e-Audio, 06:21:54
Narrated by: Shayna Small
Release Date: June 13, 2023
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Read from: June 21-23, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Car crash, Depression, Death of a grandparent, Mention of death from a drowning, drinking, marijuana, vomit
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Swimming, Contemporary, Diverse Characters, Realistic Fiction, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, YASixteen-year-old Ebony Jones is devastated when her family moves from Houston to her grandmother’s house in the country. There’s absolutely nothing for Ebony in Alula Lake, Texas. So she thinks.
Award-winning author Liara Tamani’s What She Missed is a rich and emotional novel that celebrates change, nature, friendship, growing up, and love, for readers of Sarah Dessen’s The Rest of the Story and Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land.
When Ebony and her parents move from Houston, Texas, to her grandmother’s house in a small lake town, Ebony is sure her life is doomed. And to make matters worse, the ghost of Ebony’s beloved grandmother—a strong swimmer who tragically drowned in the lake—is everywhere. Alula Lake does offer one perk: reconnecting Ebony with her childhood friend, Jalen.
But as Ebony settles into life, she finds herself drifting away from Jalen and gravitating to his older sister, Lena. Lena is chaotic, disorderly, and rebellious, yet she offers a reprieve for the anger and sadness Ebony feels about losing so much.
An ode to nature, art, friendship, history, family, and love, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores one girl’s summer of self-discovery as she reimagines the world and her place in it. What She Missed is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Nina LaCour, and Nicola Yoon.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Yo, I didn’t find out about this book until late, but I HAD to get my hands on a copy of it! It’s set in Texas AND the main character is Black?! Give it to me NOW! Buttttt of course once I got it, I realized I could have waited just a little longer and not made it so much a priority.
The reason I said that is simple. The main character. I’m a character driven reader, and I hate this phrase, but…. it was like watching a train wreck. I couldn’t look away. I didn’t want anything to happen to her but I could see it coming. The whole book she jumped to conclusions. And like I get that she was hurting, but anyone hurting enough to do the things she was doing, I guess I don’t understand how she didn’t break before that? It just seemed like A LOT she was carrying, especially to be a teen. I just thought someone would have noticed.
The romance was ok I guess. I liked him and I remember being so upset that he had fallen for her when she was doing him like this. This book really gave the “love yourself before trying to love someone else” saying some real meaning to me. Before I didn’t really understand, but this made it very clear. But when she finally got her life together and he wasn’t so mad anymore, they were really cute and I ended up being glad she had him in her corner.
For this to mostly be just a coming of age story, the plot moved pretty fast. I was sucked into the writing style and was filled with all types of emotions while I was reading it. It was like I was living with her as she experienced all these things and I couldn’t get out of it. I found myself even yelling at her through the book. So, yeah, it was good, but it was also annoying lol
The end wasn’t great. After the climax of the story it was really short and it just felt like it was there just to show that she had healed a little bit. I really think it could have been better. But that’s just me.
Overall, I give this
