of the book acknowledges her inspiration came from the same events that the movie also used so the similarities are justified.
I finished the book unsatisfied that justice had been done. The story gripped me and held me but I really wanted more insight into Cora and her family because Cora is one of the only characters I cared about and liked. Even though one of the viewpoints we get the story from is hers, I still wanted more.
Heather Gudenkauf is becoming one of my favorite writers because in her writing she deals with relevant issues in a personal way. Her books haunt you, which is especially true of this one.

What a fantastic book. Another amazing novel by this author. This novel takes you out on a dark night to a rail yard where 3 young girls have seemingly separate agendas but none quite know what the other has planned, are the 3 young girls alone? Or is something else at play? 1 girl returns slightly agitated but unharmed, one is in shock and the other is fighting for her life after being stabbed. We are taken through the story at breakneck speed from various viewpoints culminating in a shocking twist to solve this mystery. The characters were well developed and like-able, this made it easy to feel what they would have felt and to be drawn in to this suspenseful story.It was fast paced and jam packed with emotion and terror. I could not put this book down and read it in a sitting ( albeit a longer , might have made me late for work sitting). I highly recommend this book!

This had superb character development and was a great mystery. Lots of moral and ethical questions posed to the readers and characters for the lengths they'd go to for the ones they want to love and protect!

It's been a long time since I've had a sleepover, but I remember being a young girl and having sleepovers with my friends all the time. This a tale about a sleepover gone cray. Violet, Jordyn and Cora are three friends...ok...frienemies, who are put through the ultimate test of friendship. Why is one barely alive after a night that was supposed to be just a typical sleepover?

I am having trouble inserting book references ( c'mon I rarely review lately, so when I do...work please), but this author's book The Weight of Silence was one of the first suspense books I ever read and I was hooked. One Breath Away...literally took my breath away.

Before She Was Found had a lot of the same tension and the ending truly blew my mind.

However, there were a few things...mostly minute...that would have made this a five star as opposed to four and half stars Maybe I sheltered or times have changed, but the girls seemed way older than their 12 years of age. Also, this might have just been a problem only for me, but I received this as a NetGalley arc and the formatting was verrrrry hard to read at times. Lots of inappropriate paragraph/sentence breaks, inserts of random characters, etc. Now maybe this is a way of protecting PDF's but, for me personally it was very hard to get through at times just because the formatting. However, this is definitely one to keep an eye out for!

Three teenage girls join together to work on a school project about a local urban legend. They decide to sneak out one night to investigate where the legend occurred. Three girls enter the train yard, one leaves in an ambulance after being brutally injured. What happened? Who was responsible?
This story tells the tale of middle school friendship, of bullying, of trying to fit in, and of the dangers of social media. It approaches all these subjects and more while giving you a great whodunit story.
I love the way Heather Gudenkauf tells a story. She grabs you at the start and doesn't let go.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for letting me have the chance to read this book it had me glue from the first page on the edge of my seat

This story had me glued to the pages to find out who really attacked Cora at the rail yard. This book is creepy and reminds you of all the predators out there. It's also a painful reminder of what it can be like to not fit in. There is a progression in the book that you can relate to , you are a young person, then a parent, and a grandparent and this book shows all the different view point to the storyline. I really enjoyed reading this book, but felt the ending was a let down. I was expecting more, but maybe that was the whole point.

Topical treatment about three 12-year old girls, their families, their small town and the urban legend that haunts that town. The three girls end up in an abandoned train yard at midnight to meet the legend. Two come out but one is seriously injured, near death. Which girl did it? There are multiple likely avenues for the police to pursue and we go along for the ride. The terrible truth ekes out throughout the story where the truth is not revealed until the bitter end. Engaging, engrossing and terribly scary!

Thank you to Harlequin Park Row and Netgalley for a chance to preview this thriller. I don’t believe I’ve read anything by Heather Gudenkauf before and I wasn’t aware of how dark her writing was. A sleepover with three 12-year-old friends turns tragic when they decide to make a middle-of-the-night visit to their local abandoned railroad yard. By the time they are discovered one of them has disappeared, one is covered in blood and the third is actually bleeding profusely. What has spurred this late-night visit? Who else was there? Who stabbed Cora? The entire book is spent trying to figure that out.

These girls don’t have a solid friendship by any means. It’s more of a who do I like best today. And there’s bullying.

Who the culprit is should shock you. It did me. But the following and what happened to all the girls I found disappointing. A good read, though.

For twelve-year-old Cora Landry and her friends Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover—movies and Ouija and talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out to go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences.

Before She Was Found is a timely and gripping thriller about friendship and betrayal, about the power of social pressure and the price of needing to fit in. It is about the great lengths a parent will go to protect their child and keep them safe—even if that means burying the truth, no matter the cost.

I loved this book!! Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf is one of the best books I've ever read. It was an exciting, excellent ride that I couldn't put down.

Thank you #Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of #BeforeSheWasFound
Pub Date: 16 Apr 2019

Oh wow. Put some time away for this book. It has all the ingredients for a terrific psychological thriller.

No spoilers from me. Book is great with lots of lies, deception, tragedy, and twists. Also, loved the unpredictable ending. Can't say enough great about this. Read it today!!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this fabulous book.