I had a hard time with this story. Most of the time, I couldn't figure out what it was trying to be. Is it a mystery? Is it a drama that delves heavily into grief? I still can't tell you.

This is something I could not get hooked on. I don't think I will be purchasing this for my teen collection, unfortunately.

Teddy’s twin sister goes missing after a midnight swim. Did she disappear or drown? As the story unfold and Teddy tries to find out what happened to her sister, we find out Izzy’s secrets and Teddy falls in love. This story kept my attention and I will recommend to all my high school students.

This story reads like a letter written from one lost sister to another. Teddy is lost without her twin sister Izzy that disappeared roughly 10 months ago after a midnight swim at Bottomrock Lake, the only other person there that night, Toby, was cleared of any involvement in your disappearance. Teddy is struggling with being alone, with navigating her new life and new friendships with Toby without you around, as well as stricter parents and the pitying looks from everyone she meets. Teddy never gave up hope that you hadn't died that night, that instead you ran away to the Australian Outback and was hiding out there waiting for Teddy to come find her. But as the summer draws on, Teddy discovers more about herself, about Toby, and about your disappearance, but never enough for the complete picture.

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book, and the tag line "for fans of Sadie" were spot on (Sadie is one of my favorite books). It had the mysterious "what happened" vibe through the whole book and you were truly wondering what happened until the very last page with the very final reveal that tied everything up with a neat little bow. I was glad that this ended with a solid ending that put a clear stamp on what truly did happen and we weren't left with any mysteries to what happened to Izzy. I also really loved that this book felt like it was a letter to Izzy from Teddy, I think that really pulled me into the story too. There is just something about this that is keeping me from rating it 5 stars and I don't know what it is. Maybe it's that I guessed a large plot point early on (though the author did have me second guessing myself at lots of times throughout the story and even convinced myself that I was wrong, even though I did eventually end up being right), or maybe it was that the K reveal was a little under dramatic to what I had hoped it would end up being, or maybe it was even that the big reveal of what truly did happen at the end of the story was sort of....far fetched? I don't want to say any spoilers so I won't say much more, it just didn't read as possible so I had to suspend my disbelief (I felt like) to understand what truly happened. And none of those things were major to me, I just don't think it made for a true 5 star read? It was so close, a solid 4.5, just not quite enough for me to push it to that final 5 star resting place.

This book seemed to take forever to finish. It was marketed as "Sadie" meets "We Were Liars" but the comparision was a disappointment.

This book was a beautiful portrayal of the anxieties and thought processes that occur when you lose someone you love. When Teddy's twin, Izzy, goes missing after meeting her best friend on the beach for a night swim, she's convinced that she merely ran away and is waiting for Teddy to do their camping trip together in New Zealand. As Teddy looks for clues, she comes to terms with the many things she didn't know about her sister, all while growing closer to her best friend that was there the night of her disappearance. Definitely check the trigger warnings for this book but I think it's a wonderful YA thriller with beautiful descriptions of love, sisterhood, and grief.

A gripping mystery that dives (excuse the pun) into the complex relationship between twin sisters, and the effect on one when the other disappears. Teddy and Izzy both had their last summer of high school ahead of them when Izzy suddenly disappeared without a trace. The police seem to have given up their investigation, and the girls' parents have put Izzy to rest, at least in their minds if not physically. But this isn't good enough for Teddy as she seeks out the truth behind her sister's disappearance and the events that led up to it.

This is a perfect mystery thriller for teens. It's setting is a typical American lakeside town, with a summer camp feel to Teddy's job at the lake and her relationships with fellow lifeguards there. The plot unfurls in good pace which makes for a gripping read.

Librarian lowdown:
- this is an older YA so there is reference to sex, drugs and alcohol
- implications of sexual abuse
- murder and grief

I loved this. This is a story of grief and loss and finding love in a time when you least expect. Definitely a favorite of mine.

Teddy’s twin sister Izzy went missing under relatively unexplained circumstances. She was with her friend, Tobias, at the lake, and just never came home.

A year later, and Teddy still doesn’t quite know what to make of it. She thinks Izzy may have run away, and knows Tobias is the only person who would know what happened… and hates him for it. So when the two end up working together, she really doesn’t wanna like him.

But while everyone else seems to think Izzy is dead, Tobias is willing to help Teddy look into the circumstances around Izzy’s disappearance, and the two start to spend a lot of time together.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, thrilling mystery, this isn’t it. Things are uncovered slowly, and ultimately Teddy has to come to terms with the fact that there’s so much she didn’t know about her twin’s life.

It’s not really like the movie Stand By Me, but it gives the same energy: a summery story about a tragic event that’s ACTUALLY just a coming-of-age story. It’s there in the title; there’s a reason it’s not called When You Vanished or Why You Vanished. It’s about Teddy dealing with the aftermath.

So I hope that distinction helps!! It’s a really compelling character-based story with a sweet relatively slow burn romance, the pacing is great, and the ending only slightly felt like a gut punch. Teddy is a great character who hyperfixates and makes bad decisions and I loved reading from her POV, especially because the story is in second person, told to Izzy.

After You Vanished was a great read!
The characters and plot felt very true to young adults instead of creeping into more adult territory. I enjoyed trying to piece together exactly what happened to Teddy's sister Izzy, and I found myself feeling like one of the characters in the story. I'm excited to add this one to our collection for our avid readers.

Something strange is going one. Someone goes for a midnight swim and never comes out, their body never found. This is the beginning of the mystery contained within the book. Excellently written, this is a must read for all mystery fans.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Part coming of age, part mystery, the in-between of summer. The characters grow and have reasonable interactions. The mystery is in the past, but it is always clear what is then and what is now. A good summer read.

i was shocked this was a debut!! what a banging thriller, so dramatic and tense just as i like it 🥰 my heart just broke for teddy who genuinely just wanted to find out what happened to her twin 🥺

It's been nearly a year since Teddy's twin sister, Izzy, waded into Bottomrock Lake for a late-night, friendly competitive swim and never returned from the water. Teddy has always refused to accept what everyone else believes. There's no way that Izzy drowned. She was a swimmer on the fast-track to the Olympics, and, if she did die in that lake, where is her body? Why was her passport missing along with the camping equipment she recently purchased? Something else had to have happened, and Teddy is determined to find out what it was and where her sister disappeared to.

Toby was the last person to see Izzy alive since he was the one she invited out to the lake that night. Did he have something to do with it? Does he know more than he's saying? While Teddy blames him, she needs answers only he may have. What she doesn't expect is that he might turn out to be more than just a link to her sister's disappearance. Together, the two will spend the summer working together in an effort to sift through the secrets of the days and weeks leading up to the night Izzy vanished.

After you Vanished by E. A. Neeves has a very smooth and quiet way of pulling the reader in. There are some twists, but they don't come with a jaw-dropping intensity. That's not to say they don't have a bit of a bite because each new revelation deepens Teddy's grief as she realizes maybe they weren't as close as she thought. This has more of a true-to-life, very believable feel to it. Because of that, I was drawn to the characters, both those trying to heal from what they believe is the loss of Izzy and those hoping to find evidence that points to a different story, one where she isn't forever lost at the bottom of a lake.

Unfortunately, I think that this book was promoted in the wrong way. It is not the "Sadie" and "We Were Liars" it was touted as. Not in the slightest. I think that gave readers who picked it up based on those comparisons an expectation that couldn't be reached. It gave me more "13 Reasons Why" vibes with the exception that rather than the "gone girl" telling the story, it's Teddy's POV as she writes directly to Izzy like she's keeping a journal to share with her when she returns.

I received an egalley of this book and have chosen to write this unbiased review.

I loved the narration of this book. Teddy's sharing what is going on with her missing sister really brings the mysterious nature to the text. I found this to be far more focused on the exploration of self and understanding emotions than a mystery though. The plot is well-paced, well-developed, and contains a great setting. I found myself invested in Teddy's journey throught the story and enjoyed learning about different information discovered along the way. Neeves does a great job at touching on really deep subjects in a way that doesn't weigh down or overtake the story, but handles them with care and focus. I'd suggest this to students and friends alike.

3.5 stars!

Last summer, Izzy disappeared. One night, a competitive swimmer challenged her teammate to a race, one where she swam, and he ran across Bottomrock Lake. Now, her twin sister, Teddy, is back working at Bottomrock for the summer, faced with memories of her sister and a new hire- Toby- the last person to see Izzy alive. Teddy feels like the last person holding out hope that her sister is still out there, that something is missing and needs to be uncovered and what first seemed like an ugly reminder of her missing sister now feels like an opportunity. Teddy vows to unearth what happened to Izzy.

The reason I requested this ARC was in part due to my increasing love of the YA mystery/thriller genre and partly because it was marketed as ‘Sadie’ meets ‘We Were Liars’. ‘Sadie’ is one of my favourite books and I’m a big Courtney Summers fan, however, in this case, I worry the comparison just left me more disappointed than I otherwise would have been.

I can see the parallels to Courtney Summer’s ‘Sadie’ but ‘After You Vanished’ is missing a gritty narrative and slick pace that it needs to compete at the same level. Every twist and reveal in ‘Sadie’ drove home a different societal point and challenged preconceived conclusions. ‘After You Vanished’ sits much more speculatively in the mystery genre and explores grief and those left behind when someone leaves much more than it seems to aim to discover what happened to Izzy. Unfortunately, it’s marketed as a mystery that Teddy will spend the book uncovering and frankly left me unsatisfied in that department.

When Teddy started to investigate, about a quarter into the book, it did gain some speed and interest despite seeing a few twists coming, which is why it was frustrating when it did fall flat. The book is told from the perspective of Teddy talking to Izzy which could be better utilised. I could potentially see what the author was trying to achieve with this choice, but in the end, needed more editing to pull off its speculative nature.

I did enjoy uncovering more about Izzy and exploring what that meant for Teddy and her grief and relationship with herself and her family. There is a touch of romance which is also woven into the plot and works well, it doesn’t take over the main themes, instead adding an aspect which helps develop this discussion. As a side remark, there is some bisexual rep which I also love to see!

Overall, there was a lot of potential here, some important and interesting themes of grief, trauma and relationships, and I’d be interested to see what E.A. Neeves writes next. The book had debut teething problems showcased in its pace and narrative- I did need more from that ending. Ultimately my experience wasn’t helped by its comparison to ‘Sadie’ and ‘We Were Liars’.

This was told different then I thought it would be, its like letters to the characters sister. I enjoyed this as much as I could with the topics it covers. Trigger warning of: sexual assault, loss of a sibling.

Teddys twin is missing. Izzy has disappeared during a midnight swim and Teddy cannot imagine her twin would have drown - not when she swimming skills are olympic level. Teddy and her sisters friend Toby start an endless search to discover what has happened and why wouldn’t her twin confide in her.

This was written in such an interesting way and I loved the way the author crafted this. I loved this mystery and thought it was a great read.

We really have to stop comping things to We Were Liars because it gives away the twist (or the assumption of every character except the MC in this case). This was fine, but it wasn't spectacular.