Wow, I flew through this book. It made me think of the movie Little Miss Sunshine for some reason. Maybe because I was rooting for something that didn’t really seem right?

In any case, this quirky coming of age story pulled me in and would not let me go. I loved how the book was mostly written as Sally talking to her deceased sister, Kathy. I loved the astute observations surrounding a family after a tragic event. How somehow life goes on, and everyone is forced to accept a new normal. Everyone has different coping mechanisms and different ways to forget as well as remember. As a mother myself, her reaction was definitely the most difficult to watch.

A melancholy story- but also masterfully funny at times, the author had a perfect mix of humor and sadness, dark and light. The reader follows Sally basically 15 years. Up to her sister’s accident, through it and years after. The event shaping Sally’s life since it happened when she was only 13. She is such a wonderfully written introspective, smart and self aware character.

“But I knew then that anybody who chose to be alone had no idea what it really meant to be alone.”

I am always drawn to books dealing with grief and I found this one captivating. If you enjoy a deep, quirky, character-driven story, I implore you to pick this one up. You will not be sorry. Thank you to Henry Holt and NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review.

This is a lovely, depressing and highly readable book about the devastating loss experienced by a family when their older daughter Kathy dies just before she graduates from high school. Espach writes it from the point of view of Sally, Kathy's younger sister. Together, they shared confidences, particularly about Billy Barnes, Kathy's crush from fourth grade on. Their parents were loving and had a good marriage and their life in a coastal town in Connecticut was picture perfect. Each family member and, oddly, but for good reasons, Billy Barnes go through the next fifteen years experiencing this loss in different but deeply painful and life-changing ways. Each is stuck on some aspect of the loss, the perfection gone, but life goes on, but what does life look like when it goes on? This is also a love story between two sisters, the sisters and Billy Barnes, parents and children and husband and wife. Kathy is ever present in one way or another -- in dreams, in stories, in her casket, at her grave, as a storm. The arc of the story is so perfectly drawn, the writing emotional and sometimes funny, particularly when it comes to getting into the brain of a growing teen (Sally) and her romantic escapades and adventures with her best friend Valerie.

Rarely am I at a loss for words when writing a review, but this book,, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, has left me speechless.

Where do I even begin? No spoilers here; this all happens in the first few chapters. In a nutshell, Sally Holt and her older sister, Kathy (a few years apart in age), love the same boy, Billy. But Sally’s only ten and her sister is old enough to have Billy as her boyfriend. One fateful day, Sally convinces Billy to drop her off at school before proceeding to the high school that he and Kathy attend: because Billy is speeding and driving erratically, there’s a terrible accident, Sally walks off without a scratch, Billy is severely injured, and Kathy is killed. Eight lives (both sets of parents included) forever changed .

That sets the stage and it’s here that I am at a loss for words. I am moved and almost shell shocked by this masterful book. I can’t reveal what happens in the next 15 years or so without revealing spoilers. Let’s just say I was mesmerized at the twists and turns of Sally’s life after Kathy, and the small group of people in and out of her orbit. It’s a poignant story that I had to set aside several times as I got teary. It’s also a story of what the death of a sister, a daughter, a boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s parents does to these people and how dramatically their lives suddenly and permanently are different. Yet it’s also a brilliant story of how broken people can learn how to put themselves
back together, and l think that’s what I loved most about this book.

I received this book as an ARC from the author, the publisher, and NetGalley.

This is a heartbreaking story of 2 young siblings torn apart when a car accident claims the life of the older sister, Kathy. The book is told from the point of view of Sally, the younger sister, who survived the car accident and is left to deal with her grief, guilt, and loss as best she can. Sally’s parents are almost paralyzed by their own grief and loss of their child, so the family trips and stumbles their way through this intensely sad territory. Things becomes complicated as Sally develops a friendship with Billy, Kathy’s boyfriend and the driver of the car that they were all in during the accident. This book spans a 20-year period, beginning in the 90’s, and which adds nuances to the story as Sally matures over the years. All her life choices are informed and shaped by the immense grief and guilt she carries with her. This book has so much to discuss-love, loss, grief, family dynamics, and eventual healing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it broke my heart all the way through.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is one in a long line of books about a young girl coming of age, experiencing a trauma, and working through what that means for the rest of her life. The marketing for this book is a bit misleading, suggesting there's a mystery and a romance here. There isn't really either. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is about Sally, the narrarator, whose sister Kathy dies in a car accident when Sally is a child, but Sally makes it out unscathed. The rest of the book is Sally processing these events.

The brightest spot in this book was the 90s nostalgia during the early parts of Sally's life.

This book will appear to fans of domestic dramas.

DNF at 22%. This is a slow story about grief. I didn’t know that going in but had a clue from a friend that it was sad. Ultimately, I think this might just be wrong timing for me but it’s not what I need right now. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

It starts as an ordinary summer in the late 1990's for 13 year old Sally and her older popular sister Kathy, but soon unexpected tragedy hits.. Sally and her family must move on from Kathy's sudden death, but it will not be without conflict. Told from the POV of Sally over the course of 15 years, this novel explores grief, relationships, and human connection in such a lovely way.

I was enraptured by this story. I feel in love with all these characters immediately and felt like I was folded right into the landscape of the small town and the immense tragedy of Kathy's death. As readers we witness the fundamental human need to be loved, wrapped in an enjoyable endearing story about a young girl coping with her immense grief at the loss of her beloved sister. I never wanted this story to end. I would recommend to anyone who gravitates to character driven stories and complex human experiences.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher, this is one I will remember and cherish.

The narrator tells the story about live with her sister and after her sister is killed in a car accident when her boyfriend was behind the wheel. Very interesting since the story is being told almost as a conversation to the dead sister.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley for this ARC. I am giving my honest opinion.

Sally and Kathy are very close sisters, aged 13 and 16. After Kathy dies, Sally continues to confide in Kathy through her journaling. Sally feels as if the journaling will help her deal with her sister's death. The story takes place over 15 years and shows how close the sisters once were. But when and how is it time to quit? This novel reaches so many emotions. I enjoyed this novel and will continue to read books by Alison Espach.

I’m so torn on this book. I loved the characters and the realistic depictions of loss. It just felt like listening to your friend tell her life story at happy hour. I was engrossed but not sure why she was telling it. I don’t know I think if the ending was more fulfilling it would have sat better with me.

This book, a family relationship / coming of age drama, reminds me a bit of Sally Rooney in the way the two main characters, Sally and Billy, grow apart and come together, continuously, united by a shared experience, but also in the way they seem to live in a different world from everyone else, understanding only each other. The structure of the novel is unusual: while the inciting incident takes place in the first 20%, the rest of the novel is taken up with showing us different periods in Sally’s life, the evolution of her thinking about herself, the accident, her parents, and Billy. There is very little “plot” after the first quarter of the novel, which might give some readers pause (especially those who expected a more suspenseful novel, based on the title and cover).

There were moments of humor, and I enjoyed the dynamic between Sally and Billy. The 2nd person POV (the book is told from Sally’s POV as she addresses her sister Kathy) was a bit heavy and tiring in the first section, but later it fades into the background. Readers will enjoy this book if they’re interested in the effects of an early tragedy on a young girl’s development.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hi!

Here is my review on BookBrowse - Thank you so much for the galley, I loved the book.

https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/4452/notes-on-your-sudden-disappearance#reviews

Here is the copy and pasted review:

A heartbreaking story of grief spanning 15 years, narrated as a letter to a lost sister.
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance will make you ache for a loss you didn't experience as you relate through the losses you have. With remarkable accuracy, Alison Espach writes about grief through the eyes of a young girl. The perspective of our narrator, Sally Holt, evokes both laughter and tears. A coming-of-age story told through a long letter spanning over 15 years, this book will carry you through the pages of your own experiences growing up, and make you think about the things that tear a family apart, as well as the things that sew them back together again.

The story begins by introducing Billy Barnes, a young boy wonder who is both brave and stupid enough to jump off a roof during recess in 5th grade. From then on, both Sally and her older sister Kathy are in love with Billy. The beginning of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance follows Kathy the way younger sisters often do: with admiration and an annoying desire to be included.

The girls spend summers at a local pool where Billy works at the snack bar. It's there that Kathy and Billy spark a romance, and he becomes her first boyfriend before the summer is over. But Sally's tendency to act as her older sister's shadow leads to a traumatic accident that takes Kathy's life when Sally is 13 and Kathy is 16. The accident leaves Billy seriously injured and Sally untouched physically, but forever altered emotionally.

The loss of a child causes an explosion in a family, leaving them irrevocably changed through the experience of collective grief that threatens to tear them apart. Sally continues to talk to her sister after her death, picking up each piece of shrapnel and examining it with care. She speaks to Kathy with honesty and humor, remarking on the strangeness of the funeral, the days, weeks and months after, and the only person who seems to understand what she is going through: Billy Barnes.

Sally records the details of her life with Kathy in mind, sharing everything with her, just like she did the 13 years of her life before her sister's death. She explains, "I knew you'd want to know everything about your death, the same way you wanted to know if Billy was talking to Lisa at the pool or if you had spinach in your teeth or if your hair had become frizzy after a summer storm."

As Sally grows up, she never disconnects from Kathy. Each chapter follows important events in her life, whether mundane or significant, from her mother purchasing funfetti cake mix for Kathy's birthday after her death, to her own high school graduation. Sally continues to inhabit the bedroom the two once shared, feeling the echos of her sister everywhere, and never hesitates to share her inner thoughts in the most candid and honest way imaginable.

Sally continues to run into Billy Barnes long after Kathy's death, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident. As she gets older, her connection to him becomes undeniable and absolutely essential to her healing and recovery from the trauma.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance probes the void left behind after a loved one dies. The author's words never wince and they never look away. Sally's voice develops as she grows older, her vocabulary matures with her, and her astute observations of the world paint a vivid picture in the reader's mind. Alison Espach writes beautifully with spare language that keeps the reader immersed in the story. She writes the way a younger sister writes to her older sister, the way someone writes to the person they love most in the world.

This book makes one thing clear: love and loss are deeply intertwined. It can be an overwhelming realization, but it's something we can all relate to. For that reason, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance will work its way into your heart and never leave.

3/5. This book just...wasn't for me. I went into this thinking it would be a true crime kind of "disappearance", like a reverse Lovely Bones. It really wasn't. (spoiler: the sister died in a car accident.) I don't know where the thriller and mystery tags on GoodReads came from. I didn't really like the format-- the book is addressed to "you" aka the dead sister. It doesn't really have a plot, this is very much a character-driven story. The problem was that I just wasn't invested in the characters. I'm sure other people like this book a lot, and I know it got a bunch of positive reviews, it just wasn't something I was interested in.

This was very different than I expected. I thought I was about to read a mystery - I forgot the whole description by the time I read this one - and I’m glad it was different. Definitely worth the read!

Sally is 14 years old when her older sister dies. We follow along over the course of the next 15 years as she deals with her grief. It's a coming of age meets grief meets dark humor novel.

What I really enjoyed about this one is that it's written as if Sally is talking to her sister, Kathy. The informal and witty and sassy writing made this story at once sad and heartwarming and funny. A true rollercoaster of a ride. I really enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down, largely reading it in two sittings.

If you liked EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng or TELL THE WOLVES I'M HOME by Carol Rifka Brunt I think this one would be right up your alley!

Nothing quite pulls at my heartstrings like a good coming-of-age novel. Combine that with a heartfelt portrayal of love and loss, and I am sold, as is the case with Alison Espach’s new novel, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance. What a magnificent book! As someone who moves on to my next read quickly after finishing a book, I am happy to say that this nostalgic novel will stay with me for some time.

Told in the second person from Sally to her older sister Kathy, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance spans 15 years as Sally comes to terms with the events leading up to, and those that follow, Kathy’s untimely death. The story follows Sally and Kathy during their last summer together, young girls on the cusp of womanhood, who both only have eyes for Billy, the local heartthrob. Of course, Sally could never admit this to Kathy, who ends up dating Billy, but she finds herself quite fascinated with her sister’s boyfriend.

After Kathy dies, Sally and Billy gravitate toward each other, comforting one another in their shared grief. As Sally attempts to forge a new life for herself in a world that no longer holds her sister, Billy is there helping her keep Kathy’s memory alive. What we are left with is a frank and authentic account of what it is like to move forward in grief after losing the person who means the most to you, and how it shapes the people we become.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is a book that you feel, a book that you experience, which makes it difficult to put into words. This novel is full of such longing and introspection, as a young girl grows into a woman in the wake of her effervescent older sister’s death. How do we go on after losing those who mean the world to us? As Sally shows us, in fits and starts, putting one foot in front of the other while also looking back longingly at everything we leave behind.

Espach’s masterpiece is a witty, resonant portrait of grief manifested in a teenage girl. A true coming-of-age story in the vein of the 1991 film My Girl, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is both haunting and candid, both ugly and beautiful, and is truly a book to behold.

I absolutely loved this book. It’s gentle, sincere, deeply emotional, and so on tap with the many stages a person goes through when they lose a close loved one.
Sally is talking to her older sister Kathy throughout the book. Their relationship is so sweet for two sisters three years paper in age. They have moments where they get on each other’s nerves, but in the quiet of the evening, they talk it through and go to sleep content once more. Kathy and Sally live in a normal home in a normal neighborhood, not too fancy, not too inferior. The summer before their Junior and eighth grade, Kathy finally catches the attention of Billy Barnes, and Sally, who wanted to share in his attention a little bit, is pushed to the back burner.
Life is normal, each day passes, until a horrific tragedy strikes. One in which Kathy is suddenly gone and Sally feels overwhelmingly responsible.
The book spans the next 15 years of Sally’s life. We watch her parents slowly lose their sobriety, their jobs, and their status in the community. Sally eventually goes back to school, but for months she feels nothing. Except late at night when she and Billy have long heart-to-heart discussions over the phone about daily events and the big hole Kathy left.
Alison Espach quietly and effectively makes you feel the sorrow, anger, jealousy, and staggering worthlessness suffered by Sally, and eventually, her acceptance and peace, her forgiveness of herself and her family, and her continually evolving storm of emotions towards Billy.
Sincere thanks to Henry Holt & Company for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is now available.

Going into this novel it is best to note that this book is not a mystery novel. You find out early on how the MC's sister passes away. The story spans 15 years and is narrated by the remaining sister. While grief is the main theme of this book it told in such a way that you can also find pieces of humor tucked into the narrative. I felt that I became part of this family and upon finishing I realized that I did not want to say goodbye to the characters.

Book hangover? Absolutely.

I cannot wait to see what Alison Espach publishes next.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt for allowing me to read an early copy of this book! I will be purchasing a final copy for my bookshelf.

A lyrical touching novel about the aftermath of grief and learning over time to weave it into the fabric of your life. Sally Holt is about to enter eighth grade when her beloved sister Kathy, dies in an auto accident. Sally was also in the car and the driver was Billy, Kathy’s boyfriend and for different reasons, they both carry guilt about their role in the event. The story then follows the two of them, as well as Sally’s parents, through the years as they slowly accept the death and learn to move on. Told from Sally’s point of view, we watch her grappling with all the challenges of growing up, including an ondoing friendship and eventual touching romance with Billy, the only person who she feels truly understands her. While the subject matter is dark and painful, the book is not a downer but instead an uplifting treatise on coming to terms with loss, continuing to mourn but also learning from the experience to appreciate all that life offers you. It’s a profoundly moving and thoughtful book and I highly recommend it.

My thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Sally and Kathy are sisters and best friends. They share the same room and every night Kathy, who is three years older than Sally, fills her in on all the world has to offer, including school politics, crushes - mostly Billy Barnes, and growing up. In eighth grade, Sally gets a ride to school with Kathy and her now-boyfriend Billy, and, in an attempt to avoid a deer on the road, Billy swerves and hits a tree, instantly killing Kathy. All at once, the lives of Sally, her parents, and Billy are shattered and they are each left to grieve in their own way. The book is written from Sally's perspective as a type of letter to Kathy, who she updates on how life has been in the fifteen years following the crash. Sally never truly gets over the death of Kathy, seeing reminders of her in everything around her, including her mother's loss of grip on reality and Billy's continuation of a semi-normal life. The beautifully written heaviness of each character's grief and complicated relationships with one another is not reflected in the book’s cover that was most likely chosen by a publisher who wanted to market the book as a summer read.