e-Audio, 12:00:46
Narrated by: Ariel Blake
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Published by: Hachette Audio (Mulholland Books)
Read from: May 10-11, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Audible
Content Warning: Murder, Blood, Death, Police Brutality, Hate Crime, Infidelity, Domestic Abuse, Drug Use, Racism
For Readers Interested In: Thrillers, Mysteries, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Own Voices, AdultThe truth is never skin deep.
It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the train tickets, the dinner reservations, the rented four-story luxury rowhouse in Jersey City with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline.
But when Bree comes downstairs their final morning, Ty is nowhere to be found and there’s a stranger dead in the foyer—the missing woman the entire Internet has become obsessed Janelle Beckett. Soon, both the police and an army of Internet sleuths are asking questions Bree doesn’t know how to answer. Desperate to find Ty and to keep her own secrets buried, Bree realizes there’s only one person she can turn her ex-best friend, a lawyer with whom she shares a very complicated past.
Fierce, smart, and thrilling to the end, Missing White Woman not only explores “Missing White Woman” syndrome and traveling while Black, but deftly inverts the hallmarks of the domestic suspense genre to How well can we truly know the people we love? And what happens to these stories when seen through the eyes of a Black woman?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have been anticipating this book since I found out what the title was lol And yes, just for that reason lmao Because I wanted to know if it was going to be accurate or just accurate enough for it not to like make any “waves” But let me tell you, Ms. Garrett delivered. Because this was exactly what I would expect to happen if something like this happened in real life.
Ok so the main thing about this that I thought was weird was the audio experience. It had like special effects, but it was so fucking weird. Like it was only on certain words, like “the hair, the blood” and it was like cool when it first happened and even when it happened repeatedly, but there were no other like effects? Or any that I could tell. Idk if you’re going to put something like special effects, then have something like a difference on the Tiktok videos. Or like make a difference of when she goes to the police station. They could have made those into like audio recorded tapes. But I digress.
I DID like that this was believable tho. It wasn’t sugarcoating anything and I loved that. We know that the Black man is always going to be seen as the aggressor and the cops won’t look twice at anyone else. No matter how much they seem guilty. It’s always going to be up to US to make sure we keep them safe. And that’s always scary. Because most times, they trust us even less.
And that brings me to the characters. I HATED literally everyone lmao I’m not even going to try to lie. The main character was, I don’t even know how to explain it. Basically, I knew immediately who did the thing she got arrested for. I have no idea how she never knew. And the way she treated her mom was terrible. I don’t understand how all of this is happening to you and you don’t want to tell her. Damn being disappointed. You can explain that shit later. Idk it was so weird lol And then the boyfriend, Idc what kind of job you have, you need to tell me a little bit about what you’re doing. Or where you’re going. Because this shit can happen in real life. And it’s not fun to be told by the police that you might be going to jail for murder because you woke up in the wrong damn place.
The mystery was really what saved this for me. I kept changing my mind on who did it. The only thing I knew immediately was who didn’t do it. But if you tell me you knew from the beginning, I think you’re lying lol I did wish there were more red herrings tho. Or even if there was something more thrilling that happened. I’m not exactly sure I would call this a thriller. It was more like just a mystery. And, it was a bit repetitive. They basically like kept it going in a cycle, like find the thing, police come, give the info to the police, and then basically it starts again. It was ok, but I did catch on.
I liked this and thought it was a lot of fun. I did want a little more in some places, but it wasn’t anything that made me want to DNF it. I’m definitely going to go back and see if there’s anything else that Kellye Garrett wrote! I need to see her progression!
Overall, I give this
