Girl, Forgotten

Honestly, at this point, I’m pretty sure that Karin Slaughter could write a grocery list and I’d devour it and love it and sing its praises because she is just that good. She’s been my favourite author for decades and while some may come close, she is still hanging on to that spot. However, if I were forced to tell you which novel of hers would be my least favourite, I would probably say ‘Pieces of Her‘, which didn’t bode well since ‘Girl, Forgotten‘ is a follow-up. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the writing as I always do, and it even received five stars from me but boy, was that Andy character an annoying pile of utter aggravating annoyance. Case in point, I didn’t even make it through the second episode of the Netflix series because I was instantly reminded of why I didn’t like her. So I wasn’t at all thrilled to have to hang out with Andy again! Andy desperately needed to grow up and to my surprise, it looks like she may have listened. At the beginning of ‘Girl, Forgotten‘, Andy is just about to graduate as a US Marshall, much to the chagrin of her mother. Her first assignment seems straightforward enough : to protect a judge who is receiving death threats. But in reality, Andy is there to find out the truth about what happened to the judge’s daughter forty years ago and if Andy’s father, currently lounging in prison, might have had something to do with it. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I realised that Andy wasn’t nearly as annoying as I remembered her to be. In fact, I actually quite liked her this time around. I really enjoyed watching her trying to find her feet in her newly chosen career and learning the ropes from her partner, Bible, who is the absolute bee’s knees! Bible is one of those characters who gets the reader on side from the second he arrives on the page with genuine warmth and a healthy dose of humour. I do so hope we get to see more of him in the future. Anyway, this Andy is nothing like past Andy. She is learning from her mistakes, she is seeing things from different perspectives, she’s showing how smart she is and she is determined to bring her first assignment to a good end. She grew up. Unfortunately, forty years ago, a seventeen year old girl called Emily wasn’t as lucky. She would never grow up. She would never even see her eighteenth birthday because by the end of prom night, Emily would be dead. Discarded like trash in a dumpster. Her tight-knit group of friends, her clique, closed ranks. Life in the town of Longbill Beach moved on and Emily’s murder was never solved. Will Andy be able to bring closure to Emily’s family and finally get Emily’s so-called friends to talk about that night? Friends. Ugh. With friends like those, who the hell needs enemies. The clique, minus Emily, is comprised of four of the most toxic and awful people ever! It’s true for them as teenagers and they didn’t get any better as adults. It absolutely makes sense to think right from the beginning that one of them is responsible for the things that happened to Emily. But if so, which one? Or are they all in it together? And what about Emily’s teacher, who left the school shortly after she died? And how does any of this involve Andrea’s father? Every time I thought I was getting a handle on things, I started to have doubts again. Everyone in this small town is a suspect. I absolutely devoured ‘Girl, Forgotten‘. I loved both the present and past chapters equally and that hardly ever happens. There is so much harmful and destructive behaviour in this novel. It’s not only in the actions of the clique but also in Emily’s home environment. Her mother, a judge, whose career will always be more important than anything else. Who puts appearances above a healthy family life. It broke my heart to see that the only person Emily could ever turn to was her grandmother, who suffered from dementia. There are a multitude of skeletons in cupboards that will be discovered as Andy’s investigation continues and it makes you wonder how different things could have been if people had just been willing to put the truth out there. Maybe Emily would still have been alive. ‘Girl, Forgotten‘ is another compelling and cleverly plotted novel from Karin Slaughter. I have said it before and I’ll say it again: she can do no wrong in my eyes. I didn’t think I wanted to spend more time with Andy but I was proven wrong. Furthermore, I’m actually looking forward to hanging out with her again and if the last few pages are anything to go by, …. well, I’ll leave you to find out for yourselves.

Good read

Thank you to the author, publishers Harper Collins and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review. I’m glad I recently watched the Netflix adaptation of Karin Slaughter’s prequel to this one, Pieces of Her, because it helped refresh my memory of Andrea Oliver and her discovery about the lies her mother told and how they influenced her life. In Girl, Forgotten we see the aftermath as a few years later Andrea is completing her training to become a US Marshal. Her first job sees her assigned to judge security in her biological father’s home town and with a side mission to discover if her father was responsible for the murder of the judge’s teenage daughter in the early ‘80s. I really enjoyed the glimpses back to the lead up to the original crime. They were a great way to get to know Emily, the murdered girl, and offer a heartbreaking insight into how painful it is for a teenager to be ostracised by her friends and family. As ever Karin Slaughter doesn’t shy away from the darkness in people, even the unintentional darkness and hurt which comes from self-interestedness. Great plot, well told, and nice to see these characters return and be joined by new ones. I particularly hope we get to see Andrea’s Marshal partner Leonard ‘Catfish’ Bible return in any sequels. I loved him. Also very excited to see in the author acknowledgements a teaser that a new Will and Sara book is in the future. I was worried those characters might have been retired, but thankfully it looks like we’ll welcome them back soon.

Karin Slaughter is an author who reels you in from the first word. Have read all of her books and loved every one. Can we have another story with these fantastic character's please. Read it, you will enjoy.

Rating: 3.3/5 I have not read "Pieces of Her", nor have I seen the Netflix adaptation of it, so I came to this book with no prior knowledge of the character of Andrea Oliver. If you find yourself in the same situation, then I am pleased to say that I didn't find that it was a barrier to enjoying "Girl, Forgotten" in its own right. Of course, it is perfectly possible that readers familiar with book one may have been able to appreciate certain elements more fully, but Karin Slaughter does a perfectly decent job of introducing the essential background information into the narrative, so that new readers are put suitably in the picture. That aspect aside, the central mystery contained in "Girl, Forgotten" works perfectly well in isolation and does not require you to be familiar with the first book in the series. There is a lot to like about this novel. The core structure is essentially that of a procedural (it cannot really be referred to as a "police procedural", because the investigating officers are US Marshals rather than police officers). The narrative alternates between two timeframes - the present day and the time around the murder of Emily Vaughn in 1982. I liked the nostalgic elements of the 1982 sections and readers of a certain age will, no doubt, take some pleasure in being reminded of some of the socio-cultural references made. I also admired the characterisation of the two lead investigators in the contemporary setting - Andrea Oliver and her experienced partner, Deputy Leonard "Catfish" Bible. The relationship and interaction between the two is skilfully portrayed and suggests that the author may have been laying the foundations for future books featuring this pair. The aspect that I was less taken with was the pace of the novel. There were periods in the central block of the story when it felt more drawn out than it really needed to be and this detracted from the overall impact of the narrative. I have made a similar observation when reviewing Karin Slaughter's writing previously, so it does appear to be a deliberate stylistic choice on her part. Nonetheless, this is a well-structured and enjoyable story that is well worth adding to your reading list.

This was another good read from Karin Slaughter it kept the interest right to the end and I look forward to reading her next book. She really keeps you on tenterhooks right through her books.

Ok

Excellent as always. Gripping read as always from an amazing author. Recommend reading this book!! A story with some twists

I really enjoyed this book. Interesting storyline. Karin Slaughter is one of my favourite authors. I have enjoyed reading other books by this author.

I want to preface my review by saying that when I purchased ‘Girl, Forgotten’ by Karin Slaughter, it was described on Amazon as being a ‘standalone thriller’, so I assumed that there were no tie-ins to her other books. I was mistaken. ‘Girl, Forgotten’ follows Andrea Oliver from ‘Pieces of Her’, just grown up and newly graduated from the United States Marshall Services (USMS). I haven’t read ‘Pieces of Her’ or watched the Netflix adaption, so there were elements that I felt were underdeveloped by the end of the book. However, I am assuming that they may be addressed in ‘Pieces of Her’ so I have added that book to my TBR pile and will edit this review once I get around to reading it. ‘Girl, Forgotten’ is a richly developed story and even without reading ‘Pieces of Her’, I didn’t feel disoriented with the narrative. Set in the fictional town of Longbill Beach, Maryland, the book begins on April 17, 1982, where the 17-year-old and pregnant Emily Vaughn is getting ready to attend her senior year high school prom. Emily has been ostracised by her former friends and expelled from high school due to her pregnancy, but she refuses to just disappear. Her only emotional support is her Gram who unfortunately suffers from dementia and can’t protect Emily from the hardships she is enduring. Emily makes her way to the prom, and we meet several characters along the way who pose a threat to her and the baby. Sadly, by the end of the evening, she became the victim of a brutal attack that leads to her death, with the perpetrator remaining a mystery in the intervening years. Jump to forty years later and Andrea has just completed the gruelling 20-week course to become a United States Marshall and join the USMS. Andrea had struggled to find her place in the world since she found out two years prior that her parents were not who she thought they were. Her mother, Laura, had hidden the fact that Andrea’s biological father was a psychopathic cult leader whom she had turned into the police. The fallout from this admission had shaken Andrea’s world apart and she is now trying to move forward, one foot in front of the other. Andrea is assigned to protect a federal judge who has received credible death threats, however, this is just a cover, her real mission is to discover the truth of Emily Vaughn’s murder and uncover if it has any ties to her own past. The narrative jumps back and forth between Emily and Andrea and through the alternating chapters, we discover long-hidden secrets that ripple between the two women. With Emily, we go back six months before the prom as she learns of her pregnancy and the innocence of her youth begins to be stripped away. Andrea journeys to Longbill Beach and starts to unearth the mystery of what happened to Emily on that fateful night forty years ago. She discovers that there are forces at work who will do anything to keep the secrets of that night hidden and comes face-to-face with evil. As the two women move towards the finale, the intricate dance of their journeys is tangibly interconnected even over the decades separating them. Emily’s character undergoes a transformative process throughout the book. Whilst she has a rather privileged life, it only looks perfect from the outside. Her parents are rather neglectful and abusive in their own ways, and the only person who offers her unconditional love and support is her Gram. But, with her Gram suffering from dementia and having fewer lucid moments, Emily turns to her friends for support. Referred to as the ‘clique’ and friends since childhood, this is the group that Emily believes in unconditionally. However, she quickly becomes disillusioned by their selfishness and conceit, realising that the rose-coloured glasses of her childhood cannot withstand the transition into adulthood. Faced with the reality of being a pregnant teenager and seeing the life she longed for fall apart, Emily must quickly grow up. As the layers of her childhood are ripped away, the true strength of her character shines through. What happens to Emily made my heart break. This was someone who went from being rather naïve to someone who found their inner strength to fight for themself and their baby. Andrea is an interesting protagonist. She hasn’t become a deputy marshal due to a burning desire for justice, but rather as a protective measure against her father. That doesn’t stop her from giving her all to the judge’s protective detail or the case of Emily’s murder. She is not perfect and makes mistakes, but, like Emily, she has the strength of character and courage to follow her convictions. I do wish she had not referred to her USMS training as much as she did throughout the book. Every time she had to investigate something new, you could almost guarantee she would mention or think about her USMS training, after a while, it got slightly repetitive and redundant. There were also some elements to her backstory that weren’t fully explored, however, I think these might have been contained in ‘Pieces of Her’ which I hadn’t realised was the first book in the series. Overall, I enjoyed reading ‘Girl, Forgotten’. The story is dark and complex, with the mystery multi-layered and compelling. I will say that it was rather dense in terms of subject matter, and it does contain a range of triggering elements to be aware of. Our two main characters, Emily and Andrea are well-written and developed. Both women are bought to life by Ms Slaughter, and I felt a connection with them. The background characters were also detailed and have enough substance to make them come to life. I do need to give a special mention of Bible whom I just loved. I would happily read a spin-off series from his POV any day. I highly recommend the book to anyone who has read and enjoyed other books written by Ms Slaughter, or who enjoys a good murder mystery/suspense novel. 4.5 out of 5 stars! Rounded to 5 stars. ‘Girl, Forgotten’ is the second book in the Andrea Oliver series by Karin Slaughter. As of August 2022, the series consists of: Book 1: Pieces of Her Book 2: Girl, Forgotten

Really enjoyable and easy read. Recommended.

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Bought as a present