Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch

Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch

Release Date: June 28, 2016
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Some choices change everything. Scarlett chose to run. And the consequences will be deadly.

Stolen from her family as a young girl, Scarlett was lucky enough to eventually escape her captor. Now a teen, she's starting a summer job at an amusement park. There are cute boys, new friends, and the chance to finally have a normal life.

Her first day on the job, Scarlett is shocked to discover that a girl from the park has gone missing. Old memories come rushing back. And now as she meets her new coworkers, one of the girls seems strangely familiar. When Scarlett chose to run all those years ago, what did she set into motion? And when push comes to shove, how far will she go to uncover the truth . . . before it's too late?

While there are horrible, HORRIBLE things that happen to people that I wouldn't wish on anyone, I've always been fascinated by or curious about the aftermath of traumatic events. There's something about reading a story featuring a character who has multiple levels, and things aren't always what they seem. I was intrigued by the premise for Never Missing, Never Found and was eager to understand what exactly was going on with Scarlett on a psychological level, because being kidnapped would definitely change a person. I was absolutely blown away by this novel. Holy hells–it was so good.

While I liked that Scarlett had this confident, go-getter attitude, I was a little taken aback by her brash(ish) nature. I mean, it was good to see such a strong female character, but she was kind of mean to some of the other characters. Justified in almost all ways, but totally not how I would act in certain situations. But...ding! ding! ding! this was the psychological aspect I was looking forward to in a novel such as this one. I loved Connor's character, and I found Katharina and Melody's characters super interesting. However, I felt like I was missing out on a lot to do with the secondary characters. I'm sad that there wasn't too much development for them, but thankfully, it didn't take away from the shock of the reveal.

THAT REVEAL.

Oh.
My.
God.

If you know me, you'll know that I have this sort of adamant nature of trying to figure out the mystery before the end. Something about them makes me go on high-alert while I'm reading, and then I tend to pick up all sorts of little details that lead me to guess (usually correctly) the ending of the story. But nuh-uh. Not with this book. I was so BLINDED. I had no idea that was coming my way. Holy shizzlesticks. I literally had to pull away from reading because the shock was along the lines of WHAT-HOW-DID-I-NOT-SEE-THIS-BEFORE-HOLY-MOTHE– (and you get the rest). But yeah, I was totally caught with the twist in this one, and while I thought the follow-through was less on par with the reveal, it still haunts me days after I finished reading this book.

With an absolutely mind-blowing and jaw-dropping twist, Never Missing, Never Found was a fantastic psychological mystery that sucked me in from the very first page. Alternating between horrific flashbacks of a girl's capture and an eerie present-day mystery, Amanda Panitch's sophomore novel unfolds a story unlike any other. Nail-biting and heart-pounding until the end, it's bound to have you on the edge of your seat.

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Aisha at Random House Children's Books for sending me an eGalley for review! ▪ ▪ ▪ 

If you like this, try...

• Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver ● Goodreads
• Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley ● Goodreads