This book is one of those you want to love - great story, good characters, sweet dog.

However - it just kept being right outside my reach. The first half was very slow, draggy and repetitive. It did pick up toward the end - but it might be too late for some.

I’ve read very mixed reviews with this one and I have to say, I feel it! Leave The Girls Behind is a very atmospheric, suspense building novel about a girl, seemingly orphaned, obsessed with the trauma of her past. Every chapter felt like midnight. There’s also a paranormal aspect as the main character works with other victims of this serial killer to solve the mystery of her friends murder.

The pacing of this story needs a little work, I think it can be difficult to build up a background story while still keeping the chapters exciting. This seems to be the case here as the story revs up and slows down frequently. Overall, I enjoyed the novel, but still struggled to get through it.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I’m a huge fan of Jacqueline Bublitz and loved her first book. This is no exception and kept me up way past my bedtime. It was well written with a great plot and well thought out characters. Highly recommend!

I’m surprised by all the lower ratings. I liked the author’s previous book but was braced for being disappointed when I saw the reviews. But I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is dark and the narrator is kind of unreliable but I was still drawn into her story and the story of the other girls. The investigative journey she goes on was interesting and kind of tense. I felt like all the pieces of the story fit well together. I’m glad for the way things wrapped up for Ruth. The little piece at the end was a dark ending but I was glad Ruth remained untouched by the reveal.

very thrilling and filled with emotion and passion. a lot of cool vibes and i totally loved our protagonist. how everything worked out, too, was a very fun untangling that i would recommend. some of the side characters were a bit more flat than I would have hoped for, but in general it was quite cool. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

As someone who isn’t a sensitive reader, I couldn’t get past the 20% point in this book. The description of kidnapping felt too close to home as a mom with a similar aged child. The overall premise is intriguing but my comfort level didn’t allow me to finish.

Ruth is currently a bartender, but nineteen years ago her childhood friend was murdered by a serial killer. When another girl goes missing from the same town 19 years later, she thinks maybe Oswald didn’t act alone.. What follows is Ruth’s hunt for a killer, She has always been able to see the dead, and is hoping to get help from the women who were previously killed in order to stop this once and for all.

This was a slow burn suspense that pulled me into the mystery and had me asking what was really going on. Ruth’s journey around the world was interesting, and the idea of killers having protégées and mentees was fascinating. The ending left me a little confused and wanting more, but it was an engaging story that I couldn’t put down.

Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz had me very engaged through the whole book, the characters were great, the plot was amazing and the storytelling was very intriguing,
Bublitz grabbed my attention from the start; this became a book that I just could not put down.
The twists blew me away, the ending was brilliant! 


Thank You NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

If nothing else, the writing in this book was on point. The tension remained high through every page. The reader didn't necessarily know why, but the dark foreboding of things to come and things we didn't know was there. And with each page turn and each unraveling of the secrets, the tension didn't let up. It stayed because now the reader knew. Ruth's character development was strong and heavy. I wish we had gotten a bit more on some of the other characters. They were there, they did things, but that was as far as the reader got with them. But, this was already a long slow-paced book. I am not sure there was time to learn more about the other characters, especially since there was so much to Ruth. She, and this whole story, will stay with me.

I gave this one 50% then unfortunately dnf’d. I was really tried to get into it but it just did not grab my attention the way I wanted. Maybe it was a personal thing…idk

An engaging, unique plot with diverse characters and a touch of the paranormal.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Formal review to come. This was such a different spin from your typical serial killer thriller! I enjoyed it. I do think that the “ghost” of Beth was very adult considering she was supposed to be a 7 year old child. I suspected something was up with Gabe pretty early on, it was just how/what/why. This was my first book by this author! I enjoyed it. The first half was a little slow, but it picked up towards the end.

Personally not my writing style. I unfortunately didn’t finish this, I struggled to stay engaged from the start and just too slow paced for me.

This one was DNF for me it was to slow and the plot was not engaging and I just didn’t want to finish
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review book

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

To be honest, I had to DNF this book — I wasn’t into it at all. Maybe it was the writing style or the slow pacing? I really liked the premise, which is why I requested this book.

Ruth is an amateur detective, obsessed with true crime, including the case of her childhood friend who was murdered nineteen years ago. When she uncovers new evidence, she’s determined to solve the case herself.

You’ll really need to suspend belief for this one. If you’re okay with that, give it a try. It was a little too out there for me and I had a hard time connecting the threads that seemed to be moving quite fast. I did like the amateur investigation aspect of the story.

“Small truths, big lies. Maybe the only difference is which part of the story gets told.”

Leave the Girls Behind comes out 10/29.

This story centers around Ruth Ann, now an adult, who was the victim of a horrific crime as a child. When a new girl goes missing several years later, she cannot shake the similarities, and has never had closure on her own situation. She starts digging into both the present and the past, taking her down a rabbit hole that spans 3 continents and many interesting characters.

I love a good twisty thriller and this delivers, almost too much. At times it got a bit too complicated and convoluted to the point where I really had to pay attention to keep track, go back and double check what I thought I'd read. While I really loved the idea and would still absolutely read it again and recommend it, I would put the disclaimer that you really need to keep track with this one, it's not a causal read.

3 great premise stars

Ruth Ann Baker is the main character here. She loves true crime and loves to investigate crimes. Is this because her childhood friend, Beth Lovely, was murdered? Ethan Oswald was convicted of that crime, but now he’s long dead. She even started pursuing a career in forensics before dropping out of college.

When another girl goes missing in Ruth Ann’s hometown, she wonders if Ethan really was the killer. Or is this a copycat situation? As Ruth Ann digs into the investigation, she chases down leads around the world. She gets some help from other dead girls who visit her.

This author’s first book, “Before You Knew My Name,” was a strong 4-star read for me, so I was excited when I saw that a new book by this New Zealand author was coming out. Despite some twists, this one didn’t really draw me in like her first book. I was left disappointed that the premise wasn’t executed well, and the characters weren’t as strongly developed.

When a new young girl goes missing in Ruth's hometown, it brings up painful memories of her childhood friend being killed by suspected serial killer Ethan Oswald.

This was a good and twisty thriller! Here's what I liked:

The premise: Ruth was a compelling character to follow. She has flaws and doesn't really hide them. Her looking into the past without being able to speak to Oswald who had died already forces her to seek out the women that surrounded him. Each of them are unique yet were still drawn to the charismatic killer. The fact that they all then moved on to be connected to other killers was an interesting twist that made them even more interesting. I honestly would love to listen to a podcast about the women that are connected to killers.

The supernatural aspect: This one is perfect for October! Added to the twisty thriller, you get the plot twist that Ruth can see the ghosts of the girls Oswald killed. This adds a really cool side to this book.

The side characters: There are so many in this that I really enjoyed. A few really got to my heartstrings. I don't want to give too much away, but you will definitely enjoy them

All in all, a good twisty thriller!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz follows Ruth-Ann Baker. She is obsessed with true crime.
Even though I really loved the premise of this book, I found it a bit slow.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.