This book was not for me. Thank you for the opportunity to give it a try, but I did not finish. I will try another book by this author

Don’t Forget The Girl
By Rebecca McKanna
Review and Rating 3 ⭐️

This is a tough one to review. On one hand, it is hard to believe this a debut novel. Although the first half is slow to start, the solid writing style kept my interest to the end. On the other hand, I definitely wouldn’t call this a thriller. The story of three friends Abby, Chelsea, and Bree, and Abby’s disappearance and suspected murder 12 years ago by a notorious serial killer Jon Allan Blue. Blue is up for execution and a true crime podcast wants to cover Abby’s case bringing back all the memories of that time in their lives for Chelsea and Bree.
McKanna really delves into female friendships, trauma, and loss. This book may not be for everyone with themes of LGBTQ, an improper teacher/student relationship, and religion.
For me, this one was 2.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 3⭐️ for McKanna’s brilliant debut writing.

I want to thank Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.



Book Rating Key
⭐️ Not Recommended
⭐️⭐️ Readable Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Near Perfect Book
***Note*** I seldom give ⭐️or ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ratings. If I feel a book is a ⭐️sometimes I just prefer to not finish reading it and not rate it. As for 5 ⭐️books, I think of those as books I would want to take with me to a deserted island 🏝️, and this means I read a whole lot of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️star books. Happy Reading!

To start - this is not a thriller. This is very much a literary mystery. It focuses on the loved ones left behind after an assumed murder with no answers. It touches on how the media and the public often treat true crime as simply a source of entertainment. If that topic interests you, I recommend.

In 2003, one of three best friends disappear. Flash forward to 2015 and we learn about the effects this has had on the two friends left. The book switches between 3 POVs (one in second person, missing girl Abby) and various media bits (podcast, news, reddit, etc). The pace is slow and it is very heavily focus on the feelings/traumas of the characters, although you do get small snippets of mystery through Abby’s POV. As mentioned previously, if character studies and the ethics of monetizing/dramatizing true crime cases interests you, I highly recommend.

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of Don't Forget the Girl by Rebecca McKanna in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This book has all the WOW factors of a fantastic psychological thriller and to think it's the authors debut novel! I am in awe! I seriously loved this book and can't wait to read more by her!

This was not for me. The story was kinda slow and I couldn't connect with the characters at all. I was hoping for something different

Holy shit. I cannot believe this title is McKanna’s debut novel. Don’t Forget The Girl is much more than your run-of-the-mill thriller. It is a love story to the complexity of female friendships, a reminder to focus on the victims of heinous crimes rather than the perpetrators, and an exploration of the early 2000s culture. If you can get your hands on the audiobook of this title, do it! The narrator, Jennifer O’Donnell, really brings the story to life. I cannot wait to read whatever McKanna writes next.

Wow, what a powerful, heartbreaking book! I am so impressed this was a debut novel as well. This story focuses on the people who are left behind in the wake of a tragedy, most of their lives being forever changed. A beautiful, yet tragic story of love, loss, family and grief. Grief is complex and everyone had their own way of dealing with it and I thought the Jtjor did a great job of portraying that.

"We never remember the dead girls. We never forget the killers"

When Abby Hartmann disappeared, her friends Bree and Chelsea were forever changed. Now, Jon Allan Blue, the serial killer suspected of her murder, is about to be executed and all of their sadness, fear, and anger bubble to the surface. It is especially hard for them to see the friend Abby get lost in the sensationalism of the execution and decide to air it out on a podcast dedicated to the murders. Reliving it all over again will test the girls and their friendship.

Enjoyed this one and it’s ability to touch on trauma as well as love and friendship.

While this is classed as a thriller, it doesn’t feel super tense until closer to the end. The first half of the book is a slow start, but by halfway I was hooked. I appreciate the theme of putting victims of murder back into the spotlight rather than glorifying the killers. I enjoyed the mixed media throughout the book and the flashbacks to the college scenes with the trio of best friends. I found this to be a really sad story, especially with all the secrets between Abby and Chelsea. I thought the ending wrapped up nicely and I wasn’t left with a bunch of unanswered questions.

A true crime novel that addresses some troublesome issues in true crime media. The ending is terrific and really fits the message that the author is trying to get across. I hope the author continues with this theme in future novels

⭐⭐⭐.5/5 (rounded up)

• debut mystery
• multiple POV/timelines
• great writing

I enjoyed the deeper themes of faith and coming out, along with friendships and grief at the core mystery of the story. It started out strong for me, a solid four stars. But I found myself dreading the Abby chapters (iykyk 🤣). It's more of a slower burn character study but overall I enjoyed it.

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Big thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Synopsis: over a decade ago, University of Iowa freshman Abby Hartmann disappeared. In the present, the serial killer who was suspected to have murdered Abby is about to be executed. Abby's friends, Bree and Chelsea, are forced to resurface their memories and resentments when a popular podcast focuses its next season on Blue's murders. Abby's disappearance has been very much overshadowed by Blue's more high-profile crimes, and the two estranged friends come to terms with things as they revisit the tragedy.

Review: this was an incredibly unique read, and that's saying something, given that it covers a few popular thriller tropes (serial killers and podcasts). The bulk of the book takes place 12 years AFTER the crime in question occurred, and focuses mostly on the best friends of the victims, with chapters interspersed throughout that flash back to Abby's point of view as she talks the reader through her perspective of the events of the tragedy. Abby and Chelsea are compelling characters with compelling problems, forced to think once again about something extremely traumatic. This book highlights the "romanticization" of serial killers (much like in today's society with new controversial Netflix series about certain high profile killers played by beloved, highly attractive actors). It also touches on friendship and loss, and is definitely worth the read.

If you go into this with the thought it will be a fast paced thriller questioning everything you think you know it is not that at all. It is more of a book of information and what happened to Abby. I would say it is more of a character study and delved into the different characters and their feeling or contributions to Abbys disappearance. It does switch between different perspectives and goes from 1st to 2nd person to 3rd person. That ruined it for me because it was choppy and did not flow like I wanted it to.

I don’t even know where to start with this review… by no means did I dislike this book, however it just wasn’t what I expected… I was initially drawn in by the premise and thought this would be an edge of my seat thriller and it just wasn’t. If you are looking for a murder mystery than this is not it because you aren’t waiting to find out who did it the whole time (even though I was and was waiting for some major plot twist that never came).

The story is told from multiple POVs and while I liked this aspect of the book, I felt the going back and forth between first person, second person and third person was choppy and made the reading difficult at times.

What I thought was done well was the representation in the book - highlighting the difficulties of sexuality, college life and living in a world of social media.

As I said before, if you’re looking for a “thriller” then this is not the book, but if you’re looking for a fictional drama that explores complex issues than this is more up your alley!

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is my second book, almost back to back, framed around the same serial killer. I love how both stories really embraced him being small and unimportant. I love that both, instead, told us about the presumed victims he took from friends and family.

In this one, I loved the complex female relationships. Chelsea, Abby and Bree have been inseparable since high school. They are now in college, 2 of them rooming together, the other dropping by whenever, and they are loving the new classes and freedom. But they are navigating a world they don't know and trying to rely on each other and gut instinct as girls around them disappear.

This story is told a little tangled - as it jumps from Previous POV to the now POV. But it does give all three POV, so it was important for me to read the chapter and know name and date before I read the next part. Luckily, I read it all close together so I was able to keep it all straight - but I can see an audio book being a struggle. I love how messy this was. The girls weren't perfect. Each of them made mistakes, hurt each other but their chance to make up was cut short as Abby went missing. But I love that the previous chapters had a sense of foreboding, knowing girls had gone missing. Knowing one of the girls telling her story would too.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This is marketed as a thriller, but it's much more of a slow-moving character study. I could have adjusted to that, since I love a good character study, except for the grating unlikability of the characters we're spending time with. I simply couldn't continue with a drunk, pill-popping woman having an affair with her student, or a priest who uses her position to shield herself from the world and all the repercussions or her actions. Women Behaving Badly might've bee a more apt title.

DNF

A missing girl, two best friends, and a podcaster. Although the Thriller/Mystery genre has had no shortages of these plot points as of late, I really enjoyed how this book kept the story fresh.

Told in 3 alternating voices and time periods, we get to know Bree, Chelsea and Abby. Abby went missing 12 years prior after a night out with her friends. Although it is never confirmed, it is suspected Abby was murdered by a notorious serial killer.

I really enjoyed the alternating perspectives, and how the book focused on so much more than the "mystery" surrounding Abby's death. It felt like diving into research on an unsolved case. I was in shock when I realized this was McKanna's first novel, and cannot wait to see what else she comes out with!

Thank you, Netgalley and Sourcebooks, for the EArc in return for an honest review.

Abby, an 18 year old college student, disappeared on Halloween night.
12 years later, John Allan Blue, serial killer and suspected of Abby's murder is about to be executed. He had never admitted to ending her life.

Abby's friends Bree and Chelsea, who are now estranged, must come together and try to get John to finally admit he killed her.

This book is told in both past and present timelines. We follow the women's stories but not John. I like that he doesn't get a story in the book. All too often, we, as humans, are obsessed with serial killers. We know their names, and they are infamous, but what about their victims? They are the ones that should be remembered.

Solid 3.stars. An excellent read for all the true crime podcast lovers. This book keeps you interested until the end. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy od this book.

Wow this was such a great book! I loved the authors writing style as it kept me hooked the entire time while reading this book. I will have to be sure to check out future books by this author too.