4.25. This was a really great story! MC Sydney learns that she had an aunt, Carol, she never knew about after her grandmother passed away. She becomes privy to the fact that Carol might have been among many missing Black teenagers/young adults in the 1960s within her hometown. Sydney commits to learning more about what happened to Carol and the others by way of her journalism career. She does this while also dealing with a fertility journey, continuing to reconcile with her late father's difficult life and the impact to her and her mom and sister, and processing past mental health struggless. This was a really special and heartbreaking story. I did find at times it was a bit repetitive if I'm being honest. But that is truly the only criticism and I'd recommend this to anyone!

I flew through We Don't Talk About Carol and really liked it. I kind of had a feeling about a couple of plot developments, but it didn't change how much I enjoyed the book. The main character was a tiny bit frustrating to me at times, but it made her more authentic. I might have enjoyed more from the periphery characters and what made them do the things they did. But enjoyed the writing and the thought provoking story, and hope there are more books to come from this author. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

4.5
Sydney Singleton is an investigative journalist who is on the roller coaster of fertility struggles. After her grandmother passes away, Sydney returns to the North Carolina home to help her sister and mother go through her things. It is then that Sydney finds an old photo of a girl she's never seen before — a girl who turns out to be her father's sister, her long-lost aunt Carol, Carol had said she was running away to Detroit to try to become a Motown singer. Carol's mother, never bothered to look. But Carol was just one of six young black girls who disappeared in that area in the 1960s.
This book is a mystery intertwined with family dysfunction, physical abuse, racism, sexism and more.

This is an incredible debut novel that will keep you enthralled on so many levels. We should all be talking about We don't talk about Carol. I look forward to many more offerings by Kristen Barry!

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a slow build to it. That kept me entertained. I just had to know what happened next I was surprised at the ending and I like how everything tied all together. I would definitely recommend this book.

A haunting mystery wrapped in Southern roots and hard truths.This is the kind of book that stays with you long after the final page. Kristen L. Berry has crafted a stunning debut—a slow-burn Southern family drama that tackles the heartbreaking reality of missing Black girls, and the generations left searching for answers.

Sydney Singleton is a character I won’t soon forget. Her search for the truth about her long-lost aunt Carol—one of six young girls who went missing in 1960s North Carolina—becomes a gripping unraveling of family secrets, racial injustice, and her own unraveling psyche. Berry doesn’t shy away from the emotional complexity of grief, motherhood, mental health, and the suffocating silence that can span generations.

The writing is powerful, the mystery layered and deeply personal, and the characters feel achingly real. I genuinely can’t believe this is a debut. It’s timely, unforgettable, and beautifully told.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

If I had followed my own set of rules for reading, which is , if I don’t see hope for it turning a corner within the first 40 pages , then I stop. My TBR list is too long , filled with hope and promises ! But I did not. I really tried to even like this book. I apologize for anything here that sounds petty or negative. The promise of the story is excellent: the title refers to Carol, a teenage girl who disappeared at the same time other girls her age disappeared from the neighborhood. It reflects not only a time and place in the early 60s but also the still prevailing attitudes where young women of color don’t merit the same resources and scrutiny in efforts to find them. It’s interwoven with a current story of her niece going through IVF.

A few phrases were written beautifully, with promise, but for the most part this story was told with simple redundant sentences. There wasn’t one character I actually cared about, because as written they were all one dimensional. I actually was disappointed in the resolution, and how the central characters reacted to it as well.
Sadly I would not recommend this book.

Wow...what a ride this book was! This bombshell of a story weaves family drama and true crime and it captured my attention from the start. The author did such a good job in telling this story of generational trauma interwoven with the mysterious disapperence of six women, all the while touching on the racial injustices of the past. This is such a well written story. It is emotoonal, mysterious, reflective, sad with some hope sprinkled in at the end. The twists and turns, especially at the end, left me shocked. This is a must read for true crime fans. I rated this a 4.5 star book on my Goodreads and will be recommending on all my socials. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

While I didn’t find the mystery aspect to be very thrilling, I don’t think that’s where this book meant to shine anyway. The power in this book lies in the exploration of a dysfunctional family dealing with generational trauma. It shines a light on the disproportionate number of Black Americans who go missing every year and are never found because they aren’t given the same kind of care and attention.

This book enrages you, baffles you, saddens you, and then bolsters you to speak up because once someone does, more join in.

This was a good read. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was in, I was hooked. It felt like it took a little bit for the author to get her groove, too, but she spun an interesting story with twists I didn't see coming. Well done!

After her grandmother’s death, Sydney finds a picture of a young girl, a picture that bears a striking resemblance to Sydney herself. Who is this girl and why is there a picture of her hidden in a drawer? As a journalist, Sydney is not willing to let things go, but dives in deep knowing there is a story to be told. The story is much bigger than she imagined! Learning that the picture is of her Aunt Carol, someone that she didn’t even know existed, she dives in even deeper discovering that in the 1960’s six black girls went missing, never to be heard from again. Like a dog with a bone Sydney is not about to back off, what happened to those girls and why isn’t anyone talking about Carol? A deeply emotional story that delves into family secrets and grips you from page one. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This is a really strong debut mystery with a thoughtful storyline and small twists. The propulsive plot kept me reading.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. While the premise is intriguing and the emotional stakes are high, the execution doesn’t fully deliver. The pacing drags in places, especially in the middle, and some characters feel underdeveloped, making it harder to stay invested. There are moments of insight and clever dialogue, but they’re scattered rather than sustained. Additionally, the narrative shifts and flashbacks can be disorienting, occasionally breaking the story’s flow.

Loved this book!!! Berry unspools a twisty and wrenching decades-old mystery, all the while weaving complex strands of family dysfunction through it so artfully that you feel utterly enmeshed in their world — and so emotionally invested in the outcome!! Just awesome. READ IT!!

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. i really enjoyed this slow burn thriller mystery, it had me rapidly turning pages. it felt different than other who's done it murderer stories because of the story between sydney and malik. their sweet relationship and working towards a common goal (baby) was a nice juxtaposition to who killed sydney's aunt. i followed the plotline closely but never guessed carol would still be alive or that she had any involvement in the murders! also great writing overall.

4.5
We Don't Talk About Carol blew me away. Sydney Singleton finds an old photo of a young teen who looks very similar to herself. When she presents this photo to her grandmother her response is simply "We Don't Talk About Carol". Years later Sydney comes across this same photo shortly after her grandmother's death and embarks on a journey to find out what happened to her Aunt Carol. While investigating the mysterious disappearance of her aunt, Sydney learns that Carol is just one of six Black girls to disappear in that same timeframe in 1960's North Carolina. This is an emotionally gripping mystery thriller. The ending left me shook and speechless. True crime fans will love this one. Thank you to Ballantine, Random House and NetGalley for the eARC.

This story is a family drama/mystery following Sydney, a former journalist, who works to unravel a family mystery about her aunt Carol who went missing many years ago. The story largely focuses on the inequities within our justice system - how missing Black girls & women don't get nearly the same attention as missing white girls and women, despite how prevalent the issue is.

Along with that, the story also explores themes of family, motherhood, sisterhood, infertility/IVF, mental health, trauma/generational trauma, and more. I enjoyed the story, but it did feel like a lot packed in one book, which seemed to slow the pacing down. The ending surprised me and I found the nuanced ending to the mystery to be an interesting choice that leaves you thinking about it after you close the book. I would pick up another book from this author in the future!

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

One thing about me is I am a fan of a debut and this book absolutely delivered and checked all the boxes. We Don't Talk About Carol will be on my 2025 favorites list and I can't wait to read more from this author.

3.5 stars rounded up. Great debut!! Definitely a memorable read.

I can’t imagine growing up and not knowing anything about your dad having a sister much less a sister who has been missing. Following the death of her grandma Sydney finds a photo that looks so similar to her. She starts on a journey to discover the truth about her aunt and the other missing girls from the neighborhood. The disappearances are set in the 1960’s abd depicts the time period well. Lots of attention to detail.

Kept me engaged and wanting to know the details.

Family drama between her and the sister, fertility issues, brief mentions of the events of the missing girls abuse. Several racial comments and some political statements that weren’t necessary.

Thanks to netgalley for my electronic reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Finally, a mystery where I can say, I didn't see that coming!
Great debut from the author!
A wonderful mix of mystery, murder, and social commentary.
This mystery is a slow burn, but the end is worth the wait.
Syndey never knew about her Aunt Carol, and she dives in to solve the mystery of her disappearance, along with the disappearance of several other Black women during the same time. She tackles the mystery while navigating her own personal issues and family complications.
A well-written debut from the author, I look forward to new books from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine/Random House for the eARC for review.

I hadn't heard of this book before it became my book club pick. This book was originally pitched as a thriller which is not a genre that I normally read, but decided to give it a chance and devoured it in like 2 days! I loved getting to see Detroit make a cameo in the book and recognize the spots she described.