Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this title! While I loved the story, it is not one that I would recommend to my particular students as I teach 6th grade so my students are between 11 and 12 years old. I do think older students would really enjoy the story and relate to the the two main characters of Chloe and Natalia. I think my students are a bit too young, but beyond that I loved the story. I loved that it was told from alternating perspectives. I felt chills several time whilst reading this title. I could put myself in the characters' shoes and feel the fear they must have felt - it was that well written! While the mystery part left me with more questions than answers, I loved the story of the friendship amongst the girls. So often that side of teenage girls is not told so it was refreshing to see a realistic portrayal of them. The world needs more books that showcase teenage girls as friends rather than enemies vying for a boy's attention. Great book! As soon as my students are older - I will pass on the title to them!

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I think it is a very good look at the guilt, grief, and fear especially as it related to violence against women. I think it is a good look at the public's fascination of true crime and how often true crime victims seem to be made up of young women. I think there are a couple other aspects of this book that are strong as well.

On the other hand, I honestly did not find it compelling to read personally. The synopsis made me think this would be more of a thriller or mystery. It is definitely not. This is not a bad thing, but it was not what I was expecting and I did not find the plot particularly fast-paced or engaging. The plot weaves between two viewpoints of adolescent girls impacted by a schoolmate's disappearance. It is very introspective and definitely made me think at some points, but not always interesting.

That said, it is strongly written in other ways and if this introspection is something you are interested in reading, I think this will make an impact. This is not poorly-written and the characterizations are strong. I would be heartless if I said I did not get attached to the girls in this book. So, as you see, I have a slew of feelings about this book! Both negative and positive. Make of that what you will.

I was instantly pulled into this YA novel as the story feels so real and its characters are very cleverly drawn. The dual narration expertly weaves a connection between the reader and the girls of Balmoral Ladies College. You will truly inhabit Chloe and Natalia’s worlds as they navigate painful paths to determine the truth about friendship, identity and trust.

Thoroughly recommend. Suitable for 14+.

I found this book a bit odd in that the description didn't seem to fit the direction it went in. For a YA novel it was good, and I think that late teen audiences will enjoy it. I tapped out about half way though because it got a little repetitive and I did think that they would be more friends and potentially have a more thrilling element. It was a good book, it just wasn't entirely for me.

This book was weird. A good weird but weird nonetheless. I enjoyed the dual POV between the two main characters but I just had a hard time relating to them. I dove into this book thinking that these two girls would become friends and solve a mystery together and instead this book was less about the mystery and more so about how the disappearance affects everyone else. Regardless I really enjoyed the book because the main characters lives were unperfect and real and the topics discussed were raw and unfiltered.

This is going to be a hit. It is everything you need: suspense, mystery, dark brooding girls, and drama. But in the UK. The book goes by extremely fast so don't miss a second of it.

The Gaps alternates perspectives between Chloe, an artistic scholarship student at an exclusive private school, and Natalia, who is clever, blonde, beautiful and the Year 10 queen bee. When one of their classmates, Yin, disappears, a strange and complicated kind of friendship begins to develop between the two.

Like all great YA, this is a novel that explores themes of identity and belonging. Although the disappearance of Yin is an important aspect of the plot - and The Gaps brilliantly interrogates the "dead girl" trope and its inherent misogyny - at its heart this novel is the story of Chloe and Natalia and their journeys of self-discovery. Hall does a brilliant job of creating distinct and authentic narrative voices for the two characters, and their development feels very organic.

Complex, gripping, and highly recommended.

This book was so good. It was nice to see a book not set in America. (I need to add more but I had forgotten I read this so will update later!)

This book shows what goes on in the minds of girls when they walk alone on strata or when a man is walking nearby. It shows that some are harsh at school but they are home alone because their parents are drunk or always working. Not many writers can put this down on paper, but here it worked.

I would say that the plot of this book is simple, yet well-executed. I enjoyed the story, and I believe that young people should read this book. I also read beforehand that this book was based on a true story about a young girl in Melbourne, Australia, and that made me have an even stronger emotional response while reading.

I love a good YA Fiction - and this one actually blew me away. The Gaps is modern, smart, thoughtful and very moving.

The story revolves around a missing Grade 10 student Yin, who attends an exclusive private girls school. It is told from the perspective of 2 very different girls - Natalia - the wealthy, snarky, queen bee, and Chloe - who attends the private school due to a scholarship and who is struggling to fit in. It sounds stereotypical, but these girls are anything but. I loved both of the girls and especially some of their feminist comments scattered throughout the novel. They are both very honest and real.

I thought the book was going to be a thriller, or a murder mystery, and that the girls might try to find Yin themselves, but it is just so much more. I won't give anything away, but I highly recomend this one for adults, both young and not so young.

This is a kind of novel that tackles some of the dilemmas we are experiencing right now. Power,
privilege, and race to name a few. The perspective of two young women who happened to be a
schoolmate of the abducted Yin Mitchell. As they saw what it means to be left or to be taken.

There is not much to be talked about the story is at it is like the synopsis. Yin Mitchell got
abducted and we are left with Chloe and Natalia. The two young girls, one is the popular
one—Natalia- and the other one—Chloe- who avoids drama whenever she sees it. Two
characters living in two different worlds. The focus here was the result of the taking of Yin
through the eyes of Chloe and Natalia. It was never about Yin. It is about the community that
handles and cope with the threat of abducting a young girl. You will find every topic it tackles
very appealing whenever is it sensitive or not. This was meticulously written. As if this was
meant to cross the line without offending anyone.

I did not like it as much as I was expecting. Even though it has topics that are too sensitive and
how critical it is to tackle. Would have loved it if the mysteries to solve were complex and not
just the perspective of the two protagonists who saw the world at their young age. But I am still
astonished by the writing style this book has. it was not shy but rather bold.

This is a wonderful book about female friendship in childhood and adolescence. THE GAPS explores how we try on different identities as we grow into who will finally become. It is also a story of class, race and grief. The two protagonists, Chloe and Natalia, are both greatly affected by the abduction of their classmate, Yin Mitchell. THE GAPS show two girls from very different backgrounds come together through this seeming tragedy. Beautiful and poignant, it made me reflect on who I was at sixteen - what I liked about myself, what I didn't and the very particular vulnerability we experience at that age. I loved it!

This book surprised me in a good way. I went into it thinking this would be a murder mystery with lots of suspense, which it was in a way, but more than that it was a story of what happens to those left behind after a tragedy. I really expected there to be more emphasis on solving the mystery. In retrospect, I'm incredibly glad that it wasn't what I expected it to be. I enjoyed it so much more than I would have. This allowed the story to really focus on the characters, rather than the mastery. As characters are what I most enjoy about a story, this benefitted me tremendously. If you feel the same, I think you would enjoy this story too!

The Gaps is a haunting look at abduction and those who are left behind.
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After the abduction of their classmate, two girls, Chloe and Natalia, struggle to find their place and deal with the complicated emotions of the aftermath and being a young women in today’s world.
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This book was wonderful. I felt for the characters and I was pulled into their story. I have never read a book like this, and it will definitely stay with me for a while. It also made some great comments on being a women in today’s day and age, and how some never feel safe.
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I highly recommend this, and I cannot believe more people aren’t talking about it.
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4.5 stars rounded up
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

So, I'm not a teenager, I don't live in Australia and I've never lost a close friend, and yet this book resonated so loudly for me. The plot is simple and perfectly executed. A young girl is abducted and this is the story of how her classmates cope. The story is told from two sides, and two very different characters. But let me tell you now, this is not what you expect. Having read the blurb I initially thought this was going to be about how rich girl meets poor girl and they bond over murder and try to solve the case. Well no. This is not what this is. This is so much better. Each girl handles things differently and each wants to know what happened to Him, but their stories intertwine beautifully and explore sadness, beauty joy and expectations all at the same time. Chloe is an artist of sorts and through her work the reader gets a real feel for the deeper issues of the book and the character of Natalia is like a transformation. This isn't a crime novel. This is not about Yin or her kidnapper. This is about what it feels like to be a girl. I'm 38 and yet this was raw and honest and made me want to be part of something just like them. I honestly cannot fault this book. It is an unexpected 5 stars for me and I will definitely be reading and recommending more from this author.

DNF 11%

I wanted to thank the author and the publisher for making this book available, but I didn't like it.

From the little I read, I didn't like the story and characters very much. Maybe it will get better with the rest of the book, but I'm not in the mood to read it for now, so I decided to abandon it, I'm really sorry for it, but that's life.

In addition, the kindle version is poorly formatted, which made reading a bit difficult.

The gaps is a book of girls left behind. I feel like we have a lot of missing girls' tales, so this has been a good change of perspective. It took me a couple of chapters to really myself into the narrative, but both of the narrators quickly expanded as unique voices and very realistic, very flawed characters. I thought that the teenage grief presentations were very genuine. This is the kind of book I think young people need to be talking about.

4.5 stars

a huge thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

the gaps by leanne hall was an extremely interesting, insightful and thought provoking read, and there’s no doubt i’ll continue to think about it long after finishing it. the book is told through two character’s points of view, which i enjoyed, and by the end came to feel connected to both these characters in different ways. the story begins with the abduction of sixteen year old yin mitchell, which is a lingering presence throughout most of the book, though it didn’t centre on the solving of the mystery in the way i had thought it might, which in my opinion was overall a good thing. one thing that i found most interesting about this book was the characters and how they each reacted differently to yin’s abduction, and how they all grew over the course of the story. overall, hall’s writing is nice to read, and in my opinion this book had a good balance of plot and character development, as well as a good balance of povs. i was kept on the edge of my seat throughout reading this, and would definitely recommend it to others.

trigger warnings: mentions of rape, underage drinking, death, abduction/kidnapping, murder, mentions of depression, sexism, racism, objectification of women, mild gore

The gaps is a story of girls left behind. I feel like we get a lot of stories of missing girls, so this was a nice change of perspective. It took a few chapters for me to get into, but both of the narrators quickly developed as unique voices and very real, very flawed characters. I thought that the presentations of teenage grief were very real. This is the kind of book that I think young people need. Highly recommend.