This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that great either.

It’s so hard to come across well written chronic illness representation. I felt like this was both good and bad. It’s very clear that the author has first hand experience with ME, but it also comes off somewhat generic. Like maybe she had it a long time ago or at a different point in her life then the main character, Kasia. I’m not really sure how to explain it.

The story was pretty good though! I enjoyed Kasia as a character and lived Nav a lot. I really love the sex-trafficking aspect because it starts a really important conversation and shows us how so many cases are.

Overall, it was enjoyable, but not overly memorable.

I found this book extremely simple. It felt young, but dealt with extremely complicated and mature topics. The story jumped right in with no background, then dragged on about things that were insignificant. It was dotted with the main storyline for the beginning. I think it was cheesy and fairly boring, I scrolled through it. It lacked a lot of depth.

Not for me. The plot was predictable and wasn't done well, and the writing as a little... meh? I feel bad for saying the main character was too childish given her age, but for a character who is fourteen, she was far too childish.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

Here's a book when the heroine is suffering from ME and the author actually takes the time out to focus on the illness in the book! That was a great change!

This is the first Penny Joelson book I have read and I have to say I'm sorry that I have to give this book the dreaded "it was okay" 2.5 stars. It was a quick read, at less than 200 hundred pages, and only took me a few hours....but I really couldn't get into the book, usually when there are short chapters I dive right in and am totally captivated but it wasn't the case here. In my humble opinion it is a very sluggish read, with very little substance. I really didn't care about any of the characters or the big mystery.

The book deals with some serious themes, but overall does seem as though it's aimed at young readers and I did feel the dialogue was a bit labored and not really how teenagers talk. I had to keep reminding myself that this is aimed young adults. It's well written for the teen aged set so for that reason I will round it up to three stars.

The Girl Who Wasn't There follows Kaisa, a girl who has ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A condition that keeps her in her bedroom for the most part. Nothing ever happens on her street, but one day she swears she sees a girl getting dragged into a car, and is shocked to realize she just witnessed a kidnapping. She freaks out, and calls the police then comes to a shocking discovery: there is no girl.

rating: 3.5 stars.

This was an entertaining YA thriller. I really appreciated how the MC struggles with CFS. I've never seen that in a book before, so having that representation made this story extra special. There's also LGBTQ+ rep!

The writing was quick and easy to follow, and I enjoyed the plot twist ending. Overall, a good book to pick up if you want to dip your toes into the YA thriller genre, or if you're already a fan!

Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS fire for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Today I looked out of the window—even though I know that I should—not and I was shocked. I saw the ghost of myself—looking back at me. A girl in the window opposite. She peered out, just as I did, her shadowy shape a mirror-image of mine, though her hair was light, her face pale. Is she a ghost, just as I am? Is this whole street maybe full of ghosts like me, and we know nothing of each other’s plight, or why we can neither live nor our souls rest in peace?





This was a nice little mystery wrapped inside of a girl with a chronic illness. Kasia has chronic fatigue syndrome (one of the many things I have as well) She has really bad side effects from her illness. I thought I was going to have a panic attack reading the book.

Anyway, Kasia witnessed a woman being taken away in a car. She tries to help by calling the police but nothing ever came from it. Come to find out, this book is about finding yourself, finding answers to a mystery, finding new friends and saving lives.

I thought it was a sweet little book for the most part.

Mel

Overall, I thought this book was a solid 4 stars. It intrigued me enough to finish it quickly, which is always a positive in my book. There were a few elements that kept me guessing, although some of that might be attributed to my own speculation about plot points that weren't actually supposed to be a mystery. For example, I was mostly convinced for half the book that the main character actually was a victim of Munchausen by proxy. I was kind of disappointed when I discovered that she wasn't. Despite that, I enjoyed watching the progression of Kasia's journey to get stronger and venture out of her home. The sudden bit where Kasia was in danger seemed a bit rushed. But aside from some minor complaints, I liked the book and I'd read more by this author.

This was a really interesting story in a few ways. I appreciated the attention to ME/CFS as someone who struggles daily with spoons and chronic illness. It made the pace of the book feel more like my life, deliberate, restrained, which added to the tension I believe as the mystery unfolded. I also enjoyed the depiction of real life revolving around the mystery. It was well balanced and an enjoyable read. The main character was someone who it was easy to feel for and who showed real grit in the face of her health.

This book is really well written and interesting mystery style book. Lovely flow and great characters. This was a fab read and I would highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It follows the story of Kasia, who has ME/CFS. She is often confined to her bedroom and has recently seen a girl at the window of the house opposite. Kasia thinks the girl must also have witnessed the abduction that took place but when the police visit, they are told that there is no girl. Kasia is determined to work out what is going on.

I read this book in just over a day. It was slow enough to really get the feeling of how monotonous Kasia's life has become, but it didn't drag or stop being exciting. The balance of Kasia's poor health with her desperate need to do the "normal" teenage things was really well written. My only slight issues were the typos; breath instead of breathe and the number of American English words (e.g. diaper) which left me checking back to confirm the UK references quite a few times.

In all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the author's first novel.

I could not get into this book. I know it seems well liked but for me the sentence structure seemed choppy. I am grateful for the opportunity, but I found myself getting frustrated with the choppiness more and more as time went on.

Kasia suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A chronic condition that keeps her largely confined to her bed or her room. She spends a lot of her time looking out her bedroom window at her quiet suburban street. But one day she sees an abduction - a girl who is dragged into a car and kidnapped. Did anyone else see what happened? Kasia is sure she saw someone in the house across the street watching too. But when the police check, the family who live there say that no-one else lives with them.

But Kasia continues to see the "ghost" across the street looking out her window and is determined to solve the riddle of who else is living across the street. Maybe it is a girl, like her, with an illness that stops her going to school? Maybe it is someone in trouble and needs her help?

With the help of Nav, her next door neighbour, Kasia doesn't let her illness stop her from solving the riddle and finding out just what is happening in her supposedly safe street.

What I love about this book is the accurate portrayal of living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/M.E. I have been a carer for my daughter who has suffered from CFS for many years, starting from her early teens. It is not often you read what it is really like to live with an "invisible" chronic condition such as CFS, the daily struggles and the psychological effects.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced copy.

Penny Joelson won hearts with her debut novel "I Have No Secrets," which wonderfully articulated the perspective of a young girl with cerebral palsy in the midst of a page-turning mystery. She returns in "The Girl Who Wasn't There" with her now signature style. In it, we observe the journey of a young girl named Kasia who witnesses a possible crime while living with ME.

Joelson's work serves to familiarize the average reader with some of the mental and physical difficulties of those persons living with a chronic disease. The true gift of her writer, however, it that she does so while also portraying them as complete characters with thoughts, dialogues, and actions that any individual can relate to. This is a powerful stance for a children's author to take. "The Girl Who Wasn't There" reminded me of my initial thoughts when reading Joelson for the first time: these books would do well to be available in grade school libraries everywhere.

Not quite as masterful as her first, "The Girl Who Wasn't There" manages to capture the reader's attention, create thoughtful characters, and engage with an approachable writing style. However, some of the dialogue could use smoothing over and the author may have done better to focus her theme, which wavered with rushed attempts at diverse inclusions near its end.

Penny Joelson is one to watch. I will gladly recommend her work to parents of young readers for many years to come.

I really struggled to get through the repetitiveness of the narrator's tiredness. I know that her illness is a main part of her identity, but I found her hard to connect with. The overall writing is okay, but wouldn't be for struggling readers. The mystery of the girl who "wasn't there" was okay, but also didn't captivate me

The Girl Who Wasn't There
by Penny Joelson
Pub Date: 03 Nov 2020
Read courtesy of http://netgalley.com


The Girl Who Wasn't There wasn't there for me until 88% through the book. I persevered since I wanted to find out about the mysterious girl who wasn't there, but I hadn't read the description of the book since I first requested the title, and I didn't read the "back cover" of my electronic version of the book. Therefore, I got 88% through the book with a misconception of whom the girl who wasn't there really was. That changed my whole perspective and point-of-view of what I'd been reading and finally made the book somewhat more interesting. (I'm trying not to make a spoiler, so don't read the tags on this post at https://pollyannapollyanna.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-review-girl-who-wasnt-there.html unless you want a spoiler.)

The writing wasn't sophisticated, i.e., probably appropriate for middle as well as high school. However, I'm not sure it would suit reluctant readers; reading about a tired girl gets tiring. The ratio of the story between talking about chronic fatigue syndrome versus talking about the girl who wasn't there, if swayed more toward the girl and less about the syndrome, would have made for a more captivating, engaging read.

On a more positive note, the story's secondary characters of the neighbor and her grandson were well thought out and appealing. On the other hand, the school friends of the main character were more like plot movers and distractions.

I wanted to like it more, but when most of a narrative book entails the many ways of describing how tired someone is, I find myself getting tired, too.