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.

I was really looking forward to this book and a plot that manages to stand out from other thrillers. It was okay, even good. But it's not a book I'm raving about. Parts felt too repetitive and the main character seemed unrealistic. I like that the ending wasn't completely black and white but the whole plot felt far fetched to me.

I enjoyed "We Don't Talk About Carol" by Kristen L. Berry a great deal. It certainly qualifies as suspense (and even thriller), but it's more than that. What appreciated most about this story of a woman discovering she had an aunt she never knew about is its development of relationships beyond the central plot and it's depiction of life outside the mystery and, especially, the way the disappearance of Black girls rarely gets the attention they deserve. The writing is strong, and I definitely came to care for the characters. The turns in the book weren't those super twists some prefer, but reveals that felt earned. This is a more than solid debut effort and I look forward to reading more from this author!

When Black women and girls go missing, the media largely looks the other way, despite these cases representing 36% of all disappearances from just 14% of the population. Kristen L. Berry's debut novel, We Don't Talk about Carol, brings this media blackout into sharp focus when Sydney Singleton discovers the existence of an aunt she never knew existed.

In the 1960s, Carol vanishes alongside five other Black girls who never come home. Sydney, a former crime journalist, begins investigating the disappearances of all six girls, only to uncover minimal police action and virtually no media coverage. As she delves deeper into Carol's story, we simultaneously learn more about Sydney herself—a woman grappling with recovery from a psychotic break triggered by investigating a family murder, processing trauma from her parents' toxic and abusive relationship, and navigating the emotional toll of infertility treatments. These struggles strain her relationships with both her husband and sister.

As Sydney digs deeper into Carol’s story, sometimes with the help of her sister Sasha, she finds secrets that redefines her family, upends the memories of a community, and makes the reader contemplate inequities in the criminal justice system.

Rather than relying on manufactured plot twists, the author invests her energy in developing the parallel narratives of Sydney and Carol. The result is a slow-burn thriller that draws readers more deeply into both the characters and the injustices they face. Beyond addressing this inequity, the story delves into the deeper meaning of family, exploring themes of sibling obligations, motherhood, and the possibility of breaking free from generational patterns.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group / Ballantine / Bantam for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This debut slow-burn thriller focuses on six missing Black girls in the 1960s, the trauma their families endured from their disappearances, as well as the effects of generational trauma as a whole.

When former investigative journalist Sydney Singleton visits Raleigh, North Carolina, to help prepare her late grandmother’s house for sale, she comes across an old photo of a girl she remembers finding when she visited as a child. Back then, her grandmother told her that the photo was of Carol, Sydney’s aunt, and said that they “don’t talk about Carol.” Sydney discovers that Carol mysteriously disappeared as a teen in the 1960s, along with five other Black teen girls.

Determined to find justice for these girls, Sydney begins her own investigation, revealing the lack of public media attention given to them at the time, as well as finding new evidence that reopens the case. In the midst of all of this, she also must navigate through family tensions relating to her own traumatic childhood, as well as her own struggles with fertility as she undergoes IVF treatments.

I enjoyed the various dimensions of this novel. Not only does it focus on the disparity of public attention given to Black girls who are missing, as opposed to their white counterparts, but it also deals with the weight of generational trauma. The concept of “what happens in this house stays in this house” is explored throughout this novel, and the reader can see how this motto, though expressed in a sense of protecting a family, can also harm the members of that family, when hurt and emotional trauma has no room for discussion.

I also appreciated the focus on IVF and Sydney’s journey with that process. The author details all of the emotions, hardships, hope, and disappointment that can occur during IVF. I have not read a novel that focuses on that element in such a detailed way, but I am glad that this is included.

Definitely add this to your TBR!

Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine | Bantam and NetGalley for this eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

While clearing out her grandmothers house, Sydney finds a photo of a little girl. Her grandmothers friend reveals this was her aunt carol who was thought to have ran away from home. Around the same time, there were 5 other girls who disappeared from Raleigh, NC, where carol lived. Determined to uncover the truth about carol, sydney begins to do some digging. Her previous career as a journalist pays off, as she tries to solve these 60 year old disappearances.

This book had a lot of powerful issues packed into it… it almost felt like too much? like instead of dealing with race, mental health, infertility, domestic violence… maybe the author could have picked one or two? and honestly books where a random person is playing detective bother me in general.

2.5 rounded up cause it did flow, esp the ending.

thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A dedicated journalist unearths a generations-old family secret—and a connection to a string of missing girls that hits way too close to home—in this gripping debut novel.

In the wake of her grandmother's passing, Sydney Singleton finds a hidden photograph of a little girl who looks more like Sydney than her own sister, or mother. She soon discovers the mystery girl in the photograph is her aunt, Carol, who was one of six local North Carolina Black girls to go missing in the 1960s. For the last several decades, not a soul has talked about Carol or what really happened to her. With her grandmother gone and Sydney looking to start a family of her own, she is determined to unravel the truth behind her long-lost aunt and the sinister silence surrounding her.

This is a debut novel for Kristen Berry and in my humble opinion....BRAVO!! Within the story, there are so many underlying themes-family dysfunction, racism, segregation, murder, domestic violence, addiction, mental health, infertility, and love. I am in awe that this is a debut for this author-the writing is polished and flows beautifully even as it it tackles some disturbing content and emotional chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Published
June 3, 2025 by Bantam

The mystery at the heart of WE DON’T TALK ABOUT CAROL is as compelling as it is deeply sad. In the wake of her grandmother’s death, Sydney Singleton discovers a family secret. Long before Sydney was born, her father’s older sister, Carol, ran away from home. She was never heard from again. As Sydney digs deeper into Aunt Carol’s life, she unearths something far more sinister: Carol was one of six Black girls who disappeared from the same Raleigh neighborhood in the 1960s. Decades later, these girls are remembered only by their families, who have lost any hope of ever finding out what happened to them.

Despite the killer hook, this book has some pacing issues. It doesn’t read like a thriller to me. Huge chunks of the book are devoted to Sydney’s struggles with infertility and its impacts on her marriage. While this is an important topic, it pulls focus from the main plot and slows the pace to a crawl. The writing itself lacked urgency until the last 25%, which made this a bit of a slog to get through.

On the topic of that last 25%, though… there is a plot twist that legitimately shocked me. I did NOT expect the author to “go there.” More of this, please! Kristen L. Berry also does a phenomenal job highlighting the shameful lack of resources, action, and media attention given when Black Americans go missing, and she should be commended for that.

WE DON’T TALK ABOUT CAROL tells an important story and I’m glad it exists. I just wish it had spent more time, well, talking about Carol 😜

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Bantam for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for the E-arc of We Don't Talk About Carol!

We Dont Talk About Carol was suspenseful from the very beginning! We follow Sydney Singleton, a retired journalist as she tries to uncover the mystery of what happened to her Aunt Carol and five of her peers/ friends back in the 60s (1963-1965)

The book explores numerous family dynamics:
1)The familial dynamic between Sydney, her sister Sasha and their mother, after the death of her father Larry, and the more recent passing for her Grammie.
2)The dynamic between Sydney and her husband, Malik, and their journey with IVF and infertility.
3) Touches on the relationship between Larry, Carol and their Mother

It also addresses PTSD episodes and the results of repressed traumatic events within Sydney's life.

Throughout the book, it is mentioned, the very real and very alarming statistics of missing black girls and boys within the US. Black People make up 14% of the population but almost 40% of children that go missing within the US are black. They do not receive the same media coverage as non-black children and rarely do people continue to look for them years and even decades later. This book was dedicated to the people who never stop looking.

What I also appreciated was the callout of the Black and Missing Foundation, a nonprofit that brings awareness to missing black children and lets you know how you can get involved in helping find them.

This gave me similar vibes to All The Sinners Bleed by S.A Cosby, which I loved!

Kristen Berry has a fan out of me!

Shoutout to the family who don’t give up or lose hope on looking for their loved ones! I was so happy with the outcome of this book in the beginning I didn’t know which way it would end but it gave the ending that we all needed! I pray that our missing brown kids and adults will soon get the coverage they deserve as everyone else! A solid 4.5 stars for a debut novel ;)

.As Sydney is cleaning out her deceased grandma's home, she finds a picture of her aunt, Carol, who went missing decades ago, never to be spoken of again. Carol was one of the six local black girls to go missing at the time, with no media spotlight or closure. As Sydney digs deeper into the past, she also comes to terms with some major revelations in her present and future.

I thought this was a beautiful story that kept me hooked from the start. It had mystery, but also such beautiful storytelling. I also loved the spotlight on the mental health and infertility in a very realistic, but not too spotlighted to take away from the rest of the story. I thought the ending was really great too.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much! I could not put it down. I was so invested in what really happened to Carol. I was not expecting the twist at all. Highly recommend!

Occasionally a book will capture your interest and your heart; you just know it will stay with you long after the last page. We Don't Talk About Carol, the newly released debut novel by Kristen L. Berry did just that for me. Six very bright and promising young black girls went missing in Raleigh, North Carolina between 1963 and 1965. Teenagers aspiring to be professionals: a lawyer, a doctor, a cosmetologist even a singer amongst the group; girls from loving homes and living relatively close to each other by a local creek. Some people speculated that perhaps they went missing as a result of the civil rights movement as it was at its height during the timeframe they disappeared. The first girl went missing one week after 4 girls were killed in a Chuch bombing in Alabama, and the last girl shortly after Bloody Sunday when law enforcement attacked peaceful marchers trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.. No one really knew how or why the girls disappeared and the local police did little to investigate. The media did next to nothing to increase awareness-just publishing an occasional blurb that another girl went missing.
When Sydney and Sasha Singleton were young girls, on a rare visit to their paternal grandmother's home, Sydney found photos of a young pre or teen girl and a few garments of clothing. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked her grandmother who the girl was, Granny responded very solemnly "we don't talk about Carol anymore." Their parents insinuated that Carol had simply broke her mother and brother's (the girls dad) hearts by running away. As the girls were raised not to discuss family matters out of their home, Sydney honored her grandmother's wishes.
Twenty six years later, Sydney, Sasha and their mother were cleaning out their grandmother's home and the subject of Carol and the missing girls resurfaced. Many locals felt that Carol had simply run away to pursue a music career in Detroit and had not been taken; others felt she had suffered the same fate as the other girls. Sydney became obsessed with the case, despite her mother's strong objection and her husband's loving reservations, she was determined to investigate and discover what really happened.
While We Don't Talk About Carol, is as the author states, a work of fiction there are sobering facts based in truth. Approximately 40% of missing people are black, yet black people make up just shy of 14% of the country's population. Sadly missing black person cases today, still don't receive the police or media attention as do the white cases.
There are many compelling subplots throughout the book that enhance the story. The book is about inequality, loss, family dynamics: good and bad, secrets, infertility, forgiveness and love. I would have to write pages and pages to convey the entire plot, and still feel I would not do it justice. Suffice to say I found it to be quite simply an emotional, empowering and excellent novel; kudos to Kristen L. Berry.
Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Bantam Books for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book; my review reflects my candid opinion. 5 stars.

We Don’t Talk About Carol is a really good book. Kristen L. Berry has penned a story that is both historical fiction along with being a mystery. It takes place in the early 1960’s and the main character, Sydney Singleton, who at one time was a journalist goes to her grandmothers house after she passes to prepare it to be sold. While going through her things, Sydney stumbles upon proof that she had an aunt that she had never heard about. No one in the family mentioned Carol or her existence. In Sydney’s attempt to learn more about Carol and what became of her, she learns that several black girls around that same age disappeared along the time that Carol did. Sydney along with her sister start investigating into the disappearances. All while doing this, she is in the middle of doing IVF treatments. It was a really interesting story that kept me glued to my kindle. It did have a really shocking twist to the end that I was a little surprised by but it all ended in a really good way. This is a book I’ll be recommending to others and believe it would make a great read for a bookclub. I’d like to thank Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading more by this author in the future. I’m giving this book a 5 star rating.

What a great debut book from this author. Thank you to #NetGalley and Random house for the advanced audio book. I really liked this one.

Sydney and her sister are grieving her grandmother's passing. While going through her things they stumble upon a picture of an aunt that they know nothing about, thus the title We Don't Talk About Carol. Sydney is going through IVF to try to have a baby of her own, while she investigates the disappearance of her aunt and five other black young women from the 1960's. They have similar backgrounds and disappeared from the same town during a short period of time.

There are times when this investigation is spooky and sad all at the same time. The statistics they offer about disappearing black children from that time is a stain on the history of our country. At times I found myself angry with the way these situations are handled. Sydney and her sister set out to find out what really happened. Many people tell them to leave it alone but she just cant stop looking into the story. During the same time, her sister has a DNA test that links them to someone in New York Froom that point the book takes off and it is very hard to put down. Great story, great information and a great ending.

A mystery but also a sad story about looking for someone whom others have simply given up on. As Sydney seeks to find out what happened to her aunt Carol, whom she did not know existed, she discovers a strange phenomena. There were other girls about the same age as Carol who also disappeared when she did in the same area. As the story unfolds, it becomes more engaging g. Some twists and surprises, a bit sad to see how youth can become entangled with the wrong people. Fast paced, I couldn’t put it down. Thanks to #netgalley #kristenberry #randomhouseballantine for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is an absolutely captivating, decades-old mystery that addresses an important and difficult topic of the disproportionate number of black missing persons, and the lack of thorough investigations many of them have received.

So well written, I was deeply invested in the characters and in discovering what happened to Carol and the missing girls. The juxtaposition of life through Sydney’s IVF journey and death throughout the story was incredibly well done. And I really enjoyed complicated relationship dynamics and growth of each character throughout the story.

There is one point at the very end about the podcast that confused me. Right after Sydney is telling people at the party that Sasha is interviewing people for their podcast, two pages later Sydney is unable to comprehend how she could be qualified to host a different podcast. It felt like something was missing to clarify why she would feel that way while actively working on a podcast.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Long time journalist Sydney Singleton's world is turned upside down when she finds a picture of a little girl who could be her, but is not! She finds out it is an aunt, her deceased father's sister, whom she never knew existed. Carol, the aunt, disappeared as a teen at the same time five other young black women went missing in their small town, however, Carol's mother always maintained she ran away. Sydney is horrified to learn that no one in the family every made any effort to locate Carol. She begins to worry that Carol may have been a victim of the killer of the other disappeared girls, and vows to solve the mystery of her aunt's disappearance.

I really enjoyed this story. My usual genre is mystery, and although this is a mystery, it was more a tale of family drama and the unraveling of a very sad tale. I became very immersed in the author's story and the various threads going throughout. One separate storyline is that Sydney is trying IVF to get pregnant as she has been unable to conceive. Another storyline is to draw attention to the fact that the disappearances and murders of black young women never draws the press attention that the disappearance of a white girl does.

I thought the story was told in a realistic way, and I liked the way that shining light in all the dark corners of this family's life made things better. I feel like this was a great first novel for the author. It was a 4.5 read for me, but I always round up for debut novels that impress me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kristen L. Berry, and Ballentine for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.