It's amazing that this was a debut novel. It was well written and did a great job of going deep on some systemic race issues in America. The characters were well developed, and the mystery was interesting and engaging. The story evolves when Sydney's grandmother dies and she is cleaning out her house with her mother and sister Sasha and stumbles upon some pictures of Carol. Who is Carol? She soon finds out that Carol was her father's sister that disappeared 60 years ago. As a journalist and a true crime podcast fanatic, Sydney starts digging into Carol's disappearance even though she is told "we don't talk about Carol" in this house.

The story also touches on Sydney and her husband's battle with infertility, as well as dysfunction within her immediate family. I felt pulled into this story and although I had a good idea about what happened to Carol, there were still some good reveals at the end that I didn't expect. I look forward to reading another book by this author in the future!

✨This was a compelling dual timeline family drama wrapped around a decades old cold case. It’s layered with mystery, social commentary and heartbreaking loss. True crime and podcast fans will love this one. What a debut!

🌿Read if you like:
✨Historical fiction
✨Slow burn mysteries
✨Dual timelines
✨1960s era narratives
✨Unsolved cases
✨True crime stories
✨Debut authors

Girl find out about her mysterious aunt that disappeared. No one talks about Carol. Goes on a journey to find her. But the truth isn’t what it seems.

Sydney and Sasha grew up in a world of anger and unanswered questions. After their grandmother’s death, Sydney finds a photo of an aunt who disappeared sixty years ago during a period when other girls her age had gone missing. Investigation was not extensive; the only interest seems to lie in the hearts of surviving family members, friends and neighbors. Sydney can not let this go and the search for answers takes over her life. Malik, her husband, aware of her previous problems, worries about her vulnerable psyche, especially since she is undergoing fertility treatments.. When she interviews those who remember and grieve the missing girls, she discovers a web of lies and deceit in both the community and her own family. With Sasha’s help she doggedly pursues the truth. Despite the frequent side-tracking to Sydney’s personal life which slows the pace of this thriller, Kristen L. Berry holds the reader’s interest in the search for resolution.

I really enjoyed this family secrets suspense story perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Stacy Willingham.

When main character Syd travels from California to North Carolina to help her mom and sister clean out her grandmother's house, she finds a picture of a young girl who looks eerily like Syd herself. She learns that her grandmother had a daughter, Carol, who mysteriously vanished and that there was an entire group of young Black woman from the area who disappeared.

Syd, a former crime reporter, is supposed to be taking it easy as she undergoes a grueling IVF cycle, but she can't help but feel that these missing girls and their families need her and that she might be just the person to unravel the mystery.

Really enjoyed and highly recommend!

My Goodreads review is up and my blog review goes live June 2.

Ahhh I had so much fun with this book! Very engaging and emotional! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc

We Don't Talk About Carol is a sweeping, multi-generational family mystery that tackles the disproportionate amount of Black girls who go missing, and the lack of effort put into finding them.

When Sydney travels to Raleigh to help her mom and sister sift through her paternal grandmother's belongings after she passes, she discovers items that lead her to learn that her father had a sister she's never heard about named Carol. No one in the family wants to talk about how Carol went missing in the 1960s, so Sydney finds herself investigating the disappearances of six Black girls that no one looked into at the time they went missing. In the midst of unanswered questions, Sydney finds solace and a sense of control in the world of true crime. As she unravels what happened to the girls, she faces her own doubt and beliefs about starting her own family, while learning more about he family than was ever shared with her in her childhood.

This story is emotionally poignant, with fully fleshed out characters that felt entirely real. I was mesmerized by Berry's sharp prose and ability to succinctly explore complex subjects with often just one sentence. Sydney's journey illuminated the impact of generational trauma, the pain created by insisting that "what happens in this house stays in this house," and how insurmountable that ideology feels for Black families who already can't trust they will be helped if they do share their struggles. All of this is wrapped up in an engaging, slow-burn mystery that unfurls with multiple shocking conclusions.

Fans of novels with multi-generational family secrets, amateur true crime sleuthing and emotionally complex relationships will love this one!

3.5 STARS ROUNDED UP

I’m honestly torn on how I feel about this book. It was undeniably a page-turner. I flew through it! But it also left me feeling pretty confused throughout. At times it was hard to stay fully immersed because of how many plotlines were packed in.

I really enjoyed the podcast elements; they added a unique and modern twist to the mystery that kept things engaging. The central mystery itself—while tragic—was compelling and full of unexpected turns. That part definitely delivered.

However, some of the subplots didn’t quite land for me. The main character’s “dark past” felt disconnected from the core mystery, and the fertility journey storyline seemed out of place and added an emotional weight without a clear narrative payoff.

This book has a lot of potential and some truly gripping moments, but it could benefit from tightening. With fewer competing plotlines, the strong elements—like the mystery and the podcast format—could really shine.

🌱| This was a great read. Gripping. Heartbreaking. Berry ✨shines light✨on the social injustices and disproportionate responses associated with missing black girls. Murder mystery. Family secrets. Generational trauma. Impressive debut.✨

🖤| Some names are whispered.
🖤| Some stories are buried.
🖤| But the truth? It never stays silent forever.

My biggest problem with this book was that I couldn't get the song "we don't talk about Bruno" out of my head! And, there is nothing about the song that relates to this story of the systemic inequities in dealing with missing girls of color. This book takes a very close and personal look at the impacts of the issue, but does it in a way that doesn't feel as dark and heavy as you might expect. Was this due to the counterpoint of Sydney grappling with fertility issues and her own questionable desire to be a mother? I am not sure. But, at many points I had to remind myself that this was a fiction book (not nonfiction) and that there would be some type of resolution to the story. This book was very close to a 5 star read for me and I would recommend it for anyone interested in missing people mysteries, social justice, or a good solid family story. As a side note: I did receive an Ebony Alert while reading this book. It offered some small hope that perhaps we, as a society, are getting better at caring for our marginalized communities. And while I would prefer that little Black girls are not taken, maybe stories like this one don't have to keep happening?

When Sidney Singleton’s grandmother passes away, Sidney helps clean out her home—and makes a startling discovery. She learns about an aunt named Carol, someone she’s never heard of before. As Sidney digs deeper, she uncovers that in the 1960s, several high school girls, including Carol, mysteriously disappeared. The family story was that Carol had simply run away, but Sidney suspects there’s much more to it.

A former investigative journalist, Sidney feels compelled to uncover the truth. Her search for answers puts a strain on her marriage and unearths painful memories from her own past, but she remains driven to bring justice and closure to the families of the missing girls.

This book is both gripping and thought-provoking. It shines a light on how certain crimes can be overlooked or ignored, particularly when they affect marginalized communities. I highly recommend it to fans of thrillers—especially those who appreciate stories rooted in real social issues.

We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry is a gripping and deeply emotional story about overcoming the rot at the roots of our family trees - and what we’ll do for those we love. Sydney Singleton, after her grandmother’s passing, discovers an old photograph of a little girl who looks more like her than her sister or mother. She learns that the girl is her Aunt Carol, who was one of six black girls who went missing in North Carolina in the 1960s. No one has spoken of Carol or of what may have happened to her. This takes Sydney on a path to dig into the secrets of the past and try to find answers.

I was deeply engrossed in this book. I honestly felt that there were many directions the plot could go, and was quite satisfied with the one the author chose. This is a topic not written about or discussed nearly enough. Thank you to the author for tackling tough subjects. Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Scary and sad commentary that the police are less likely to search for missing black girls than missing white.. We Don't Talk About Carol is about six young girls who went missing including Carol whose niece, Sydney, learned about her existence many years after she went missing. Though going through the struggles of trying to get pregnant, she is driven to learn what happened with her aunt and the missing girls.

This was a good and fast read mystery/who done it type of book. Some loose ends were left unanswered but not enough to hinder the storyline.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Family drama/mystery with a little bit of historical fiction thrown in. I liked this story had a good amount of mystery and some twists that were a surprise. This was a well written story and will definitely look for more from Kristen L. Berry in the future, giving this 3/3.5 stars. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

six black girls go missing in the 1960's and one of them is Sydney's aunt. Sydney is determined to find out what happened to her.

We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristin Berry completely blew me away. This was one of those rare books that had me staying up way past my bedtime just to get one more chapter in.

The layers of mystery surrounding Carol and the missing girls were absolutely gripping, but what really hooked me was how deeply rooted this story is in family secrets and long-buried truths. Every chapter peeled back another layer of the past, and I couldn’t stop turning pages to see how it would all come together.

I also fell in love with Malik and Sydney’s love story—sweet, complicated, and perfectly woven into the tense, emotional dynamics of their families. The way Berry blends suspense, heartache, and romance is masterful.

If you love dark family drama, emotional twists, and stories that haunt you long after the last page, We Don’t Talk About Carol is a must-read. One of my favorites this year!

I was absorbed by this book, haunted. It’s story felt so incredibly real and timely. I would gladly read every book Kristen L. Berry writes in her promising career.

WOW! Best book I've read this year! Sydney discovers a photo in her grandmother's house, and when she inquires about who the girl in the photo is, her grandmother responds "we don't talk about Carol", who turns out to be an aunt that she never knew existed. After her grandmother passes, Sydney decides to find out what happened to her this girl, her aunt, learning that several teen girls mysteriously disappeared around the same time that Carol went missing in the 60's and because they were black, their cases were never investigated. Sydney has a somewhat disturbing background in investigative journalism, but she can't help but have a need to search all leads to solve this forgotten case. Author Kristen Berry weaves together a fascinating story of Sydney's marriage and longing for a baby, her relationship with her other family members, and Sydney's mental and emotional health. This mystery story is incredibly well written and compelling, and I hope it gets made into a movie!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review We Don't Talk About Carol.

Great mystery novel that kept me guessing and addresses racial issues in missing person cases.
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Bantam for the opportunity to read this ARC ahead of its release on June 3, 2025.

This novel pulled me in quickly with its strong sense of mystery and atmosphere. The story centers around the disappearance of young Black women in the 1960s, including the main character’s Aunt Carol. It’s a powerful and necessary premise that the author handles with care and emotional depth.

The pacing kept me turning pages, and while it’s a slow burn, it never felt dull—each chapter led smoothly to the next. By the halfway mark, I really liked the characters, and I appreciated how the book addressed mental health and generational trauma in thoughtful, grounded ways.

Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, the characters brought a warmth that balanced the tone. As someone from the South, I felt particularly grounded by the setting—it felt familiar and added a comforting dimension to the darker themes.

As a white reader, I approached this story with respect for the real, underrepresented issues it raises, particularly around missing Black Americans. I walked away having learned something meaningful, which speaks to the power of the book.

The ending brought the story together well, but I was left wanting just a bit more—especially time with one character whose arc felt slightly rushed. Still, the conclusion was strong, and overall, this was a thoughtful and emotionally resonant read.