Part thriller, part mystery, part romance. This title has something for all teen readers looking for a page turner! When We Go Missing is a must have where Henry's other titles are popular.

What makes this book shine is its protagonist. Willow is relatable and persistent, battling skepticism from adults, doubts from her peers, and growing unease within herself. Her partnership with Dare, a charismatic and slightly mysterious new volunteer, adds not just romantic tension but emotional depth. The slow-burn chemistry between them feels natural, never overshadowing the core mystery.

When we go missing by April Henry us a true-crime/mystery.

What would you do if you had evidence of a crime, but no one believed you?

Willow, volunteers at a animal shelter as a photographer hoping to get some pets some homes. She stumbles across a camera memory card, filled with a bunch of teenaged girls. Several of which either looked unaware the photos were being taken, or seemed afraid.

Creeped out, Willow takes the memory card to the police, who tell her taking photos isnt a crime, but Willow knows there's more to the story.

Willow teams up with a new volunteer at the shelter named Dare. Willow find out that some of the girls in the photos have gone missing and believes theres someone sinister behind these photos. Can she figure it out before the person comes after her?

I liked that it was told threw multiple points of view, including the perpetrator. I liked the creepy premise, but thought that story line got overshadowed by the relationship between Dare and Willow. Overall loved the true crime elements.

Thank you April Henry and NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book. I am giving my own opinion and review.

Another great book from April Henry.

I loved the scene being set in an animal shelter.
Anytime there are animals involved it’s a good book.

Willow, who is a teenager volunteering at an animal shelter finds an SD card and decides to look at the pictures to see if she can possibly figure out who it belongs too.
But what she sees is something she believes is far worse.

She meets a new guy who comes to the shelter to volunteer and together they start looking into the photos and realize the photos are not of just some girls, they are picture of girls who disappeared or assaulted.

How far will they get before the person behind those pictures realizes those pictures are lost to him and track
down who has them?

Read this book to find out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this digital arc!

This was a really solid YA thriller. At first my instinct was that it lacked bite and that the main characters were dramatic, but then I took a step back and was like wait this is YA, teens ARE dramatic like this.

Overall this was fast-paced and enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy to read and review.

This is the first book I've read by April Henry, and I'm curious to read more to compare to WWGM.

The premise is very intriguing; a girl named Willow finds a camera card filled with hundreds of disturbing images of girls. Nothing sexual, but most of the girls seem frightened.

I honestly think I've read too many graphic thrillers to fully appreciate this one. It's very clearly YA, and would be the perfect introduction to a young person interested in thrillers. I really connected with the characters, and it took me a long time to get through this one because there was a strong sense of dread throughout each chapter once the killer is revealed.

Overall, I enjoyed this one!

When We Go Missing is fast paced YA mystery/thriller told from multiple viewpoints. April Henry is great at writing characters you are rooting for! I would definitely recommend When We Go Missing.

Not as strong as many of the others because it took too long to start feeling the heart pounding nerves of the missing girls and the pictured girls from the lost camera disk that Willow found. She and the new volunteer at the animal rescue decide that if no one is going to really listen and some of the girls in the pictures that they do find won't speak, they'll have to take matters into their own hands.

The slow start and some extranneous additional drama slowed this one down in a way that doesn't often happen in Henry's books- especially because she often uses time and narrative to draw a reader in and plays around with the intensity using those two devices. Both are present here with several POVs including the killers AND also a timeline (not clock time but days/weeks).

It felt very [book:What Happened to Cass McBride?|315884] having the killers narrative which always ups the ante and while I can be burnt out on the teens solving crimes because adults are lunkheads, this one was tolerable even though the pacing was off.

I've read a good number of April Henry's books so I was looking forward to the opportunity to read this one as well. Overall, it wasn't in my top ranked April Henry books but it was a nice, very quick read and kept me entertained. Her books tend to be on the spectrum of young adult, which is well within my comfort reading realm, but this one just felt a little lackluster. The plot seemed to be rushed, and the stakes weren't very high. I didn't find myself very connected to the characters for these same reasons.
Overall, as I said, I was entertained. However I'm glad it was a fast read because I wouldn't have been able to finish it if it'd been a longer commitment

17-year old Willow is a dedicated photographer who volunteers at an animal clinic. After finding a memory card, Willow opens the files to find hundreds of pictures of girls--some of which seem to have been taken without the subjects' knowledge. Willow is discouraged by the police, who inform her that taking pictures isn't exactly a criminal offense, but Willow can't shake the feeling that there's more to the story. Determined, Willow enlists the help of the new volunteer, Dare, to investigate the photographs--and the photographer. Willow and Dare's investigation leads to more secrets, and soon Willow realizes that some of the girls on the memory card have gone missing. Just who, exactly, is the photographer--and what does he want.

This was fantastic! It's an engrossing mystery that I was drawn into from the beginning to the end. Each pov was enticing and well done. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to April Henry, Little Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

April Henry is a master of the young adult mystery. When We Go Missing is another solid outing. I love the animal rescue component.

When We Go Missing by April Henry is a YA suspence novel that contains a hint of romance. Willow O'Connor is an aspiring photographer who loves to volunteer at a local animal shelter called Finding Home. She's often the youngest volunteer there until Dare shows up to help. He's been tasked with walking the dogs and while on their first outing, Willow picks up a camera memory card she finds on the sidewalk. When she has time to check out what's on the card, she's shocked to find hundreds of photos of teenage girls. Some of the girls are smiling and posed in places like the park, some look unaware that their photos are being taken, and others look terrified. When she brings this to the attention of the police, she's informed that there's no real crime happening and there's nothing they can do. But things take a personal turn when Willow looks again and finds her own photo on the card.

While this wasn't a *thriller* thriller, it was a pretty good, easy to read YA (younger YA) mystery with a touch of romance between Willow and Dare. We get their POVs as well as one from the photographer and we learn the reason behind Dare volunteering at the animal shelter. I think this is a great choice for those YA readers who are interested in thrillers but don't want all the blood/murder/etc.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

While I know the kids at my school who are April Henry lovers will obsess over this look and make it hard to keep on the shelf, as an adult who is an avid reader I found myself annoyed a bit with how long the first half of the book felt and the dive into what seemed like many sub plots that make things hard to follow. I am one that likes short chapters so while some may think short chapters can interrupt the story, I think it allows me to think more critical about the in-between moments if there is a small gap.

I really debating giving this 2 ⭐️ but unfortunately it’s a 1⭐️. Nothing in this made much sense, we get 3 POV’s: Willow and Dare who are teens volunteering at an animal shelter with not great home lives/backstories, and Ryan who is a creepy secret killer. These narratives didn’t intersect or seem to have any reason to go back and forth at all besides Willow finding a dropped camera card and finding girls images on it. There’s so much going on in this book that everything becomes more unbelievable as things add on. Owner of the shelter has cancer and is already undergoing treatment, Willows home life with a overbearing and rude stepdad and a mom who is bedridden and uninvolved, Dare with some secret reason for needing volunteer hours and parent who argue, Ryan’s obsession with young girls and starting to kill them. On top of this, the title “When We Go Missing” seems like it would be about abductions but no one goes missing until at least half way through and it’s not at all as detective like as you may think. Compared to other April Henry books this just wasn’t very good and didn’t seem to have solid plot points to follow.

ARC REVIEW, thank you so much to April Henry, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for this ARC. My review is not influenced by receiving an ARC. This is an honest review!

2.5 stars

In this book we follow Willow, a photographer and volunteer at an animal shelter, and Dare, a new volunteer at the animal shelter. Willow stumbles upon a camera memory card on the side of the road, filled with photos of teen girls. When the police refuse to help, Willow decides it is her responsibility to figure out what is happening.

I truly wanted to love this book. From the blurb I thought it was going to be something like 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder'. This book felt like two different books shoved into one. The book focused more on Finding Hope, the animal shelter, and the financial issues that it has, along with the romance between Willow and Dare. This was sold as being a thriller, even though only a small amount of this book focuses on the thriller parts. 

I was so excited about the premise, "What if you found evidence of a crime, but no one believed you?", but none of the action happened until the book was almost complete. It didn't help that this book was slow-paced for a thriller.  The pacing of this book was not good. 

It was a quick read though. I read 70% of it within a few hours.

I just couldn't get into this book....so disappointing! I had high hopes for this based off the title, cover, and synopsis, but sadly, it was a "No," for me.

It took me three times to get into this book and it’s not because the opening wasn’t interesting but because I just couldn’t focus on what was happening. The chapters are short and it jumps perspectives so it was kind of disorienting at first but once I got the hang of the flow, I really enjoyed it. It’s a fairly short thriller which I like because you don’t always need 400 pages to tell a good story. This is a YA but the topic of this book is probably for older teens. Think The Lovely Bones. This book centers around an animal shelter which is an important setting and I love how much care the main character had for the cats.

This was a tense, fast-paced thriller that hooked me early. Willow finding disturbing photos—one of herself—on a stranger’s memory card is instantly chilling. The dual perspectives, especially from the predator, made the story feel unsettling in the best way.

I liked the realistic take on how teens are often dismissed by adults, and the friendship between Willow and Dare added heart to the suspense. Some moments stretched believability, but the tension and pacing made up for it.

If you like dark YA mysteries with a true crime feel, this one’s a solid pick.

3.75⭐️!! I enjoyed this!! This is my first book by this author. Will definitely be reading more! I liked the true crime vibe.