Name: Jessica Koch's review of All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
Item: All the Missing Girls
Rating: 4
Author: Jessica Koch

Megan Miranda

Ten years ago, Nicolette Farrell left Cooley Ridge, North Carolina under difficult circumstances. She'd just broken up with Tyler, the man she thought she'd marry, and her best friend, Corrine, had disappeared, never to be heard from again. When the call comes that her father is ailing, Nic is living in Philadelphia, light years away from her younger self. She drops everything to care for her dad, but within days of her return another girl goes missing. As Nic works to unravel what happened to the missing girl, shocking truths emerge about her neighbors, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

A Novel

All the Missing Girls

Jessica Koch

Not the best thriller I’ve read. Story dragged on a bit and wasn’t clear with the jumping perspectives. Surprise ending wasn’t very surprising and left a lot to be desired.

Kyle James

Had to really struggle through this. In theory I was a fan of the backwards to forwards story telling, in reality I didn’t love it 

Kalista Dickson

armoni mayes

3.75 rounded up. it would be four stars if the telling of the plot wasn’t so confusing.

Ten years after leaving Cooley Ridge, Nicolette Farrell returns to care for her ailing father. A decade ago, she, her brother Daniel, her boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne's boyfriend Jackson were suspects when Corinne -- Nic's best friend -- disappeared without a trace. Within days of Nic's return, they are plunged into a shocking drama when Nic's neighbor Annaleise, who is dating Tyler and was the group's alibi ten years previously, goes missing. Told backwards from the time Annaleise disappears, the book follows Nic as she works to unravel the truth and, in the process, reveals shocking realities about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Loved this one. Definitely unique in that it's told backwards, kept me on my toes for sure!! 

Megan Murray 

This book was a wild ride! Definitely kept my on my toes at the story is told backwards and can be hard to keep up but very interesting. 

Lacee Foutch 

The interesting thing about the book is that it’s written backwards….. but I found it a bit confusing and hard to follow. I don’t really think it added anything to the book. Overall, I liked it. 

Camille Mounce

destiny

Brileigh Talbert

I loved this! Such a good plot! I liked how the store was basically told backwards! Definitely recommend this!

haleigh

This was a great book that was easy to read and left me intrigued in its backward nature. It was really fun to try and piece together the mystery with a structure that was so new to me. The chapters were relatively short but quick-paced, making it a really easy and accessible read to anyone who wanted to pick it up. I also found the dialogue to be perfect. Sometimes dialogue can really hinder a book by feeling forced or unproductive to the overall story but I thought Miranda used dialogue very intentionally throughout this novel, often adding to the mystery. I only have two qualms about this book: 1) I felt that there were two very small loose ends that could have been answered with a little more, if any, clarity and; 2) with the backwards structure of the book came some confusion in terms of the characters' course of action. I found myself on more than one occasion asking, "Well if they knew this on Day 3 then why would they do that on Day 5?" and so on. I guess that's an occupational hazard associated with writing in a creative new format but left me less than in love with the book overall. Still, I would recommend this book to someone who is relatively new to thrillers/mysteries as an easy way to get into them!

Recommended For: those who like unique novel structure, those who love mystery, those who enjoy a small town setting

I listened to this on audiobook and was so confused. The plot twist wasn't something that left me speechless. It was an easy listen but i wouldn't recommend audiobook as your format. If you want to read this then definitely read. I feel it would have been far less confusing and I would have enjoyed it more. 

Tatum cain 

Meagan Fischer 

I really enjoyed this book. I read it in just a few days. I was drawn in by the gimmick of reverse chronological order, and it was executed well. I didn't even realize what was happening (though perhaps it would have been predictable to a genre savvy person) until I was in it, most of the time. Lots of subtle misdirection. There were elements I critiqued earlier in the book that ended up being intentional; part of the theme (and at that point actually seemed heavy handed but also more satisfying than if they were just background setting). The conclusion was satisfying, although some things felt a bit too deus ex machina. I would definitely recommend this book for the reading experience alone, as well as some of the themes therein. More I want to say but would be spoilery.

Colleen

2 Stars
 
Yet another bookclub selection that disappointed me.
 
All the Missing Girls is a psychological thriller that tried to mix things up by telling the story in reverse-chronological order. I applaud the author for trying something different even if it didn’t work for me. It’s good for writers to think outside the box. But while the weird chronology was discombobulating, I was more annoyed by the use of the overused troupes. The same troupes that have overwhelmed the genre ever since that harbinger of genre doom, Gone Girl. Like it and it’s many, many clones, All the Missing Girls has an unreliable narrator, a cast of nasty characters, and a mediocre mystery. Really, the backwards plot is the only thing that stands out; the rest was sadly generic. If the story had managed to break away from the other stereotypes, it might have been more enjoyable. But I hated all of the characters and was frustrated by the plot.
 
Ten years ago, Nicolette’s (Nic for short) best friend went missing from their small hometown in North Carolina. Nic returns to her hometown to take care of some family business only to be swept up in drama when another young woman goes missing. The story covers the fifteen days that she is back in her hometown but moves backward from her last day in town to her first day back.
 
The reverse-chronology wasn’t bad at first when I was just learning the outlines of what had happened. But around the halfway point, I couldn’t help but mentally reshuffle things into the correct order. Unfortunately, things made less and less sense the more I thought about them; I started rapidly picking holes in the story as soon as I lined things up in correct chronological order. It invalidated why characters did or said certain things.
 
Nic was an unpleasant and unreliable narrator. I really could not stand her. She was a nasty piece of work. I didn’t hate as much as Rachel from The Girl on the Train, but it was pretty darn close. And why was everyone either abusive and/or a cheater? There really was only one person in the entire book who was not an over-the-top scumbag. 
 
And why is it called “All” the Missing Girls when there were only two? Unless you mean the vague references to “missing” as people who leave and reinvent themselves elsewhere… But that’s a far cry from what the synopsis implied.
 
In summation, the characters were nasty people. The storyline was murky and indefinite. Overall, it was a forgettable read that just did not impress me. 


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 2 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

It's been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared without trace. Then a letter from her father arrives - 'I need to talk to you. That girl. I saw that girl.' Has her father's dementia worsened, or has he really seen Corinne? Returning home, Nicolette must finally face what happened on that terrible night all those years ago. Then, another young woman goes missing, almost to the day of the anniversary of when Corinne vanished. And like ten years ago, the whole town is a suspect. Told backwards - Day 15 to Day 1 - Nicolette works to unravel the truth, revealing shocking secrets about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne. Like nothing you've ever read before, All the Missing Girls is a brilliantly plotted debut thriller that will leave you breathless.

Midori Kobayashi

is it possible to give a book zero stars? bcs that is what i thought this deserves. no bcs no aspect of the book was even half decent. from unreliable narrators (ones which know suck cous we know they are unreliable but the author thinks the reader is a moron) to the gimmicky story telling style. 

telling the story from day 15 to day 1 definitely works (we have all seen it and enjoyed in the secret history) but not like this. the main character intentionally acts dumb on day 15 even though they have 'discovered' the secret by then obviously just to keep us readers in the dark. if the reveal was made in the first chapter (day 15) and then we figure out the exact details throughout the book I would still enjoy it more than this monstrosity. 

and who tf thought this was anything gone girl-esque, come out here i just wanna talk!! 

oh and the plot twist- i had figured it out in first 3 chapters and then it was just annoying seeing the main characters (killer/s) act so annoying. 

overall this book was better left unread on my shelf but hey sometimes we all end up wasting our time on things we thought we would love but didn't. (hate that my fav booktuber's recommendation didn't work for me tho :/

Jessica Ford

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars. The first half of the book was tedious, and I really didn't like any of the characters, but by the second half it started to get good. I really like how the story is told backwards, and in flashbacks.

Molly Morgan

Enjoyed this book, read it quite quickly! The characters were interesting to me and I enjoyed unveiling the mystery.

Cheri McElroy

I know that the backwards storytelling didn’t work for some people but it kept me reading and on the edge of my seat. It was atmospheric and full of flawed characters. I loved it.

i have very mixed feelings about this book.. 

the beginning and end suck you in like a good thriller/murder mystery should. but the middle was a lot of build up (which was needed for the story to unfold how it did) and i found it hard to reach for this book while reading this part. I didn’t really connect with the characters but for some reason it worked to allow you to see the whole picture. 

the author set this book up so that every character is a suspect at one point and your mind runs wild with theories of “who done it”. as someone who loves thrillers/murder mysteries and thought i would know what happened before the end.. i was wrong. great ending reveal however the end of the book doesn’t provide all the answers to my questions. the book is written backwards in time which can get confusing but it worked so well with the story. i found myself rushing to finish the book and i was not disappointed.  

Faith Wright

i have very mixed feelings about this book.. 

the beginning and end suck you in like a good thriller/murder mystery should. but the middle was a lot of build up (which was needed for the story to unfold how it did) and i found it hard to reach for this book while reading this part. I didn’t really connect with the characters but for some reason it worked to allow you to see the whole picture. 

the author set this book up so that every character is a suspect at one point and your mind runs wild with theories of “who done it”. as someone who loves thrillers/murder mysteries and thought i would know what happened before the end.. i was wrong. great ending reveal however the end of the book doesn’t provide all the answers to my questions. the book is written backwards in time which can get confusing but it worked so well with the story. i found myself rushing to finish the book and i was not disappointed.  

Shan

Wow. I could not put this down. This book constantly had me questioning who did it and the way Miranda lays out the story makes it that much more intriguing

kendall p

3.5 it was so weird and kinda made no sense but also made a lot of sense… 
idk i’m iffy on it

courtney garrison

This one was a ride. I honestly was going into it expecting it to pace similar to Riley Sagers Books (final girls & the last time I lied). This book was just all around a mediocre read for me, like it was good but nothing memorable or special about it.

Your mc is Nicolette. She has been gone from home for 10 years. She has come back to Cooley ridge to help her brother sell her fathers house.

10 years ago before Nicolette left the Prescott girl went missing. As soon as Nicolette is back home another girl goes missing and you are thrust back into all this mystery of not only what has happened to Annalise, but what happened all those years ago to Corinne.

These characters were so bland. There was no development behind them, no anything. They all lacked substance for me. The only character I really liked was Everett and even he didn’t have much depth to him either.

I honestly didn’t enjoy this has much as I had hoped. The writing and overall story were just lacking for me. First the story is told backwards to you up until you get back to present day. This just made the book super confusing at times for me and I didn’t think it added anything special to the book. I would have rather had things told in order to make sense.

You have things that happened in day 2 and 3 that should have majorly affected the rest of the days but the author can’t really dig deeper into that without giving the major twist away to the ending. That was just aggravating and I think it would have done so much more for the story to be told in order.

Another thing I found irritating was it had so many instances of cheating throughout the story and It honestly made me dislike it even more. I don’t approve of cheating on your significant other no matter what the situation.

Overall this is a 2.5 for me and that’s being generous in my opinion. I think others might enjoy this one, it just sadly wasn’t for me. I hope if you do pick it up that you will love it.

Sean Valencia Monte

This is a pretty solid thriller/murder mystery book. The writing style is pretty weird, mostly on how it was formatted. The Part 2 chapters move backward a day instead of the days moving forward until it reaches the night of the disappearance (ex. Chapter 1 - Day 15, Chapter 2 - Day 14, Chapter 3 - Day 13, and so on); not sure if that made sense-. I would have preferred the other way around but it still works! The book had me on the edge of my seat, especially at the end. Not sure how I entirely feel about the ending though. I had some questions and was kinda confused. I read a summary online and it finally makes sense. I do recommend this book! Great, fast-paced, one-day read. I'll definitely read more of these type of books. Also, why is the main character always saying “lies” or “liar”. She got trust issues-

Megan Vaughn

Initially i was thinking the backwards timeline was very gimmicky and unnecessary but by the end I actually found it quite effective.

Arianna scasino

The book is written in reverse chronological order, which is very interesting to see the story be told backwards. The ending is so shocking, so good!!

Madhuri Sridhara

3.5: A well-written page-turner that I couldn't put down. Good in a not so good way.

Jessica Koch &
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

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Jessica Koch &All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

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Jessica Koch &
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda