Girl Forgotten by April Henry
Read By Tessa Netting
Publication Date: March 2023
Summary from Goodreads:
Piper Gray starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case in this thrilling YA murder mystery by New York Times bestselling author April Henry.
Seventeen years ago, Layla Trello was murdered and her killer was never found. Enter true-crime fan Piper Gray, who is determined to reopen Layla’s case and get some answers. With the help of Jonas—who has a secret of his own—Piper starts a podcast investigating Layla’s murder. But as she digs deeper into the mysteries of the past, Piper begins receiving anonymous threats telling her to back off the investigation, or else. The killer is still out there, and Piper must uncover their identity before they silence her forever.
Confession:
I enjoyed listening to this YA mystery thriller, even though the narrator didn’t quite work for me. The story was well written, kept me guessing as to who the murderer was, but could have had a bit more tension to make it feel more like a thriller.
Tessa Netting overall has a nice voice and sounded like a young seventeen year old, just trying to solve a mystery. That said, she struggled with using different voices for the other characters. This didn’t really diminish the story much, but it sometimes made it hard when following dialogue to know who was talking when they all sounded alike. But the emotions and difficulties that Piper went through were well done.
Piper was an interesting character. She has recently moved to stay with her estranged dad and his family and is struggling to find her place at home and at school. She struggled for most of her short life so far with being raised by a single mom and always being on the verge of homelessness. She is a good student though and she is smart and resourceful, but has a lot of issues that she works to overcome in the story.
Jonas was also a nice boy, who recently went through quite a bit, and was now struggling to find his way as well. I liked how their friendship grew throughout the story and how helpful he was to Piper even when he didn’t quite agree with her podcast’s topic. He has a good sense of humor too, and I appreciated that he had Piper’s back, even when it put him at risk.
The story of the unsolved mystery was well done. There were a lot of suspects, but I was slightly surprised at the reveal, even though the person had been high on my list, they weren’t the number one suspect for me. I love when a mystery has a twist you don’t see coming. The writing was well done, and I enjoyed the transcripts of the podcasts. There could have been a bit more tension build up to make it feel more like a thriller, not just a simple murder mystery, such as more than just some vague emails threats. But otherwise the plot and the ending were well done.
If you are looking for a solid YA mystery than this is certainly a book to give a look at. It is well crafted, has many twists and features two teens who have had a tough time. Overall a good story that teens and adults will both enjoy.
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