The Summer She Went Missing by Chelsea Ichaso

     

    Last summer, I won a free book from the Champaign Public Library. I was able to choose from a large selection of books that were locked away behind a glass bookcase. After looking through my choices of books, I quickly realized that it would hard decision to only choose one. The librarian saw me holding a book as I was reading the blurb on the back cover and asked whether it was the one I chose. I decided that I wanted to read more mystery books and since the librarian needed to lock the case back up, I quickly grabbed the first mystery book I saw in the display, which was The Summer She Went Missing by Chelsea Ichaso.

    The Summer She Went Missing begins as 16-year-old Paige Redmond arrives at Clearwater Ridge, for her family and the Covington's annual summer tradition. She meets her best friend Audrey Covington, and they spend the beginning of their summer having fun in the water and hanging out together. 

    When Paige wakes up one morning, she finds out Audrey hadn't come home that night. Confused and worried, nobody knows where Audrey has gone. Paige soon discovers many lies and secrets that Audrey had been keeping. Layers of the unknown with Audrey add to her disappearance, but some things just don't add up... Days turn into months, and nobody knows where Audrey disappeared. All hopes for finding Audrey start to fade as the summer ends, especially with the town's history of disappearing girls. 

    The next summer, it is time for the annual trip to Clearwater ridge, but after last summer the mood is not the same. They still go on the vacation as a way of keeping the tradition alive as well as in Audrey's memory, holding onto some hope that she is still out there, waiting to be found. 

    In Clearwater Ridge, after Paige finds a hidden clue in Audrey's room, everything changes. Paige wonders if she even knew her best friend as she speculates what this clue could mean. The police are unable to figure out what had happened to Audrey especially with the lack of information. But Paige will not give up that easily, especially with her new findings of which may hint at a different cause for Audrey's disappearance. 

    Soon enough, Paige and Audrey's older brother, Dylan team up and make it their personal mission to find out what happened to Audrey last summer and to find her... if she's still alive. Together, they uncover various secrets about Clearwater Ridge as well as many clues they missed last summer. Nobody can be trusted and if they aren't careful, they can be the next name on Clearwater Ridge's missing list.

    Something I didn't like about the book was how slow the development of the story was. I feel like it was dragged out too much and went longer than it should have. Also, I think there were a lot of characters introduced in the book and it made it difficult to remember who each person was, which made some parts confusing or less meaningful. If you aren't reading the book consistently and are taking it slower, it can make some moments seem less significant than they are intended to be.

   Although I didn't love the pacing or the overwhelming number of characters, Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked how it switched perspectives for some chapters. Instead of only showing Paige's perspective, it switched to The Girl's point of view at some points which made it more mysterious. I really like mysteries and enjoyed the mysterious, complex plot including all of the various plot twists. I liked how it wasn't easily predictable, and the plot took many unexpected twists and turns especially with the different suspects, making it more intense and suspenseful.

-Jehan