The romance between Lucas, Scarlett, and Avery also develops extremely fast, and I think if Altebrando had toned down the romance, she would’ve had more space to work with the mystery in order to keep things fresh and at the forefront. Adam and Sarah are practically nonexistent, and Kristin only makes an appearance once or twice to drop a clue or hint at a plot twist. My only disappointment was that it becomes clear very quickly that this is Lucas, Scarlett, and Avery’s story the rest of the victims are forgotten and not given much depth at all. Overall, the characters maintained strong, likable voices. Only 2 of the returnees gets chapters from their points of view, and the third perspective is Avery’s – the sister of the one who never returned. Normal people forget.” The Leaving, page 146Ĭharacters. “Normal people don’t remember everything. It isn’t until the end that things pick up again, but by then the reveal felt rushed because not enough time was spent solidifying the clues in the middle. The focus shifted to the characters’ personal conflicts, relationships, and their return to normal life instead of the mystery surrounding their disappearance. Memory worked really well in this way.Īfter about 200 pages, things slowed down and eventually fizzled out. The author drops us right in the middle of the characters’ release, and it felt like I was there with them – not knowing who they were, what they’d been through, or what they were supposed to be doing now. I was so eager to turn the page, and it felt thrilling to have a book capture me the way that The Leaving did. Altebrando created intrigue, mystery, and suspense so quickly and effortlessly that I was anxious to figure out what had happened to these kids. “People who were gone only lived on your memory if you had memories.” The Leaving, page 138 No one wants to know more than his sister Avery, who doesn’t believe the returnees’ memory loss story. At 16 years old, they return to homes they don’t remember, families they don’t recognize, and a town that wants answers-the most urgent of all being what happened to Max, the one who didn’t come back. Eleven years later, five come back with no recollection of where they’ve been or what happened. Six children disappear on the first day of kindergarten. However, the book follows some well-developed characters with fast-paced writing and a suspenseful plot that kept me guessing. I was disappointed with the reveal, and I had more questions by the end than I did when I started. While I overall enjoyed the book, I felt the ending fell a little flat. Six children disappear and only five come back 10 years later, unharmed? Spooky. But the blurb of The Leaving sounded so intriguing, and of course the book cover was just so eerie that I had to see what happened. Review: I’m usually never one for mysteries.

The leaving tara