The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

Gabie didn’t think twice about switching shifts with Kayla. They both work at Pete’s Pizza, and Gabie didn’t mind taking over for Kalya on Friday night; it’s not like she’d have anything better to do. But then Kayla goes missing, apparently kidnapped when she was out on a delivery. And then Gabie finds out that the supposed kidnapper asked if the girl with the Mini Cooper—the car Gabie drives—was working that night. It seems like too big and scary of a coincidence, that someone who was supposed to be in her car working the shift that should’ve been hers was kidnapped. Gabie can’t help but think that maybe it was supposed to be her. She’s beyond freaked out, but she knows she can’t just give into her fear. She has to do something. And so she teams up with Drew, another coworker, determined to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—or to save her before that happens.

The Night She Disappeared is an exciting psychological mystery that is sure to keep readers riveted. Henry does a wonderful job of creating a suspenseful plot that is full of tantalizing clues, false alarms, and real threats. I was impatient to figure out what would happen next and see what would result from Kayla and Drew’s search. Sadly, Henry fell a little bit short when it came to character development. This I mostly attribute to the frequent alternating narrations. At first I thought it was pretty fascinating to be able to see a little bit from every side of every situation, but then I realized that in fact was part of the problem. Readers get to read a little bit from practically everyone’s perspective, including Kayla, Drew, the mysterious kidnapper, and other random people. The point of view changes so quickly that it’s hard to adjust to each character’s unique voice and really see who they are as a person. But even though I found most of the main characters strange or difficult to understand and relate to, I did find the plot quite satisfying and that overall, the story was indeed quite worthwhile.

The Night She Disappeared will be enjoyed by fans of Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser, Brother/Sister by Sean Olin, and The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer.

Rating: 3.75

Review copy from publisher Macmillan