Last year, I read Amber Garza’s psychological suspense debut When I Was You (previously she has written romance) and was blown away by the creativity of the plot. I was excited to read this new offering this year.
Where I Left Her is an August 2021 release by MIRA Publishing
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book:
From the author of WHEN I WAS YOU comes a spine-tingling new thriller about a mother’s worst nightmare come true, when she goes to pick up her daughter from a sleepover, and she’s nowhere to be found.
Whitney had some misgivings when she dropped her increasingly moody teenage daughter off for a sleepover last night. She’s never met the friend’s parents, and usually she’d go in, but Amelia clearly wasn’t going to let something so humiliating happen, so instead she waved to her daughter before pulling away from the cute little house with the rosebushes in front.
But when she goes back to get her, an elderly couple answers the door–Amelia and her friend are nowhere to be found, and this couple swears she’s at the wrong house. As Whitney searches for Amelia, she uncovers a trail of secrets and lies her daughter has told her–from Finsta accounts to rumors of a secret relationship. Does she really even know this girl she’s raised, and can she find her before it’s too late?
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 3 stars
A somewhat uneven book with a few good surprises. I didn’t like this one as well as the previous book I read by this author, but it’s still pretty exciting and a fairly quick read.
Whitney is a single mom to sixteen-year-old Amelia, and quite the helicopter. Amelia has been exerting her independence and trying to create some space for herself and Whitney isn’t happy about it, but she’s trying to loosen the apron strings a bit. So when Whitney drops Amelia off at her friend Lauren’s house for a sleepover, she doesn’t come inside and meet her parents as she might have done before, she just drops Amelia off at the door and goes home to enjoy her night of freedom. Yet when Whitney goes back the next day to pick Amelia up, an elderly man answers the door and says he has never heard of Amelia. What happened to her daughter?
As the plot progresses, we find out secrets Whitney has been keeping about her past and how that might tie into why Amelia is missing and where she might be. There are some red herrings along the way (which I liked) and a couple of twists (that I didn’t like). The storyline moves between the distant past with Whitney’s childhood, the recent past before Amelia went missing, and the present day after the drop-off. It took me a while to get into the swing of the narrative.
For as strict and obsessive a parent as Whitney is portrayed to be, she is overwhelmingly clueless as to her daughter’s activities and actions. Also, being very vague here as to not spoil things, I couldn’t reconcile the ending with the rest of the book. I felt like it was quite over the top; if that was the way the author was going to choose to conclude the novel then there should have been some well-placed clues throughout that lead to that moment. After all, there were some hints here and there that allowed me to figure out some of the twists.
Overall, this is a book worth reading in the psychological suspense genre, I just wish it was as surprising and fresh as When I Was You.
About the Author:
Amber Garza has had a passion for the written word since she was a child making books out of notebook paper and staples. Her hobbies include reading and singing. Coffee and wine are her drinks of choice (not necessarily in that order). She writes while blaring music, and talks about her characters like they’re real people. She lives with her husband and two kids in Folsom, California.
Social Links:
Twitter: @ambermg1
Instagram: @AmberGarzaAuthor
Facebook: @AmberGarzaAuthor
