More slow burn than twisty mystery, this novel combines family dysfunction with a series of missing girls from 60 years ago. This is well written and an interesting premise. Really enjoyed it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼ (4.25 stars)

We Don't Talk About Carol pulled me in right away and kept me hooked with its layered storytelling and unexpected turns. What I loved most was how the book didn’t just focus on one central mystery. It wove in multiple complex relationships and side stories that made the whole narrative feel rich and lived-in. The family dynamics were especially well done: messy, emotional, and nuanced, but never confusing or overwhelming. Everything felt intentional and well-placed.

There’s a plot twist that genuinely surprised me, something I always appreciate in a story like this. It gave the book an extra edge and made me think back on earlier moments with a new perspective.

The reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars is that I wanted just a bit more depth when it came to the MFC’s father. He was such a significant part of the story's emotional weight, and I found myself wishing we had more insight into how he became the person his family knew him to be. A bit more background there would’ve made the story feel fully rounded for me.

Still, this was a standout read. Definitely recommend if you enjoy family-driven mysteries with emotional complexity and a solid twist.

Very submersive novel by Kristen Berry. Sydney singleton has flown across the country to help her mother and sister pack up her Grammy’s house after her death. Sydney’s father passed away years before, leaving Sydney, her sister Sasha, and their mother on their own. While packing the house, Sydney finds a photograph of a young black girl, but can’t figure out who she is. Her father was an only child, raised by a young, black, single mother in the Jim Crow south of the 1960’s. Sydney soon find out that she has an Aunt Carol. She and 5 other young black girls disappeared in the late 60’s and were never found, moreover never looked for. Sydney drives down a twisty rabbit hole trying to find out what happened to Carol and the other missing girls.
This novel will put you in Sydney’s shoes, searching for the truth where no one bothered to look. It’s about missing black girls from the 60’s but could just as easily be set today, where missing black and brown girls don’t get the attention they deserve and most are never found.
Stellar read.

This book surprised me—in a good way. We Don’t Talk About Carol isn’t your typical twisty thriller. It’s more of a slow-burn mystery that digs deep into family trauma, generational silence, and the stories that get erased—especially when they involve missing Black girls.

Sydney, the main character, is a former journalist dealing with fertility struggles and a crumbling marriage when she stumbles on a photo of a girl who looks just like her. That girl turns out to be her aunt Carol, who vanished in the 1960s along with several other Black teens. What follows is part cold-case investigation, part emotional reckoning, and part family drama—and it’s all handled with a lot of heart.

The writing is thoughtful and layered, and the themes—mental health, motherhood, racial injustice—are handled with care. It’s not a fast-paced read, but it’s compelling. Some readers found the pacing a little slow in the middle, and it’s definitely more character-driven than action-packed. But if you’re into mysteries that make you feel something and think a little deeper, this one’s worth picking up.

Bonus points for the sister dynamic and the way Berry explores how silence can echo through generations. It’s a strong debut, and I’ll definitely be watching for what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for this ARC!

Loved this book - such a powerful story about the number of Black people that are reported missing every day. I was immediately drawn in and could not stop reading until the very end - thoughtful and well written, highly recommend this book to everyone!

Am I alone? This truly did not work for me AT ALL. The plot is intriguing, and I liked the narrator plenty, but it just never gathered steam and I couldn't find myself falling into the mystery. Maybe a pacing issue? I'm not sure. I feel like I may be the only person but this really was a miss for me.

WOW what an incredible debut suspense & psychological thriller! I could not put this book down - it’s a rollercoater page turning novel that will leave you breathless until the very end!! Thank you for the ARC!

Rounded up from 4.5 - I was glued to this despite having picked it to read mostly on the title - good writing, really good story. I’m glad this highlighted the disparity between missing white girls and missing Black girls

Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This book was an engaging, emotional mystery. It’s not just about a missing aunt. It’s the family ties, secrets, lies, shame, and the “keep this in the family” mentality that plagues so many families. This is definitely a very well told debut novel and I look forward to more from this author.

I enjoyed this mystery and also the family drama that went with it. There were several layers to this story that made it really interesting. I enjoyed reading about the sister relationship and how they overcame hurts and became close.

A few things bothered me in this book though, particularly the heavy emphasis on infertility and IVF, references to systemic racism, and some language sprinkled in. Overall it was a strong debut for this author and a mystery that kept me invested, with a twist that I didn’t see coming!

Adult mystery. Moderate language (not frequent, but some f- words). Closed door romance. Allusion to possible sexual assault. Missing persons, murder, domestic violence, references to mental illness, racism, infertility, miscarriage, IVF.

This was quite the ride for a debut - I'm impressed!

The fact that missing women (and people in general) of color get a fraction of the recognition and effort than those of missing white women is one of the most shameful things (among many, many shameful things) about the timeline we're living in. The story of Carol Singleton and her fellow missing women of North Carolina was a heartbreaking tale start to finish and was handled very, very well. It was a slow burn, which usually drives me crazy in a thriller/mystery, but not this time!

I did struggle with the balance between the case of the missing girls and Sydney herself. I get that she was on a self-discovery mission etc, but it occasionally felt a little indulgent in the time we spent in her fertility journey. It almost felt like the case of the missing women was a side note for large chunks of the book - which, perhaps that was to demonstrate how slowly these cases move, but perhaps not.

Family drama, finding a family cold case, and solving it. Wonderfully written. I think this will be a series. Her main character could solve other cases with her never give up attitude. Could not put it down.

I hit a major book slump after reading this stunning debut by Kristen L. Berry, which also happens to be my first 5-star rating for 2025. An emotional story of the disproportionate number of Black people (specifically girls) who go missing and the family members who never stop searching. Powerful, haunting, and completely unforgettable. This is a great slow-burn mystery that delves into racial injustice, generational trauma, and family secrets. The characters are very realistic and the story itself is complex and so well-written that I couldn’t believe it was the author’s first novel. I haven’t seen this book enough on Bookstagram but if you follow me there then you know I have been telling everyone to read it. Kristen L. Berry has now been added to my auto-read author list and I’m impatiently waiting for what she is going to write next.

*Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House | Ballantine | Bantam for sending me a copy of this gripping family drama in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel has its strengths, and the author displays potential for future work.
Rather than focusing on the mystery, I felt there was too much emphasis placed on Sydney. The important topics of missing girls seemed to be secondary plot line.
While the story was interesting, there were moments where it felt a little drawn out, lacked suspense and could be a bit more precise.
Thank you to the publisher/author for the opportunity to listen to this complimentary advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was gooooood! I do think it was a little long, but it was good nonetheless. I called who it was early on, but it was still a story I was able to get lost in. And I 1000% believe this is a thriller that everyone needs to read because of the greater message.

Ok so the greater message is that no one is looking for the Black kids that go missing even half as hard as they’re looking for any other missing people. And this hit me extra hard because at the time I was reading this, I was also watching this series on Hulu called How I Caught my Killer that was literally giving a perfect example of this and I almost snapped. I got so mad watching this, because no matter how many times or ways we say this, someone is going to say it’s not true. While y’all are so busy trying to save face and not take accountability, it’s going to keep happening and we’re going to always feel unsafe.

Ok as far as the story, I liked the writing style. I’m not much of a historical fiction person, but I AM a fan of solving cold cases, so this was right up my alley. I’m not sure what it is, but the feeling of giving a family (even a fictional one lol) justice after such a long time, makes me feel so good. And this story will definitely give you this feeling when you get to the end. Now it is a slow burn, so don’t go in this expecting results right away. But when it picks up, it gets good. It does seem a little repetitive in some places since she’s going back and forth to her home, but I still enjoyed it.

And like I said, I guessed whodunit early on, but trust me when I tell you, it didn’t make it any less disturbing. Just the whole situation was sad and the way there were so many pieces that came together, it was crazy. I’m just going to tell you, you might get the whodunit, but you won’t get the reasoning behind it. You will never get the motive. And the whole plot twist was crazy. This is a mystery that you won’t see coming!

This mystery had so many components that I love. This is definitely a Nikki book, so YES you will be hearing about this book the rest of the summer. I love a good mystery, and this one delivered. I hope this isn’t the last mystery from Berry, because I need more!

This is a fantastic debut novel by Kristen Berry.

I was fully captured by this story. Sydney visits Raleigh NC after the passing of her grandmother and uncovers a forgotten photograph. She recalls asking her Grandmother in her childhood about the photo that had prompted a response she didn’t expect and wouldn’t fully forget. “We don’t talk about Carol”.

Sydney, while undergoing IVF treatments and navigating the fragility of her small family becomes so invested in finding out what happened to her Aunt Carol. A woman she never knew existed. Through this journey she discovers so many teenage black girls that went missing around the same time and is determined to unravel a complicated mystery that got virtually no attention, no support, and no investigation by local police.

Very gripping and well written novel. I will definitely read books published by Kristen in the future.

⭐️ Book Review ⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinions.

Publication: June 3, 2025

Rating: Not for me/ DNF

I was hoping to click with this book but I found it to be a chore to do so. I was hoping for more of a mystery/true crime aspect. Unfortunately this is more of a dive into Sydney’s journey with only inklings towards the missing girls of the 60’s. I wanted more and felt underwhelmed.

For fans of:
⭐️ First person POV
⭐️ Cold case mystery
⭐️ Family secrets
⭐️ Injustice to African American girls
⭐️ Family bonds
⭐️ Women’s fiction

🛑 Trigger warnings 🛑
⚠️ Infertility/ IVF

What an excellent novel. I enjoyed he alternating POVs, the the depth of each character, the pacing and wonderful descriptions of each setting.

Truly an outstanding book.

Highly recommend.

I really liked this book. The author did a good job of getting straight to the point and not using too many words in her descriptions. Like we had enough fluff to keep it fun but it was still pretty straight to the point which I appreciate. This story is SO sad and sheds light on big problems that still exist, It is hard to read at times. How can you not even try to look for your own child? While I'm glad there was some happy endings I didn't particularly like the way it all went down at the end.

Congratulations to Kristen L. Berry for a magnificent debut novel We Don't Talk About Carol.

This heart-pounding story follows former crime reporter Sydney Singleton as she uncovers an old photograph and diary of her long-lost aunt, one of the six Black girls who vanished in the 1960s in North Carolina. As determined as ever, Sydney moves forward in the gruesome, intense investigation that unearths racial injustice, family trauma, and decades old secrets.

Harsh reality: Cases of missing people of color are less likely to be solved than cases of missing white people.

Sydney did not think she was qualified to solve a series of interconnected cases that had gone cold 60 years ago but thank goodness she decided to jump in head first to find out the truth. It is a common saying that "what happens in this house stays in this house" and this brilliant novel is the perfect example where that should not be the case. Some things do not to be swept and buried under the rug.

A few words to describe this book: profound, emotional, deep, raw

I recommend EVERYONE to read this exceptional book. This is a story that will stay with you because of how raw and real it is.

Truer words have never been written: "We can't wait until someone's gone to tell them how much we love them."