Detective Chelsey Calhoun's sister Lydia had vanished twenty years prior, and when she received the call that Ellie Black, a teenager who'd vanished two years ago, had been found, Chelsey's mind immediately went to her sister. Heading to the hospital to see Ellie; notifying her parents that she was found; Chelsey knew this was a pivotal moment. She also knew when she saw Ellie that there was something not quite right with her. She couldn't pin point it though.

As Chelsey tried to work through everything concerning Ellie's disappearance, she was blocked at every corner. Ellie wouldn't talk about what had happened to her; where she'd been all this time; who had taken her. Chelsey was frustrated, but determined. She wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to stop there being a next girl. But suddenly Ellie vanished again...

The Next Girl by Emiko Jean is a twisty and convoluted thriller with a lot going on. Written from the POV of Ellie and Chelsey, parts of Ellie's story were hard to read. Chelsey was also a damaged character, and I felt for Ellie's parents, as well as Noah. Recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Detective Chelsey is called to work the case when Ellie Black reappears after being missing for two years. But why won't Ellie talk? Why won't she reveal where she has been and who her captor was?

If you like your thrillers dark, twisted and disturbing, then this is one you don't want to miss out on reading. It is so hard to believe that this is Emiko Jean's debut thriller. She is such a skilled author and the way this thriller came together was so cleverly done, I couldn't fault anything about it. It is worth all the stars and I hope the buzz for it is huge because it is well deserved.

Wow. This was tense. I devoured this book. Detective Chelsey Calhoun lost her sister, so when a girl who has been missing for two years turns up, she feels it personally. I’m trying to work out - carefully- what happened to Ellie, and how she escaped, Chelsey struggles with her own situation, whist also trying to find her kidnappers.

This is a fast paced, dark, exciting book with a twist I did not see coming.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie Black has been missing for two years, until one day she just walks out of a forest and is found by 2 hikers. On returning to the small town a couple of hours away, where she used to live, Ellie’s case is picked up by detective Chelsey Calhoun, whose sister was taken and killed by her boyfriend as a teenager. Chelsey is determined to find out what has happened to Ellie, and to other missing girls from the area, but Ellie is not talking.
Told across two timelines, this book is sometimes very hard to read, as Ellie describes what happened to her after she went missing. There’s a complex, layered history of small-town life, and issues around what happens between parents and their children, and between sisters.
This is a change of writing style for Emily Jean, from YA fiction to adult thrillers and I hope she continues to write in this genre. Extra points for the excellent plot twist.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

First of all, thank you very much to Penguin and Netgalley for my ARC.

This was a quick read, I managed to read it in one sitting. So there was certainly some level of a gripping plot.

I disliked the detective, Chelsey, I just found her to be quite dull and I often times found myself skipping bits of her backstory because I just didn’t care.

I guessed the twist pretty much at the beginning of the book, so that was disappointing because I saw the ending coming a mile away. Leaving it as quite a far fetched and non-shocking ending.

Despite this, I thought the writing was good and I was engaged enough to want to keep reading.

There are two spoilers I will give for this book, the first is that the book is about a girl found in the woods following a two-year disappearance. The second is this is not an easy read as there are sporadic revelations of Ellie's awful treatment at the hands of her abductor. Emiko does a respectable job writing about trauma sensitively and depicting the severe, long-lasting effects Ellie had.

This is an immersive mystery psychological thriller that changes the pace as it isn’t a rapid and fast paced but it's a slow burning cautious tale. That takes us as the reader along a dark tale that goes deep into the depraved world of monsters who prey on women and the effects it has on a survivor. This is the last time I will mention it, but the subject matters inevitably don’t make for easy reading.

This story is told from two points of view Chelsey and Ellie’s. Both Chelsey and Ellie are extremely well portrayed. I knew from reading Empress of all seasons that I was going to love Emiko characterisation in this book, and I wasn’t wrong.

Chelsey is a Detective and I enjoyed how believable and complex and complicated her characterisation was. It was effortless to think of her as a real person. Chelsey might be a Detective now but events from her past (this is hard without spoilers) means that she carries burdens but it’s clear this “burden” is what drives her to go the extra mile as an officer.

Then we have Ellie the girl found in the woods following a two-year disappearance. The difference in Ellie after her abduction is heart-breaking. She was a typical teen who was lively and pushed boundaries. On her return she’s haunted by her experience from being abducted. Ellie may be alive, but she has lost her identity and everything that makes her, her and you can’t help but feel empathy for her.

I enjoyed this one although I'm not sure about the ending it all seemed a bit rushed I will still look out for more by this author though 3.5 stars

This is a really brilliantly written book. Yes, this a crime thriller with a very cleverly written plot that plays right out until the end but what I think makes this book even more special is the way the author has taken what could have easily been such a very dark story and written it in a sensitive and thoughtful way. The characters are very well thought out and respond in a way that feels very real. This book is very thought provoking and presents the story in the way life is neither black nor white.

The Next Girlis a very gripping and thrilling read, that will have you at the edge of your seat

I highly recommend you give this a try!

This is a dark, detective thriller about missing girls and a detective with an obsession.

Chelsey Calhoun is the detective who is working mainly from her parent’s house which her husband thinks is being packed up to sell. But, Chelsey is struggling to let go of both her past and her obsession with missing girls.

I found this to be a riveting read, especially as it’s told from various points of view, The writing style really worked for me and I pretty much read one sitting.

There is difficult subject matter, but, I felt it was handled well and not gratuitous.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK Fg Tree for the opportunity to preview. Also, congratulations to the author.

3.5

A missing girl is found two years after her abdiction and Detective Chelsey Calhoun is determined to find the man who took Ellie Black from her family. But Chelsey has her own demons and is still coming to terms with the murder/suicide her own sister was involved in - her body never recovered. She feels a kinship with Ellie Black and needs to help her, but Ellie is not making life easy for Chelsey to solve the mystery.

This is not an easy read dealing, as it does, with child abuse, abduction, rape and murder. It certainly made me feel very angry at times when you are confronted with the helplessness of the girls who have gone missing.

It's a clever novel where you know surprises are coming but not what they might be. Some of them certainly blindsided me completely. I found Chelsey, for all her good intentions, a bit one dimensional and not an easy character to like. Her story could have done with a little more airing for me.

Otherwise it's a solid thriller that kept my interest to the end. Not too gory but with certain subjects that would upset some. I would recommend it to thriller fans.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Penguin for the advance review copy.

The first time I have read this Author. I enjoyed the style of writing. A solid four star read. Great premise. Good characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing Would definitely read the next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to

This book had me glued to the pages, just as I thought I knew what was happening it took me down another path. Utterly engaging.

Since Detective Chelsey Calhoun lost her sister she has been a little lost, for an attempt at closure she finds herself in a hunt for other missing girls. Ellie Black mysteriously reappears, she is found in Washington State woods. Two years after her disappearance, Chelsey sets about trying to find out where she has been and what she’s been doing. She quickly realises things aren’t as they seem.

This book had me on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t wait to get to the next page to find out what is happening. The back story to the characters is built well creating a connection with character. There were a few surprising twists along the way that I did not see coming, at first one seem so out of place but as I progressed it made total sense.
I would definitely recommend this book and i wholeheartedly enjoyed this read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

A great beginning to a new series.
A baby is found on the doorsteps of a library then a letter is sent to the police to test the babies DNA with the result that turns out Debra was a young mother that disappeared 4 years ago so Detective Gina Hart is on the case and has to tell the husband that his wife is still alive and given birth recently and is probably held captive.
A great story to keep you reading with the different points of view.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

Published 9th May 2024. A thriller that is slow burn and with layers that peel away to reveal things that I never saw coming. I say slow burn, but the slowness is deliberate as you get taken into the minds of Ellie, Chelsey and the men who control. The story starts with two hikers coming across a girl, a teenager who went missing two years previously, Ellie Black. The detective leading the case is Chelsey Calhoun who herself has a tragic back-story, her sister died twenty years previous. Chelsey has built a relationship with Ellie's parents over the two years that she was missing and is driven to find out what happened. The story is told from Chelsey's perspective in the main but interspersed is Ellie's story - what happened to her and it is harrowing and trigger warnings for abuse and child abduction. The Ellie that has returned is not the Ellie that went missing, she closes down and refuses to give Chelsey anything that might help to catch the man who took her - something that Chelsey feels is not quite right. She feels Ellie is holding something back, but is it just the trauma of what she suffered that she has locked away? I found this to be a super read and I was invested in both characters. For me, there was no misdirection, nothing to send me in the wrong direction, rather it was a slow reveal which allowed me to get a glimpse of the psychology behind some of the actions. A smashing read. Rounded up to 5*

An enjoyable book. It starts off a bit slow with lots of background details but soon becomes unputdownable. One aspect of the conclusion was predictable but there were a few other twists. The author bravely does not neatly tie up all the loose ends. I look forward to the next book.

This kept me guessing right up until the last pages as the disappearance of a young girl brings back disturbing memories for the detective on her case. Well written, engaging and plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader's attention

I love reviewing a book I've forgotten about, so I went into The Next Girl (Also known as, 'The Return of Ellie Black') by Emiko Jean completely blind. Having only read 'We'll Never Be Apart' by the author before (A great YA mystery!), I was hoping to get another dark mystery again, I wasn't disappointed.

I struggle reading books when I can't warm or dislike the main characters, although this book is told from multiple points of view, we mainly are seated in Chelsea, a detective with a traumatic childhood having lost her sister. In many ways it was easy to empathise with Chelsea, although mostly I felt a kin with Ellie. How Ellie told her parts and what happened had my on an emotional rollercoaster. I don't want to talk about the story really, nor any other characters. I won't give spoilers in my reviews. However I do feel that big 'revelation' at the end/climax (For me) wasn't needed. I guess it made everything into a neat little bow. I personally like things a little less 'tidy'. I don't feel you will be left with any questions though with this clever mystery. I did feel there was some nice red herrings and it will probably keep you guessing as to who the 'bad man' is.

There will be some triggers for some in this book and all I will say is this is a dark mystery which contains some subjects/situations while may be upsetting (Kidnapping, children, rape - not of a child, but teen, abuse etc). So be warned. I do not feel these are spoilers. The Next Girl was a solid 3.5/4 stars, I really enjoyed this but felt that 'neatness' at the end wasn't needed for me. Still this is definitely worth reading and if you are a fan of Emiko, I don't feel you'll be disappointed!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin General UK, for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

This books starts with Ellie who has been missing for two years found by hikers in the woods. She struggles to fit back into her family but all is not as it seems. Detective Chelsey Calhoun is responsible for tracking down Ellie's abductor but has a past history of her own. A great thriller with some unexpected twists. Recommended.