Friday, June 12, 2015

Book Review & Giveaway (US): The Disappearance Emily H by Barrie Summy


Released: May 12, 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 256
Received: Finished copy from publisher
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

There's something about a middle grade mystery that never fails to grab my interest. Add in a dash of the paranormal and I'm sold. The Disappearance of Emily H. takes all those elements and rolls them into one engaging package that held my interest from start to finish.

The mystery surrounds a missing girl (fate unknown) and though Raine's sleuthing is more laid back than breakneck, it was still engaging and the resolution was not obvious from the start.

The paranormal bits were fun and I enjoyed playing around with the idea of "what if I had this ability" but they also felt a little strange in a book that didn't feel like a paranormal book.

All that said, both the mystery and the paranormal elements were good, but just ok for me. Part of that is definitely a target audience thing though.

The real gem of The Disappearance of Emily H. was Raine's friendship with fellow new girl Shirlee and their battle against the mean girls. Their friendship was touching and definitely made me nostalgic for my own middle school friendships (and, while Raine was ok, Shirlee is totally sleepover party material). The scenes with the texting rang so true (and some were very funny!) and, even though they weren't really doing the right thing, I could totally understand and relate with why they were doing it.

I wasn't expecting a totally contemporary friendship to take center stage with elements like mystery and paranormal in the mix, but it was definitely the highlight for me. Middle grade readers will probably enjoy The Disappearance of Emily H. even more, though parents beware, Raine's mother is neglectful and the bad guy is bad enough to upset sensitive readers.



 
Barrie Summy is the author of the I So Don’t Do mystery series starring thirteen-year-old detective Sherry Holmes Baldwin and the recently released The Disappearance of Emily H. Barrie lives in Southern California with her husband, their four children, two dogs, a veiled chameleon, and a fish. There was once a dwarf hamster, but let’s not go there. Visit her online at barriesummy.com.

Info for the giveaway:
  • What you can win: A finished copy of The Disappearance of Emily H. by Barrie Summy
  • As always, you do NOT have to be a follower
  • This giveaway is US only
  • You must be 13 years of age or older
  • One entry per person
  • I will contact the winner through email and the winner will have 24 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen 
  • This giveaway closes on July 10th 



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3 comments:

  1. Middle Grade mysteries hold a special place in my heart - they're always a ton of fun! I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this one until now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds adorable!! I'm not as big on mysteries as I'd like to be.... but every so often one like this comes along that I am really interested in reading. Thanks for the great review!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Heh, it's actually pretty sweet that the friendship too centre stage for you among seemingly more interesting elements. As a non-middle-grade-aged person, I think I would feel the same about this as you did, but it sounds pretty sweet all the same.

    ReplyDelete

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