A review by readingwithtrey
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What an incredible, incredible novel! I don't even know where to begin. This was my first read by Emiko Jean, but she is now an autobuy author for me, and I will definitely be checking out her backlist. This one was done so well!

I was sucked in by the very first pages and was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I felt all of the emotions including anger, sadness, anxiety, dread, and hope. While I knew of some inequities when it comes to missing women and the attention their cases receive, there were still a few incredibly heartbreaking things that I learned while reading this. It made me so angry and sick to my stomach to know that the specific girls who were abducted were taken for calculated reasons (e.g. their families were poor and therefore not much money would be allocated to their search and return).

While I had a feeling Chelsey's sergeant was involved in some way, I did not piece together the entire story, and I love thrillers where I can't guess what will happen. There was also a literal jaw dropping twist that I never in a million years would have guessed.

I don't know the words to describe Ellie's chapters other than amazing. But I don't feel that that is the correct word to use due to the content within them. But the writing was literal perfection. I could feel the fear, confusion, desperation, and despair that Ellie felt. It was a constant stomachache the entire time I was reading. I was rooting for her and all of those girls. I literally SOBBED at the end of Ellie's last chapter. It was heart wrenching.

The entire book was the work of brilliance. But one thing that really stood out to me was the contrast between Ellie's dad and the men who took Ellie and the other victims. Ellie's dad always felt inadequate and insecure because he couldn't provide for this family the way that he wanted. He felt less than as a man, but he took his frustrations to the sea, boating whenever he could. While he wasn't perfect, he tried not to take his frustrations out on the women in his life. He loved them. There was a very pivotal moment where he apologized to his wife for his inability to fully provide over the years especially when she was pregnant with their daughters, but his wife responds that it was okay because they were a team. She never saw him as less than. Now, when we look at the motivations of the men who took Ellie and the other victims, we see that they too felt inadequate and insecure. They suffered from abandonment issues and looked at the successes of women (one in particular who I won't mention as it could be a spoiler) as their downfall. Instead of getting therapy or seeking more productive avenues to get out their frustrations, they chose violence toward women. It was interesting to see the two different paths that were taken between these men that stemmed from the same feelings of insecurity.

I feel like this entire review is just me rambling, but I cannot recommend this enough. ALL. THE. STARS!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Books for a chance to be an early reader!
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