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A review by melaniesreads
The Girl Who Never Came Home by Nicole Trope
4.0
I love a book that starts with a body, unfortunately this body is Zoe’s. Found by a member of the search party after she went missing from a cabin on a school camping trip.
We then learn of the impression Zoe formed on all the characters, which in turn gives a different view to the popular girl she seemed to be. Think of the plastics in Mean girls, seemingly sweet and charming but with a hidden cruelty towards others. As each character narrates you get the feeling they aren’t being completely truthful and that many secrets are at play.
Bullying is far from new and as a parent it is one of the most complicated issues to deal with, especially to discover your child was the bully. Nowadays with social media involvement it is a constant torment and added peer pressure makes the people who standby and do nothing as bad as the bully themselves.
My youngest daughter is the same age as Zoe and I thought that would make me connect with her mother Lydia but I started to get angry with her blame of others. As a parent it is your job/duty to raise your child to know right from wrong. Bullying is wrong and Zoe was a spoilt brat, no excuses. However the fact that this book provoked such strong emotions towards the characters was down to the pure quality of characterisation. Like life nothing is just black or white and although Zoe is a bully she is also loved. That is the pure heartbreak of this book.
This is a great whodunnit with layers of mystery and an emotional core.
We then learn of the impression Zoe formed on all the characters, which in turn gives a different view to the popular girl she seemed to be. Think of the plastics in Mean girls, seemingly sweet and charming but with a hidden cruelty towards others. As each character narrates you get the feeling they aren’t being completely truthful and that many secrets are at play.
Bullying is far from new and as a parent it is one of the most complicated issues to deal with, especially to discover your child was the bully. Nowadays with social media involvement it is a constant torment and added peer pressure makes the people who standby and do nothing as bad as the bully themselves.
My youngest daughter is the same age as Zoe and I thought that would make me connect with her mother Lydia but I started to get angry with her blame of others. As a parent it is your job/duty to raise your child to know right from wrong. Bullying is wrong and Zoe was a spoilt brat, no excuses. However the fact that this book provoked such strong emotions towards the characters was down to the pure quality of characterisation. Like life nothing is just black or white and although Zoe is a bully she is also loved. That is the pure heartbreak of this book.
This is a great whodunnit with layers of mystery and an emotional core.