I wanted to love this story- The MC is not only a photographer, but also volunteers at an animal rescue taking photos of the animals for the rescue's website. It had so much going for it that I love. however it was kind of a mess.

This story was just odd. There were too many disjointed elements and honestly I don't really understand WHY the MC got mixed up in the missing girls case in the first place. You've got the financially struggling, over crowded animal rescue, the kid on probation with a mysterious past, the mom who's an addict and the abusive, controlling step father- don't even get me started on this whole relationship. Why did it happen? how? When?

Then you get the antagonist's storyline which was horrific and chilling, but also the most compelling bit of the whole book, and yet it felt like reading bits from a completely separate book. it didn't feel like it fit in this story.

Then there's this RIDICULOUS drama that unfolds between the FMC and MMC that was just absurd. I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out of my head.

There was too much going on in this one which ruined the pacing making this very short book feel way longer than it actually is. I think this story should've been two separate books. The first being a romance/drama about the rescue and people involved, and a separate story with stalker/predator guy.

It took a while for this book to really get going, but once it did, I really enjoyed it. Very interesting characters and it was fun to see the stories intersect!

Willow loves to take pictures and volunteer at Finding Home, an animal shelter. After she finds a camera memory card with hundreds of pictures of teen girls, she takes it to the police. They tell her there is no proof of a crime, but they will look into it. That isn’t good enough. Willow works with a new volunteer to determine what happened to these girls. Both Willow and Dare have secrets that will need to be worked through as they attempt to unravel this mystery.

When We Go Missing is a stand-alone mystery that shows both the protagonist's and antagonist’s point of view. Readers know there is a mystery early on, yet the “investigation” doesn’t start until after the halfway point, and then the resolution comes quickly. Henry’s depiction of the thoughts of the villain enriches the story and allows the reader to make guesses on who may be the perpetrator. This was a quick read similar to other Henry novels, yet the story was fresh and new.

This one is a winner! A classic story from one of my favorite authors! As always, there’s a subtext that highlights a cool group, animal shelters. But the best party of the story is the redemption of a juvenile offender who changes his life by helping others. Today’s teens need to be reminded that sometimes the unexpected is the very best thing for you. There’s so many ideas and themes you could discuss here. Also, my daughter is going to love this one. It’s got all the elements of a great mystery: a terrible villain, a plucky main character, and some really cool dogs ( and the cats, too).

Short and Sweet Review

When We Go Missing follows our two main characters Willow and Dare as they work at Finding Homes an animal shelter and also try to solve the mystery of a camera memory card that has hundreds of pictures of girls that seem unaware or frightened.

I personally felt this book isn’t what the synopsis is selling it as. I expected it to be more of a mystery but it felt like a majority of the focus was on Willow and Dare working at the animal shelter and trying to get the animals adopted. This book was short and by the time theres a focus on the mystery the book was over so it felt like the pacing was off or there should have just been more attention paid to the mystery. Willow finds this camera memory card and the pictures she finds on it she finds to be alarming so she takes them to the police department and they tell her its nothing but she can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. There wasn’t a lot of detective work going on, honestly I feel like Willow got lucky that she even figured out what was going on with that memory card. We get the POVs of Willow, Dare, and the person behind taking the pictures. Willow is a dedicated worker and when she feels strongly about something you’ll know it. Dare volunteers at the animal shelter because he needs the community service hours after something he did that we don’t find out until later. When we get the POV of the culprit we can tell he’s a textbook weirdo someone you would see on an episode of criminal minds. I didn’t enjoy this book, I definitely went into it thinking it was going to be one way and I ended up with something completely different. I didn’t even have the time to care about the romance between Willow and Dare because I was too busy looking for the mystery. I did like seeing how Willow and Dare’s home lives were it does explain why Willow spends so much time at the shelter.

Overall, I really didn’t like this book because I feel bamboozled. If this was just a book about two teens working at an animal shelter and had romance that’s fine, but I swear this is being marketed as a mystery and that mystery is on the back burner for most of the book. I wouldn’t recommend this book especially if you’re going into it expecting a mystery but if that’s not important than you may like this book more than I did.

3.5⭐️

I have never read April Henry but I have heard good things about her writing so I was a bit disappointed in this book as while the premise is great’s the execution was not.

I think the book doesn’t know what it wants to be with all the sub plots. You have the main time crime plot but then you also have the very Hallmark-esque “let’s save the animal shelter” and a budding romance going on. It just doesn’t go very well together.

I did enjoy the multiple POV format complete with time stamps to put everything in a timeline. It even had the killers POV which made you almost root for him in a weird twisted way or at the very least feel bad for him. The chapters were very short which interrupted the flow of the book.

It is very short so it’s a quick and easy book to consume. Teens will enjoy the cultural references and it could be a good intro to the fiction true crime genre. It reads like a middle grade book but the content is a bit too mature for that reading level.


I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Little Brown for children through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown for the eARC!

This was a great mystery/thriller! Willow and Dare are interesting characters - Henry does a good job of unraveling their back stories/ letting us get to know them.
It was also really interesting being in Ryan's head for portions of the book.
I have to admit, when I got to the 91% mark, I didn't think there was any way the mystery could be resolved, but Henry did it! And it didn't feel rushed (or at least not unbelievable).
I've added Henry's backlist to my TBR because I enjoyed this book so much.

*Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

This was my first book by April Henry and I have a feeling it will not be the last... Henry does a great job of drawing the readers in with her characters, especially given that this is not a long book. The creepiness that is Ryan had me hooked from the first chapter. Then we meet Willow and Dare, two teens who are hiding secrets while trying to navigate family issues, court-mandated community service, teen homelessness, animal shelter issues, and more. Both Willow and Dare are lovable and well-developed characters (as are the animals they work with at the shelter). The alternating perspectives helped provide enough information throughout this fast-paced story, which I found very impressive.

Overall, this book was a quick, but compelling read with characters (and furry friends) you can’t help but root for. This would be perfect for anyone in a reading slump or someone interested in starting to read YA murder mysteries (it has a creepy vibe, but not the sleep-with-lights-on level of creepiness that some of the others have).

*3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

2.5 stars

Great premise, but the execution of the central plot takes way too long to get started. It is one of the stories where there are multiple points of view, including the perpetrator. I had enough confidence in April Henry that I would soon understand how exactly all these characters would intersect. The premise was terrifying, but I believe it got overshadowed by Willow and Dare's budding relationship. I hate when that occurs.

I do think April Henry is a great author. I have loved her titles in the past and would still read her books in the future. Unfortunately, this one didn't wow me.





#WhenWeGoMissing #NetGalley.
Expected Publication 13/05/25
Goodreads Review 18/04/25

When We Go Missing by April Henry is a fast-paced and suspenseful read that I truly enjoyed from beginning to end. This is my first read by this author and won't be my last.

I found this book amazing. There is a bit of a trigger if you are sensitive to assault or animal harm (not intentional, and no spoiling of course). Overall, I found this book to be fantastic. It had two different time frames but it all fit towards the end and not a bit of time to jump either which was nice. This was a quick enjoyable read. April Henry did an amazing job on this book!

When We Go Missing is a compelling read with engaging characters and plenty of secrets and mysteries to keep it interesting. I loved the setting of the pet rescue center, and it was one of the reasons I was excited to pick this up. Although it is a YA read, it will appeal to adults who enjoy YA well-written YA mysteries. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

#WhenWeGoMissing

I don't know how I feel about this book. This is about Willow. She volunteers at an animal shelter. While out with a dog she finds a camera card with hundreds of photos of unsuspecting teen girls on it. We also get chapters from the photographer. This book was more about the 2 teens volunteering at an animal shelter and what they were going through in there lives than the thriller aspect. It was a quick read and I didn't hate it but the thrill was not there.

This book feels not completely cooked. The pieces are there but the execution is lacking in a real umph. It felt very unnecessary to have the villain’s POV, especially throughout the entire book. Ending felt rushed and too wrapped with a nice bow given the endless messes in this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

his is the first April Henry book I have read, but Girl Stolen is one that I notice is borrowed from my library quite often. The story is told in alternating perspectives between Willow, Dare and Ryan. In the first chapter we are introduced to Ryan a real estate agent who lets himself into a newly sold home to watch the new owner sleep. This creepy vibe is one that I can see YA readers drawn into. Willow, is an animal lover who works at animal shelter using her fathers camera to take pictures of animals for adoption advertisements. She has new step-dad (that she tries to avoid) and a mom who is recovering from a terrible accident that took her fathers life. Dare, also has his share of trouble, and he finds himself volunteering at the shelter in order to work off some community service hours.

When Willow finds a camera card that has hundreds of images of young girls, she shares her worries with Dare and when they take the card to the police they are brushed off. But Willow can't let go of the feeling that something is off, so she continues to dig and ask questions. But life is busy, both she and Dare have their own family problems to deal with and the shelter is having its own issues, which makes it all very overwhelming. The pace is fast, there is lots of drama and relatable content and the darker elements are not too descriptive, but yet true to real life, which keeps the content YA appropriate.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I love YA books with nuanced plot and characters, and the blurb of When We Go Missing immediately grabbed my attention. However, the writing style wasn't a fit for me.

This was not my favorite book and I considered not finishing it. It was very slow and while the book it titled "When We Go Missing", it is more than halfway through the book before anyone goes missing. You also spend the majority of the book confused about how characters relate until the last few chapters. This book could be shortened to just the last three or four chapters and save everyone a lot of time while giving essentially the same story.

I did not read the blurb carefully requesting the book and unfortunately this was a young adult story and I am not interested in these types of storylines

This is the second novel I have read by April Henry and this one did not disappoint. This was an absolute page turner, I read this in a single day and that rarely happens, I just could not put it down! It helped that When We Go Missing had likeable characters that you couldn't help but want to root for. Well, I wasn't rooting for the bad guy, but even then, I was intrigued by his perspective and I think it added an extra layer of creepiness to the story.

I will definitely be checking out more of April Henry's work!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

April Henry's When We Go Missing is a compelling read with mysteries and secrets uncovered throughout the story.

Regardless of the reader's age, this is a hopeful and compelling mystery, set largely at a pet rescue around which this story revolves. This book an excellent storyline with an intriguing multi-layered mystery with compelling relatable characters.

If you love mysteries, but you are wearing of purely evil characters you cannot relate to, pick up a copy of this nuanced psychological thriller / mystery, and enjoy. This is a book that stays with you, with characters (2 and 4 legged) which you come to love.

A wonderful mystery, I will be watching for more from this refreshingly talented writer.