REVIEW: IF I DISAPPEAR by ELIZA JANE BRAZIER

To read the synopsis of this book, check out Goodreads or The StoryGraph.

The premise of this book was a 10 out of 10 for me as a true crime podcast lover. I read the first couple of pages in a bookstore and had to buy it. A podcaster goes missing? Someone obsessed with murder is seemingly murdered? And a listener wants to rescue her? Perfect, sounded absolutely engrossing.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book was not nearly as explosive or engaging as the beginning section. This turned out to be the slowest burn, and by “burn”, I mean like maybe one ember in a whole bed of coals slightly glowing. At the end of it, I wanted to toss the book into the sand at the beach I was sitting on at the time, because I felt like things were so loosely and, frankly, lousily tied up.

But let’s start with the pros, because clearly the whole book wasn’t an ENTIRE train wreck, or I wouldn’t have finished it.

What I liked about this book:

1. The premise of it was perfect. Realistic enough and super interesting. Could’ve gotten crazy exciting in so many ways.
2. The atmospheric writing. I loved feeling like I was traveling to Happy Camp from this abandoned ranch.

Now, to the things I didn’t like about this book…

1. Unlikeable characters. I couldn’t find myself able to root for any of them. The main character was unintelligent and unreliable, and I hate when I read books where the plot is basically just women making bad decisions.
2. As I mentioned in the beginning, this book is sloooooow. Like, I fell asleep in the middle slow. I don’t even think it should be called a thriller, because it’s not thrilling in the slightest. Maybe more of a mystery. But the cover blurb says thriller, so I am assuming that’s what it was meant to be. And it was not exciting at all.
3. The ending didn’t even make sense. I read 300+ pages for me to be like…HUH? I felt like the author wanted to surprise us, but it didn’t surprise me in the right way. It surprised me in a “this doesn’t add up” way.

The most redeeming quality of this book was that it was a relatively quick read despite the fact that I really didn’t like my reading life for the last 200 pages or so. Just didn’t work for me. ⭐️⭐️/5

I realize I didn’t give this book a rave review, but if you still want to pick it up and try for yourself, please consider using my Amazon or Bookshop.org affiliate links. These give me a small commission at no cost to you!