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allysonwbrunette's review
3.0
I really didn’t realize how much of a thriller fan I am until this past year. They’re nothing particularly deep, but they are entertaining and they really are hard to put down if well-written. In The Forgotten Girl, Jason and his wife have relocated back to his childhood home in Ohio during the economic recession and their marriage is strained. Jason’s long lost sister (with a penchant for trouble) returns in the middle of the night asking that Jason watch her teenage daughter for 48 hours without questions while she ties up some loose ends. When his sister doesn’t return, the family begins frantically retracing her steps and discovers her involvement with dangerous characters and unsolved murders.
kdbr's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The first half was hard to get through. The story moves really slow focusing on a middle age man and how slow his life was until his sister pops in. It picks up half way through and gets really interesting and mysterious.
shay4cy's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jmj697mn's review
3.0
The build up was great. I raced through it and loved the suspense but the ending fell flat. I wasn't suprised or shocked or thrilled at all. Too bad, because the rest of the book was fantastic.
judithdcollins's review against another edition
3.0
David Bell’s The Forgotten Girl is a mysterious and compelling drama of family, addiction, and dark secrets.
Jason has recently relocated from New York City to a small town in Ohio, where he grew up with his younger sister, Hayden. Hayden was always the bad gal while Jason was always the golden child. The brother-sister relationship is estranged, due to Hayden’s drug and alcohol addiction and she no longer lives in the childhood town.
Jason and his wife Nora are enjoying their small town living until one night Hayden shows up on their doorstep and requests they allow her daughter to stay with them until she takes care of some things. She appears to be sober and he agrees to the terms. When Hayden does not return, a suspicious past surfaces, and dark secrets, making for an intense mystery of deception and fear.
Bell creates flawed characters and a good set up; however, the audiobook (narrated by Dan John Miller) turned me off, with an annoying voice, when switching to the teen’s voice and some of the dialogue seemed a little silly. I would not recommend the audiobook, and feel it most likely reflected my overall lower rating.
However, I would recommend reading THE FORGOTTEN GIRL, and look forward to reading more from Bell in the future! (Nice Cover)
Jason has recently relocated from New York City to a small town in Ohio, where he grew up with his younger sister, Hayden. Hayden was always the bad gal while Jason was always the golden child. The brother-sister relationship is estranged, due to Hayden’s drug and alcohol addiction and she no longer lives in the childhood town.
Jason and his wife Nora are enjoying their small town living until one night Hayden shows up on their doorstep and requests they allow her daughter to stay with them until she takes care of some things. She appears to be sober and he agrees to the terms. When Hayden does not return, a suspicious past surfaces, and dark secrets, making for an intense mystery of deception and fear.
Bell creates flawed characters and a good set up; however, the audiobook (narrated by Dan John Miller) turned me off, with an annoying voice, when switching to the teen’s voice and some of the dialogue seemed a little silly. I would not recommend the audiobook, and feel it most likely reflected my overall lower rating.
However, I would recommend reading THE FORGOTTEN GIRL, and look forward to reading more from Bell in the future! (Nice Cover)
alecx's review
2.0
There was just way too much unnecessary dialogue here. "Are you okay?" "Yeah" "Are you really okay?".
None of the "twists" really came as a surprise here so that ended as a let down for me.
None of the "twists" really came as a surprise here so that ended as a let down for me.
amandawije's review
3.0
I chose to give this book 3/5 stars.
Plot:
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It drew me in and kept me wanting more. I'm always intrigued with books that have a main character disappear and therefore this was a no brainer for my TBR pile. I enjoyed watching the relationship grow between Sierra, Nora and Jason. It changed from awkward to familial in a short amount of time but I found the transition to be natural. A lot of characters were involved in the story and they all contributed to the plot moving forward. However, so many characters weren't really needed (Logan's mom's husband for example). We could have just known about him instead of actually having to deal with him in the story. I liked the flow of the story and I read this quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I would recommend this book to a friend because it is a quick, enjoyable read.
Character Impressions:
Tricia - Possibly my favorite character. I loved her attitude but how she was badass enough to know when to knock it off. She also saved the day! I mean come on...she's a good kid. Seriously I think she was my favorite.
Sierra - A good girl that makes bad decisions. She thinks she's an adult and wants to be treated like one but is emotionally a teenager.
Nora - A very trusting wife. Seriously! You and your husband have these marital problems and you let him just leave all the time to go hang out with the woman he was in love with in high school. She's not a very exciting character. Don't know any background information she's basically a babysitter for Sierra.
Colton - Sketchy asshole. Continuously decides it's a good idea to lie to Jason and feed him false information. What a friend! Also he has random weird dialogue in the book about his family going to church. Okay...completely irrelevant to the story.
Jason - I feel bad for this guy. He just wants to find his sister and make amends but he can't seem to actually accomplish anything. At the end of the book he finds out his two best friends in high school weren't ever 100% honest with him which has to suck. Also he kindof hits on Regan at the end which annoyed the hell out of me because your idiot trusting wife is waiting for you at home dude!
Regan - annoying. She claims she cares about Jason finding Hayden yet she sketches around with Jesse Dean behind Jason's back. She knows the truth the entire time and decides not to tell anyone because she doesn't want them to know she was ALMOST a victim of rape. I respect that decision...however when your "friend's" sister is in a life or death situation...it's common courtesy to let them know where she is or why she might be in trouble. What a friend.
Hayden - blissfully naive. She has bettered herself and now needs to set her conscience free. However, she doesn't really think things through. She seems to be impulsive which is what gets her into the mess in the first place. She puts her trust in the wrong people because she genuinely believes the little bit of good in them will prevail over the bad. Hayden seemed like a little girl trapped inside of a woman's body. I liked her.
Jesse Dean: Gross.
Derrick: Douchebag. You're selling out your ex-wife and kid to Jesse Dean. Also you know your ex-wife just got sober yet you drink in the car tantalizing her. What a douche. I know I'm supposed to feel bad for him at the end but I really don't. He cared for Hayden which was his only redeeming quality. Did he really care about Sierra? He basically lied and brought her to Jesse Dean because he wanted to help Hayden. He'd bring their only child into danger if it meant he MIGHT save his ex-wife. I don't know if he cared about Sierra as much as he cared about Hayden.
Unanswered questions:
Why was Colton so sketchy about EVERYTHING if he didn't have anything to do with Logan's murder? Seriously, biggest sketchball I don't understand it.
It was clear that Nora and Jason were attached to Sierra and the idea of being her parents. Was this supposed to lead into a conversation about having kids? It never got that far.
Plot:
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It drew me in and kept me wanting more. I'm always intrigued with books that have a main character disappear and therefore this was a no brainer for my TBR pile. I enjoyed watching the relationship grow between Sierra, Nora and Jason. It changed from awkward to familial in a short amount of time but I found the transition to be natural. A lot of characters were involved in the story and they all contributed to the plot moving forward. However, so many characters weren't really needed (Logan's mom's husband for example). We could have just known about him instead of actually having to deal with him in the story. I liked the flow of the story and I read this quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I would recommend this book to a friend because it is a quick, enjoyable read.
Character Impressions:
Tricia - Possibly my favorite character. I loved her attitude but how she was badass enough to know when to knock it off. She also saved the day! I mean come on...she's a good kid. Seriously I think she was my favorite.
Sierra - A good girl that makes bad decisions. She thinks she's an adult and wants to be treated like one but is emotionally a teenager.
Nora - A very trusting wife. Seriously! You and your husband have these marital problems and you let him just leave all the time to go hang out with the woman he was in love with in high school. She's not a very exciting character. Don't know any background information she's basically a babysitter for Sierra.
Colton - Sketchy asshole. Continuously decides it's a good idea to lie to Jason and feed him false information. What a friend! Also he has random weird dialogue in the book about his family going to church. Okay...completely irrelevant to the story.
Jason - I feel bad for this guy. He just wants to find his sister and make amends but he can't seem to actually accomplish anything. At the end of the book he finds out his two best friends in high school weren't ever 100% honest with him which has to suck. Also he kindof hits on Regan at the end which annoyed the hell out of me because your idiot trusting wife is waiting for you at home dude!
Regan - annoying. She claims she cares about Jason finding Hayden yet she sketches around with Jesse Dean behind Jason's back. She knows the truth the entire time and decides not to tell anyone because she doesn't want them to know she was ALMOST a victim of rape. I respect that decision...however when your "friend's" sister is in a life or death situation...it's common courtesy to let them know where she is or why she might be in trouble. What a friend.
Hayden - blissfully naive. She has bettered herself and now needs to set her conscience free. However, she doesn't really think things through. She seems to be impulsive which is what gets her into the mess in the first place. She puts her trust in the wrong people because she genuinely believes the little bit of good in them will prevail over the bad. Hayden seemed like a little girl trapped inside of a woman's body. I liked her.
Jesse Dean: Gross.
Derrick: Douchebag. You're selling out your ex-wife and kid to Jesse Dean. Also you know your ex-wife just got sober yet you drink in the car tantalizing her. What a douche. I know I'm supposed to feel bad for him at the end but I really don't. He cared for Hayden which was his only redeeming quality. Did he really care about Sierra? He basically lied and brought her to Jesse Dean because he wanted to help Hayden. He'd bring their only child into danger if it meant he MIGHT save his ex-wife. I don't know if he cared about Sierra as much as he cared about Hayden.
Unanswered questions:
Why was Colton so sketchy about EVERYTHING if he didn't have anything to do with Logan's murder? Seriously, biggest sketchball I don't understand it.
It was clear that Nora and Jason were attached to Sierra and the idea of being her parents. Was this supposed to lead into a conversation about having kids? It never got that far.
kaleenazagrzebski's review against another edition
4.0
Do you have any authors, where you know when they release a book, you’re going to love it? David Bell has become one of those authors for me. While THE FORGOTTEN GIRL was originally released back in 2014, the mass market paperback version was released on 12/30/19 and GetRedPR and Berkley were as kind enough to send me a copy!
THE FORGOTTEN GIRL was the perfect combination of slow and fast paced. In the first half, Jason’s sister Hayden mysteriously shows up on his doorstep after not talking to him for five years. She also brings her daughter, and leaves her there while she takes care of a few things. Just getting out of a rocky patch in their relationship, Jason and his wife, Nora, take Hayden’s daughter in until she comes back. Except Hayden doesn’t come back.
The first half of the story is all about learning more about Jason’s relationship with Nora, his sister, and other childhood friends. One of Jason’s friends, Logan, disappeared on graduation night and no one has seen him since, but his dad isn’t doing too well, so his lawyer is trying to get a hold of him.
The second half of the book really starts to come together. Bell introduces new elements along the way, that kept me wanting to turn the pages to figure out how the disappearance of Logan and Hayden, 20+ years apart are related.
THE FORGOTTEN GIRL was the perfect combination of slow and fast paced. In the first half, Jason’s sister Hayden mysteriously shows up on his doorstep after not talking to him for five years. She also brings her daughter, and leaves her there while she takes care of a few things. Just getting out of a rocky patch in their relationship, Jason and his wife, Nora, take Hayden’s daughter in until she comes back. Except Hayden doesn’t come back.
The first half of the story is all about learning more about Jason’s relationship with Nora, his sister, and other childhood friends. One of Jason’s friends, Logan, disappeared on graduation night and no one has seen him since, but his dad isn’t doing too well, so his lawyer is trying to get a hold of him.
The second half of the book really starts to come together. Bell introduces new elements along the way, that kept me wanting to turn the pages to figure out how the disappearance of Logan and Hayden, 20+ years apart are related.
problemreader's review
4.0
I liked it. It was a good, easy read. I liked it much better than The Hiding Place, another David J. Bell book.