Since She Went Away

By David Bell

Rating: 3.5/5 Stairs

Celia has been missing for three months. She was supposed to meet her best friend Jenna in the park at midnight, but never showed up. Did she meet with foul play or simply run away from her husband and daughter?

Since She Went Away is told from the perspective of two characters – single mother Jenna and her son Jared.  Jenna is living a life of guilt – she pushed Celia to relive their high school glory days to sneak out at midnight and meet at the park, but Jenna arrived late and Celia wasn’t there. Jared has his own secret – he was the reason his mom was late for the meeting.

What worked for me? Mr. Bell kept me wondering.

As the novel unfolds, Mr. Bell has many twists and turns for the reader. As I read, I kept wondering, is Celia alive? Had she run away on her on accord or did she meet foul play? Anything is possible. I also wondered how Jared’s story would intersect (if at all) with Jenna’s.

What didn’t work? At times, things were a little too coincidental.

You know, how I feel about spoilers. I try to avoid them. I will say I did find some of the twists a little unrealistic. Not that they couldn’t happen individually. But that they all happened to the same family. That being said, I still enjoyed the story.

Overall this is a fun summer read – the mystery of Celia’s disappearance kept me engaged and turning pages late into the night.

Many thanks to First to Read for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.