Local Woman Missing
Ratings199
Average rating3.9
I admit that I groaned when I listened to the first chapter. But Chapter 2 had me gripping the steering wheel the whole ride home. I was the only one awake in our car after a fun beach trip and that was a bad idea. I swear my heart was pounding and I was here for it.
4.5
this was SO GOOD. it reminded me alot of liane moriarty books, but better!!!! i liked the characters and the way the story was told, the final conclusion surprised me coz i didnt see it coming at all and the overall ending made me sad, almost teary eyed. also love how the lesbian couple just exists in this book and isn't there for the sake of education or brownie points!!! im so glad i finally got around to reading this book
Just finished 4.5 stars. Lovedd this one!! Very fast paced and I felt so much sympathy for the characters, I also loved how we got all povs of the story coz I feel like I was connected more to the characters.Highly recommend!! If you love [a:Lisa Jewell 93504 Lisa Jewell https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1272239443p2/93504.jpg]'s books then this book is perfect for u!!
This is my first book by this author and I can now see why so many have loved this one. Local Woman Missing is chock full of twists and turns, secrets, lies and half-truths.
I love the different POVs and how real the characters are. Leo especially had my heart because he was the one left behind, left alone, and left afloat. His range of emotions had my heart in a vice and I just wanted to squeeze him.
For once, I did not figure out what was truly happening and this was a pleasant surprise. There was so much going on straight from the start, I was beginning to think it would never get untangled. Whew .. my head is still spinning
Hot damn this was a wild ride! There were a handful of characters - enough that it was a true whodunnit, but not too many where it was hard to keep track. The plot & character development were both spot-on. I loved the dual timelines (set 11 years ago, and present time) as well as the dual POV. I was truly in the dark about this one until about page 275 - which I love in a twist!! It wasn't so predictable that I figured it out early on; but once the truth started to leak I knew who the culprit was. It was definitely a fun, bumpy ride that kept me on the edge of my seat. Would 100% recommend!
Not for me. The male characters are misogynistic generalizations with no redeeming qualities. At one point, Kubica begins to describe one of the male characters as “not a monster,” then dialogs him as monstrous. Two stars as the plot is well-developed and the end is interesting.
This review is published on my blog: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/04/what-we-read-in-march-2022/
This was my book club's pick in March. I don't read the thriller/suspense genre much at all, so I wasn't super excited to read this one. When I started, though, I couldn't stop, and finished it in 2 days. It just sucked me in and I had to find out what happened. That said, there was a lot going on in this book...lots of characters and side stories to lead you astray from who the real killer might be. I liked it for the most part, but it got to be a little bit much. A fun read though!
3.5 stars
This was addictive, couldn't stop listening to the audiobook! I needed to know!
The suspense was great, the writing was good and several possibilities came to my mind while listening to the different timelines and the multiple POVs.
The story was interesting and entertaining, there were so many ways it could go, and then when things start to take shape... there was not much logic in this. That's what bothered me most in this story.
Some details didn't make much sense when we finally put the pieces together. So, the ending felt disappointing.
What a great thriller! Local Woman Missing kept me hooked starting from the very first page. I especially liked the unique perspectives given with the three different narrators between chapters: Meredith in the weeks leading up to her and Delilah's disappearance, Leo—Meredith's son—11 years after the disappearance, and their next-door neighbor, Kate, whose narration takes place soon after Meredith and Delilah's disappearance.
I was so close to giving this book 5 stars. It was when everyt
Gelezen via audioboek.
Ugh, wat? Ik ben vooral bezorgd over de competentie van de forensisch pathologen in dit boek.
Het boek begon goed en immens intrigerend, maar de duizelingwekkende hoeveelheid domheid in zowel de plotpunten als het gedrag van de personages sleepte het boek volledig naar beneden voor mij.
The first 50 or so pages were so good to end up...like this?! Hated Meredith's POV and wished there was more of Leo's POV. The decisions Meredith makes throughout this book make my head hurt. I'm sorry this was not a good book.
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. I enjoyed the twists and turns and likes the character development. But once again, some of the scenario and situations are so unrealistic that it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief or just a general lack of awareness around law enforcement and forensics etc, not that I am an expert, but I do have a penchant for true crime and criminology...I also just have a little....annoyance at the adults in the book being so messy, and the kids being burdened with acting as adults...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great characters, solid narrations, awesome ending!
Finally, I book that blew it out of the water for me! I feel like I've been reading so many mediocre books lately and I am ecstatic that I finally got to this one! When I say that this book had me hooked from page one, I am not exaggerating. I was invested in the plot and all the characters and this book is definitely making it into one of my all-time favorite thrillers of all time! I mean, there were times when this book read more like a mystery but it was thrilling from beginning to end and it was the perfect combo for me.
To begin with, Local Woman Missing is about a woman who goes missing and then a short time after, another woman and her daughter go missing from the same neighborhood. There are dual timelines from different characters' perspectives and I honestly enjoyed seeing the story unfold from all their eyes equally. Usually, I favor one perspective over another but in this case I was so invested in the story that I didn't mind the constant perspective and timeline changeup. The plot was so unique in my opinion, that I was addicted and couldn't put the book down for the life of me. I would have finished this book in one sitting if mom life didn't intervene. I have heard people say that it reads like a true crime novel but I wouldn't know because I've never read one before. However, after loving this book so much, I will definitely check that genre out in the future. The plot was done so masterfully and moved at the perfect pace, I just can't say enough good things about this amazing book!
Further on, the characterization was top notch in this book as well. All the characters were delved into and their psyches laid out for us to see and judge for ourselves. If you love thrillers with full of unlikeable characters, where you have no idea who to trust and who might be the bad guy, then you need to check this book out because it's right up your alley. I spent the whole book being suspicious of every single character in turn, only to find out that I was completely wrong, like not even close. I loved the complexity of the characters and how they changed all throughout the story and how there were so many layers to each and everyone of them.
Finally, the writing style was my favorite kind, simple and to the point but also flowing and not choppy. It really got the story across well and I could see it in my mind as I was reading. It also added to the excitement of the book because I didn't have to go back and reread any sections because of odd wording or sentence structure. No, in this case I devoured this book pretty quickly, considering I have two little children at home, a husband, three dogs and a household to keep up with.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good missing person mystery that is also thrilling at times. My heart was beating out of my chest for the majority of this novel and it was downright exhilarating. This is one of the best books I have read this year so far and also one of my favorite thrillers of all time. I will be checking out Mary Kubica's other books, that's for sure because her thrillers just really do it for me and I can't wait!
I've never read a Kubica before because everyone I've talked to who has read books from her just thought they were middle-of-the-line books, but then I saw that people I follow giving this one 4 or 5 stars so I thought I'd give it a shot and I don't regret it.
Maybe I should give it more stars for creativity - after all, there are only so many basements one could have in one book. But it bordered a joke, and it was at the same time too intricate not to be.
Told from multiple point of view. One woman goes missing, then another women and her child goes missing. Are the connected or just coincidental.
Very intriguing story with an ending I did not see coming. Kept me guessing up until the end.
Well, I was held in suspense for about 3/4 of the book, but then it just went downhill from there. I like Kubica's thrillers/mysteries, but the ending of this one hit the mark for me. I wouldn't waste my time if I were you.
Confusing Front. Interesting Ending. This book has one section at the front of the book that seems to go on forever... and yet is the singular most fascinating passage of the tale. In this particular section, we get a girl who is trapped in utter darkness and we feel what it is doing to her after being here for so long. Then she finally breaks free and runs for her life, and we feel her utter terror viscerally.
And then... the book completely transitions into a more “typical” domestic psychological suspense/ thriller. There is someone threatening someone. There is a murder. There is a suicide. And through 2/3 or so of the book, we get a fairly standard (though to be clear, engaging, if a bit confusing to pick up on at first, particularly in the mind-shock of coming from the escape into this) tale.
But then... Kubica begins to do things that you're not supposed to do in this genre. We get a major reveal before the last 20% of the book. And then we build... and we get another reveal before the last 10% of the book! And another! And the actual ending... well, it isn't the complete mind-bender that so many of these books end on. Which may be a good thing, depending on your tastes. And which I enjoyed just because it didn't go the “typical” route, if for no other reason.
Truly an interesting story, one that could have arguably been told in a better way. But still engaging and still worthy of reading - and without any objective flaws to hang a star reduction on. Therefore it maintains the full five stars and is very much recommended.