Review: The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

Title: The Night She Disappeared
Author: April Henry
Published March 13th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
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Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night. Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her, and she becomes obsessed with finding Kayla. She teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—and to find her before she is.

This book was definitely the surprise of the year back in 2012.

I picked it up not knowing a thing about it, I didn’t recognize the author, didn’t even read the synopsis first but the title got me instantly and the cover was interesting enough.

What a surprise. This book blew me away; it was deep and insightful and about scary, awful topics that aren’t exactly what YA literature is known for. April Henry nailed it, I’ve never read anything of hers before but I was so pleasantly surprised that she managed to write about such a tough subject without making it a somber/darker book.

I loved the story, I thought it was realistic enough, but I also very much appreciate the ending. I know that most of the time the stories don’t end like this in real life but books are supposed to be an escape from reality.

The characters were also perfect, they evoke the perfect emotions at the time you needed them too, without forgetting that they were just teenagers, which was what made the book even more appalling and disturbing. Very thought-provoking and eye-opening, and you can tell Henry did a lot of researching. It takes talent to transmit the kind of emotions this book deals with and not end up being over the top drama.

It was just an excellent, solid thriller. Recommended for all ages and genres and everyone that likes to read about something a little bit deeper than your typical contemporary.