“What happens in this house stays in this house” is the family’s unofficial motto in the book We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry. It is the author’s debut novel.

The story is about several young black girls who went missing 60 years earlier. The story was never investigated because the young girls were black. Why doesn’t anyone talk about Carol and what happened to her is what the reader is determined to find out. When Sydney learns that her aunt went missing she decides to investigate what happened. She is determined to find answers. The lack of attention to the case just because the girls were black really disturbed me. It is important to write about these realities and bring it to people’s attention so that we don’t forget and prevent theseevents from happening again.

I had a hard time relating to or having sympathy for one of the characters and was glad to see even the charachters in the book felt the same. I am trying to be discreet on this point so that I don’t ruin the book for anyone who hasn’t read it.

While I enjoyed this book at times I found it slow due to some of the side stories the author included. Some of the side stories seemed forced and I don’t feel like they added anything to the plot of the story.

I give 5 stars for the main topic of the story but 3 stars for the other two points listed above, giving this book a rating of 3.75 stars. I look forward to reading another book by this author and if you like true crime books you will enjoy this one.

Kristen if you read this review I must say I too loved Mr. Sleete! He came to my house in August as promised to give me a ride on his Harley motorcycle for my birthday. He was one of my favorite teachers too!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine / Bantam for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded

This book was good and engaging. The main character, Sydney, discovers an aunt named Carol she never knew about, mysteriously disappeared around the time same several other young women of color disappeared in Raleigh NC in the 60s. The police never figured out what happened. The book takes us on an investigative adventure as Sydney tries to figure out what really happened to these young ladies 60 years ago. In addition to solving the murders, Sydney’s personal life is on verge of shambles.

The story sheds light on real life issues and has several powerful messages.

A few things that bummed me out about it were lack of twists and turns. Carol being alive was kind of a shock and her involvement wasn’t expected. But from the very beginning Raymond was the obvious choice and was in fact the bad guy. And when we discover Michael is also bad, it’s like there was no moment of denial or questioning on her part. She went and visited him and read in journals how much Carol loved him and first time someone speaks about something maybe being off, she assumes it’s about Michael and is like yep he’s got to be in on it. That was kinda weird. Also the whole thing with Michael’s sister just kind of went nowhere. She lied, was threatening, and then just disappeared. Seemed strange. I was also hoping for more answers around their dad. I guess his purpose was to show the trauma they went through. I thought we’d learn how or why he became the alcoholic he did. Some tie in with Carol.

A really wonderful thriller that touches on some sensitive topics (like racism, abuse, and infertility) while also managing to be engaging and exciting. I was so invested in Sydney's investigation, and while I did guess some things I was still surprised by several reveals. A great story and start of summer read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this book and the fact that it's Kristen L. Berry’s debut novel makes it even more impressive.

What initially pulled me in was the mystery surrounding the missing girls— I needed to know what happened but I didn’t expect the richness of the subplots and emotional depth that followed.

The way Berry weaves together themes of infertility, generational trauma, mental health, and the mystery of the six missing Black girls from the 60s is nothing short of incredible. Each layer felt intentional, impactful and held its purpose.

The ending was definitely shocking— while some of Sydney’s discoveries made it seem possible, I still didn’t want to believe it.

There were so many secrets revealed, layered moments that hit close to home and plots that definitely twisted.

Kristen L. Berry, you definitely have us talking about Carol.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this powerful debut.

When Sydney returns to Raleigh to clean out her grandmother’s house, she discovers a photo of a girl no one in the family has ever mentioned—her long-lost aunt Carol, who vanished in the 1960s along When Sydney returns to Raleigh to clean out her grandmother’s house, she discovers a photo of a girl no one in the family has ever mentioned. It turns out that the girl (who looks like Sydney) is her long-lost aunt Carol, who vanished in the 1960s. While some in the family assumed that Carol ran away to make it as a singer, five other neighborhood girls went missing at around the same time as Carol. As a former journalist, Sydney can’t resist investigating, even if that comes at a personal cost. Digging into the past means facing some painful truths—both in her family and within herself.

This was a great debut. The writing is tight, and it is a gripping mystery with emotional depth. It dares to tackle tough issues like family trauma and the disparities in how missing women are treated based on race. It's thoughtful, powerful, and full of twists. And it makes you think after you've put it down.

We Don’t Talk About Carol is an absolutely stunning debut and easily my favorite book of 2025. Kristen Berry delivers a tightly crafted, emotionally layered novel that blends the intimacy of a family drama with the tension of a slow-burning psychological mystery.

At the heart of the story is Sydney, a deeply relatable protagonist navigating the murky waters of grief, resentment, and long-held family secrets. Berry captures Sydney’s inner voice with remarkable clarity—her confusion, her quiet rage, her desire to move forward without fully understanding where she comes from. She feels real, flawed, and achingly human.

What begins as a death in the family quickly becomes a subtle but gripping unraveling of generational trauma. The silence around Carol—an aunt no one talks about—becomes a mystery in itself, and Berry handles the reveals with restraint and emotional intelligence. Each layer of the story peels back pain, history, and the damage caused by what families refuse to say out loud.

Berry’s writing is sharp, compassionate, and darkly funny at times. Her sense of pacing is impeccable, and her insight into the complexity of family dynamics is both brutal and beautiful.

This debut is not only impressive—it’s important. Kristen Berry is a powerful new voice in fiction, and I will eagerly read anything she writes next.

First, this was a beautiful debut. Second, this book hooked me from the very beginning. The book highlights family in two ways: bonds and dysfunction. I loved following the protagonist's journey through family discovery, her motherhood journey, and her solving of a decades-long mystery with the help of her sister.

I also appreciate that while this book is a fiction story, it speaks to a real issue—the stories of missing black women and people are not being told.

All in all, this was a GREAT read, and I will recommend it and think about it for a while.

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.